Somewhere amid the cerulean waters of the Andaman Sea a man dives for his family's dinner. He inhales, and in an instant disappears beneath the waves, his movements elegant and purposeful. The man holds his breath for what seems like an eternity, moving effortlessly through the water column, gathering from the sea as his ancestors have for thousands of years.
This man is a Moken, one of only a thousand that remain of this ancient culture of "sea gypsies." The last of the Moken live in the Mergui Archipelago, which spans 250 miles of warm waters off the coast of Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Thailand. The Moken are called Chao Ley (people of the sea) in Thai, and it is a fitting name; for 8 months of the year they roam the waves in hand carved sail boats called Kabang, living off the bounty of the sea. An entire family lives in a Kabang, a hydrodynamic home fashioned from a single rainforest tree. Sometimes extended families come together forming a floating village to share resources, sing, and tell stories.
The Moken have adapted to their ocean lifestyle over centuries. They can see underwater twice as well as other humans, and in a single dive can reach depths that would have most people grabbing for SCUBA gear. They seem completely at ease in the water, and with good reason -- a Moken diver can hold their breath for up to an astounding 8 minutes, (as a competitive freediver myself I don't even come close to this.) Want to try to challenge the Moken record? There's an app for that.
Their physical adaptations point to a life intrinsically connected to the ocean. The Moken learn to swim before they can even walk, and appear just as comfortable wandering the sea floor as you or I would strolling down the aisle in a supermarket. What little the Moken need, the sea has always provided, the coral reefs of their region are astoundingly biodiverse, with over 600 species of fish and more species of coral than the entire Great Barrier Reef. The Moken culture has evolved against the backdrop of this bountiful ecosystem; it is little wonder that there is no word for 'want' in their language.
To be a Moken means to live a life deeply harmonized with the sea. This harmony means that the Moken are good indicators of our oceans' health. A few years ago, these regions teemed with life, but today 80% of coral reefs in Southeast Asia are endangered and the Moken population has shrunk from 10,000 to just 1,000 over the past 15 years. Many local reefs are struggling to survive, straining under pressure from climate change, shark finning, offshore oil drilling, and destructive dynamite fishing that leaves the oceans barren, for the first time ever, the Moken are starving.
One Moken diver, a man named "Hook" is a brave catalyst to save what remains of his people's culture and wisdom. He works with The Moken Project, a non-profit dedicated to recording what they can of this amazing culture before it disappears.
Hook, like most of his people, see the signs of an ocean in peril, "For the Moken, the ocean is our entire universe, but today, the big boats come and take every fish. I wonder what they will do when the ocean is empty?"
In Moken culture, there is no concept for time but if there were, I think that they would say that the time for action must be now.
The Moken community has passed wisdom down for generations about the creatures and rhythms of the ocean. One of their legends tells of the Laboon ("the wave that eats people") that is brought on by angry spirits of the ancestors. Just before the Indian Ocean tsunami hit in 2004, Moken elders noticed strange wave patterns. Their warning to head to higher ground saved hundreds from one of the worst natural disasters in human history.
Many have wondered how the Moken were able to predict this disaster. I believe it is because they were paying close attention to the sea, a habit learned from their pure oceanic existence.
The suffering of the Moken sadly provides unequivocal evidence that our oceans are in crisis. If we are to learn anything from these incredible people it is to pay closer attention to what our oceans are telling us. If we are to avoid an 'empty' ocean future we must act now and plan accordingly.
Moray eels are commonly known by their snake-like appearance and vicious behavior when disturbed. There is a lot more to these slithering swimmers than most people may know. Below you'll find facts and information on this fascinating creature.
1. There are approximately 200 different types of moray eel species currently known.
2. Though the moray eel looks similar to a snake, they are a type of fish.
3. Moray eels are generally not aggressive creatures unless disturbed. If a moray eel feels threatened they may become vicious.
4. Moray eels have many sharp teeth within a large jaw. Some species of this eel will have long canine teeth throughout that could easily tear through flesh, while others have smaller nodular teeth.
5. Their colors generally range from brown-yellow to black with lighter undersides. Different species of this eel will have a wide range of unique and beautiful patterns.
