Bubbles September - October 2013

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

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2013 2013 Atlam Committee Members :Nader Bassily President nbassily@vol.net.mt Joseph Azzopardi Secretary guzeppi56@gmail.com Denise Baker Treasurer denise.baker63@ymail.com Nicholas Agius Diving Officer agius.nick@gmail.com Simon Ciantar PRO scagn@go.net.mt Anton Debattista Activity Officer andeb@go.net.mt Reuben Borg Activity Officer reuben.borg@vodafone.com.mt

IN THIS ISSUE page • Note from the Editor/ Haloween Party 2 • Atlam- BA Photo Comp 2013 3/6 • Drugs & Diving - Dorian Law 7/8 • Species Page - Seahorses - Edward Vella 9 • Dived Overseas ! Chuuk Micronesia - Dorian Law 10/11 • Website & Book of the month - Dorian Law 12 • Dive Logs - Ras ir-Raheb -01/09/13 - Edward Vella 13 - Qaws / Ghar id-Dwieb - 08/09/13 - Edward Vella 14 - Crocodile Rock -15/09/13 - Edward Vella 15 - Ras il-Hekka- 29/09/13 - Tano Rolé 16/17 - Reqqa Point -06/10/13 - Edward Vella 18 - Kap San Dimitri Tech D-13/10/13 - Simon Ciantar 19 - Kap San Dimitri Caves-13/10/13 - Tano Rolé 20 - Xlendi Reef- 27/10/13 - Edward Vella 21 - Dives Location Map - Joe Formosa 22 Haloween photomontage 23

www.atlam.org Photo by Victor Fabri Model: Antida Muscat Winner of the Best Photo BA-Atlam Underwater Photographic Competition 2013

info@atlam.org

The Editorial

These surely are exciting times for our dear Atlam SAC! We are seeing the club house project come to fruition, and surely a very big satisfaction to the committee members, who without the least hint of an exaggeration, expended blood sweat and tears to see the club house materialise – and what a clubhouse! A state of the art building with state of the art facilities, which should provide the ideal conditions for other diving projects and initiatives to germinate.

The new clubhouse has certainly breathed new life into the club, and the club is its members. For a start, this could be clearly seen in the numbers participating and felt in the enthusiasm shown when it came to the removal of furniture and other equipment to the new premises - then as well during the social evenings held to date - all could not help but to feel proud and motivated.

This has also been felt in high boat dive attendance levels - also helped by this year’s extended summer –during the last boat dive at Xlendi reef (see Dive Log on page 21) for example, sea conditions and temperature could easily pass off for tropical – we are still enjoying 25deg C at this end of October… long may it last!

During last month, we asked you readers to send us any photos which you would like to share with the rest of the members - and the rest of the world – (since our Bubbles is now going global) - in a new feature intended to increase members participation – to be called The Atlam Members Photo Page. This feature has been postponed hopefully to the next issue due to the fact that this month Bubbles is covering the BA Atlam Photographic Competition – so you are still very much in time to let us have your pictures!

As given away by the Bubbles cover photo – the winner of the BA Atlam Photographic Competition this issue features heavily on the competitors’ photo entries– and rightly so because this competition is one of the foremost annual activities. I would almost safely say that this competition now with thirty editions behind it, can be safely be termed as being an Atlam regular feature and perhaps even qualifies to be called a tradition…… This year the competition was run over two dives – a night dive at Wied iz-Zurrieq and another in the morning at Cirkewwa – all the participating pictures may be seen further on in this Bubbles. From feedback obtained, it would seem that this new format has been well received. The competition generates a lot of enthusiasm and effort, and now we look forward to its 31st edition.

This editorial is trying to give the feel of the members at this particular point in time.

There is finally, after the last couple of years, a general feel good factor - made stronger by the fact that the present feeling is well merited. Obviously, now we will have to continue building on what has been achieved – and for this, members participation in the initiatives laid out by the committee is vital.

Keep Diving

Edward Vella

evella@onvol.net

Ist Atlam Haloween Party See Last page for spooky pictures shot by Mario Micallef

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 • Barbecues • Majjalata • Pasta Nights • Boat Parties • Gozo Diving Breaks • Camping on Comino and other places.

For more info contact the President Nader Bassily on 99499101

BA-ATLAM UW Photo Competition O 足 ct 2013 Ist Place: Victor Fabri

These photos are the entries of all the competitors in sets of three The photos have not been retouched, cropped or enhanced in any way. They are being presented as the photographers shot them and oriented to the photographers wish. Only1st, 2nd and 3rd places have been announced the remaining photos are displayed according to the competition registration number.

2nd Place: William Hewitt

3rd Place: Tano RolĂŠ

Edward Vella (4)

Anton Debattista (8)

Geoff Bowan (10) Mario Mula (12)

Rueben Borg (15) Tom Cowan (18)

Joseph Azzopardi (20)

BA - Atlam 2013 Winners From left to right: William Hewitt (2nd ) Victor Fabri (1st) Tano RolĂŠ (3rd) Antida Muscat (model to Victor Fabri) A big thank you goes to our supporting sponsors

Subaqua Supplies & Services and M & A

Drugs & Diving Diving under the influence of drugs is dangerous and taking drugs prior to diving without knowing their effect on you as a diver is something that might lead to a diving accident or fatality. The word ‘drugs’ means anything from a Panadol pill (paracetamol) used as a common cure for headaches or Vazoflex (prazosin) for the treatment of high blood pressure to recreational drugs such as alcohol or marijuana.

Therapeutic drugs are tested in air at an ambient pressure of 1 Bar equivalent to the atmospheric pressure that sustains human life. The diver that uses these drugs will enter another medium, water, and will also expose himself to pressures higher than atmospheric. The adverse conditions mentioned on the leaflet accompanying these drugs will describe the effects on humans ‘on dry land’. If the manufacturer of the drug asks for the user to rest and not perform any strenuous activity after taking the medication, it would not be considered safe to enter the water until the effect of the drug has diminished or passed completely. It is the effect of the drug on the diver that the user must be aware of before entering the water.

