Ocean's Edge

The Great Blue Hole of Belize...

2010-01-11T21:23:00.000-08:00

The Great Blue Hole of Belize is one of the most astounding dive sites to be found anywhere on earth and lies right in the center of Lighthouse Reef one of the three atolls found in Belize.

It is a large, almost perfectly circular hole approximately one quarter of a mile (.4 km) across.

The Blue Hole is more than 300 feet across and 412 feet deep. The array of bizarre stalactites and limestone formations which mould its walls seem to become more intricate and intense the deeper one dives.

The diameter of the circular reef area stretches for about 1,000 feet and provides an ideal habitat for corals to attach and flourish. The coral actually breaks the surface in many sections at low tide. Except for two narrow channels, the reef surrounds the hole.

The hole itself is the opening to a system of caves and passageway that penetrate this undersea mountain. In various places, massive limestone stalactites hang down from what was once the ceiling of air-filled caves before the end of the last Ice Age. When the ice melted the sea level rose, flooding the caves.

The temperature in the Blue Hole at 130 feet is about 76 F with hardly any change throughout the year at that depth.

For all practical purposes, the over 400-foot depth makes the Blue Hole a bottomless pit. The walls are sheer from the surface until a depth of approximately 110 feet where you will begin to encounter stalactite formations which actually angle back, allowing you to dive underneath monstrous overhangs.

Hovering amongst the stalactites, you can't help but feel humbled by the knowledge that the massive formation before you once stood high and dry above the surface of the sea eons ago. The feeling is enhanced by the dizzying effect of nitrogen breathed at depths.

The water is motionless and the visibility often approaches 200 feet as you break a very noticeable thermocline.

In the deeper waters of the Blue Hole itself, you might see a curious blacktip tiger or hammerhead shark, but on most dives you won't see anyone except your dive buddy. But as you venture into the shallows around the rim of the Blue Hole to off-gas after your dive, you will discover a wonderful area filled with life.

Pederson's cleaning shrimp are everywhere inhabiting the ringed and knobby anemones. With the frantic waving of their antennae, these shrimp invite you, along with passing fishes, to be cleaned. Neon gobies also advertise their cleaning services from the various coral heads. Angelfish, butterflyfish hamlets and small groupers are also commonly seen. Elkhorn coral grows to the surface and purple sea-fans, resplendent of their rich hues, sweep at the calm surface waters. If you look up, you will double your pleasure as you catch the reflections of sea fans in the aquamarine mirror of the calm water.

A rare and wonderful dive, The Blue Hole is a once in a lifetime must see for all serious divers.

An entire diving trip to Belize is worth the effort and expense for this single dive.

Turneffe Atoll, Belize

2010-01-08T20:54:00.000-08:00

Turneffe Atoll features spectacular diving suitable for every level of diver. Along the western reef line north of the Elbow, novice divers can feel comfortable on shallow reefs, removed from the steep and deep walls so typical elsewhere. A varied terrain, wrecks and an abundance of marine life make the eastern reefs on Turneffe's southern end sensational for seasoned divers.

Current and walls make the diving here challenging but great for finding large pelagics.

Turneffe is the largest of the three Belizean atolls and the only one with an extensive cover of mangroves. Most established dive sites are limited to the southern end, but there is enough here for several weeks of diving.

The marine life at Turneffe Island makes the scuba diving an adventure like no other dive destination in the Caribbean. The vastness and variety of marine life and coral formations are truly unmatched.

With more than 200 mangrove islands, the atoll is a natural nursery for a wide variety of exotic fish, including the rare Whitespotted Toadfish, which is endemic to Belize. Other types of tropical marine life commonly viewed include eagle rays, playful dolphins, turtles, huge green morays, giant jewfish, nurse sharks, reef sharks, trunkfish, grouper, snapper, permit, and horse-eye jacks.

The Turneffe Atoll area stretches 30 miles long and 10 miles wide. It has often been described as a myriad of different dive destinations all bundled into one.

The depth of the water and distance from the mainland of Belize result in excellent underwater visibility, normally in excess of 100 feet and often ranging up to 150 feet.

The numerous mangrove islands and tidal zones support the Caribbean's most abundant collection of marine life. Large pelagics, rays, turtles, eels, and schools of snapper, jacks and permit are common sights.

Getting noticed on the Top 50 Marine Biology Blogs...

2010-01-06T13:28:00.000-08:00

Recognition is always a nice thing.

Recently, we received notification from The Engineering a Better World Blog that our Blog had been chosen as one of the Top 50 Top Research Marine Biology Blogs, quite a nice plug we think.

The Engineering A Better World Blog is about applying the general principles of engineering; testing, method, research, creativity, and artistry, to our world in a very practical way. By highlighting the creative work of others and by presenting new ideas, they attempt to improve the world around us in our little way.

Practically speaking, they cover new ideas and highlight people who are making a difference, and provide resources to inspire and give you the resources to assist you in changing the world for the better as well.

Read more here >

Moho Caye Lodge, Belize.

2009-12-03T20:12:00.000-08:00

It is with sincere regret that I must write this article regarding what was at one point in my life, my favorite place to dive in the world- Moho Caye in Belize.

An article I wrote several years ago describes what is what like to visit Moho in the late 1990's and early into the 21st century;

Moho Caye

"One of my other favorite spots in Belize was Moho Caye. It is a simple dive but there is a large coral pinnacle that starts in about 85 - 100 feet and makes it way up to within 20 feet of the surface and there are a large variety of critters to watch for while you circle this pinnacle.

The nice thing about this site is that you can end your dive in fifteen feet of water and still be seeing lots of marine life, like anemones and feathered sea cucumbers.

There are numerous ways to dive Moho Caye. I considered the starting point just off to the left of the small spot of sandy beach you can see in center of the right photo. From there, you could head south towards the pinnacle or north, towards a more sandy bottom and round the tip at the northern-most point. where the reef forms a sort of mini wall... quite steep with an eighty foot maximum bottom depth.

You can see from the photo at right how much shallow area there is surrounding the island. Its hard to pinpoint it from here, but if you were to begin your dive approximately halfway on the top middle side of this photo and swim left, you would find the pinnacle I am referring to. If you really want to find it, I recommend finding a woman named Lloydia in Placencia Village (its not hard. Ask anyone in the center of town) and go with her. She loves this spot.

In March, if you are around visit the east side of the island where the Pelicans roost and build their nest. Its fun to wander the island at that time... you can literally walk up to the nest with albino white baby pelicans squawking away.

