Bubbles November December 2016

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

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 2016 Atlam Committee Members :Joseph Azzopardi President guzeppi56@gmail.com Anton Debattista Secretary andeb@go.net.mt Klaus Farrugia Treasurer klafster@gmail.com Alex Arena P.R.O. Victor Fabri Diving Officer vfabri@gmail.com Alvin Pace Activity Officer tamsinjane@yahoo.com George Mugliett Activity Officer

IN THIS ISSUE

page

Editor’s Note | Up coming AGMS 2 Species Page - Loggerhead Turtle- Edward Vella Diving in Elba - Edward Vella A Trip to the Red Sea - Part 6 - David Agius

3 4/7

8/11

Kavieng - Papua New Guinea - Paolo Marino 12/17

Diving in Elba

Pages 4 to 7. - Photo by: Edward Vella

Parazoanthus axinelle

www.atlam.org

The Editorial Welcome to the last Bubbles of 2016. The editorial team and the contributors and here we would like to make an appeal to each and every Atlam member to become a Bubbles contributor either through writing features or photographically – would like to thank you readers for being part of the team. Yes part of the team since there would be no point of going through all the trouble of producing an e-Magazine having the high standard (sorry for the boasting, but its true!) that Bubbles and then not being read by anyone (or at least being flipped through to look at the pictures).

Perhaps one of the more important days in these two months was the conclusion of the long running court trial following the unfortunate accident which occured during the 2009 Open Day. This much awaited closure was finally obtained with a not guilty as charged verdict to the two Atlam divers who were involved, thus lifting a very heavy weight off their shoulders. At the same time, the victim of this accident remains indelible in our memories. A prayer for the repose of her soul is solicited.

The weather during these last two months of 2016, has not been too kind. It will be noted, for example that there is no boat dive log in this issue, since there were none! The now customary ‘Atlam Reunion Dive’ planned for the 18th December at Cirkewwa was also wiped out by the strong North Westerly, although it must be said that an intrepid trio actually managed to dive on site on the day, and also carry out a mini sea-bed clean up. (So that’s where the Divers’ parking sign ended up!)

Other social activities held at the Bahar ic-Caghaq clubhouse were the Christmas Dinner held on the 7th December – this one turned out to be another triumph of our beloved official Atlam cook George Mugliett. There was more work ahead for George – preparing for the New Year’s Eve party!

And so now – 2017. The first event of the year will be the Annual General Meeting (AGM) – obviously this will set the tune of how the coming and future years will be for us Atlam members – it is nothing new to state that it is the members that make the club, and not the other way. It is therefore the members’ responsibility to attend, participate, and take the opportunity to put forward their suggestions for improvements, or perhaps discuss any item that they might not be happy with.

The AGM is sheduled for February 23rd at the Clubhouse.

Oh, and do not forget to pay your subscription!

Keep Diving!

Edward Vella evella@onvol.net

Yes YOU!

ATLAM SAC ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 23rd FEBRUARY 2017 Dear Members

Let us together make this year’s Annual General Meeting a success!

Atlam has been built upon the efforts of successive committees.

Each and every one of us members can contribute to Atlam’s future.

If you believe that you can contribute, what better way to do this than to come forward and participate in the next committee?

ATLAM NEEDS YOU – YES YOU! Please also note:

Federation of Underwater Activities – Malta (of which Atlam is a member) The FUAM Annual General Meeting is being held on Monday 06th February 2017 at 20:00 at ATLAM Clubhouse, Bahar ic-Caghaq.

See you there.

Species Page Research by Edward Vella

Loggerhead Turtle (Fekruna tal-Ba˙ar Komuni) Caretta caretta

This issue’s subject for this page, was undoubtedly inspired by the recent hatching of 66 sea turtles at irRamla tal-Mixquqa, or as it was re-named for tourism’s sake – Golden Bay! This pleasant event caused quite a stir locally, since it was generally accepted, that sea turtles laying eggs, was a thing of the past in Malta due to too much summer activity in the very few sandy beaches. There was also an unsuccessful laying of turtle eggs a year or so before at the neighbouring Gnejna Bay – so there was some trepidation and then relief when the hatchlings were seen making tracks towards the waves. (See Bubbles September/October issue).

