News

REPORT ON NEW CALEDONIA’S

CORAL REEFS OFFERS A GLIMMER OF HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

Scientists on the Global Reef Expedition have surveyed and mapped New Caledonia’s most remote coral reefs – some for the first time.

A new report from the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation (KSLOF) provides a promising assessment of the status of coral reefs in New Caledonia. The Global Reef Expedition: New Caledonia Final Report summarizes the Foundation’s findings from a research mission to study the health and resiliency of the coral reefs of New Caledonia, part of KSLOF’s larger efforts to study the reef crisis unfolding around the world. They found many of the coral reefs to be in surprisingly good health, even in unexpected places.

This research initiative was conducted as part of the Global Reef Expedition, a five-year scientific mission that circumnavigated the globe to collect valuable baseline data on the state of the reefs and the threats they face. Of the 22 research missions, the Foundation conducted in the western Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, the reefs of New Caledonia stood apart as some of the most beautiful and well-preserved.

“The reefs of New Caledonia are simply spectacular. Incredible diversity. Remarkable morphology,” said Dr Sam Purkis, KSLOF’s Chief Scientist as well as Professor and Chair of the Department of Marine Geosciences at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.

“But in New Caledonia, as elsewhere, the reefs are gravely threatened by local impacts and climate change. The Living Oceans Foundation achieved two important objectives in the country – first, they mapped, using satellite, many of the remotest reef systems in New Caledonia for the first time. Second, the field data collected by the Foundation set a baseline condition for these reefs which can be tracked into the future to understand change.

“We hope that future change takes the form of an improving condition of the reefs, as new conservation initiatives are sparked by the Living Oceans dataset.”

Working closely with local experts, researchers from the Institut de Recherche pour le Développment (IRD), and marine scientists from around the world, scientists at the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation spent more than one month at sea conducting comprehensive surveys of the coral reefs and their fish in New Caledonia, as well as creating detailed seabed maps. In October and November of 2013, these scientists conducted over 1,000 surveys of corals and reef fish and mapped over 2,600 km2 of shallow-water marine habitats in 10 locations throughout the country, including reefs in the Entrecasteaux Atolls, Cook Reef, Ile des Pins, and Prony Bay.

On the Global Reef Expedition mission to New Caledonia, scientists found most of the reefs to be relatively healthy, with abundant and diverse coral and fish communities. Reefs far from shore, or protected in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), were in particularly good condition, but many nearshore reefs showed signs of fishing pressure with few large and commercially valuable fish. One notable exception was Prony Bay, which had the highest live coral cover observed in New Caledonia.

“One of our most surprising findings from New Caledonia was coral reefs thriving in unexpected locations, such as Prony Bay,” said Alexandra Dempsey, the Director of Science Management at KSLOF and one of the report’s authors, who was shocked to find such high coral cover in the bay’s murky waters. This was unexpected given the nutrient and sediment runoff from nearby copper mines and the presence of hydrothermal vents in the bay.

“Corals were surprisingly abundant in what would normally be sub-optimal conditions for coral growth. This gives us hope for the future of coral reefs. More research is needed, but this finding shows us that at least some corals can adapt to survive in high-stress environments.”

New Caledonia is a global leader in marine conservation. Home to the second largest MPA in the world, New Caledonia has already made great strides to protect their reefs and coastal marine resources. The report released today provides new information on the status of coral reefs and reef fish in New Caledonia, including baseline information on reefs inside Le Parc Naturel de la Mer de Corail, an MPA established in 2014. Although several years have passed since the research mission, these baseline data could be very helpful to marine managers in New Caledonia, by helping them identify areas which may be in need of additional protection and allowing ecosystem changes to be tracked through time.

“This report provides government officials, marine park managers, and the people of New Caledonia with relevant information and recommendations they can use to effectively manage their reefs and coastal marine resources,” said Renée Carlton, a Marine Ecologist with the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation and one of the authors of the report. “We hope the data will inform ongoing marine conservation and management efforts to protect coral reefs and fisheries in New Caledonia, so that these reefs continue to thrive for generations to come.”