In many instances, the condition for which the drug is taken, poses a greater threat to the diver than the effect of the drug itself. An antibiotic (drug) administered to treat a diver suffering of bronchitis (condition) will not put the diver at any risk of developing any drug related dive injury.

It is the bronchitis, the diver’s condition that puts the diver at a risk of developing pulmonary barotrauma, by restricting the regular flow of inhaled and exhaled air through the narrowing of the airways due to inflammation.

by Dorian Law

Drugs are divided in two categories: Prescribed drugs: Prevention and treatment of human illnesses or dive related illnesses.

Un-prescribed drugs: Recreational and social drugs.

Illness prevention drugs.

Cardiac: Beta-blockers, like metoprolol reduce the force of contraction of the heart muscle and the blood pressure output of the heart by inhibiting the action of adrenalin. These are used to treat high blood pressure or pain from angina, a coronary artery disease. The condition (angina) is already a medical issue which should keep the diver out of the water.

The heart of a diver taking beta-blockers might not be able to supply enough blood to the leg muscles in an emergency due to the limitation of the pumping capacity (contraction) of the heart, with exhaustion leading to a serious situation. Studies show that divers taking beta-blockers can experience pulmonar y oedema, arrhythmias and are greatly exposed to burst lung.

Blood pressure: There are two types of medication for the treatment of blood pressure. These are vasodilators (prazosin) and diuretics. Vasodilators or blood vessel dilators, relax the smooth muscle cells of the larger veins and arteries and the smaller arterioles, widening the peripheral blood vessels. By increasing the cross-sectional area of the blood stream, blood pressure is reduced. Vasodilators can inhibit the body’s ability to compensate for changes in posture, like when climbing a ladder to come out of the water or cause fainting on standing. Newer drugs can produce dry cough and may also affect the nerve

conduction of the heart. Diuretics lower blood pressure by reducing the blood volume. This is achieved by stimulating the body to produce urine, thus ‘drying’ out the body. This reduction in blood flow and viscosity may affect nitrogen elimination and increase dangerous bubble formation.

Diuretics also affect the heart rhythm.

Asthma: This causes swelling of the airways’ lining because of inflammation and spasm of the airways’ muscle (bronchospasm).

Both can lead to obstruction of the airways.

Aerosol sprays oral bronchodilators ( Ventolin) improve the air flow but unfortunately do not cure the condition.

Bronchospasm in asthma sufferers can be easily triggered by the inhaled dry air or sea water. Studies have shown that some bronchodilators can cause gas emboli due to pulmonary vasodilation. Loss of breath affects the A for airways in the ABC of first aid. Symptoms include panic. For this reason, asthma as a condition makes the sufferer unfit to dive.

Anti-diabetic and insulin: Although diabetic patients are sometimes allowed to practice diving, diabetics should be aware that this condition affects the blood sugar level which will be highly affected when per forming strenuous activity such as diving. A sugary food that can be easily taken on land might be harder to take underwater, the absence of which might lead to anxiety, confusion and unconsciousness.

Analgesics: These are used as pain killers for anything from headache to toothache and the prevention of heart attacks and strokes. Aspirin interferes with the clotting of the blood, making hemorrhage difficult to control. It has more undesired effects which makes paracetamol a better choice

as analgesic. Analgesics as a group of drugs may hide some of the effects of decompression sickness due to their ability to kill pain.

Antibiotics: Apar t from the abilit y of antibiotics to increase the diver ’s susceptibility to vomit, it is the condition for which antibiotics are used as a cure that should be of concern to the user. If they are used to cure infections of the respiratory tract (airways), then the condition should make the diver stay dry until he is cleared to dive again.

Antihistamines: Taken to treat allergic conditions, these drugs cause sedation and increase the risk of ear or sinus barotrauma in divers taking antihistamines to treat hay fever. The condition for which antihistamines are used might also keep the diver out of the water.

Psychotropic drugs: These are used to treat psychiatric disorders. A person whose state of mind has been so drastically changed as to need psychiatric help is already in a state of mind that should make him stay out of the water. Antidipressants affect blood pressure, cause sedation, disturbances of the heart rhythm, epilepsy and consciousness. Anticonvulsants are used to control epilepsy, itself a non-diving condition. Epilepsy affects the brain leading to unconsciousness. Low oxygen levels in the air supply (contaminated air) or a torch light flashed in the eyes can precipitate convulsions in epileptic patients. Sedatives and tranquillizers (Valium) are used to relieve anxiety. These ‘sleep’ inducing drugs can cause drowsiness, impaired judgment, slowing of the thought processes and a reduction in the problem solving ability with effects increasing with depth.

Prevention (prophylactic) drugs: As the name implies these drugs are used to prevent rather than to cure or treat an illness. The “Pill” is used as an oral contraceptive. Some effects include migraine, nausea and vomiting.

Another concern is the possibility of more congealable blood interacting with gas bubbles during decompression, although un-conclusive studies do not confirm or refute the effects on female divers.

Antimalarial drugs are used to prevent getting the malaria disease. This drug can cause vertigo and other coordination disturbances.

Sea sickness is a condition that might affect the diver on the boat and in the water. Sea sickness pills have a sedating effect causing drowsiness, affecting judgment and increase the effects of nitrogen narcosis.

Recreational and social drugs.

Narcotics are addictive, judgment impairing and highly sedative drugs. Marijuana and cocaine are illegal substances that alter perception, cause impaired judgment and mood alterations. They also affect the correct working of the heart and also cause high blood pressures. Marijuana causes respiratory problems like tobacco smoking, w h i l e co caine stimulates the mind encouraging the taking of risks. Caffeine found in coffee, tea, cola and chocolate drinks stimulates urine production and dehydration and as a stimulant it can cause heart rhythm disturbances in excessive usage. Tobacco smoking or taken in any other form, increases the risk of developing lung cancer, heart and vascular diseases.

Inhaled tobacco smoke is the bi-product of combustion, containing carbon monoxide.

It binds to the haemoglobin, thus reducing the blood’s ability to transport oxygen and as a result the capacity for physical exertion is reduced due to the lowered oxygen

levels delivered to the muscles. Another issue concerning smokers is the frequent headaches that develop soon after the dive, unfortunately many times blamed on foul air in the cylinder. Smoking prior to diving, increases the partial pressure of carbon monoxide in the body at 1bar.