It must be kept in mind that although, at each laying, if the conditions are right, it may seem to the untrained eye that many hatchlings reach the sea, in actual fact, the loggerhead turtle is considered to have a low reproductive rate. Females lay an average of four egg clutches and then stop for two to three years.

Sexual maturity is reached within 17–33 years out of a lifespan of 47–67 years. Very few of the hatchlings survive to adulthood.

While researching this article, I learnt that the loggerhead’s sex is dictated by the temperature of the underground nest. Sea turtle eggs kept at a constant incubating temperature of 32 °C become females.

Eggs incubating at 28 °C become males. An incubation temperature of 30 °C results in an equal ratio of male to female hatchlings. Since the recent Malta hatching took place in late September, I would not be surprised if there was an increase of 66 females to the loggerhead population!

Although predators attack the young loggerheads, both on land and in the sea. As time goes by and the loggerheads grow, they become too big and strong to be attacked. Sharks however are not discouraged, I

read that it is estimated that about 40% of the global loggerhead female population, bear the scars of shark attacks, The biggest threat however, comes from man. Many turtles become entangled in lines and nets and drown. Another very real danger is the large amount of plastic debris littering our seas.

Turtles end up injesting plastic such as bags, sheets, pellets, balloons and abandoned fishing linee, which then accumulates within its stomach and may end up fatally blocking its intestines. We have also seen, alas too frequently, cases of loggerhead turtles being injured by swallowing bait intended for swordfish, or getting hit by propellers.

Next Species

Short-beaked Dolphin (Dephhinus delphis) Delfin P L E A S E S E N D P H OTO S

There is a popular belief that these turtles thrive on jellyfish, and then taking this belief further, attributing whenever there is a larger than usual presence of jellyfish blooms to a perceived dwindling turtle population. Loggerhead turtles are ominvorous, that is, they eat almost anything including jellyfish, but they are not its staple diet (It seems that it is more true for leatherback turtles). As to the turtle population, the perceived downward trend is unfortunately true, since the current population trend is decreasing.

Loggerhead sea turtles are in fact classified as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and are listed under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, making international trade illegal. Various entities are active for the conservation of this species, and since it is present in many parts of the world, for these effort to succeed, there have to be successful conservation efforts from many countries.

Locally the NGO Nature Trust assists in this international effort.

They can be contacted at kareng@onvol.net or at the emergency number

99 999 505

Diving in Elba July 2016

Article & photos by Edward Vella

Elba is the third largest island within the Italian territory. It comes in third after Sicily and Sardinia and therefore, with an enormous drop in surface area from the previous two. It is roughly the same size as our Malta – but with one big difference – there are only about 30000 inhabitants. This made our eyes tired from our over populated country, relax in the unspoilt natural scenery and making us dream of how our island home was and could have been.

We were on the south facing side of the island at Marina di Campo, which incidentally has a connection with Malta, since this is the birth place of Maj.Teseo Tesei. Maj. Tesei was killed below the bastions of Valletta while leading the fateful E-boat raid on Grand Harbour on the 26th July 1941.

Of course high on the priority list after checking in at the hotel was to contact the dive school to set up a couple of dives! We had chosen via internet Sub Now, but obviously until you get to physically check them out, there is always that question mark – in this case it turned out that we had made a very good choice.

On the day we turned up at the Sub Now HQ which was at the foot of the hill right beneath our hotel.

Enjoying the shade of tall pine trees, the wooden building with its elevated porch gave a relaxed and informal atmosphere so often encountered in the diving community. A short drive and soon we were on the quay where the dive boat the ‘Super Papero’ was moored. Here we were positively impressed with the level of organisation – cylinders properly strapped and spread out, our diving kit in its appropriate compartment, no shoes allowed, wet and dry areas – in other words, the true meaning of ship shape. A very comfortable diving platform completes the picture.

Weather conditions on the day were ok, but the forecast was that on the following day they would not be, so the decision was taken to make two consecutive dives (with an hour surface time in between). Sub Now dive exclusively along Elba’s south facing coast, hence the choice.