I can honestly say that this is one of the nicest dive spots I have ever spent time at. No matter how often I visited, I always enjoyed myself. Yim and I used to take one of the boats out on our off days"

---

Imagine what they are doing with their sewage now... this Island is small. I could walk across it in fifteen minutes even hacking my way through the very middle of the Island. And of course, the next hurricane that passes through the area will wipe the place out but the Island will never be the same.

Sigh...

The Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents...

2009-09-07T06:39:00.000-07:00

The Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents Marine Protected Area off the coast of Vancouver Island covers a unique deep water ecosystem.

Located 250 kilometres southwest of Vancouver Island and 2250 metres below the ocean surface, the vents are part of the Juan de Fuca Ridge system, an active seafloor-spreading zone. At the vents cold sea water is heated by molten lava, emerging through the seafloor as plumes of particle-rich, superheated water.

Deep ocean areas normally have sparse marine animal abundance, but in the vent flows, abundances can range up to half a million marine animals per square metre.

Lion’s Mane Jellyfish (Cyanea capillata)

2009-08-10T00:24:00.000-07:00

There are two types of cnidarians: the Hydrozoa and the Scyphozoa.

The largest scyphozoan in the North Pacific is the lion’s mane jelly. Large specimens can exceed 2 m (6 feet) in diameter with 9 m (27 feet) long tentacles. It is often abundant in coastal waters in late summer. The tentacles can give a nasty sting so it is best to leave this animal alone. In the water they are graceful creatures.

The lion’s mane jelly is a pelagic species is found from Mexico to Alaska. It eats plankton caught in the mesh of trailing tentacles which are drawn up to the mouth under the bell The Lion’s Mane Jellyfish grows up to 60 centimetres in diameter with two-metre long reddish tentacles. It is fairly common and well known to divers for its painful stings.

Marine Parks surrounding Southern Vancouver Island...

2009-07-12T22:18:00.000-07:00

Marine Parks are coastal areas that have been given park designation to protect them from development and to ensure that the public has ongoing long-term recreational access.

Of the marine parks in the Victoria area, the largest and newest is the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve. Each of these parks has been established to protect specific ecosystems, species or heritage resources. When visiting these parks, it is important to abide by all of the posted signs and warnings, and not to remove or disturb any of the natural or heritage features.

Gulf Islands National Park Reserve

Established in 2003, the park protects a large portion of British Columbia’s beautiful southern Gulf Islands - a landscape of rocky headlands, forested hills, and shores studded with colourful tidal pools. The park resembles a patchwork quilt of protected lands interspersed among farms and residential areas and is scattered over 15 larger islands and many smaller islets and reefs. Several former provincial parks have been incorporated into the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve.

To see a larger image of the panel, visit www.stephenroper.com here >

Galiano Island

2009-06-29T22:17:00.000-07:00

A long, narrow island, and the driest in the Gulf Island chain, Galiano Island was named after the Spanish explorer Dionisio Galiano, who sailed these waters in 1792. Galiano Island is the second largest of the Gulf Islands, after Saltspring Island.

We arrived at lunchtime on a Friday and found that Galiano Islanders move at their own easy pace, respecting and protecting a fragile environment which is home to over 130 species of birds and many rare and protected plants.

Rich in history and beauty, Galiano has been called The Jewel of the Strait of Georgia. For thousands of years before Europeans arrived, the Coast Salish aboriginal people had lived here, gathering a rich variety of foods from its forests and shores.

Galiano Island enjoys the reputation as being the most welcoming to visitors of the Gulf Islands and we can easily confirm this claim. This is due in large part to the limited amount of farmland on Galiano in comparison to other islands. Of necessity, early settlers here opened their homes to tourists as a way of earning a living and the relaxed and welcoming atmosphere of the Island was apparent from the moment we landed to the moment we departed.

Marine Protected Areas...

2009-06-20T10:59:00.000-07:00

Marine protected areas are regions of the ocean and its bed that have been set aside to preserve representative and special ecosystems, plant and animal species, or unique features.

There are different types of marine protected areas of either provincial or federal designation including marine conservation areas, marine sanctuaries, marine exclusion zones and marine ecological reserves. They also include formal Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) as designated under Canada’s Oceans Act.

The common feature for all types of marine protected areas is that the activities allowed within the protected area boundaries, including access, development and resource extraction, are restricted to some degree for protective purposes. Unlike marine parks and recreation areas, marine protected areas are not created for recreational purposes, and access is often restricted.

To see a larger image of this panel, click here >

Lighthouses and Navigational Aids...

2009-06-15T21:58:00.000-07:00

Vancouver Island has 3,400 kilometres of rugged coast, much of it unpopulated. Lighthouses and other navigational aids are necessary to guide and keep all vessels, from large ships to small pleasure craft, safe.

In November 1859, Captain Nagle, Victoria’s Harbourmaster paid one hundred dollars for a lantern and placed it on MacLaughlin Point at the entrance to Victoria Harbour. By October 1860, legislation had been passed to begin construction of the Fisgard Island and Race Rock Lighthouses.

The Fisgard and Race Rocks lighthouses were both built in 1860. They were designed to work together to safely guide ships from the Juan de Fuca Strait into Victoria Harbour.

Today, the British Columbia coast has about forty lighthouses, many of them staffed by with light keepers. Four of these lighthouses, and a variety of navigational aids, located in the Greater Victoria area, are featured here.

Check out the panels here >

Marine Ecosystems...

2009-06-14T10:05:00.000-07:00

A multitude of marine ecosystems together characterize the ocean. The ocean is the largest aquatic system on the planet, covering over seventy percent of the Earth’s surface. The habitats that make up this system range from very productive nearshore and shallow water regions to dark abyssal regions more than 4000 metres below the ocean’s surface.

British Columbia’s Pacific coast is a biologically diverse and productive temperate marine environment. Island archipelagos, deep fjords, shallow mudflats and estuaries, kelp and eelgrass beds, strong tidal currents and massive upwellings all contribute to extra-ordinarily high biodiversity. The abundance of coastal marine life not only contributes to the complexity and total biomass of the marine food web but also provides food for terrestrial animals such as otters, eagles, ospreys, bears, raccoons, mink and humans.

Se a larger versions here >

Nearshore and Shallow Water Species...

2009-06-14T10:02:00.000-07:00

Tide pools are unique habitats found on rocky areas of the coast. Rocky depressions on the coast are flooded with water at high tide, which brings fresh oxygen and food to the pools twice a day. Between tides, the pools are exposed to the sun, wind and rain, which cause changes in water level, temperature, salinity and oxygen content. On hot summer days, tide pools can completely dry up between tides.

