Bubbles December 2012

Atlam Dive Reunion 2012

T HE A T LA M SUBA QUA C LUB E -M A G A Z I N E

DECEMBER 2012 NEW 2011 Atlam Committee Members :Nader Bassily President Joseph Azzopardi Secretary Albertine Risiott Treasurer Dorian Law Diving Officer Steve Farrugia Sacco Activity officer

Anton Debatista Activity Officer Simon Ciantar

PRO

nbassily@vol.net.mt antiva@go.net.mt albertinerisiott@gmail.com dorian71@maltanet.net steven@farrugiasacco advocates.com anton@nextgen.net.mt

sc.agn@waldonet.net.mt

IN THIS ISSUE page • Note from the Editor 2 • Dive Reunion 2012 2/3 • Species Page - Painted Comber- Edward Vella 4 • Cyprus - Zenobia Wreck - Guzi Azzopardi Falzon 5/7 • Dive Logs - Ta’ Cenc - 01/12/12 - Edward Vella 8 - Imperial Eagle - 16/12/12 Tano Rolé 9/10 - Dives Location Map - Joe Formosa 11

COPYRIGHT: All rights reserved. The authors retain all copyrights in any text, graphic images and photos in this e-magazine. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the authors.

www.atlam.org

Photo by: Joe Formosa

info@atlam.org

Editorial Note By the time that you are reading this, the Christmas presents would have been opened, and hopefully lots of diving goodies appeared and now you are probably looking forward to try them out in the environment for which they were built!

If you would flip (notice the word) to the last page to the boat dive map, and look at the last figure, you will notice that this year there have been 33 boat dives organised, starting from the 25th March up to the last one held on the 16th December, where we dived the Imperial Eagle – read the dive log. Here a big thank you must go to the man behind the organisation of these dives – our secretary Guzi Azzopardi! Should one think about the hassle that goes into the organisation of the club’s boat dives, it will immediately be realised that this is no mean task – but Guzi has been doing this work for a good number of years now without any fuss, so please show some gratitude and do not pass any more comments about him carrying a water heater on his back, or interrupt his meditation before the dive! Thanks again Guzi!

The Reunion Dive held on the 13th December at Cirkewwa! This year it was a huge success, firstly because of the large turnout of members – I had a look at the group photograph and counted 23, Turnout apart, all those participating really enjoyed the dive. According to plan, first to the underwater assembly point, the Rozi, where the proud Atlam banner was unfurled across her forecastle. Then all the divers left the Rozi for the second assembly point, at the entrance to the training area, where another photo session was held. All of this was followed by a third assembly, but this time on dry land for a drink at bar at Armier. This was club spirit at its best. In this issue you can see a video by Mario Mula and a pictorial reporting of the event.

And so here we are at the second Bubbles being uploaded on the Issuu website.

According to Issuu statistics, at the time of writing this article (Christmas Day), the magazine received 1068 impressions – that means, internet users who stopped to have a look but not necessarily read it, and 155 users who actually read it. We also know that out of these 155, there were 3 who read it in the UK, 2 in Germany, and 1 in the USA, so if we subtract these 6 international reads we are left with 149 local reads, this is very encouraging. Still we will be watching the statistics of the following issues. Remember that the sub-committee would really appreciate your feedback particularly on this subject. In addition, please do let us know what you like, and do not like in this e-magazine. Apart from making our life easier, it would also enable us to improve Bubbles.

We now look forward to an exciting 2013.

Keep Diving!

Edward Vella evella@onvol.net

Atlam Dive Reunion 2012 Video

Video shot and edited by Mario Mula

JOIN ATLAM SUBAQUA CLUB and share the fun & experience

Activities for Divers: • Shore Dives • Boat Dives • Night Dive • Diving Excursions Abroad • U/W Photo Competitions • Lectures on various subjects • Nitrox Courses.

• Free e-magazine

Activities for the whole family • Weekly Club Nights & Bar • Barbeques • Majjalata • Pasta Nights • Boat Parties • Gozo Diving Breaks • Camping on Comino and other places.