The first dive, was at a site called Le Coralline which is a reef (or in Italian secca, since it lies beneath the surface) rising up to about 4 metres with its base at about 45. The dive starts with a descent along a steep slope, and keeping the reef on the left; it then develops into a wall full of recesses, cracks and overhangs – the ideal environment for lobsters – although we did not see any. We did see however a large scorpion fish, and then during the ascent also a few barracuda chasing prey. The dive essentially spirals around the reef except for when we left the wall to go around two outlying rocky outcrops.

The highlight of this dive site, however is the presence of red coral (Corallium rubrum), which can be found at relatively shallow depths beneath overhangs – I would estimate at about 25 – 30 metres. Complementing the reds of the coral, are abundant colonies of shade loving yellow cluster anemone Parazoanthus axinelle.

The second dive, shallower, was done at Lo Scoglio della Triglia, so called because apparently this site was renowned for red mullet –triglia. This is a rock outcrop situated close to Fetovaia within the bay of Marina di Campo.

The dive starts off with a slope which plateaus out at about 18 metres, where one comes across a statue of our lady was placed by local fishermen in the 1970s we were told. The dive then proceeds in an anti-clockwise rotation around the rock. Towards the end of the dive, one comes to an interesting gulley which leads to the dive boat anchor point.

The star of the show during this second dive, was an enormous dentex, which I would estimate to be a touch over a metre, who came to check us out – doubt if I ever so a bigger one, except perhaps once on the Faroud… We also came across several feather stars (Antedon mediterranea) – both red and yellow.

Another things that struck me during these two dives was that we saw at least five medium large moray eels - well this looked like ideal territory for them with plenty of places to lie in ambush.

OK so we did not see any red or purple gorgonians (they are abundant in certain areas of Elba, but we were advised that this was not the place for them), and visibility was good but not in the crystal clear category.

As previously stated, Elba is a large island, and when visiting, a consideration to make, is whether to make it a diving holiday, or compromise between exploring the island and throwing in a couple of dives. Given that time is limited, we went for the compromise, visiting also the summit of Mount Capanne, with its impressive cable car, a disused iron ore mine beneath Mount Calamita, and then historic forays in Porto Ferraio, where of course no trip to this island would be complete without visiting Napoleon Bonaparte’s quarters during his 300 day exile.

Definitely lots more to see and many dives still await should we ever decide to re-visit Elba!.

A Trip to the Red Sea •

Another calm morning dawns on a group of 9 divers in the Red Sea... with full equipment on, it’s another day in Paradise (or almost J). It’s time to visit another wreck, or is it a reef which has taken strangely human squarish and other shapes? Life is everywhere here, and a wreck which has laid here for close to 150 years would not be anymore an eyesore, but rather a hotspot of life.

A good trip getting better...

Article & photos by David Agius

PA R

T6

The Ulysses The Ulysses was a cargo ship en route from London to the far east, heavily laden with electrical cable to bring light to areas where probably it had never been seen yet and other cargo from Industrial England. Considering the Suez Canal had only been opened a few years before, maybe the seafarers from the time were not yet accustomed to the reefs and dangers lurking ahead.

Like the Carnatic (covered in a previous article – look for Bubbles May/June issue), Ulysses got stranded on a reef and this time there was no Calypso hosting it as within two weeks it slided down the reef and rested on the bottom at 30m. However, the two weeks stay on the reef enabled the salvage of the cargo and we should be thankful for that as part of the cargo was Mercury which surely would not have been a nice addition to the environment here.

The Ulysses wreck

The Ulysses’ construction of Metal and Wood shows the development of the shipbuilding industry in these ages of the Industrial Revolution and this enabled us divers as well to be able to enjoy wrecks as wooden ones would have rotted away in a few years.

The frame and hull of the Ulysses in fact survives partly intact to this day lying on its side as if it was a sleeping giant. Nature has also cemented it for the longer term by covering most areas with algae and corals thus creating an ecosystem quite complimentary to the reef it had struck. Maybe one could say that the reef has made the Ulysses part of it in revenge for any damage caused when it was grounded?

The Ulysses also turned out to be full of nudibranchs and flatworms of different species feasting on algaes, fish swimming in and out between the decks of the ship and life extending as far out around the ship as the mast which lies on the seabed perpendicular to the ship.