Organisms that live in tide pools must avoid being washed away by tidal waves, keep from drying out in the sunlight of low tide, and avoid being eaten.

Typical inhabitants of tide pools include sea anemones, barnacles, chitons, crabs, isopods, limpets, mussels, starfish, snails, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, and whelks.

All organisms that live in tide pools have adaptations that allow them to survive the fluctuating habitat of the tide pool.

Disturbing a tide pool can be hazardous to the organisms living there. Moving a piece of seaweed can expose organisms to the direct sun, and prying organisms that are held fast to the rocks is almost always fatal to the animal.

To see our work on the recent panel for the Ogden Point Enhancement Society, click here >

Marine Mammals Panel...

2009-06-05T16:06:00.001-07:00

This panel focuses on some of the marine life surrounding Vancouver Island with details on their habits.

Killer Whale or Orca (Orcinus orca)

Orcas are the largest member of the dolphin family, and are easily recognized by their large dorsal fin and distinctive black and white pattern.

There are three sub-species of Orcas:

Residents, Transients and Offshore. There are two populations of resident Orcas in British Columbia; the southern and northern residents. The southern population’s range is from Campbell River south to Puget Sound. Resident Orcas travel and live together in matrilineal pods of 4 – 12 whales. They are generally very vocal, with each group has distinctive calls. They feed primarily on fish, especially salmon.

Transient Orcas do not have established territories, and they feed primarily on marine mammals. They travel in silence, small groups of two to six, so they can hunt their prey. The name “Killer Whale” comes from this type of Orca, which is the only species of whale that kills other whales.

Offshore Orcas spend most of their time along the continental shelf west of Vancouver Island, and it is thought that they eat large ocean fish such as shark and halibut.

Also featured on this panel are Stellar Sea Lions, Grey Whales and Humpbacks, which Yim and I have been fortunate enough to be in the water not 100 feet away as they passed us by.

Check put the panel in a larger size here >

Stinging Celled Animals of Ogden Point.

2009-05-27T19:57:00.001-07:00

This third panel features Stinging Celled Animals.

These exquisitely graceful animals belong to a group called Cnidarians. Based on a radial body plan with mouth and tentacles and possessing only rudimentary tissues, these flower-like creatures have successfully survived for millions of years.

They show a startling range of behaviour and adaptation for such a simple design. Their success is due to the toxic stinging cells which they use to capture their prey, and the alternation during their life between a free swimming jellyfish (medusa) and a fixed bottom dwelling sea anemone-like stage (polyp).

The Breakwater provides habitat for a number of interesting fishes, making it a popular spot for fishing and for diving.

Rockfish are abundant along the breakwater. These fish are recognizable by their large heads, wide mouths and spiny dorsal fins. Rockfish are ovoviviparous, which means that they give birth to free-swimming young. They range in size from 10 to 40 centimetres, and most rockfish feed on squid, crustaceans and small fish.

Divers may also see large schools of the sleek, silvery Pacific Herring (Clupea harengus pallasi) flash by, or unusual-looking fish like the Grunt Sculpin (Rhamphocottus richardsonii), a small fish that swims with its head pointing upwards, or the Sailfin Sculpin (Nautichthys oculofasciatus), which has a long dorsal fin that curves up over its head.

The panels are in final production and will be dedicated officially June 19th, 2009.

The Ecology of the Ogden Point Breakwater.

2009-05-24T22:40:00.000-07:00

The Ogden Point Breakwater was built between 1914 and 1916 from more than one million tons of rock and ten thousand granite blocks. The granite blocks were quarried on Hardy Island, off the Sunshine Coast.

These blocks form a series of steps along the outer edge of the breakwater, which provide a variety of habitats at differing water depths. This, along with the cold, nutrient-rich water that passes through the Strait of Juan de Fuca with every incoming and outgoing tide, helps to support a large variety of marine life, including a Bull Kelp forest. Divers enjoy the breakwater as one of the best dive sites in Canada due to the concentration of marine habitats and organisms along its 800 metre length. The breakwater is also a popular spot for line fishing, and for people walking and enjoying the view.

This series of panels is a representation of five underwater plaques located along the breakwater as part of a marine diving trail. Each panel focuses on either a specific habitat found along the breakwater, or on a type of marine animal found at this location.

Many consider the breakwater to be a marine sanctuary, but there is no such official designation here.

The Shimmering Shoals...

2009-05-10T21:45:00.000-07:00

This first panel of the series of twelve panels I have created over the past eight months or so features images which flourish within the first two sections of the Ogden Point Breakwater.

The semi-protected sandy beds of eelgrass and the intertidal seaweed zone along the first third of the Breakwater combine to form a productive habitat sheltering the young larvae and juvenile forms of many coastal animals.

Situated in the well-illuminated and warm photic zone, these beds of plants provide organic material which nurtures the associated kelp forests and rocky animal communities nearby. The densely matted roots of the eelgrass add stability and permanence to the normally motile sand grains, and with time, rich layers of mud build up.

Productivity is further enhanced by the rich plankton drifting through. One can observe the life forms sheltered among the waving fronds of eelgrass and seaweed, including vast aggregations of shrimps, crabs and their larvae and large schools of herring and sandlance - essential food for Breakwater fishes such as the Staghorn Sculpin, Striped Seaperch and juvenile Lingcod.

The seascape illustrated on this plaque stretches for about 110 metres to the second bend of the Breakwater. From here, the sandy bottom slopes gently to a depth of 20 metres.

This illustration allows you to understand and explore the complex seawall environment, where the spatial structure of the granite blocks, rocky rubble, kelp forest and sandy base create multiple microhabitats for communities of plants and animals.

Many of these populations vary dramatically over the seasons, showing bursts of growth and reproduction. A diver can easily spend many happy hours surveying the whole area or studying in detail the myriad lifestyles of the breakwater’s fascinating inhabitants.

The entire series of twelve panels will be installed and dedicated June 19th, 2009.

Our thanks to Scott Stevenson for his photography work on this panel and to Western Stevedoring for their sponsorship.

For more information, please contact me at steve@oceansedge.com

Basket Star (Gorgonocephalus eucnemis)

2009-05-03T17:36:00.000-07:00

The Pacific Northwest is one of the most vibrant marine ecosystems.

The currents that flow along the shores allow for kelp to flourish and provide protection for the life that lives beneath it. Basket Stars can be found in rocky intertidal areas with fast currents, feeding off organisms that travel through the tides.