This partial pressure will increase further on descend with an increase in ambient pressure.

Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning will develop, especially the headaches.

Other issues concerning tobacco smoking include the effects on the heart’s rhythm and the narrowing of the airways due to chronic smoke irritation. Alcohol consumption damages the liver, heart and brain and is the cause of more than 75% of non-diving drowning accidents, related to recreational aquatic activities. Alcohol impairs judgment and coordination.

It causes cardiac rhythm disturbances, impairing the pumping ability of the heart. Blood volume is decreased due to excessive urine production, while hypothermia builds up with the increase of heat loss through the skin.

Hangovers increase the susceptibility to sea sickness. The first signs of nitrogen narcosis are an indication to the diver that it would be safer to ascend and continue the dive at a shallower depth. The first signs of excessive alcohol consumption are a clear indication to the diver that no diving will be done if more alcohol is consumed and a hangover is likely to develop. It is best to leave the use of any recreational or social drugs for after the diving activity.

Sinus and ear medication.

The difficulty in equalizing the sinuses is associated with poor technique or congestion of the lining of the nose due to allergy or infection. The medication used includes pseudoephedrine tablets

(Sudafed) or nasal decongestant sprays.

Decongestants work by clearing the nasal lining which proves to be beneficial on descent. Unfortunately, due to their little effect on the internal opening of the air passages, like the Eustachian tubes, the diver is more prone to develop internal blockages on ascent, much similar to the ‘reverse ear’ effect causing a barotrauma to the external auditory canal. The advice of a diving physician regards medication to deal with congestion is recommended and self-medication is to be avoided.

The limited information contained in this article is for general information only. It must not to be used as reference to decide if you are fit to dive while making use of any of the drugs mentioned in the article. Although your buddy might have experience with drugs and diving, he might not be a diving physician or doctor, so do not go to him for advice on this subject. The information available today can help make your diving safer. Professional advice from a doctor or diving physician is to be sought prior to diving while using any drug or medication.

Safety note: Please remember that whatever you put through your mouth or veins will affect your body on land. In the water these effects will increase or get worse. Drugs and diving are like oil and water, they do not combine. So stay dry when using drugs for medication or recreation.

Species Page Research by: Edward Vella

Seahorse

The seahorse although small and not easy to find, is surely one of the most appreciated encounters a diver can make, more so if he is carrying a camera!

Photo by Veronica Busuttil

Photo by Mario Micallef

Ûiemel il-Ba˙ar

The first thing most people mention whenever the subject of sea horses is brought up, is the unusual characteristic of the male giving birth. Actually, the male is just a carrier, since it is the female that lays the eggs in a sort of pouch carried by the male. The eggs develop within the male’s pouch, who when mature, are expelled as fully developed sea horses – in other words, a seahorse is born already a sea horse –and does not go through development stages, as commonly happens with a lot of other marine species. The breeding season is from April to October.

Locally, two seahorse (Maltese: Ziemel ilBahar) species are more likely to be found; the short nosed (hippocampus hippocampus) and the long nosed (hippocampus ramulosus). Seahorses come from the same family as pipefishes (Maltese: Gremxula), and likes to inhabit posedonia patches. Both of these species make use of their unusual shapes to blend into the background.

Although frequently studied, apparently there is no published data about population or total number of mature animals for these species.

The fact that they are not very mobile, makes them very hard to see, furthermore, Sea Horses use their finless tail to anchor themselves to suitable vegetation, so obviously there is no movement to catch your eye.

In addition, Sea Horses have spike like growths which serve to further break up its outline against the background.

Since they do not have a fin at their tail ends, it becomes evident that they are not strong swimmers. In fact they just use their dorsal fin to move, keeping their head steady and looking down, which makes them look like horses more than ever.

Photo by Joe Formosa

Photo by Victor Fabri

Nov-Dec ­- Penshells - nakkri PLEASE SEND PHOTOS

O

“Dived verseas Where"!!!

Article compiled by Dorian Law

Chuuk

(Truk Lagoon)

North Pacific. Federated States of Micronesia.

Facilities: There are two hotels on the island, Truk Blue Lagoon Resort and Truk Stop Hotel, both having their own dive facilities. Bed only prices start at €100 daily and a 10day stay 18 dive package including Nitrox costs around €1500. Diving facilities cater for snorkelers, beginners and technical divers. Around €50 daily is reasonable to spend on food and beverages, including anything from an English breakfast to picnic box packed lunches or lobster for dinner.

It is important to carry US currency (dollar) because ATM services are not available on the island. Odyssey Adventures Truk Lagoon offer a 7day all inclusive live aboard package on Getting there: This is a two day flight their 40meter dive ship ‘Odyssey’ at plan. All major European airlines €2300, with the possibility of 5dives provide flights towards Guam in per day including Nitrox. the Marianas archipelago. A 2 hour Package cost: A 15day travel / dive flight connects Guam to the airport package costs over €4000. To make of Chuuk on Weno island. The most the airline ticket more worth the economic way to travel is a 36hour price, it is best to consider adding a trip via Alexandria in Egypt at €2100. second dive / site-seeing destination When visiting the following places, like Thailand or the Philippines with it is worth planning a trip to Chuuk; hotel / dive packages under €1000 from the Philippines at €720, Thailand for 5 to 10 days. at €1200 and California at €1500.

Destination: Eleven larger islands and more than forty smaller islands, encircled by more than 200 kilometers of barrier reef, form the volcanic islands of Chuuk, also known by their former name of Truk. Their isolation in the Pacific Ocean was of strategic importance to the Japanese Imperial Navy during the Second World War. It is estimated that about 400 airplanes and more than 70 ships, including cruisers, destroyers and submarines, where sunk in February 1944, when the United States launched a surprise attack, codenamed Operation Hailstone, on this island fortress.

This area came to be known as the Japanese Pearl Harbour.

aircraft and truck parts and the San Francisco Maru with tanks on deck. Sharks and other big fish are frequent visitors to the wrecks.

At Shark Island divers encounter grey reef sharks at close quarters.