SHARKSKIN SUPPORTS FRONTLINE HEALTHCARE WORKERS

When the Coronavirus pandemic reached Australian shores, both domestic retail sales and international exports were impacted, leaving many local manufacturers in hot water. But using some Aussie ingenuity, watersports apparel manufacturer Sharkskin has risen to the challenge, transforming their factory into a production line for protective equipment for frontline healthcare workers. Sharkskin, who is a proud partner of Surf Life Saving NSW and manufactures wetsuits and other watersports apparel in Newcastle, was among the local businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many manufacturers, they were hit with an immediate downturn in demand for their products and faced the real possibility of having to stand down their 30-strong workforce.

“We got hit pretty hard with our overseas exports suffering the most. We lost 80 percent of our export business overnight. It was a lot,” said Shane Holliday, Sharkskin’s Managing Director.

“Normally winter in Australia is our busiest time because we produce thermal wear. And the Sharkskin NSW IRB Championship series usually props us up through winter, but then that got postponed too,” he said.

In an effort to avoid standing down their team, Sharkskin came up with a solution that would not only keep their factory operational, but also benefit Australian healthcare workers encountering shortages of PPE (personal protective equipment) as they battled the Coronavirus on the frontline.

Since March, the team at Sharkskin has produced more than 3,000 reusable anti-microbial theatre gowns and 1,000 anti-microbial hospital privacy curtains. They also have a new re-usable facemask product which will soon start rolling off their production line – with production numbers expected to top 5,000 units a year.

“We’ve created a washable, reusable face mask for public use. It’s made from permanent ani-microbial material and silver thread so it’s very durable,” said Shane Holliday.

“Wearing a face mask will soon become the new normal for people going out in public – just like putting a pair of undies on. You’ll just wear one!

“We’re actually expecting that wearing a mask may soon become mandatory for spectators attending large sporting events. So this is a product we may need to produce for some time,” Holliday concluded.

Sharkskin is an Australian success story with their Newcastle factory producing specialised watersports apparel for both the Australian and overseas markets. They export to more than 70 countries around the world. As the COVID-19 restrictions on watersports activities ease, Sharkskin will ramp up production to service its core watersport markets globally, thanks to the PPE production which has kept the Sharkskin staff and factory in full production through this challenging period. www.sharkskin.com

THREE MARINE ECOLOGY COURSES TO HELP VANQUISH THE COVID-19 BLUES

Stuck at home, bored, isolated, and looking to add some fun – well, there has never been a better time to get educated. And these three Marine Ecology courses from SSI might be just the ticket.

Fiji’s Volivoli Beach Resort is on hand to help and is running a range of exciting and informative SSI Marine Ecology courses that you can complete at home in the safety and comfort of your own home without any need for face-toface contact.

Enrol in the Sea Turtle Ecology course to discover different types of sea turtles, how to easily identify different species of sea turtles, how old they date back (some over 100 million years!), mating and breeding, including nests, eggs and hatching, migrating patterns, and threats and conservation.

Enrol in the Manta and Ray Ecology course to discover rays are also known as batoids, that a ray’s skeleton is made from cartilage, just like a shark, that some rays can live in water

3,000m deep, how to identify a ‘cleaning station’, that some rays can produce electric current up to 220-volts, that a fully grown manta ray can consume up to 27kgs of food a day, and smart ecotourism practices.

Enrol in the Shark Ecology course to gain an understanding of the living order of sharks, how we know the word ‘shark’ dates back to the 1560s, what a shark’s largest organ is, why a female shark has up to three or four times thicker skin than male sharks, the difference between ‘ram ventelators’ and ‘buccal pharyngeal pumpers’, and what percentage of its body weight do ‘active sharks’ need to consume per day.

All of these courses are fun, educational, full of interesting facts, and suitable for anyone, diver or non-diver alike, with an interest in the marine environment.

To register, enrol or for more information, contact Fiji’s Premier Dive Resort via email at: simon@volivoli.com and they can have you under way in no time!

WHALE RESCUE LANDS GOOD SAMARITAN IN HOT WATER

A Good Samaritan diver who performed a risky rescue of a humpback whale tangled in shark nets off Queensland in May narrowly avoided being fined a hefty sum for his heroics. The man, who called himself Django, noticed the juvenile animal in peril at Burleigh Heads and dived into action, managing to eventually free the creature.