For more info contact the President Nader Bassily on 99499101

Atlam reunion divers - Photo by Ray Scerri Christmas spirit on the Rozi - Photo by Joe Formosa

Christmas spirit on the reef - Photo by Guzi Azzopardi Falzon

Rendevouz at Armier Bar - Photo by Guzi Azzopardi Falzon

Species Page Research by: Edward Vella

Photo Joe Formosa

In the photographic competitions held by our club, one of the most common subjects that is photographed is undoubtedly the Painted Comber (Serranus scriba) or as it is known in Maltese – Burqax. I truly suspect that we take the appearance of this fish for granted, since we have grown so used to it, but to a visiting diver making his first sighting, the colours of the Painted Comber must make it look as exotic as a Mediterranean fish can be. A look at the photographs on this page will surely help to illustrate this point.

Locally, the Painted Comber I would say is found in almost if not in all of the various marine environments around the Maltese Islands. It preys on small fish, crustaceans and molluscs and is in turn preyed upon (amongst others) by the red scorpion fish (this I did not know!). As regards size, this fish grows to a maximum of 20 to 35cm. The most common size which is encountered

Painted Comber is about 18cm or smaller, although once beneath the sheer cliffs known Rdum Dun Nazju, I saw an example which must have been about the above stated 35cm or even more.. As regards life expectancy, one specimen caught in a study to determine age, was found to be 16 years old. It was ironic that this unfortunate had to be taken apart to gain this knowledge!

Locally, there is a belief that this fish is reputed to indicate the presence of a nearby octopus by keeping its head pointing steadily in the mollusc’s direction.

This fish does have a habit of standing still in the water, and knowing this belief, several times I extended my look in the direction of which the Painted Comber’s (PC) head was pointing, but never saw the octopus…..until in a ‘textbook’ case under Gozo’s Sanap cliffs, I saw this PC staring fixedly, and sure enough there in its den was an octopus! Perhaps the fish feeds on the debris left behind by the octopus. In another similar case, I once took a picture of a moray eel in its den. When back at home, I then noticed that in the background, totally inside the moray’s den there was a PC – obviously not worrying of becoming a lower link in the food chain!

Painted combers are simultaneous hermaphrodites – which in common language means that they have both male and female reproductive organs on board! They do not self fertilise, however whenever approaching another specimen to mate, I should think that there is the risk of both fish becoming fertilised! Or what?

There is more to the Burqax than meets the eye!

Burqax

Photo: Edward Vella

Photo : Tano Role

January Species ­- Flying Gurnard (Bies/Garnaw) PLEASE SEND PHOTOS

CYPRUS- The Zenobia Wreck

Article and Photos by: Joseph Azzopardi Falzon Recently I had an opportunity to visit Cyprus with my friend Alfred Buhagiar, a beautiful country that has quite a lot to offer such as culture and history. The diving as you all may know is something that we love and therefore we planned to do four dives, two of them from the shore and other two on the Zenobia wreck, a ship sunk outside the port of Larnaca. It was a great experience because this ship is one of the top ten popular worldwide for you to visit. My friend and I took some pictures and videos while we were diving on it.

This ship, while it was on its way to Athens, the captain noticed steering problems and the Zenobia began listing (not remaining vertical) to its left (port). Following checks, it was determined the list was caused by excess water that had been pumped into the ballast tanks, this was pumped out and she then departed for Larnaca Cyprus which was the stop before the last before finally reaching Syria.

She arrived at Larnaca on 2 June 1980, but the ballast problem reoccurred. Its engineers discovered that this was due to its computerised pumping system which was pumping too much water into the side ballast tanks, making the list progressively worse. For some reason, the problem could not be solved, and on 4 June, the list got to the level that the Zenobia was towed out of Larnaca harbour to prevent her becoming an obstruction should she roll over, and was left at anchor roughly 1.5 – 2 km offshore. On 5 June, with the ship listing at 45° the captain sent off the engineers and the maintenance crew and made requests return her to Larnaca harbour, but these were denied.