Pizion Reef offers encounters with sharks during a wall dive that drops to over 60meters. Due to the number of wrecks in the area, Truk Lagoon is considered the best wreck diving destination amongst the diving community, especially wreck divers.

Dives: In the 40meter range, ideal for Nitrox dives, divers can dive the biggest wrecks in Truk Lagoon like the 150meter long Heian Maru and Shinkoku Maru, the Yamagiri Maru with the 18” diameter artillery shells, the Hoki Maru with its trucks, bulldozer and tractors in the hold, the Rio de Janeiro and Fujikawa Maru. At these depths one can also find the destroyer Fumitzuki and a small twin engine bomber, the Betty Bomber. At 50 meters and deeper, interesting sites include the Nippon Maru with two man tanks and artillery guns on deck, the Momokawa Maru with

Difficulty level: Average – High.

Depth: 6 to 60+ meters.

Visibility: 10 to 40 meters.

Wrecks: Many.

Caves: No known caves in the area.

Walls: Few, including Shark Island and Pizion Reef.

Snorkelling: Few possibilities.

Marine life diversity: Average for fish and above average for corals.

Big fish: Average.

Water temperature: 28 – 30 °C. Best time of the year: December – April.

www. Website of the Month.com

Article by Dorian Law

Name of website: Truk Lagoon.

Access to website: www.truk-lagoon. com Other access: N/A. Purpose of site: To provide information to divers interested in wrecks, especially those who are planning to travel to Chuuk, the best wreck diving destination in the world.

Features: The header features the website’s logo. Under the logo, an eight option menu bar, going from left to right provides the user with all the information required on the different wrecks in the area. The menu bar is visible and accessible from any page opened on the site without having to go back to the home page.

The menu includes the following: Home: Returns the user to the home page featuring a photo of one of the lagoons and information on the purpose of the site.

Ships A-K: Pictures and history of wrecks whose name starts with letters from A to K. These include the Aikoku Maru, Fujikawa Maru and Heian Maru wrecks.

Ships L-Y: Pictures and history of wrecks whose name starts with letters from L to Y. These include the Rio de Janeiro Maru and San Francisco Maro wrecks.

Landside: Photographs and information of the landside life at Moen and Dublon.

Chamber: Photographs and information on the recompression (hyperbaric) chamber.

Technical: Photographs and information on the technical services offered to divers. Special information regards rebreather divers.

Notes: This note-form information tab include site notes, geographical information on Truk, contact by mail and other important notes for the prospective dive tourist to the area.

Links: Very useful links to services in the area, including Blue Lagoon Resort and dive center , Truk Stop Hotel and dive operation, Continental Airlines and the chamber.

Why visit this website: If you are looking for information on Japanese World War 2 wrecks or if you are planning a dive trip to the world’s best wreck diving destination , then this is a must site to visit.

Book of the Month Name of Book: The wreck of the Almiranta.

Sir William Phips and the Hispaniola treasure.

Author: Peter Earle.

Publisher: Macmillan London Limited.

United Kingdom.

ISBN Number: 0 – 333 – 23595 – 9.

Book in short: The book tells the dramatic story of the shipwreck in 1641 of the almiranta or vice-admiral ship of the Mexican treasure fleet, the Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion, and the subsequent attempts to locate the wreck in order to salvage her reputedly famous treasure. The author describes the period before the actual tragic voyage, including the search by the Spaniards for a new flag ship or capitana for the Spanish fleet, its journey and the days at the last ports of call in Vera Cruz and Havana. The actual shipwreck, when the ship struck a coral reef north of Hispaniola (Domenican Republic) and the faith of the survivors are described in vivid detail thanks to the author’s reference to documentation in the archives in Seville, Spain.

The author describes in detail the years following the news of the shipwreck, starting from Santo Domingo, where some of the survivors had been taken. The unsuccessful salvage expeditions by Spaniards, Americans and Englishmen alike serve as a prologue to the actual discovery of the wreck some fortysix years later. London financed, Boston sea captain William Phips raised a £250,000 (17th century money) treasure in silver coin, gold bullion and jewels.

Article by Dorian Law

The search and salvage operation are described in detail, as are the subsequent trips to the site the following years, other salvage operations and their fruitful returns.

The book ends with a post script by the author following the successful rediscovery of the wreck site by Burt Webber in 1978 after making use of information supplied by the author.

The following quote from Chapter 1, taken from the diary of John Evenly dated 6 June 1687, describing the arrival of William Phips in the United Kingdom with the treasure, introduces the reader to this adventure and makes this, the book of the month: “There was about this time brought into the Downs a vast treasure, which was sunk in a Spanish galleon about 45 years ago, somewhere near Hispaniola, or the Bahamas Islands, and was weighed up by some gentlemen, who were at the charge of divers …… to the enriching them beyond expectation”.

Availability: Item 001 753 514. Malta Public Library. Floriana.

PS: I had read this book more than 15years ago and while I was writing the previous articles on Surface Tethered Diving for the Bubbles newsletter I told myself that I had to find this book and read it again. Following a two month search I finally found it. The word almiranta, meaning flagship or capitana, had me going in a different direction because I thought it was the name of a ship and I knew the name of the wreck was Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion. I can now read and dream of this treasure, and so can you.

Ras ir-Raheb This was the second visit to Ras ir-Raheb this year, following the dive held at this site last April. At that time, the dive started right in front of the headland where we explored the cave with its chimney and fantastic exit, and then headed South beneath the cliffs ending the dive at Ghar it-Trozz.

The weather was forecast as ideal, but on the day, the wind picked up, and shifted more to the South West, making sea conditions rough. This meant that we would not be able to repeat the previous April dive; also the cave at the headland would not be diveable. This meant that the dive would take place along the wall leading into Fomm ir-Rih Bay. We had done this dive several times before, the cliff here descends onto sand getting progressively shallower the more one gets closer to the small beach – but there is a juicy attraction here - the wreck of the De Water Joffer – a yacht that had come to grief against the cliff face and now lies at its base fully upright at a depth of about 32m.

We descended to about 10m to conserve air, keeping the cliff wall to our right – and very soon, the wreck’s outline appeared ahead. Here we descended onto the sand next to the wreck.