He explained: “I saw the whale, and I thought, ‘that is pretty cool’. Then I saw he was in the net, and I thought, that is not cool’.

“He just had his pectoral fin sort of wrapped up, and he was about 8-9m deep. Adrenaline just sort of kicked in. Basically, I just tried to untangle him. I had a knife, I didn’t really need to use the knife though.

“Obviously it was dangerous. I wouldn’t recommend everyone go and do it, it’s highly dangerous. But it’s done. I didn’t drown. I wouldn’t recommend anyone doing it.”

It then appeared that the hero diver could receive a substantial fine - interfering with shark nets can lead to a fine of almost $27,000. Approaching whales is also illegal.

A crowdfunding page was set up to assist Django with any potential fines for his humpback whale rescue and had raised around $15,000 before the furore surrounding the incident led to the news a few days later that he would not face a fine, and just be issued with a formal warning from the QLD Fisheries Department instead. The money raised went to Sea Shepherd Australia.

A Fisheries Queensland spokeswoman said: “To be clear, this incident could have had a tragic outcome. The actions we saw were reckless and completely unnecessary. The Marine Animal Rescue Team [MART] was just minutes away when this person went into the water.

“He put himself in serious danger, as well as potentially injuring the whale, and creating a situation where MART could have been at significant risk trying to rescue a trapped swimmer next to the thrashing whale.

“In 1992, a surfer drowned after becoming entangled by shark control equipment. This is why there is a 20-metre exclusion zone around shark control equipment.

“MART trains every year for whale rescue situations, and has the necessary equipment to undertake a safe rescue.”

This incident has once again ignited the debate about the use of shark nets along some of Queensland beaches, with some environmental groups calling for them to be removed.

IF ONLY… DOCUMENTARY ABOUT CCR TRAGEDY

High-risk diver and human factors expert Gareth Lock has joined forces with American widow Ashley Bugge to make a film – titled If Only… – about the sudden death of her husband Brian, an experienced open circuit diver, who drowned in Hawaii two years ago.Gareth, who lives in Wiltshire and who travels the world sharing his knowledge of how human behaviour can affect diving, has privately funded the documentary and hopes it raises awareness of the important role human behaviour can play in diving.

He said: “One of the inspirations for this film was ‘Just a Routine Operation’ by Martin Bromiley, which had a huge impact on developing human factors practice in healthcare.

“I hope that If Only… has the same effect in diving and further afield too – showing that the multiple factors which lead to an accident are not easy to see at the time, and that by discussing these context-rich stories, we can improve safety for all. We must understand how it made sense for those involved to do what they did, even if it appears irrational in hindsight.”

If Only… launched virtually on Wednesday 20 May on the second anniversary of Brian’s death.

It is the latest awareness campaign by Gareth, who is also a published author, to encourage the diving community to embrace personal responsibility in diving, ensure continuous professional development of instructors and to understand that it’s not just technical problems which can crop up in diving.

Gareth has been supported by Ashley Bugge, Brian’s widow and mother to his three children. She said: “For me, it’s not about who is to blame and who did this or who did that. This is not a blame game for me.

“This is about Brian’s life and death being the inspiration for everyone in the diving community to consider how their thoughts, feelings, instincts and behaviour all play a critical role in being safe in the water.

“I’m hoping the pain and trauma of losing Brian will encourage divers to never take anything for granted. Every day must be a school day when it comes to diving.”

Gareth went to Hawaii in November last year to film the story of Brian, who was an officer with the US Pacific Fleet’s Integrated Undersea Surveillance Systems department. He died on 20 May 2018 in Honolulu, Hawaii, while off duty on a training dive. He was 35 and Ashley, a diver herself, was weeks away from having their third child.

On the day of the accident, Brian was using a closedcircuit rebreather. Unfortunately, he did not turn on his oxygen supply for his rebreather before entering the water, and within minutes, he passed out and sank to the ocean floor. Attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful. The manufacturer of the equipment was not found to be at fault in Brian’s death.