6. Most moray eels are found where there are temperate and tropical water temperatures.
7. Moray eels usually live within holes of an ocean reef.
8. The moray eel feeds by waiting for prey to swim by their hole. They usually feed upon fish, but will occasionally dine on crustaceans or octopus.
9. When feeding, the moray eel may tie their body into a knot in order to anchor in place while devouring their food.
10. When you look at a moray eel, they will hold their mouth open for the majority of time. This may appear vicious and intimidating, however the reason this eel does this is to allow water through their gills in order to breath.
11. When the moray eel mates, the male and female will wrap themselves together for hours at a time until the male has fertilized the eggs that the female has produced.
12. When in the wild, never attempt to feed a moray eel as this is the most common reason for an attack. The eel will lash out to retrieve the food, and there have been reports of individuals losing pieces of hand or missing fingers because of this.
13. Though most commonly you will hear of moray eels dwelling in the ocean, there are also types of moray eels that live in freshwater as well.
GET STARTED
Disposable plastic items are so common that it’s easy to not notice them. But disposable plastic is everywhere– the plastic straws delivered in our drinks; the plastic bags offered to us at stores; the plastic cups, bottles and utensils at nearly every social event; the plastic packaging of nearly everything in the supermarket. Once you see it for what it is—plastic pollution—it’s simple to just REFUSE. Here are some tips on how to avoid generating plastic waste.
WATER
Bring a stainless steel water bottle rather than drinking water out of disposable plastic bottles. Purchase our cool water bottle in red, stainless steel or black at our online store or grabone at just about any store. Just make sure it is not aluminum.
Don’t have your stainless steel bottle with you? Buy a glass-bottled drink. When you finish that beverage, reuse the bottle.
BRING YOUR OWN BAG
Always bring your own bags whenever you shop, not just for the supermarket. By bringing your own bag, you alone can save between 400 and 600 plastic bags per year. There are lots of cool tote bag companies out there.
STRAWS
Consider some easy alternatives to the ubiquitous plastic straws.
No straw. Do you really need one?
Carry your own stainless steel straw – you can purchase from our online store.
Use an elegant glass straw in one of many sizes and designs
TO GO TO CUPS Bring your own ceramic or stainless steel mug. Carry one in your car. Some coffee shops will even reward your thoughtfulness with a small discount on coffee or tea.
TO GO FOOD CONTAINERS
Whether you prepare school lunch, order takeout or go out to eat, take along your own reusable containers.
TO GO UTENSILS
Bring along your own utensil set, add a straw and you are all set!
LIGHTERS
Rather than buy plastic disposable lighters, consider investing in a refillable multi-use lighters. The oceans of the world and the albatross chicks who are fed these from out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean will thank you.
MILK OR JUICE
Buy your milk or juice in a glass returnable, reusable bottle… old fashioned, but tastes great and it’s better for you. Yes, it is a bit of a challenge, but well worth it.
CHOOSE PAPER TO WRAP
Wax paper is an excellent substitute to the ubiquitous stretch plastic we have been told is essential for cooking and preserving foods. Choose wax paper to wrap sandwiches, place on top of foods warmed up in the microwave, or when storing food in the fridge. Yes, it does not stick to foods like plastic – that’s exactly what’s good about it!
A small fish nestled among swaying stalks of sea whip coral about 11 miles off the Alabama coast may be poised to shift the balance of life in the Gulf of Mexico.
While it has been less than two years since scuba diver Lawren McCaghren made the first confirmed sighting of a lionfish off Alabama, the animals are now so common that McCaghren said he routinely sees 50 or 60 during a single dive on local reefs.
The sudden colonization of the northern Gulf has scientists using words like alarmed, worried and afraid. First noted off the Atlantic Coast in the 1990s, lionfish swept across the Caribbean in three short years.
“The explosive nature of the population expansion is ominous. We’re getting reports of thousands of them documented across the northern Gulf and thousands in the Keys, all within a few years,” said Bob Shipp, head of marine sciences at the University of South Alabama.
“Whether they replace some of our native species on the reefs, or it is a temporary expansion that will level off, we just don’t know. They don’t have any natural predators. Perhaps some of our predators will eat them, but we have no indication of that yet.”