Seen at close quarters, one immediately realises that this was not a small yacht.

From the previous dive, it looks like it has become more covered in vegetation, but it gave me the impression that it is still pretty well in the state in which it

- Malta 01.09.13

Article by Edward Vella Photos by Joe Formosa

went to the bottom, speaking of which, it has a bad knock on the aft starboard side. I got a mental picture of the yacht crunching against the rocks on that fateful day (or night?).

Following our initial dive on the yacht, I had done a bit of research and asked a few questions, and it transpired that this was an 11 metre fibreglass yacht of the Bavaria class of about 14.5 metric tonnes and flew the Maltese flag, but could not find anything else. I am sure everyone is anxious to learn the story behind this, so if anyone knows anything, the information would be most welcome.

I looked about to see if there was any chance of getting a look inside, but I could only see vaguely from the open rear door, and the windows are grown over. Still, the large helm is still in place making it a good focal point for photography. Then the time came to leave the wreck, and continue the dive.

We kept close to the sand in the hope of sighting sting rays, but no such luck this time. We did see a couple of ‘cow’ nudibranchs (Desmodoris atromaculata).

Following the seabed, it took us about 35 minutes from the 32m near the yacht to reach 14m, by which time we had accumulated about 8 minutes of decompression time, which was however, quickly disposed of by ascending to about 6-7 metres.

This turned out to be a very nice and relaxed dive which I really would not mind doing again.

We then continued the dive by ascending gradually along the sheer cliff wall heading East and then ending the dive well within Fomm ir-Rih Bay.

Il-Qaws/Ghar id-Dwieb Flat calm, like conditions were on this day are few and far between. In stark contrast to the previous weekend, sea conditions were an oily calm – it was a real pleasure trip getting to and from IlQaws (well, actually Ghar id-Dwieb)!

This site is for sure one of the more popular ones, and is normally very well attended –it caters for a wide spectrum of diver skill levels, and offers interesting recesses, and caverns all within most divers’ comfort zones – in other words, this is a nice easy dive in very interesting surroundings, all beneath a horse shoe shape bay with no access from land since ringed by cliffs … and this time we were in for a novelty – flying lampuki?

Well actually not really flying, but certainly seemed to be - well organised expert fishermen who know the surroundings like the back of their hands, rig specialised baited lines for this fish (the lampuka is known as dorado or as mahi-mahi in some countries) from atop the cliffs, and then literally winch them up.

On this day, it was a field day – we counted six lampuki flapping in the air as they went on their way to the praying fisherman.

We had previously dived this site on the last weekend of June – at that time we had decided to stay very shallow in order to maximise the dive for more photographic opportunities, and that resulted in a 77 minute dive - this time we followed a very similar dive plan but agreed to stay a bit deeper, and after keeping for about 35 minutes between 20 metres and a max depth of 34 metres we got into light decompression, which quickly faded once we ascended to a shallower depth.

Nudibranchs are frequently encountered here, and although we were on the look out, we only managed to sight two ‘cows’ (Discodoris atromaculata). Then at about 15 minutes in the dive and at a depth of 22m, we came to the cave with the skeletal remains of a dolphin. We made it a point to arrive there first due to the silt on its steeply sloping floor. At least

- Malta 08.09.13

Article & photos by Edward Vella

this way we did manage to get some shots of the dolphin skull before other divers arrived, with the resultant mini sand storm!

Leaving ‘Dolphin Cave’, the cliff falls vertically onto a slope, but the depth slowly decreases. At the point where the cliff face starts to assume a curve, the diver comes to an interesting cave or perhaps better describes as a series of caves which then must have become interlinked and formed a single feature.

The caves are literally covered with colourful sponges, making it a great spot for photography.

This is the innermost part of the bay.

Here in winter, a waterfall cascades into

the sea, also at this point in previous dives we saw fresh water seeping into the sea. It would therefore seem that these caves were formed by the passage or the action of water?

All through the dive, since it was midmorning, we were in the shade of the cliff, but soon we came into bright sunlight, a sure sign that we had crossed over to the other side of the bay – also a look at our pressure gauges, confirmed that our most enjoyable dive would now have to come to an end – so we slowly surfaced and made our way back to the dive boat on the flat calm water.

What better way to spend a Sunday morning?

Crocodile Rock

- Gozo 15.09.13

Article & photos by Edward Vella

This dive has been described in these dive logs for several times, the previous one being in the May / June Bubbles, but the foremost common theme running in this and those writings is that Crocodile Rock is surely one of the most popular and well attended dives.

First of all, the attractions of this dive starts by the scenic route getting there – the towering magnificent limestone cliffs of Ta’ Cenc showing their strata of sediments, then past the scenic Gebla tal-General (also known as Fungus Rock) and last but not least the company of the band of buddies!

There is always a good chance of encountering some significant sea life here, so we entered the water in anticipation of this. Must say that first of all, there was a big difference in the water temperature, with respect to that May dive (17 vs. 26 degrees)!

We swam out of the breach in the reef below the ‘crocodile’ and headed for the deep. Well we sport divers stopped at about 38 metres or thereabouts, while the tekkies just kept on going beyond the deep second reef wall. On the boulder filled slope we scoured for the denizens which we know inhabit and hunt in this area, and we were not disappointed… a large grouper, I would say between 60 and 80 cm swam not too hurriedly in the passages between the boulders, then large dentex two of them, out in the blue –

this is just a very brief taste of how our reefs could be if protected areas are ever established. In this case, I should think that what protection exists here is due to the depth, and the jagged sea bed, courtesy of the fallen boulders – otherwise, fishermen legal and illegal would surely take a heavier toll….

We were at this point at our max depth, a bit outward of the reef wall and out on the slope – so we started a very slow ascent and steering uphill until we were once again close to the reef wall, and proceeding to our turnaround point – the so-called Roger’s Cave. We got there in the dive’s twenty second minute – the entrance is at about 21 metres. The cave consists of a circular chamber with I would estimate, a diameter of about 25 to 30 metres, with a metre high shelf at its innermost sector. This cave, I am afraid, gives me the impression that it is showing the stress of too many visiting divers. On its sandy floor one can find fragments of broken lace coral, and I suspect that the false coral and sponges covering its ceiling are bearing the brunt of the exhaust bubbles, but even so it remains too interesting not to explore. It is also a good location for photography (provided the sandy floor is not stirred up!).