The Basket Star is the white multi-armed organism shown in this photo by Scott Stevenson.

Series D of the Ogden Point Panels...

2009-03-21T09:41:00.002-07:00

Series B of the Ogden Point Panels...

2009-03-21T09:41:00.001-07:00

Series A of the Ogden Point Signage

2009-03-21T09:38:00.000-07:00

Humpback Whale

2009-03-19T19:57:00.000-07:00

Humpback Whales are found in most of the world’s oceans. The northern Pacific population migrates between their winter breeding grounds in Hawaii, Mexico and Southern Asia to their summer feeding areas from California to Alaska, including the waters of British Columbia. Humpback Whales can grow up to 17 metres in length, weigh up to 36 tonnes and their flippers can be 5 metres long.

A few years back, Yim and I were lucky enough to have one swim by 50 feet away off the coast of Vancouver Island. Read more here >

Steller, or Northern, Sea Lion (Eumetopias jubatus)

2009-03-12T18:00:00.000-07:00

The male, or bull, Steller Sea Lion is a huge animal, growing up to 3 metres in length and weighing up to 900 kilograms. In contrast, the females are only about a third as large. There are three Steller Sea Lion breeding rookeries in British Columbia and many haul-out sites (places where they rest on land) located throughout coastal B.C. A prominent local haul-out site is at Race Rocks, off the Western Communities of Greater Victoria. Elephant Seals (Mirounga angustirostris) can also be seen hauled-out at Race Rocks.

I took this shot in the Broken Islands Group in Barkely Sound on Vancouver Island while visiting Ucluelet >

Phillip Colla

2009-03-07T16:07:00.000-08:00

Phillip Colla is a natural history photographer and writer. He focuses on wild marine mammals, the California kelp forest, inhabitants of remote eastern Pacific islands, National Parks of the American West and, most recently, waves and surfing.

His natural history photography has appeared in the pages of BBC Wildlife, National Wildlife, Ocean Realm, Ranger Rick, Reader's Digest, Skin Diver, and National Geographic Books, has been used in various advertising and publicity campaigns, is in use in aquaria and museums, and is occasionally recognized in photographic competitions. His underwater videography has been broadcast in various productions in the United States and abroad.

Mr. Colla's photography has been commended in past Wildlife Photographer of the Year and Nature's Best contests, the two most significant and competitive wildlife photography competitions in the world.

And I was lucky enough to have him collaborate on my recent project for the Ogden Point Enhancement Society and the interpretive signage I developed for them.

You can visit his web site here >

Dr. Peter S. Ross

2009-03-02T11:46:00.001-08:00

Dr. Peter S. Ross is a Research Scientist (Marine mammal toxicologist) with the Institute of Ocean Sciences (Fisheries and Oceans Canada) in Sidney, British Columbia, Canada. He has an active research program on (1) the effects of persistent environmental contaminants on the health of marine mammals and (2) the sources, movement and fate of persistent environmental contaminants in marine food chains. He conducts his research in collaboration with colleagues at universities and government laboratories in Canada and internationally.

Dr. Ross is an Adjunct Professor at Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Burnaby, B.C., and supervises graduate students at SFU, the University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria. Dr. Ross obtained his PhD from the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences (Utrecht University, the Netherlands), MSc from Dalhousie University (Halifax, Nova Scotia), and BSc (Honours) from Trent University (Peterborough, Ontario).

Peter recently worked with us in developing a series o underwater interpretive signage for the Ogden Point Enhancement Society and it was=a pleasure to listen to his lectures and work with him.

To learn more about Peter, click here >

Sculpin (Cottus aleuticus sp.)

2009-02-28T12:13:00.001-08:00

One of the odder looking species of fish, sculpin are generally small fish, five to twenty centimetres in length, although some species can grow up to 100 centimetres in length. They are bottom feeders with sharp spines rather than scales.

Sculpin can live for several hours out of water if kept moist, and often inhabit tide pools. Be careful if you see one in a tide pool, their spines are very sharp and their sting can be very painful.

Photo by Scott Stevenson. To see more of his work, click here >

Killer Whale or Orca (Orcinus orca)

2009-02-24T20:08:00.001-08:00

Orcas are the largest member of the dolphin family, easy identified by their large dorsal fins and distinctive black and white pattern.

In British Columbia, there are three subspecies of Orcas: Residents, Transients and Offshore.

There are two populations of resident Orcas in British Columbia; the southern and northern residents. The southern population ranges between Campbell River and Puget Sound. Resident Orcas travel and live together in matrilineal pods. They are
generally very vocal. Each group has distinctive, identifiable calls. They feed primarily on fish, especially Chinook salmon.

Transient Orcas do not have established territories, and they feed primarily on marine mammals, both whales and seals. They travel in silent small groups of two to six animals, so they can successfully hunt their prey. The name “Killer Whale” comes from this type of Orca, which is the only species of whale that kills other whales.

This beautiful image above was taken by Christina Craft. To see more of her work, click here >

The Ogden Point Breakwater

2009-02-19T21:18:00.000-08:00

The incredible Ogden Point Breakwater was built between 1914 and 1916 from more than one million tons of rock and ten thousand granite blocks. The granite blocks were quarried on Hardy Island off the coast of British Columbia. These blocks form a series of steps along the outer edge of the breakwater, which provide a variety of habitats at differing water depths.

This, along with the cold, nutrient-rich water that passes through the Strait of Juan de Fuca with every incoming and outgoing tide, helps to support a large variety of marine life including a Bull Kelp forest.

Divers enjoy the breakwater as one of the best dive sites in Canada due to the concentration of marine habitats and organisms along its 800 metre length.

The breakwater is also a popular spot for people walking and enjoying the view.

It is one of my favorite places on the planet and I am proud to have been promoting the Breakwater over the past year with the development of the Ogden Point Enhancement Society web site and the subsequent panels which we have worked so diligently to conceive and produce this past year.

Pacific White Sided Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens)

2009-02-18T21:07:00.000-08:00

Pacific White-Sided Dolphins can be distinguished from all other B.C. cetaceans by their ability to jump several body lengths above the water. They are very social, travelling in groups of 20 to several hundred, and have even been seen in groups numbering in the thousands.

Tidal Pools of Vancouver Island

2009-02-15T10:38:00.001-08:00

Tide pools are unique habitats found on rocky areas of the coast. These pools are flooded with water at high tide. The tides bring fresh oxygen and food to the pools twice a day. Between tides, the pools are exposed to the sun, wind and rain, which cause changes in water level, temperature, salinity and oxygen content. On hot summer days, tide pools can completely dry up between tides.