Lionfish, named for a lovely mane of elaborate fins that rings their bodies, are native to the Pacific Ocean. They are not native to the Gulf or Atlantic. The fish grow to about 15 inches long, but appear much larger due to the fan of fins that spread out around the body. The body is striped with bands of brown, rust, and white.
Scientists believe captive lionfish may have escaped from aquariums in south Florida during Hurricane Andrew in 1992. A few were seen off North Carolina around 2000, and reports of sightings began trickling in from the Caribbean around that time.
Within three years, lionfish had colonized the entire Caribbean and are reported to have eaten or displaced about 60 percent of the native species on reefs there. Lionfish have enormous mouths in relation to the size of their bodies, similar to a largemouth bass. They can consume fish nearly as big as they are.
The fish have become so prevalent in the Florida Keys that dive groups hold tournaments to see who can kill the most lionfish in a day. About 1,500 lionfish were killed in derbies in the Keys in 2011, a number scientists say represents a small drop in a huge bucket.
“Anywhere you go in the Gulf, you see them. Tanks and pyramids, they’re a given,” said McCaghren, manager of the Gulf Coast Divers shop in Mobile. McCaghren filmed a lionfish swimming on an Army tank off Alabama in September of 2010, the first northern Gulf sighting. Within a matter of weeks, divers reported encountering the fish on reefs off Florida and Louisiana.
“The natural bottom stuff, the Trysler Grounds, you don’t see one or two. You see 50 or 60 out there every dive. They’re on every outcropping,” McCaghren said, referring to an area of natural coral reef habitat about 20 miles off the Alabama coast.
McCaghren said he has killed about 100 using a small spear known as a “Lion Tamer.” Because each lionfish possesses three sets of venomous fins, he said he usually knocks them off the spear and leaves them in the water rather than trying to bring them back to the dock to eat.
A lionfish killed by the Press-Register on Tuesday yielded two small filets. The meat was firm and white and tasted delicious sauteed in butter. To clean it, the venomous barbs were simply clipped off with a pair of wire snips.
If you get stung by a lionfish, run the wound under hot water and seek medical attention. The telltale water stream from an outboard motor can be used to provide hot water if you get stung while offshore.
While federal officials have been encouraging people to eat lionfish, it appears unlikely that such a program will make a dent in the Gulf population. In part, that’s because the fish don’t typically take a baited hook, and in part it is because they have apparently colonized the deepest parts of the Gulf.
“No one expected to see a lionfish at 1,400 feet down, but that’s what we’re seeing,” said Thomas Jackson, an exotic species biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Jackson said he believes that lionfish are reproducing in the deep recess of the Gulf and moving in toward shore. Because the fish are native to the Pacific, he said, they are likely more tolerant of the colder water far offshore than many native species.
Shipp, with the University of South Alabama, said that might explain why most of the lionfish seen by divers in the Gulf are relatively small.
“These fish get up to 15 inches, but we’re not seeing that size. Most of the reports I’ve heard are juveniles,” Shipp said. “That’s alarming. If they are establishing themselves here as juveniles, without even reproducing locally, well, who knows what will happen if they start reproducing around here.”
A survey of scuba divers with spearfishing permits conducted by the Dauphin Island Sea Lab yielded hundreds of reports of lionfish in area waters. One fish was reported under a pier in Old River next to Ono Island, in just a few feet of water. Last week, a lionfish was killed in 11 feet of water at Fort Pickens in Pensacola Bay.
“I’m hoping this won’t be like the brown tree snake in Guam. You’re talking about an entire ecosystem that has these predators in very large numbers,” Jackson said. “Our systems are already stressed. Now we’re adding a very efficient predator.”
Jackson said that it is still legal to import a number of lionfish species in the United States, including species that have not yet escaped into the wild. “It is not a good idea to continue to allow the sale of these fish,” he said.
“I think it’s only a matter of time until the lionfish move into shallower water and get into our coastal ecosystem,” McCaghren said. “Fishermen don’t understand the threat yet because they don’t see them. They’re here now. And the difference they’ve made in just a few years is incredible.”
It's an activity that's synonymous with summer. And when the season arrives, many Canadians waste no time making a splash in a public, indoor or backyard pool.
In addition to helping you stay fit and beat the heat, swimming is a great way to have some fun. Still, if you're not careful, a swimming pool can also be a dangerous place. Approximately 60 children under the age of 14 drown each year in Canada. There have already been dozens of drownings across the country this summer, and the season is just getting started.