Once out of the cave we back tracked towards our starting point ascending along the reef wall, until we got back to the breach. Along the way, we went through ‘clouds’ of silvery juvenile bogue and the omnipresent black damsel fish – both being a couple of levels down the food chain, and therefore staple diets for the likes of amberjacks – of which we saw a couple prowling for opportunities! We ended the dive in the shallows on the reef top beneath our Atlantis II. And so until the next time Crocodile Rock!

Ras il-Hekka We had absolutely perfect weather on this dive; no swell and a totally flat sea surface.

Because of these conditions, the boat could anchor just outside Hekka Point cave. We decided to set out towards the east and explore any caves encountered along the path keeping a relatively shallow dive profile. In fact, the deepest recorded depth was 20 metres and this gave us a total dive time of 89 minutes despite having travelled a considerable distance underwater.

- Gozo 29.09.13

Article by Tano RolĂŠ

to only find rocks which seemed to have been considerably weathered. The only boulders I could see had rounded features and a copious covering of photophilic algae. This suggests that they have been underwater for quite some time.

There were many large pot holes underwater but many of these were quite remarkable by the fact that they contained no smooth rocks on the inside. It is normally the spinning action of the rocks inside the pot holes that is often responsible for the Three caves were explored (including the development of these features. The largest cave at Hekka Point) and we shall name pot holes measured up to 5m in diameter. these as Hekka 1, 2, and 3; starting from the cave located right at Hekka Point. All As stated earlier, this cave can be divided caves were quite different in morphology into two semi-circular embayments. The and each possessed some remarkable eastern one is quite shallow and contains characteristics. Each one of them had several large boulders just outside the distinct rock ledges at various depths. The cave mouth. It is safe to assume that these ledges were quite horizontal at the surface were probably derived from plucking of rocks at the cliff wall, by wave action, and seemed like wave-cut platforms. during the cave formation process. A distinct flat-topped ledge runs along Hekka 1 most of the cave at 7m depth and, in fact, There is very limited penetration to this the greatest penetration of the cave can cave and two distinct indentations can be achieved by following this ledge. The be identified. The upper parts of the cave, western embayment is larger and also the part which is currently above sea level, contains several pronounced pot-holes; is characterised by large, angular, rock some with rounded rocks still inside. The faces. This suggests that large boulders deepest penetration of this cave is at the were plucked from the cliff face by a 3.5m ledge. series of storm waves and this would have contributed to the formation of the cave. The wide mouth of the cave, as well as the The sharp edges are due to joints within the exposure to the prevailing north-westerly Lower Coralline limestone and normally winds ensures that no fine sediment is denotes recent formation since the agents trapped inside this cave. of erosion would have had limited time to act on the rock faces and smooth them down to rounded features. I was expecting to find correspondingly angular rocks below sea level but was rather surprised Background photo by Edward Vella

Hekka 2 This is a very large cave where the entrance to the cave is some 80m wide. The deepest part, at this point, is about 28m. For such a large entrance, however, the cave affords very limited penetration and one hardly needs a torch in order to explore it adequately.

There is no silt inside this cave although the floor at the cave entrance is covered in sand and some remnants of Posidonia.

This suggests that the cave is exposed to a fair amount of rough seas which would remove any fine silt that can be trapped inside.

Photo by Joe Formosa

The cave profile is distinc tive. The eastern wall is quite straight (except for a pronounced ledge at about 8m) and extends down steeply to the 28m depth but the western wall is more gentle and slopes at a roughly 45 degree angle with a pronounced concave profile. This type of cave cross-section indicates preferential weathering along a fault line or vertical joint.

As in the case of the other two caves, Hekka 2 was characterised by three, discontinuous but distinct, flat-topped ledges.

Photos by Edward Vella

Hekka 3 As in the case of the previous cave (Hekka 2) the floor of this cave also extends down to 28m at its entrance and it has distinct flat-topped ledges at 20m and 5m depths.

The inner part of the cave (5m depth) contained a considerable amount of decomposing Posidonia oceanica remnants which covered about 10m2 of a rocky shelf. This organic matter seems to sustain an ecosystem based upon decomposers which, in turn, supports crustaceans, and red mullets (Mullus surmuletus). Three, very large red scorpion fish (Scorpaena scrofa) were seen at strategic locations inside the cave. These did not seem to be bothered much by my dive light and I was hoping to take a lot of pictures. The only problem was that my getting close to them disturbed the fine silt and I only managed to take some three photos before the backscatter became totally unacceptable. The silt provided a perfect environment for tube anemones (Cerianthus membranaceus) and these were plentiful. I stopped counting at fifteen. These anemones were not large specimens and they all seemed to be of the same size.

I implore the local tourist diving establishments to refrain from taking divers into caves which have Retepora colonies. There are many other caves which can be explored without creating irreversible damage. We should have an environmentally-sensitive code of practice that is respected by all divers. This may restrict the exploration of such caves to CCR divers and prevent open-circuit divers from frequenting Retepora caves. It is preferable and more effective to have such a self-imposed code, embraced by the diving community, than to have a Governmentimposed draconian law which may severely curtail the wonderful experience of cave diving.

The lower depths of the cave were extremely silty and covered by a huge amount of dead Lace coral (Retepora cellulosa) skeletons. I find this very distressing because it is divers who create such wholesale destruction of these colonies and it is the frequent visits by tourist divers which are contributing most to this process.

Lace corals grow suspended from the cave roof and form individual colonies which may measure up to 30 cm in length. These are very fragile and are easily dislodged by the exhaled bubbles of divers using open-circuit SCUBA systems. Lace corals grow very slowly and their limited growth rates cannot match the rate at which they are being destroyed. It is very sad to think that so many caves around the Maltese archipelago had beautiful submerged roofs which were covered with extensive growths of lace coral. I often had the impression, during my earliest explorations of caves some thirty years ago, that I was diving under a vineyard and the lace corals resembled grapes full of ripe berries. It is tragic that most caves have now been denuded of such organisms and that this is ironically occurring through a high volume tourist diving industry which wants to pass off as a form of ecotourism!