Organisms that live in tide pools must avoid being washed away by tidal waves, keep from drying out in the sunlight of low tide, and avoid being eaten.

Typical inhabitants of tide pools include sea anemones, barnacles, chitons, crabs, isopods, limpets, mussels, starfish, snails, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, and whelks.

All organisms that live in tide pools have adaptations that allow them to survive the fluctuating habitat of the tide pool.

Disturbing a tide pool can be hazardous to the organisms living there. Moving a piece of seaweed can expose organisms to the direct sun, and prying organisms that are held fast to the rocks is almost always fatal to the animal.

This example was taken during our visit to Botanical Beach in Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island.

Phytoplankton blooms off Vancouver Island...

2009-02-10T15:36:00.000-08:00

The bright blue and green swirls that the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) detected off the coast of Vancouver Island, Canada, were made by millions of tiny ocean plants called phytoplankton.

The coastal waters of the Eastern Pacific are productive because wind and ocean currents allow nutrient-rich water from deep in the ocean to rise to the surface. The cold, rising water carries phosphates and nitrates, which act as fertilizer to the phytoplankton that grow in the sunlit waters at the ocean’s surface.

Since phytoplankton are the base of the food chain, areas that support large phytoplankton blooms tend to have large fish populations.

Off the coast of Vancouver Island, phytoplankton blooms tend to happen when winds blow down the coast from the north. The winds push the ocean’s surface water west, out to sea. Deep water rises up to replace the wind-blown surface water, and it carries the nutrients needed to support phytoplankton blooms.

Cool huh ?

Acorn Barnacle (Balanus)

2009-02-05T21:10:00.000-08:00

Barnacles are common along the shores of British Columbia, encrusting intertidal rocks, pilings, wharves, ships, animals, and any other hard surface along the coast.

There are approximately twenty-one species of barnacles living on the coasts of British Columbia, of which there are two very different forms. There is the acorn barnacle, which has a hard, grey cone-shaped shell that is attached directly to a solid structure. These barnacles are well-known to anyone who has attempted to cross a rocky beach in bare feet. Acorn barnacles are able to close their shell, which protects them against drying out when the tide recedes.

The other form is the Gooseneck barnacle, whose shell-encased body is located at the end of a flexible stalk, which is attached to rocks or other solid structures. Barnacles play an important role in the marine environment as part of the food web, and empty barnacle shells provide shelter for other intertidal organisms.

Photo by Scott Stevenson. We have more information on Scott's photography on our web site >

Steller, or Northern Sea Lion (Eumetopias jubatus)

2009-01-31T11:07:00.000-08:00

The male, or bull, Stellar Sea Lion is a huge animal, growing up to three metres in length and weighing up to 900 kilograms.

In contrast, the females are only about a third as large, and give birth to one pup after a gestation period of one year.

There are three Stellar Sea Lion breeding rookeries in British Columbia, and many haul-out sites located throughout coastal B.C. A prominent local haul-out site is at Race Rocks, off the Western Communities of Greater Victoria.

I took this photograph while traveling through the Broken Island Group in Barkley Sound.

Terrestrial Parks of Vancouver Island...

2009-01-31T10:35:00.002-08:00

Victoria is located within the Coastal Douglas Fir Biogeoclimatic Zone, which is only found on the southern and southeastern fringes of Vancouver Island and to most of the southern Gulf Islands.

The Coastal Douglas Fir Zone is home to a unique and sensitive group of ecosystems that includes seaside parkland, dry forest, rock outcrop, and wetland habitats and contains many rare plants.

One of the best places to see a remnant old-growth Douglas Fir ecosystem is on the grounds of Royal Roads University, in Colwood. Some Douglas Fir trees at this site are over 800 years old.

East Sooke Park is an excellent place to see Arbutus trees, second-growth Douglas Fir, and coastal bluffs, along the oceanside trail.

Opalescent Nudibranch (Hermissenda crassicornis)

2009-01-25T13:30:00.000-08:00

Nudibranchs are small, soft-bodied, shelless molluscs, known for their extraordinarily bright colours and interesting body forms. This nudibranch, found off the Ogden Point Breakwater by Scott Stevenson, stands out with luminescent blue bands and bright orange tips.

We have more information on Scott's photography on our web site >

Two if by Sea on tour...

2009-01-17T17:53:00.000-08:00

Our friends Stuart and Fran continue to offer some wonderful vacations aboard Two if by Sea.

Read more here on their Panama charter vacations here >

Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents

2008-12-27T19:27:00.001-08:00

The Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents Marine Protected Area (MPA) lies in water 2,250 metres deep, 250 kilometres southwest of Vancouver Island. As part of the Juan de Fuca Ridge system, the Endeavour Segment is an active seafloor-spreading zone where tectonic plates diverge and new oceanic crust is extruded onto the seafloor. In these zones, cold sea water percolates downward through the crust where it is heated by the underlying molten lava, eventually emerging through the seafloor as buoyant plumes of particle-rich, superheated fluid. The five known vent fields on the Endeavour Segment are separated along the ridge from one another by about two kilometres. Their associated plumes rise rapidly about 300 metres into the overlying water column.

Hydrothermal vents in the Endeavour area consist of large hot black smokers, chimney-like structures and surrounding lower temperature sites. The fields span a wide range of hydrothermal venting conditions characterized by different water temperatures and salt content, sulphide structure morphologies, and animal abundance. Temperatures associated with black smokers are typically in excess of 300°Celsius. Formation of the large polymetallic sulphide chimneys takes place when dissolved minerals and metallic ions carried upward by the smokers precipitate upon contact with the cold sea water. Cooler waters below 115° Celsius on the seafloor and along the flanks of the chimneys support an abundance of flora and fauna. This rich ecosystem is supported by microbes whose life processes are fueled by the chemical energy from the emerging fluids in the hydrothermal vents.

Hydrothermal venting systems host one of the highest levels of microbial diversity and animal abundance on earth. The deep ocean near the Endeavour area normally only supports sparse animal abundance of about twenty worms and brittlestars per square metre. In the diffuse vent flows around the sulphide structures, these abundances can range up to half a million animals per square metre. There is an amazing abundance of life in concentrated areas around the vents surrounded by a veritable desert in the deep oceans.