Here's a breakdown of what you need to know to keep your family safe.
WHO IS AT RISK?
While most drowning victims in Canada each year tend to be adults, and most tend to occur in lakes and rivers, incidents around pools tend to involve young people.
“All children are at risk. You'll see that the younger kids are at risk due to concerns with supervision, and they need to be very closely supervised at all times,” says Warren, the Canadian Red Cross' Regional Manager for First Aid and Water Safety Services in Toronto.
“For the older kids, they tend to be more of the risk takers. Also, some of them overestimate their swimming ability, so again it's important that they are being supervised.”
THE WEATHER AND DROWNINGS
When the sun is shining and temperatures are soaring, many Canadians see a backyard pool as a great place to cool off and entertain guests. However, some officials say there may be a correlation between an increase in temperatures and an increase in drownings.
“My opinion is that with hot weather there's more participation in pools,” says Barabara Byers of the Lifesaving Society.
Make a set of 'pool rules' for your backyard
Warren agrees that a correlation appears to be evident between drownings and warm weather.
“I think when you look at the statistics of drownings, there seems to be a lot more when we get those very high patches of hot weather,” she says.
POOL RULES: WHAT TO DO
“You want to make sure your children's behaviour is conducive to still having fun, but staying safe,” says Warren. “Parents need to stay within sight and reach of their children whenever they're anywhere near the pool, not just in the water. Also, it's important that parents get trained in First Aid and CPR skills, because many parents don't know CPR.”
The Canadian Red Cross suggests that anyone with a pool in their backyard create a set of 'Pool Rules' for their children, family members and friends. These rules are to be communicated before anyone goes into the water.
“We suggest that a 'pool rule' be that no one can go into the water without an adult present,” says Warren. “If anyone's a non-swimmer they should be wearing a life jacket in the pool. Only dive into the deepest point of the pool if it is deep enough for diving. Pools need to be secured. They need to be fenced in with a self-closing, self-latching gate. Also, you should always have safety equipment in your pool so you can help a person. If the worst does happen, make sure you make that call to 911 right away.”
Proper fencing around pools is often advised to keep children safe. It is a by-law in some Canadian municipalities, but fencing is not yet required across the country.
Here are some other tips from the Canadian Red Cross you should keep in mind:
Tell visitors the pool rules
Always supervise
Use personal flotation devices, not toys for support
Encourage feet first entries
No one should ever dive into an above ground pool
Do not wear earplugs; they can add dangerous pressure as you descend
Keep safety equipment nearby Alcohol and pools don’t mix.
Scuba diving is a risky sport. While most people will have a very good dive and never have a single problem, there are still scuba diving risks that can occur at any time. It is very important that you pay attention and are aware of the risks that you could face during a dive.
There are many hidden risks in scuba diving. Some risks can come from nowhere, like a shark attack or bad weather. Others can happen due to errors, like running out of air or having other equipment failure. No matter what causes scuba diving risks, your best defense against them is to be alert and be prepared every time you dive.
Risks involving your equipment are something that are usually easy to avoid. You should always take training classes and be sure that you have the necessary skills to handle a dive. It is important that you also learn about the equipment that you are using. Know how it works and what must be done to prepare it for a dive.
Risks that you can't control, like the weather and shark attacks, can be avoided simply by being observant. Before you dive you need to check out the spot where you will be diving. Check for reports on shark activity and weather reports. Also find out about the water conditions. Doing these things will help you to avoid possible risks in your chosen diving area.
Many scuba diving risks occur because the diver is not in good health. If you have a cold or are suffering from allergies then stay out of the water. You also should not dive if you are taking medications. Being sick or on medication can put you at risk for all sorts of problems because you will not be as alert and focused as you normally would be.
Many scuba diving risks are an issue because they are something divers simply are not aware of or that they do not consider. One such risk is dehydration. Being in the water does not mean you can't become dehydrated. Diving is quite a physical activity, so be sure you are well hydrated before you go out.
Divers can often prevent risks from becoming life threatening situations by diving with a partner. It is a simple rule that you should never dive alone. If you are with someone else they will be able to help you if something goes wrong. Diving alone is a risk itself and one you should never take.