At around 2:30am 7 June 1980, the Zenobia capsized and sank in Larnaca bay to a depth of roughly 42 metres (138 ft) taking her estimated £200 million worth of cargo with her. Although this resulted in a great loss, (more so if local rumours that the cargo was uninsured are true), it turned out that since her sinking she has become so popular a dive site for visitors to Cyprus, that she was named as one of the world’s top ten dive sites.

As a dive site, the Zenobia provides a variety of dive profiles, from a fairly simple dive to 16 metres (52 ft) depth along the starboard side of the ship (suitable for new divers); moving up to a more advanced dive inside the upper car deck and accommodation block, right up to very demanding dives within the lower car deck or the engine room.

Although all of the crew were safely taken off the ship before she sank, since then the wreck has claimed the lives of four scuba divers. There was also a truckload of animals on board who died when the ship went down; one can still see their bones in one of the wagons on the main deck. There is also a full cargo of eggs on the sea bed at 42 mts. You can also see a good amount of big fish, like groupers and barracudas. I recommend visiting Cyprus and the Zenobia wreck.

Not all dives come together as planned, this was one of them, but as my buddy said, such dives then help one appreciate more when they do! Then again, it was not such a waste of time, it was more that we have done this dive so many times, that we end up taking it for granted. I am sure that if we had a total newcomer or a foreign guest with us, he would have fully enjoyed this dive, and as so as many things are in life – it is all relative!

Perhaps this article was started off in this manner because the announced dive site was Wied il-Mielah on Gozo’s Northern coast, which is not frequently dived, but then the weather conditions dictated otherwise, so when the decision was taken to dive what has to be the most Atlam boat-dived site, the expectations took a hit!

The divers where split into several dive patterns. There were those that decided to drop into the mouth of the Mgarr ix-Xini inlet with the top priority to photograph those elusive sea horses, which are known to run wild among the posedonia prairies. So after dropping these cowboys, the Atlantis headed West along the coast to drop the remaining divers. Some of these headed for the deep in their rebreathers, and another group decided to stay shallow to explore a particular cave whose entrance lies at about 9m. We were in this group. Finally, all of these divers were to head for and be collected at the previously mentioned inlet.

The Atlantis skipper asked us to make haste in entering the sea, since conditions were pushing the boat towards the rocks. Surface conditions were a bit turbulent. Visibility was adequate, but lower than what has been encountered here in past dives. There was also a light but noticeable current which we would find against us all the way.

As it was, it must have been the wave action, since we kept low which caused me a slight stomach upset. I let the dive leader know, but somehow, it righted itself almost immediately, and it was all systems green again!

Soon we came to the cave entrance, but after evaluating the situation – four divers, possible surge inside the cave, lowered visibility, and one of them having signalled a potential physical problem (me!), dive leader Tano decided to leave the cave exploration for another dive. Lesson to be learnt is that the one of the biggest mistakes to be made in diving is to get into the ‘at all costs mentality’. The good diver is a patient person.

Ta’ Cenc

- Gozo 01/12/2012

We therefore proceeded towards the inlet where two other caverns awaited. As it was, we only entered into the first which is found more or less at the corner between the Ta’ Cenc ‘alley’, and the Mgarr ix-Xini inlet. The sloping floor of this cavern is very silty, and here care must be taken not to stir it up, not because of safety considerations, but because

Article Edward Vella

it would immediately put an end to any photography.

But in spite of us not having explored the cave we wanted, and the sea horse seekers finding only grass, we all agreed that it was not so bad after all. We sometimes underestimate the value of just being underwater!

Base photo by Edward Vella

Photo by Edward Vella

Photo by Joe Formosa

Hermit Crab with Murex type shell

Photo by Edward Vella

Spiny starfish devouring a sea urchin.