Globally, hydrothermal venting systems foster numerous unique species of animals. There are some 60 distinct species native to the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Many of these species are the first in the world to be identified. Hydrothermal vents at Endeavour are home to 12 species that do not exist anywhere else in the world.

Since its discovery in 1982, the Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents have been a focus of research by Canadian and international scientists. The manned US submersible Alvin and the unmanned vehicle Jason have undertaken a number of missions in the area. Joint Canada-US studies have made use of the Canadian ROPOS (Remotely Operated Platform for Ocean Sciences). Fisheries and Oceans Canada has conducted extensive acoustic and moored instrument programs in the area since 1985.

The Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents Marine Protected Area has been designated to ensure the protection of these hydrothermal vents, and the unique ecosystems associated with them. The Regulation to establish the Marine Protected Area prohibits the removal, disturbance, damage or destruction of the venting structures or the marine organisms associated with them. The Regulation allows for scientific research that will contribute to the understanding of the hydrothermal vents ecosystem.

BC Rockfish

2008-12-14T21:26:00.000-08:00

An interesting article by Doug Pemberton - Diver Magazine

The coast of British Columbia is renowned for it's incredible diversity of colourful, rare, and bizarre marine life. And if there was one animal that has become a symbol for diving in these waters, it would have to be the rockfish. With some thirty species inhabiting the northern Pacific they account for more species than any other genus of fishes. Over a dozen species can be encountered by recreational divers while the rest are found in depths down to 2000 metres.

Their variety in size and colour covers a great range. Some advertise their presence through bright colours and vivid patterns, while others strive to be less conspicuous through indistinct colouration. Maximum sizes vary from under 20 centimetres up to nearly a metre and they can weigh from less than half a kilo to over ten kilos.

Unlike most fish, rockfish do not lay eggs; they give birth to live young, usually in the spring and early summer, but some species also give birth during the winter. Depending on the species, and size and age of the female, anywhere from 10,000 to over a million young may be released. The tiny larvae become part of the plankton soup at the surface where many are consumed by larger animals. After a few weeks, survivors slowly make their way into the depths where, depending on the species, they may adopt a solitary lifestyle or live in large schools with other species.

Rockfish are very long lived with some living in excess of 100 years, and some species may not become sexually mature until they are ten or twenty years old.

Unfortunately, some species reach a harvestable size before reaching sexual maturity. Most rockfish also have a small and limited home range in which they spend their whole lives. This combined with the fact that they are relatively easy to catch makes them easy targets. And, unlike many other marine fish, an undersized or unwanted rockfish can rarely be released after capture because its gas bladder expands so rapidly during ascent due to the changes in pressure that, by the time it reaches the surface, a rockfish is so severely bloated that it is unable to swim, if not already dead . And therein lies the problem. Stocks have steadily been declining, putting the status of BC's rockfish in peril.

Over the past decades I, like many divers, have seen a slow and steady decline in many rockfish populations. Black rockfish were so numerous at some sites that they were a nuisance, always getting in the way when I was trying to get a picture of something else. Now, at those same sites, I have logged sightings of four black rockfish over the past five years. At some places schools of yellowtail rockfish were so thick you couldn't see through them. Today you have to look hard just to find a few. And these now include some of our previously most common and well known species such as the quillback, copper, tiger, china, and yelloweye rockfish. The decline can be attributed to one main cause: commercial and recreational over fishing. And now fisheries are targeting some deep water species that we know next to nothing about.

But there are things that are being done and things that are helping. One thing I have noticed while diving some of BC's artificial reefs is healthy populations of juvenile rockfish. On one wreck, vividly striped juvenile yelloweye rockfish are almost a common sighting. These ships are definitely a benefit when it comes to providing a safe habitat for young rockfish and many other species as well.

In an effort to protect the dwindling stocks, Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has now established Rockfish Conservation Areas (RCAs) throughout the Strait of Georgia and inshore waters between northern Vancouver Island and the mainland. These RCAs are subject to change as the need arises.

Education is an important part of protecting any species and in order to inform boaters, fishermen and divers to the plight of rockfish, DFO has published a free pamphlet and booklet that explains the need for these measures, provides interesting information on the various species under protection and includes detailed maps and co-ordinates of the RCAs. Realization of the problem and an understanding that measures must be taken is an important first step.

The problems facing the BC rockfish are not unique. Unfortunately fish stocks are on the decline around the world and the measures instituted by DFO are expected to be in place for a number of years.

The decline of any species should act as a reminder of our profound effect on the fine balances that exist in nature. Hopefully, and through action and education, the rockfish of BC will continue as the symbol of the fantastic variety that makes up the BC marine environment.

Source: Doug Pemberton. Diver Magazine

Delivering houses from San Ignacio to Placencia

2008-12-12T23:36:00.000-08:00

When we began building our houses in Belize, I designed them as a box with a top basically. A 24 foot by 24 foot square box which was to be delivered to the property on the back of a flatbed truck and hauled through the Maya Mountains across bridges that were no more than eighteen feet wide.

On some bridges, our houses hung over the sides of the bridges above a rushing river below as they were delivered to our property for installation.

Belizean pre-fabricated housing.

They were delivered a day before I arrived in Belize to supervise the placement and construction of the houses for two weeks.

Allen Reimer had decided he didn’t have time to wait until I arrived a day later and placed one of the house at the front of the property very near to the ocean and at a sharp angle and I decided I did not like it there and asked him to move it.

So, we placed the end of a flatbed truck under it, tilted the house up with a forklift and backed up until the house rested on the flatbed and we let the house down and drove it to where I wanted it. We then placed the pilings at the four corners of the house, lifted it up off the flatbed using the same forklift and drove the truck away gently, as we only had one forklift and the house needed to be left balanced on the four pilings.

No Steve we are no longer in Kansas.

This really only took the better part of a morning and after lunch, I was ready to tackle our house. The biggest problem with that was I also really wanted to keep a couple of 20 foot Palm Trees, which were located only a few feet from where I wanted the front of the house to be.

It’s not that easy to manouver a house on the back of a flatbed and the placement of the second house took the rest of the day to get into place but by the end of the first day, we had both houses in place and ready to begin adding footings to.

The next morning it began to rain. It rained all day and all night and the crew worked putting in the pilings and leveling the houses with the forklift and by the end of the second day, although the property was covered in water, we had both houses perfectly level on their pilings.

By the third day, we had to pour the cement for the foundation but had so much water on the property we had to dig a trench the entire length of the property at an angle so we could drain the water away from the houses. I was having a blast by now. I was absolutely soaked and dirtier than I had been for twenty years and loving the hell out of it.