Scuba diving risks do not have to be a part of your diving experience. If you prepare and take all the necessary precautions then you should end up having a great diving experience. If you pay attention and are a smart diver then you should be able to avoid many of the risks of scuba diving.
Many women wonder if it is safe to go scuba diving when they are pregnant. The short answer is that women should not go scuba diving when pregnant. There are some serious concerns about scuba diving, pregnant women and harm to the baby. It is important that if you are pregnant, you learn why it is dangerous and why you should avoid doing it while pregnant.
Any doctor that you speak to will tell you that scuba diving when pregnant is not advised. The main reason for this recommendation is that scuba diving can cut off the blood supply to the baby. Blood going to the baby may contain harmful nitrogen bubbles, too. These are not the only reasons for scuba diving pregnant women to be worried.
Another major concern about scuba diving while pregnant is the possibility of decompression illness. This can strike anyone and the way to treat it is with high levels of oxygen and medications. The treatment for decompression illness can harm the baby and may cause a miscarriage.
Scuba diving pregnant women have been studied. These women often have babies that suffer birth defects, including heart problems. In some cases miscarriage occurs. The possible risks simply make it unreasonable to scuba dive while pregnant.
While pregnant women should not scuba dive, there has been evidence that it is perfectly safe to dive during the first two to four weeks of pregnancy. During this time many women do not even know they are pregnant yet, so if you happened to go scuba diving during the very early stages of pregnancy then you can rest easy knowing that your baby is probably not in any harm.
The reason why the baby is not affected during early pregnancy is due to the fact the risks of scuba diving while pregnant are mainly related to the blood exchange between mother and baby. During the early pregnancy stage, the baby and mother are not sharing blood like they do in later pregnancy.
It is also important to know that there is no solid evidence that diving while pregnant poses any risk to the baby. Studies that have been done have not been able to offer solid proof. However, the recommendation of not scuba diving while pregnant is a precaution that most women would rather follow than ignore and take the risk of harming their baby.
Scuba diving pregnant women should always be careful. If you choose not to follow your doctor's recommendation to not scuba dive then you should at least know what the risks are. Staying active during pregnancy is always recommended, but most doctors will tell you not to risk the safety and health of your baby during any physical activity, especially scuba diving. Ultimately, each woman can make her own decision about whether to dive or not, but it should be a decision made carefully.
When Jill Heinerth isn’t cave diving, she’s submerged in the issue of water.
Water quality, quantity, access and overuse are all critical matters for her.
“All that we have wrought upon our land will be returned to us to drink. People need to know where water comes from, how they may unintentionally be polluting it and how to conserve it,” says Jill. “We are running out of clean sources we can afford.”
Options such as desalination of ocean water are too costly, she says, adding that it is 100 times cheaper to conserve, protect and reuse our ground water.
In May of 2013, Jill and her husband, Robert McClellan, will begin a 7,500-kilometre bicycle tour from the Pacific to Atlantic coasts of Canada. The purpose of their journey, part of a project called “We Are Water,” is to raise awareness in the life-sustaining resource too many of us take for granted. Its website is: www.wearewaterproject.com
“Every time I am in a cave, I am inside the veins of mother Earth, swimming in the life blood of the planet. I’ve been doing this for more than 20 years. I see the flow changing. Fifteen years ago, it might have been almost impossible to swim against the current coming out. In some cases it is reversing, sucking in the garbage,” Jill says, explaining that when the flow slows enough, underground rivers turn around and back flush.”
Now living in High Springs in north Florida, “the cave-diving Mecca of the world” with more than 200 springs within an hour’s radius of her house, Jill has found the deterioration of that resource troubling.
“There are some springs in Florida that no longer flow at all. They are just little depressions in the ground. They collapse because the water stops.”
Jill believes the first remedy for our water problems is education. “People don’t intentionally pollute,” she says, adding that it is absolutely vital the protection of water be taught within the school curriculum.
Jill, a Canadian who grew up in Mississauga, Ontario, says Florida residents use six times more water per capita than do Europeans.
“We have a love affair with golf-green lawns. No one has had to consider scarcity of water. They just assume it will be there. We are in a dire situation here and I have to wake people up. We are over-drawing from the Florida Aquifer. We are not keeping track of what we are taking out. We have no idea how much agriculture is using and there is no incentive to conserve because they don’t pay for it.”