This dive allowed us to explore with relative ease all around inside and outside the wreck but was planned also to make the most of the reef around the wreck with its beautiful corals and also its visitors, amongst which a young turtle which came to inspect the strange creatures visiting its reef!

Ulysses - Side of wreck encrusted in coral

An amazing experience to see one this up close and personal!

(Video link: https://youtu.be/j6AdVHRLBZA)

Marble star necklace seastar

Gezira Siyul Kebir Next dive on the plan was the reef around this small island. No wrecks this time to look at but the Red Sea was pulling all strings to give us a good show, with loads of fish of different types, corals and sea anemones, nudibranchs and those who manage to observe well, a lot of other life which thrives in this environment.

The dive itself was also a drift dive as explained in the briefing made on the way to the dive site whilst we were busy having another nice breakfast prepared by the amazing kitchen staff. After the boat had moored to its mooorings, we were shuttled via RHIB to a drop off around the corner from the mooring and then it was a matter of following the dive leaders and observing, stopping for pictures and relaxing until it was time to go up to the boat

Umm Qamar Whilst de-kitting and showering, the boat immediately departed to Umm Qamar island. Translated as “Mother of the Moon”, I would be the last person on earth to compare this divesite as anywhere close to the surface of the moon.

Again, this was another awesome reef and wall dive with a small cavern included for having a good mix. To be completely honest, the cavern wasn’t remarkable but then again it might be that we in Malta are too used to visit caverns around our shores.

Fish life here was again plentiful and we also encountered quite a few large moray eels, for sure having a good time since they had plenty of food all around. They were not to be the largest fish to see for long though....

Back on the Boat, we were off for a short trip to Shaab el Erg and the Dolphinhouse... and yes....

Um Qamar Fan Coral Yellow Coral

Octopus

Pyjama Nudibranch

Shaab el Erg DOLPHINS!!!! That was the cry we heard as soon as we were mooring at Shaab el Erg amongst a couple of other Liveaboards and Day Diving boats. We were invited (something no one would conciously refuse) to jump on one of the RHIBs and get shutttled to the area the dolphins were seen, about 200m away from the boat.

Literally, no time was lost so I just grabbed the camera off the charging station and ran to the boat and in two minutes we were in sea with mask and fins and snorkel with dolphins swimming around us and me franticaly trying to take shots... which is when I realised that I left the memory card in the laptop as I was transferring pictures form previous dives... thus leaving me with an option of 4 photographs maximum to store on the camera’s memory.

Still , 15 minutes I’ll probably never forget, even though I don’t have as many photographs as I would have wished J. In the following night dive, which was to be the last in the Red Sea, we were told we wouldn’t see them again as the dolphins are not normally seen at night here.

However, we still took the opportunity for the plunge and although not a memorable dive, it was still interesting enough and leaving us with high hopes for the next morning dive planned to be here again.

Would we see the dolphins?

Check your mailbox for the next issue of the Bubbles and you won’t be disappointed in my last article for this series about a trip to the Red Sea in February 2016 J

Top Shell on Coral

Gold Spotted Flat Worm

Flat Worm

Kavieng - Papua New Guinea Article & photos by Paolo Marino

Kavieng is a sleepy little town on the northern tip of the New Ireland province of Papua New Guinea.

To the north and east lies the Pacific Ocean without uninterruptedly until the islands of Micronesia 1,500 kilometers away. To the west there are several smaller islands that create a series of passages towards the Bismarck sea were strong currents are often present due to tidal movements.

For almost four years from 1942 until the end of WW2 it was a Japanese supply base supporting naval operations further south as well as an active seaplane base.

Google Maps Word Press.com

All this plus the lack, so far, of industrial fishing has made Kavieng and interesting diving destination well out of normal diving tourist routes. Actually most of the (relatively few) tourists are surfers coming to enjoy some “perfect” oceanic waves during the rainy season .

There are two dive operators in Kavieng.

I was diving with Scuba Ventures Kavieng a small outfit run by a south-african couple. They own two 20’ fiberglass boats and can also provide EAN. They are based in town and will pick you up from any of the few hotels or guesthouses in town. The dives are conducted on a no-deco plan, even if you dive on air.