Gareth said: “I hope this film will act as an example of what can be done when a story can be told, and save lives in the process. This is only the start of a very long journey to improve diving safety by looking at the role of human factors in diving incidents.”

Gareth, who lives with his family in Malmesbury, had a 25-year career with the RAF as a squadron leader and flight instructor. His company – The Human Diver – educates divers, or any team undertaking any activity, the importance of decision-making, situational awareness, communication skills, leadership, teamwork and managing stress and fatigue. www.thehumandiver.com

GIANT CUTTLEFISH FISHING RESTRICTIONS LIFTED IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Temporary restrictions in place since 2013 on commercial and sport fishing for giant cuttlefish have been lifted by the Department of Primary Industries and Regions South Australia (PIRSA).

PIRSA has issued a statement that the permanent restriction zone around Point Lowly, Whyalla for the annual aggregation of giant cuttlefish remains in place, but the Department believes the population levels have returned to the point that fishing for cuttlefish can now be resumed in the Gulf.

The Scuba Divers Federation of South Australia (SDFSA) is seeking more information from PIRSA about this. There is growing concern that the economic cost to tourism with the potential reduction in numbers of giant cuttlefish has not been calculated. Updates to this news will be posted on the SDFSA website: https://sdfsa.net

Professor Bronwyn Gillanders, President, Experiencing Marine Sanctuaries and Deputy Dean Research, Faculty of Science, University of Adelaide has provided the following statement:

“The Upper Spencer Gulf (USG) closure was only ever going to be temporary and so now that the numbers have rebuilt it was been removed. The more recent changes in abundance (since the initial closure to fishing) are we suspect part of a natural cycle in abundance potentially linked to temperature anomalies. Apart from the initial decline in the late 1990s, there is no indication fluctuating numbers are linked to fishing. There is also relatively little commercial fishing (e.g. prawn trawling) in that USG region. The recreational fishing numbers do allow individuals to take either up to 15 cuttlefish or a combined total of 15 squids and cuttlefish (boat limits 45 cuttlefish or a combination of three or more people) – I think perhaps a review of these might be warranted in relation to cuttlefish but I’d also like to see better data on recreational fish catches and cephalopods. From my perspective, there is a clear need for ongoing monitoring of abundance as has occurred since 2008. Given the uniqueness of the breeding aggregation ongoing monitoring is essential as significant declines in abundance of this ecotourism resource may impact the economy.”

MEDICAL Q&A

The Divers Alert Network (DAN) is the diving industry’s largest association dedicated to scuba-diving safety. Serving divers for more than 30 years, DAN provides emergency assistance, medical information sources, educational opportunities and more. www.danap.org

Question: Can I dive after recovering from COVID-19? DAN Answer: COVID-19 symptoms range from mild to severe. Some people have no symptoms at all while others require complicated stays in ICUs with ventilatory support to recover. In addition to the impact of the primary viral infection, factors such as underlying medical conditions, age, secondary complications and more will affect recovery. COVID-19 shares many features with other serious viral pneumonias and requires a period of convalescence before returning to normal activities. The amount of time needed to recover will vary, as will the long-term effects of COVID-19, such as pulmonary function. As information becomes available it will be incorporated into COVID-19 prevention, treatment and follow-up guidelines. Determination of your fitness to return to diving after a COVID-19 infection will require assessment by your physician team confirming your full recovery and ability to safely perform unrestricted vigorous activity. If your doctor needs to consult with a dive medicine specialist, DAN doctors are here to help. We also have a database of dive medicine doctors and can provide referral information. DAN Director of Medical Services, Dr Matias Nochetto says: “As scientists discover more about how COVID-19 affects sick and recovered people, we continue to advance our knowledge on how it could affect divers. We need to be prudent and patient.”

WHAT TO DO

• If you had COVID-19 focus on recovery, which can take several months.

• Once fully recovered, contact DAN for a referral for fitness to dive.

• Continue to monitor recommendations from local authorities.

We urge all divers who have recovered from COVID-19 infection to call DAN for upto-date information. As always, continue to follow all recommended precautions and stay safe.

Got a medical question? Call the DAN Medical Information Line at +1-919-684- 2948, or send us an email (medic@dan.org). Our team is standing by to assist you.