These were my houses at the Ocean’s Edge.

Over the coming week or so, we set about cementing in the foundations such as they were, clearing the property, and beginning the decks around the houses. By the time I left to go back to Canada to get Yim, the houses had roofs completed and doors on them, which could be locked.

I was thrilled.

Two weeks later I came back with Yim and we drove to the property to give her a first glimpse at her house on the beach and I think it was one of the most exciting days of my life. We had done it.

We had a house on the Ocean’s Edge.

Echinoderms... along the Ogden Point Breakwater.

2008-11-12T23:05:00.000-08:00

This diverse Group of marine animals is well represented along the Ogden Point Breakwater. Urchins, Sea Cucumbers, Brittlestars, Starfish and Sunflower Stars are members of this group since they all have similar fundamental features. The key features include 5-ray radial symmetry, and a calcerous skeleton underneath the skin and tube feet.

The Echinoderm plaque at point 3 along The Ogden Point Breakwater allows divers the chance to read a bit about what they may be viewing.

Echinoderms have a few important aspects in common. They have bony ossicles in their body and small jaws that are supported by a water vascular system. They also have tube feet which they use to attach to objects, for protection, as well as to obtain food. Most can regenerate lost limbs. All five classes below are well represented along The Ogden Point Breakwater.

For more information, you can watch the Ogden Point Enhancement Society web site >

Help Support the Ogden Point Enhancement Society Environmental Kiosk

2008-10-23T23:20:00.000-07:00

As part of the enhancement and public use of the South Shore of Ogden Point, and a link to the Harbour Pathway project, the Ogden Point Enhancement Society (OPES) is proposing the installation of an ecological information kiosk with a target completion date of April, 2009. This project will compliment the present historical land-use information kiosk located at Confederation Point and the underwater plaques located along the outer base of the breakwater. This interpretive display, in keeping with the stated objectives and mandate of the Ogden Point Enhancement Society, will serve to enhance recreational uses of the breakwater precinct as well as the cruise ship receiving area for the benefit of both visitors and locals.

The kiosk at Confederation Point focuses on the cultural history of Victoria as related to the Harbour and Ogden Point, and describes the physical location and surroundings visible from the kiosk and breakwater. This kiosk emphasizes the role of the port of Victoria in shaping local history and situates Victoria within the rest of Canada and the world.

The proposed kiosk will follow the same design as the existing cultural kiosk – both in structure and layout. This is a four-sided kiosk with each side comprising three panels. This design naturally lends itself to a display with four themes, each of which is further divided into three specific topics of interest. Each panel is approximately four feet high by three feet wide, providing ample room for a combination of written information and visual imagery. This kiosk will be located in the vicinity of the entrance to the breakwater so that visitors to the breakwater can relate the marine environment of the breakwater to the information on the display.

• A donation of $9000 will sponsor one bay, (three panels) and receive full recognition in the bay and an optional online link on our web site.

• A donation of $3000 will sponsor one panel and full recognition on that panel and an optional online link on our web site.

• For $1500 a sponsor can be a “panel partner”, recognition includes logos of all “partners” and an optional online link on our web site.

• All donations over $500 will be recognized, however any contributions to the installation of the kiosk will be appreciated.

For more information, visit their web site here >

Ocean's Edge teams up with Jonathan Bird...

2008-09-28T21:05:00.001-07:00

Ocean's Edge and Steve Roper are thrilled to announce our collaboration with Emmy Award Winning underwater photographer and cinematographer, Jonathan Bird.

Jonathan Bird has experience in all aspects of underwater wildlife cinematography and still photography. He has shot and produced films for television which have aired all over the world.

Jonathan is widely published on marine life subjects and a member of the Wyland Ocean Artists Society. As president of the non-profit environmental organization Oceanic Research Group, Inc., he produces educational films about marine life for use in schools and libraries, as well as satellite learning.

He is currently in post-production on his new high definition documentary Secrets of the Reef. We will keep you posted on Ocean's Edge of the release date.

The Ogden Point Enhancement Society Web Site...

2008-09-18T20:29:00.001-07:00

Those of you who read this occasionally know that I am now sitting on the Board of Directors for the Ogden Point Enhancement Society.

Ogden Point is one of the spots in Canada that I consider among the best dive locations in our country, particularly for beginners and the Society is committed to protecting and promoting the location, something near and dear to my heart. Ogden Point is not only the location I completed my Scuba Diving Instructors Certification, it is home to some of the finest and most accessible scuba diving in the Pacific Northwest.

The Ogden Point Enhancement Society is adding an Interpretive Center within the Point this year to inform visitors on the marine life of Ogden Point and the surrounding areas, which I am happy to be designing and implementing.

The amazing Ogden Point Breakwater was constructed between 1914 and 1917 and required over one million tons of rock, ten thousand granite blocks, fifty three concrete caissons and over one million cubic yards of dredged fill to build. Indeed, a Canadian engineering marvel.

There are a number of entry points along the breakwater which allow entrance at a wide variety of depths, but the farther you go, the harder it is to get there with a dive tank strapped to your back on the walk out. However, the farther out you go, the greater the variety of sea life...

I am pleased to feature on this post the new web site we have just completed for them. It is online now here >

Atlas of Coral Reefs...

2008-09-10T16:05:00.000-07:00

The World Atlas of Coral Reefs provides a detailed and definitive account of their current status; their geography and biodiversity; as well as human uses of coral reefs and details of the threats to their existence. This wealth of authoritative and up-to-date information is accompanied by 85 full-page meticulously researched colour maps and more than 200 colour photographs illustrating reefs, reef animals and images taken by NASA astronauts on recent space shuttles. The book also provides figures on a country-by-country basis of the extent of the world’s reefs, which of them are under threat, and which are seriously endangered. The full-colour World Atlas of Coral Reefs will be a crucial resource for anyone interested in these fragile environments.

Prepared at the UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre in Cambridge, United Kingdom – UNEP’s office responsible for providing authoritative information on the condition of global biodiversity – the Atlas is a critical tool for scientists, students, policy makers and planners at local, national and international levels alike. Its authors and cartographer, Dr. Mark Spalding, Corinna Ravilious and Dr. Edmund Green, have provided a benchmark for the international conservation initiatives on reefs at risk around the world.

Coral Reefs by Charles Sheppard

2008-09-10T15:53:00.000-07:00

I haven't endorsed a book on the blog prior to this but a few weeks ago, I picked up 'Coral Reefs' by Charles Sheppard.