The long-term impact of over-use can be critical. One of the “first-magnitude streams” in Jill’s local area – which, by definition, must have a flow of greater than 100 cubic feet per second – is now only pumping 10 cubic feet per second.
When this is happening a stream reaches a point where it is almost not flowing. “The pressure is low and there is not enough rain to make up the difference. The environmental impact is catastrophic.”
Jill worries about people living near her home who are drinking from wells. This is dangerous, she warns, because nitrate fertilizers are not filtered out and they soak into the soil. Another problem is salt water intrusion, which happened in Tampa when the city depleted ground water and the vacancy created an opening that ocean water occupied.
Her role as director/cinematographer for We Are Water is a natural for Jill, whose skill with a camera underwater led to her working with filmmaker James Cameron and several awards. Her husband will be the producer/writer.
“We’re starting in Vancouver. If you go the other way it adds two weeks to your trip (because the prevailing winds are from the west),” she says of the bicycle trip.
They estimate the trip will take four months, of which 90 days will involve riding and the remainder for stops and presentations along the way. The itinerary has not been decided yet but they plan to spend extra time in the Great Lakes area, where the impact of water degradation hits home more directly.
It is important to the couple that We Are Water offers people advice that encourages them to do something positive for water within their own community.
“In terms of preservation, get involved in local politics. We have to start local because that is where most of the zoning and planning is done,” Jill says. “Know your watershed and care about what goes on top of it. I love going to the farmers’ market, but we (Floridians) can’t have large dairy farms. They use up too much water and the nitrates they produce get into water and kill everything down stream. We cannot do that on this landscape. There are areas that can tolerate that but this part of the landscape can’t. The only way to stop it is to get involved.
The damage is usually delayed. In Florida it takes 15 to 30 years before nitrates appear in a spring. The interval varies with soil types. In farming areas in Australia it has taken as long as 100 years. Another problem is flushing old medications down the toilet. They re-appear in samples taken from streams.
As well as their camping gear, Jill and Robert will be carrying projectors, film and a laptop on their bikes, on which they will average 100 to 180 kilometres daily. They will show their We Are Water film, which will be completed in November, on buildings or wherever they can find a white wall. “We will also be shooting our ride as we meet people and hear their local issues, so, yes, another film is in the works, as well as a lot of webcasts.”
They may also do seminars in cities on their route, as well as web blogs and live web broadcasts. They plan to create an educational support curriculum and perhaps, eventually, write a book.
“When we present our films personally, we get incredible response. We want to educate the public about issues, but also concentrate on helping people to love and protect this incredible resource,” says Jill. “We can’t leave them desperate. If they feel hopeless they will do nothing. We have to give them tools to make changes in their own lives.”
Among her suggestions that that can make a difference are:
• Plant native vegetation in your yard that requires less or no water and no fertilizer or pesticides
• Drink tap water in a refillable container instead of buying bottled water in disposable containers
• Recycle and reuse as much as possible because water is an enormous part in the manufacturing process
• Be a part-time vegetarian because meat uses a significant amount of water in its growth and processing
• Eat local, seasonal foods – go to your farmer’s market
Biking, another passion of the couple, and the chance to give Robert, an American, a close-up look at the beauty and immensity of Jill’s Canada, are extra bonuses.
It is also an adventure, something that is no stranger to Jill. She has dived deeper into caves than any woman in history, including forays into Antarctic icebergs and subterranean Siberia. Cave diving at the level she participates is the domain of the elite of the technical diving community. Even for the best, it is extremely dangerous. Some of Jill’s best friends in the sport have died in caves.
One of them was Wes Skiles, who appeared along with Jill in the four-part PBS documentary Water’s Journey, as well as co-writing and co-producing it together. He lost his life shooting underwater for National Geographic. Water’s Journey traces water’s route from a raindrop, to an aquifer and, finally, to the ocean. It won several awards, of which the most significant are International “Deffie” for the Best HD Documentary 2004 and Finalist Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival 2003.
Devastated by her friend’s death, Jill is determined to carry on his work of advocating for water conservation and protection through the medium of film.
We Are Water will be a fitting tribute to his life and legacy.
