Our newest fishy favourite in Marsa Alam is 'Kermit' the Warty Frogfish. First spotted by our dive guide Sarah, Kermit now resides near a table coral in Marsa Mubarak, meaning you can see stonefish, scorpionfish, crocodilefish and a frogfish on one dive!
Over the past two months he has grown from about 5 cm to nearly 10 cm...although being a warty he won't get much bigger!
Each Sunday in Nuweiba, you can now learn about the area's coral reefs through a 'family fun day' and award yourself with the PADI AWARE Coral Reef Conservation Specialty.
This weekly event aims to raise awareness in the form of trash dives helping Nuweiba maintain its unspoiled beauty and pristine coral gardens. Organized beach clean ups and underwater clean ups make a significant impact in helping us to preserve the amazing underwater ecosystems.
After the clean up, Emperor's Nuweiba team invites you to take part in the Coral Watch monitoring dive where you learn how to record and monitor corals and return data, all of which helps in preventing the destruction of our world's most fragile environment.
On completion of the day's activities, guests can choose to see a free Coral Reef Conservation presentation by the staff allowing them to earn the PADI AWARE Coral Reef Conservation Specialty. Here you will learn:
• How coral reefs function
• Why they are so important
• Why many reefs are in serious trouble
• What you can do to prevent further decline
A number of guests have already completed the Specialty, as pictured above.
The Specialty itself is FREE (within your day's dive pack) and costs just 35 Euro for the Certification fee (+10% tax).
| Size range : Weight range : Life span : Status : |
1.5 to 4.3 m 70 to 150 kg 20 to 30 years in the wild endangered |
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Nuweiba Dive Centre Manager, Ute Friedrich, reports...
Never before have I seen one here, but just the other day in Ras El Shetan, I found the robust ghost pipefish. And what made it even better is that I was diving with Barnsley BSAC Divers. It took a little while to get everyone to recognise that this little thing was indeed alive and well and not some masquerading piece of ghostly seaweed!
David Patchett, Diveleader of the group, happily confirmed that none of the group members had ever seen anything like it before.
And the icing on the cake was that the same group saw two seahorses the day before in Magana!
The HEPCA Mooring Team recently completed their periodic maintenance rounds in the Northern Islands. Their five day trip established 19 new moorings and maintained nearly another 30. The trip included some of the reefs most visited by the diving industry including Shaab Abu Nuhas, Siyul Al Kabeir, Shabruhr Siyul (East and West), Onghosh and Siyul Al Sagheir.
Mustafa Abdulla, the Head of the Mooring Team said, "Our team had a great time; they were blessed with great sea conditions, and besides we always enjoy our trips to the pristine northern reefs!" He went on to thank HEPCA's members and supporters in the north, who play a vital role in reporting damaged moorings, missing buoys and mooring violations.
Duncan McAllister, Sharm el Sheikh's dive centre manager, reports:
"Its official, after so many near encounters the end has finally come and the 'Dan Era' is over. After more than five years Dan Zanoni, Marine Biologist, has left the building and gone on to pastures new. We tried to keep him, but when you are up against someone's dream job you're always facing an uphill struggle.
Dan has always wanted a job that combined his diving, his degree (marine biology) and involved some form of research. Out of the blue in November he was approached by his old university in Norway with an offer to return and be in charge of their new Sperm Whale Research Team and it was just too much temptation to resist.
And so we say farewell to a very popular member of the team, but I am sure we will be able to get him to do some guest appearance articles for the Newsletter, as these have proved so popular. I wonder what those might be about?
He says to all his friends - if you ever want to go snorkelling with Killer Whales in November in Norway, feel free to make contact, but bring a dry suit and extra thermals, you'll need it."
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As many visitors to Emperor Divers, Nuweiba, know, this is a great location for regular sightings of the elusive Frogfish. They vary from tiny little finger nail size specimens to the much larger - and thus named - Giant Frogfish.
Frogfish change colour over time to match their surroundings and, not surprisingly, grow larger as they grow older. Underwater photographer and frequent visitor to Emperor Nuweiba, Jan Davies, has sent us four photos from 2005 to 2009 of what he believes to be the same Frogfish showing how it has adapted its colouration over the years with its surroundings.
Are there any Frogfish experts out there who can confirm that this could be the same fish growing older over the years?
Frogfish 2005
Frogfish 2006
Frogfish 2007
Frogfish 2008
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Since August 2009, the Egyptian government has granted HEPCA sole responsibility for the management of waste collection and recycling in the southern Red Sea. The scheme has achieved some incredible results - proof that recycling really does make a difference and dramatically helps to reduce daily damage to the environment.
HEPCA's latest figures show an outstanding success rate in helping to reduce the Red Sea's carbon footprint:
The following are the figures recycled each month:
PAPER
more than 8.5 tonnes of paper and cartons saving:
- 145 trees
- 34 barrels of oil
- 25 cubic metres of landfill space
- 34,000kw hours of energy
- 59,500 gallons of water.
Simply put, the monthly HEPCA recycled paper total saves enough energy for heat, electricity and air-conditioning for the average Egyptian home for almost 30 months!
ALUMINIUM
more than 41,500 cans saving:
- enough energy to run a television, or operate a computer for 14 years, or a computer centre with 20 computers for over one year.
GLASS
at least 6000kg of glass saving:
- enough energy to power a computer for 296 days, a 100-watt light bulb for 5.93 years and saves the equivalent of 272 litres of oil.
PLASTIC
almost 259,000 plastic bottles and parts saving:
- enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for 89.9 years.
STEEL and TIN
an average of 4.5 tonnes of steel and tin saving:
- 24.9 tonnes of iron ore, 14 tonnes of coal, and 1.2 tonnes of limestone.
HEPCA saves around 65 tonnes of CO2 pollutants from entering the atmosphere of the Red Sea each month.
HEPCA's solid waste management strategy is not only concerned with saving the environment but also saving livelihoods. Many valuable employment opportunities have been created for the local community in waste collection, transportation and staffing at the MRF. Further employment and income is also generated through the selling on of recyclable material. We estimate an additional 70 jobs will be created annually in support of this program.
News just in from the team in Hurghada is that they've been playing 'host' to a resident octopus.
Says dive centre manager, Sharon El Shoura, "This little chap arrived about 5 days ago and has been around the marina area but looks like he's now moving on. And if he is a she then we apologise!"
Team Hurghada also reports sightings on the house reef of a turtle and eagle ray!
European Shark Week, 10-18 October, is a unique opportunity for European Union citizens around the world to demonstrate their support for shark conservation and effect change.
This year, Project AWARE Foundation and Shark Alliance Partners are going back to governments for follow-up action under the EU Shark Plan seeking stricter fishing quotas (and zero quotas for the most vulnerable species) and a stronger finning ban.