Fan worn - Spirographis spallanzani

Imperial Eagle Wreck This proved to be the last ATLAM boat dive for 2012 and, true to form, we ended the year on a high note. I think that the Imperial Eagle is one of the best wreck dives in the Maltese Islands since it has all the ingredients necessary for a truly satisfying dive: good depth, a good-sized wreck, a reef leading to shallower waters, a small cavern, and the statue of Kristu il-Bahhar.

Who could ask for more? No wonder that there were several bookings for this dive; in fact we were overbooked and, in the true spirit of Christmas, Guzi, Nader, and Simon kindly gave up their places in order to respect the dive boat passenger limit.

The boat that Guzi had chartered was not

- Malta 16/12/2012

our usual, larger; Atlantis and we were therefore limited to a maximum of 18 divers.

At least the boat trip was much shorter than usual and, within a few minutes, we were tied up at the dive site.

I have seen the wreck occasionally coated with Flabellina nudibranchs such that parts of the superstructure looked like it had been painted purple. Unfortunately, this was not the case on this day, but there were still quite a few nudibranchs; offering good photographic opportunities. I took several photos of two of these Flabellina but, upon later inspection at home, not a single shot was acceptable! There was a slight current on the deck which made extreme close-

Article Tano RolĂŠ

ups rather difficult. I also noted that several other photographers (especially the SLR group) had set up their wide-angle lenses which were useless for macro work.

Dives on the Imperial Eagle are always special for me. Perhaps a part of this is because I am proud to have formed part of the group that contributed to its sinking. I had reviewed and rewrote the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) back in 1997 which was submitted to the Planning Authority of the time. Such an EIS was an essential requirement for the issuing of a planning permit.

An old photo of the Imperial Eagle ferry tied up along the Marfa jetty Photos by Edward Vella

I was lucky enough to dive on the wreck, just after it had been scuttled (early afternoon of 19th July 199), to check whether it had settled upright on the seabed but the visibility was so bad that we could not even see it! We saw what looked like shadows of a mast or superstructure but, as we swam towards them, they seemed to disappear.

It was very probably just the sediment that had been disturbed by the ship hitting the seabed. What was worse than missing the wreck was the fact that we had run up a fair amount of decompression and we spent more than thirty minutes suspended below the delayed SMB as we drifted with the current. Thank goodness that the boat had spotted the SMB and kept track with us.

In contrast to that first abysmal dive on the wreck, the visibility on our last boat dive was excellent. We could see the entire ship as we descended and made for the bow.

I tried to take a few photos of a Flabellina nudibranch (which upon later inspection turned out to be totally out of focus) and followed this up with a quick tour of the deck but it was soon time to head for the statue of the Christ. I have several pictures of this statue but I tried to take photos from some new angles and even these did not turn out as I had expected.

It was soon time to head for the shot line and we ascended to our first deep stop.

All the other divers started to congregate along the shot line, and even the anchor rope, and pretty soon it started getting rather busy.

It was during this time that Lars approached me with outstretched hand and, after some time, I realised that he was showing me a small bit of “moving seaweed” on his glove. This turned out to be a small Mantid shrimp which was moving in a distinctive

manner; much like a leech would move on land. These shrimps are easily recognised by the fact that they hold their claws in the same way that a praying mantis also holds them on land. As I looked at my own glove I also saw that there were about a dozen similar organisms there. These seemed to have hitched a ride as I was hanging on to the permanently anchored shot line.

Moreover, the variety of life was astonishing and intriguing. Here was a beautiful ecosystem developing on a vertical rope just a few metres from the surface. Most of them seemed to feed and depend on the

algae growing on the rope but the Mantid shrimp and some other, possibly juvenile crustaceans, looked like they might be carnivorous. However, they had one thing in common- they were all camouflaged to look like the algae growing on the rope.

I had about 12 minutes of decompression but this seemed like the quickest decompression stop ever. This was the first time in my long diving career that I was reluctant to leave a decompression stop!

The next time you are diving the Imperial Eagle, have a good look at the rope – it may surprise you.

Mantid shrimps on Tano’s gloves

Photo by Joseph Azzopardi Falzon

Base photo by Edward Vella

Photo by Joseph Azzopardi Falzon