The other option is the dive centre of Lissenung resort based on a small island.

As far as the dive sites go on the oceanic side, I dived the following places.

Ikotcha patch

is a reef pointing out from shore with the wreck of a South Korean fishing boat (Der Wong) at the deepest point (35 m).

Moderate to light currents are present which brings a good concentration of life. Depending on the current directions the activity can be deep around the wreck or at the shallow part (around 18m). Good numbers of barracuda, horse-eye jacks, bluefin jack and rainbow runners are hunting along the reef. Some grey reef sharks can be seen cruising in the distance.

A resident hawksbill turtle is always available for a close-up photo at the top of the reef.

Around and on the wreck there is a healthy population of fan and whip corals.

Blow hole

The is an easy second dive along a shallow reef. The main features are some small caverns inhabited by a variety of colourful fish and few white tip sharks. Some black tip sharks are seen crusing on the sand in front of the reef.

Colbutan reefs

The two are placed on the east coast of the island. They are rarely dived as open to the oceanic currents and waves, so you have to be lucky with the weather. But just for this reason they are full of life as the fish are not afraid of divers. Big shoals of barracuda, horse-eye jacks, rainbow runners and batfish come close. Grey reef sharks cruise just off the reef and big spanish mackerels swim on top of it.

On the Bismarck Sea side the dives are always done at the mouth of one of the passes in between islands.

Albatross passage is the most popular

and “fishy� dive site.

The top of the reef is very shallow (about 12m) and here the current is often several knots. The good thing is that the dive in started with a negative entry 50m offshore, so by the time you hit the reef you are well below the reef top depth and here the current is basically nil. Groups of barracuda, jacks, snappers and batfish are schooling at the shallow depth were the current gets stronger (so watch your buoyancy), several grey reef and white tip shark cruise lazily around. The wall is rich in fan, whip corals and black coral bushes. Mobulas are also likely to appear as there is a cleaning station near by.

In the meantime the boat has anchored on top of the reef and you end the dive with a safety stop hanging to the anchor line in flowing current, but just for few minutes it is not too tiring....

Steffen’s passage features a couple of dives similar to Albatross passage with the same reef and current patterns.

Helmet reef and Peter’s patch.

Though less active there are still plenty of barracuda, spanish mackerel and rainbow runners around. Also the grey reef sharks seems to be more confident and came for a closer look. I also spotted some bumphead parrotfish and a couple of turtles.

In the lagoon in front of the town lay several Japanese wrecks dating from WW2.

Tenryu Maru

The is a 120m cargo ship sunk in 25 m of water at the end of 1943. The ship was heavily salvaged before and after the end of the war so it’s difficult to recognise her outline underwater.

Also the visibility so close to shore is never that good: (if you have dived the Margit in Kalkara creek you know what I mean!)

Anyway the wreckage is still full of life.

Lots of barracuda swim around and big gorgonians and black coral thrive in the plankton reach environment. As far as artefacts are concerned there are several depth charges, cordite canisters, cups, bottles, tools and dials lying around.

Deep Pete

The is a biplane Mitsubishi F1M (codenamed Pete by the Allies), a Japanese reconnaissance floatplane. It rests upside down in 39m of water. Its fuselage is broken in half, but the fish and coral life in and around wreck is very good. At that depth visibility is generally good so there is ample scope for both macro and wide angle.

Jake

At a shallower depth there are the #1 (18m) and #2 (12m). Jake is the codename for the monoplane Aichi E13A Japanese long range reconnaissance floatplane. They both lie upright on a sandy bottom. Fish and coral life is plentiful and in the #2 you can even sit in the pilot seat.

A surprise in Kavieng is the presence inland of several caves filled with fresh water. They are used by the local villages as water reservoir and each belongs to a community.

Scuba Ventures Kavieng has got the permission to take divers into one called

Liga Onoi.

It’s not a big cave and you complete the tour in about 20 minutes, mostly in total darkness; visibility is extreme. It’s composed of several chambers with plenty of stalactites and stalagmites.

During war it was used by the Japanese as a water source, so during the dive you come across various bottles and cups.

An interesting and unexpected final dive for my dive trip in Kavieng...and moreover I didn’t have to wash the gear afterwards!