Base photo by Edward Vella

Photo of cave floor at Hekka 3 – a disturbing view of dying Lace Coral (Retepora cellulosa) colonies.

Inset photos by Tano RolĂŠ

Reqqa Point True to forecast, the day dawned windless but overcast with low cloud and rainy – adding to the diveboat loading hassle, it really was a different environment from the usual! The anchor was dropped on the edge of the reef at Reqqa Point – and we were ready to go!

The plan was to dive Ghar il-Kbir (also known as Billinghurst Cave in the tourist brochures). We were a group of six, but at the last minute, myself and buddy Ivo decided to go on a different route – with the first stop being the so called Shrimps’ Cave. The Shrimps’ Cave is actually on the same wall as Ghar il-Kbir, but closer to Reqqa Point reef, with its triangular shaped entrance at 37 metres. Once inside, care has to be exercised not to stir up the silty floor, not because of any silt-out danger, but because it would be the end of any photographic sessions for the day… It seemed to me that the cave is roughly circular – we did not enter with the intention of spending too much time inside, but the prime target were the shrimps which live in the dome – for right in the centre of the cave’s ceiling, there is a dome shape recess.

This time however, no luck and no shrimps (well I did see two to be honest!), and so out of this deep cave to conserve air and get a bit more dive time. Next we headed west along the wall until we came to the big one – Ghar il-Kbir – with its impressive sombre entrance (it’s so big!!) We entered with the intention of progressing half way in – but as we were in there, we were joined by the rest of the original group who were heading for the cave bowels – I had this idea of joining, but my computer said that there were only three minutes left to

- Gozo 06.10.13

Article by Edward Vella

Photo by Edward Vella

Photo by Joe Formosa

Photo by Edward Vella Background photo by Edward Vella

deco – too much time in Shrimps’ Cave – and so we exited slowly and headed out to the reef with the pinnacle. At this time, we were getting low on air, so we remained on the reef top also to decompress. It turned out to be an ultra relaxed dive – of course at Reqqa Point, so many many dive permutations are possible, be it cave diving – deep cave diving (the bottleneck!), technical divers are only self- limited - because the depth is there (and the heavy groupers!)

Photo by Joe Formosa

Kap San Dimitri

- Gozo 13.10.13

Article by Simon Ciantar

Technical Dive The club has been diving at some interesting caves recently, unfortunately since I and my buddies are rather obsessed with depth - Yeah I guess we are depth junkies - we always turn our back on them and head for the deep!

This time however I was adamant that we should make the cave… so I dived in first and headed for the cave .. myself and Nader were the first in the water and after some 10 mins of swimming underwater looking for the entrance I was about to give up and head for the call of the deep , which I could feel calling me relentlessly on my left hand side, when we finally found it .

The cave was nice, but the further in we went the more I was thinking that if we spend too much time at this 20 mtr or so we would be unable to head for the deep. Now I know that we should have done the deep part first and gone for the shallow cave after, but knowing myself and my buddy, I knew that it would not happen, after a deep dive all we would be thinking of is that ice cold beer waiting for us on the boat and I would lose all appetite for caves! So after a few minutes I decided to succumb to the call of the deep and head out of the cave. We exited the cave and headed down , but we quickly realised that this was going to be a disappointing dive, the seabed did not have the gradient

we were expecting , no sharp drop-offs , just a gentle slope which was not going to take us anywhere near our planned max depth of 90 mtrs!

circle that went right up to the surface and with the two large groupers sitting slightly further away looking idly at me.

To make things worse it seems to be flattening out at around 50 mtrs. My buddy signalled to me that it was hopeless and to turn parallel with the coastline, when in the distance I saw what looked like a large rock, or better still a small reef rising a good 5 to 8 mtrs from the bottom. I decided to give it a closer look , and after a few minutes of swimming out to it , I could see a large shoal of barracuda circling from the top of the reef right though the surface a good 45 mtrs above.

What looked like a s**it dive initially had proved to be one of the best dives of this year. This is what I like about diving - the totally unpredictability, you really never really know what to expect ….

We rose slowly being careful to take advantage of the silence of our rebreathers, to within inches of the barracuda who seemed totally unconcerned with our close proximity.

To add spice to the whole event we saw two large groupers sitting pretty on top of the reef just looking at us. As I stood there the shoal of barracuda moved down and started slowing circling me cutting me off from my buddy. They were so close that I could have just reached out and touched them , I stood there for a whole 10 mins with huge barracuda passing within no more than 4 feet from me… and forming a

Photo by: Edward Vella

Base & above photo by: Joe Formosa

Kap San Dimitri

Base photo by: Edward Vella

- Gozo 13.10.13

Article by Tano RolĂŠ

The Caves We had a southerly wind blowing for a few days so the northern shore of San Dimitri Point presented a perfectly sheltered location for this dive. The trip was quite calm and we had a great bonus when we caught sight of a pod of, at least, three dolphins on the boat ride to the dive site. The time of this sighting was 9.45 am and we were just about 1.5 km north off the coast of Ramla l-Hamra in Gozo. One of these dolphins leapt out of the water a few times and it looked quite small; probably a juvenile.

Two beautiful caves were explored during this dive, each of them markedly different in characteristics:

San Dimitri 2

San Dimitri 1 This is a vertical cave extending from 30m depth up to sea level at the cave mouth. Its widest point, nearest to the cave entrance, is only about 10 to 15m wide and tapers gently to a narrower shaft at sea level. The cave entrance faces north while the main body extends in a southerly direction. The general shape of the cave suggests erosion along a vertical joint or fault. In fact, distinct slickensides (smooth wall surfaces where rock bodies slid against one another) can be seen along stretches of the eastern wall and this testifies to some form of horizontal displacement along the vertical joint. The steep, narrow cave walls are generally straight and I cannot remember seeing any distinct horizontal ledges, or wavecut notches. This suggests that the cave was formed relatively recently (within the Holocene) and did not experience past, long-term, sea levels which could have eroded such ledges.

This cave must have been widened by horizontal expansion along the vertical fault line which resulted in dislodging of huge slabs of rock which can now be seen on the cave floor. Of course, these blocks would have also been subject to wave action which would have further destabilised the rock faces. A particularly huge boulder blocks part of the cave passage-way half-way along the cave

profile. The boulder was, at least, 10m in height since it extended from 30m at the cave floor to 20m. We had to ascend to 20m to clear the obstacle. These abrupt changes in the cave profile are quite common in such vertical caves and remind me of Camma 4 Cave which was described in an earlier edition of this magazine.

Sediment inside the cave was mostly sand and remnants of Posidonia. Distinct ripple marks could be seen on the cave floor even deep inside the cave and the depressions, formed between the ridges of the ripples, were filled with Posidonia remains. This produced a curious zebra-like pattern on the cave floor.

Marine life inside this cave was rather limited once we entered the totally obscure zone. The rocks, however, were covered in several parts by networks of vermetid molluscs. In addition, the remnants of Posidonia sea grass must have provided food for a colony of the striped narval shrimp (Plesionika narval) which are found in several other caves along this stretch of shore. A few of these shrimps could be seen in the innermost recesses of the cave.

Three large tube anemones (Cerinathus membranaceus) were also seen on the fine silt within the innermost part of the cave.

This cave is no less impressive but very different in form. It is semi-circular in shape; much like an underwater amphitheatre and the blue light that washes into the cave renders it quite majestic. It was easy to imagine a symphony orchestra playing at the inner end of the cave with successive rows of patrons seated at the centre. There was even a swept platform which could have accommodated an entire set of a theatre! The cave mouth is about 50 metres in width and has a distinct flat ledge at 11metres. Penetration is rather limited to about 25 metres from the cave mouth and it is possible to surface at any time. The centre of the cave has been eroded into a basin and now contains a motley collection of boulders of different sizes but none of them seemed to be greater than 1 metre in size. This tended to deliver the impression of an audience waiting for a performance to start!

The semi-circular shape of this cave is characteristic of caves developed within relatively homogeneous rocks along horizontal bedding planes. In fact, several horizontal bands could be recognised where erosion had progressed at a much faster rate. The result is a curious series of horizontal grooves etched into the rock face giving the impression of a layered cake.

Of course, this rock structure facilitates the

plucking of boulders from the cave wall by waves and many such boulders could be seen littering the floor of the cave. At least seven distinct layers can be identified and, one of these provides a wide, flat platform within the inner part of the cave at a depth of 11m.

A small cavern can be seen along the eastern wall of the cave. This is lower in elevation than the main chamber but is heavily silted up such that one can only enter this cavern for a distance of some five metres. The fine silt, on the floor, supports a colony of beautiful tube anemones (Cerinathus membranaceus).

The fact that subdued light can penetrate to most parts of the cave means that a semi-obscure marine ecosystem thrives within it. This includes colourful encrusting sponges, star corals (Astroides calycularis), and even coralline algae like (Lithophyllum lichenoides).

Typical sessile organisms in San Dimitri Cave 2 – Myriapora truncata (false coral) branching sideways from the sponge Ircina variabilis Above photos by Tano RolÊ

Xlendi Reef

- Gozo 27.10.13

Some dives get most of the right ingredients together to realise a pleasant dive to really make your weekend, and provide enough day dream fuel until the next Atlam boat dive e-mail comes along! This was one of them. It started off with picture perfect conditions, and then along the way, starting approximately when parallel with the Ta’ Cenc cliffs, we noted that the sea was swarming with Cotylorhiza tuberculata - or colloquially – the fried egg jelly fish. There were masses of them – and all large examples, which I would estimate to average around 45 centimetres in diameter. This whetted the photo divers appetite in anticipation of what there would be at the dive site, until they were drooling all over the Atlantis II. Included among us droolers were our most welcome English buddies – William Hewitt, Geoff Bowan and Tom Cowan – the only thing that keeps Atlam from adopting them is that otherwise there would be no more BA – Atlam photo competitions!

The first thing that became very event as soon as one entered the water was its clarity – and yes the fried eggs were there as well! After having re-assured ourselves that there would be more than enough present after we had done the dive, we started off our dive. In previous dive logs for this site, the dive described how once over the drop off at Southern side, we had descended freefall style onto our selected depth. This time we chose to explore the Northern side of the reef.

Article Edward Vella

Since the diveboat was anchored on the South edge of the reef, we had to make a short two minute swim to get to the opposite edge. This side was the first time for me, and I must say that due no doubt to the water clarity and the fact that the drop is so sheer, I got the impression that the sand was a good distance away – so I kept my best control over my rate of descent, and keeping an eye on the depth gauge. As it was, we levelled out at about 36 meters, but there must have been close to another 6-8 metres to reach the sand – this was one nice freefall style descent for sure!

Once we re-grouped, we followed the reef keeping its wall on our left hand. We kept at max depth for about 10 minutes and then started a slow ascent. Unfortunately no significant sea life was encountered, and this, after having chosen this route mostly because of the ‘blank’ dive we had had the previous time we had visited Xlendi. On that occasion, we had gone along the shore line wall heading Southerly – this time we chose the reef in the hope of running into barracuda which are frequently seen here, but as any American diver would say, it was to be no dice!

At least for myself, this dive served to clear a question mark in my head as to the layout of Xlendi reef – which is roughly tongue shaped.

After rounding the reef, we in fact continued for quite a bit along the shoreline wall this time as well, and then it was time to return to the Atlantis II. Here as previously stated, were still numerous jelly fish which we happily

immortalised in our cameras! These fried egg or as I like to call them custard pie jellyfish are extremely photogenic, not just for their alien spaceship outlines, or for the mass of short appendages and their violet tipped tentacles, but also their deep golden colour contrasts beautifully with the deep blue of the Mediterranean.

A super fantastic dive!

Cotylorhiza tuberculata - photo by Edward Vella

Base photo by Joe Formosa

Ist Atlam Haloween Party 31 November 2013

Photos by Mario Micallef