It is a quick yet fascinating read and one that I highly recommend.

Professor Charles Sheppard is based at the Department of Biological Sciences, Warwick University.

Charles advises on tropical marine and coastal development issues, advising governments, NGOs and aid agencies on marine and coastal management. His advisory roles include the tropical & marine environmental advisor for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Commissioner for UK Overseas Territories; participant on Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change since 2002; Fellow of Linnean Society of London, elected 1998; and the advisor to several tropical country governments on marine environmental affairs.

Interesting fellow... I spoke with him recently because of our mutual interest in Blue Ventures... excellent book if you are interested in Coral Reefs.

Ruby Beach, Washington

2008-09-03T22:40:00.001-07:00

Last month, while driving home from my sister's wedding in northern California we stopped at a place we had stopped in at several years earlier while on our road trip from Vancouver Island to Belize... Ruby Beach, and found it just as mystical as the first time we visited.

Creating a Blog for Jonathan Bird's Blue World.

2008-08-19T20:41:00.000-07:00

Being able to collaborate with other professionals with the same interests makes everything more fun.

In the past month, I have begun working with Jonathan Bird, an Emmy Award Winning photographer and cinematographer, optimizing his web sites and offering creative web design options.

Above is an example of the Blog we created for him this week. Check it out here >

Japanese Spider Crab

2008-08-14T18:23:00.000-07:00

This past week we stopped by the Oregon Aquarium and saw something I've never seen before... a Japanese Spider Crab.

Here's what I've learned about it; The Giant Japanese spider crab can generally be found in the Pacific Ocean around Japan. They can live at depths of 50-300m or 150-1000 feet.

The ones we saw were orange with white spots and the largest of them no more than maybe five or six feet across. Still... that's a BIG crab !

Its eyes were situated right in front, and two thorns stick out between them. I know one was looking right at me because he got up and ambled away after a minute or two of my staring at him.

The giant spider crab is one of the largest arthropods know to man. They measure up to 3.7 m or almost 13 feet from the tip of one claw to another. The width of their body usually grows to about 37cm (15 inches) They are covered with little nodules called tubercles and most of their size is taken up by their long legs.

Apparently, some of the first discovered were found in the jungles on land in Japan. Imagine coming across that in the bush. Yikes.

Horse Eye Jacks

2008-08-01T11:27:00.000-07:00

During our years in Belize, we often came face-to-face with a group of Jacks. Commonly known as Big Eye Jacks.

While reading up in Paul Humann's groundbreaking book on Reef Fish identification, we read that these fish regularly approached divers, curious of their bubbles and that was certainly our experience.

I love Jacks.

Photograph by Steve Roper.

Sapodilla Coral

2008-07-27T23:53:00.000-07:00

At the very end of the Belize Barrier Reef, the reef turns northward and ends rather abruptly at Seal Caye.

Within throwing distance of that small caye lays a circular reef system which, for my dollar to date, rivals any other reef I've seen.

We regularly visited the reef with our friends aboard a 47 foot catamaran called Two If By Sea and discovered that we could anchor the boat in twelve feet of perfect coral sand at the bow, and the stern would be sitting over eighty feet of water. A perfect mini wall.

The photo above is a beautiful example of just how lush that reef is.

The British Virgin Islands

2008-07-23T20:10:00.000-07:00

Sailing and diving in the British Virgin Islands with Steuart and Fran aboard Two if by Sea is our favorite trip... from the moment you land to being picked up by our friends, and whisked away to Two if by Sea, this trip is perfect.

As an example of your vacation, our recent trip included being greeted at the airport and storing our gear on board before heading out the first morning after a wonderful breakfast for The Chimneys. We anchored and slowly entered the water towards a spectacular site called The Chimneys, which is a chimney-like vent which starts at forty-five feet in a large cavern and ends at the surface as you make you way through a small but comfortable opening ten feet below the surface. The light pierces it and forms a spectacular spotlight effect when you are at the base of the vent. Just Wonderful.

Find out how you can dive and sail the British Virgin Islands here >

Four years in Belize...

2008-07-11T15:23:00.001-07:00

During our four years in Belize, we saw many changes.

The first year we visited and bought our property, Placencia was a very laid back fishing village which offered some very nice dive locations. Yim and I rented a small house close to the water tucked away in the mangroves 25 feet from the clay road which led to the village. The roads were covered by palm trees and had no pavement in any direction for at least 25 miles.

The cost was $300.00 a week. We stayed for three weeks.

We rode bikes across the airstrip to watch the planes land and take-off just over the ocean, watching them arch quickly to gain altitude. We walked along the shores and watched small rays forage for food along the Ocean's Edge.

When we visited the property we eventually bought, we knew this was where we wanted to be.

When we left in 2004, there was a construction company that had opened 500 feet down the road from us which started work at 5 am and a resort adjacent to our property on the way up, at least 25 fairly major developments in various stages of construction, crime on the rise dramatically and we knew this was no longer the place we had wanted to be.

On last view, there was virtually a solid row of resorts along the coastline of Placencia and more under construction faster than we could have possibly imagined. The growth was explosive. This is not sustainable development.

Placencia is a 12 mile peninsula. At it's widest point, I'm guessing it is perhaps 1/8 of a mile wide. On many occasions, we were told that we were very lucky as we had purchased the highest point of land on the entire peninsula. Our property was six feet above sea level.

As we watched the development take place, we had to wonder what this would do to the local environment. Where would the sewage go. The sand could not possibly leech away all that additional waste. How would that affect the surrounding waters?

I think what I found hard to deal with was the alienation the resort owners had with the locals. I found that it was difficult to share the local values if the owners spent their time in New York City and came down to continue development. There was little respect for the locals and that is where I believe Placenica will eventually fail.

The village of Seine Bight was a good example. By North American standards, the villagers lived poorly. Often, their homes had no windows, no running water and no garbage removal services of any type, so the ocean was their form of washing away the garbage which accumulated.

The introduction of resorts surrounding the village did little to help as very few of the resort owners recognized that while they may have been employing the villagers, they were certainly not assisting them in any way. That is not sustainable development.

Villagers had some money now but overwhelmingly, the resort owners insisted that these villagers, myself included to a smaller degree at first, show up for work at exactly 8 am and 'put in a full work day'. From my perspective at the time, I loved to scuba dive and was building a business where all my staff could earn a decent living and create a better life for themselves. Why would they not want to be a part of that?

I quickly learned that what was important to me was certainly not important to the locals who had lived there their entire lives and I began to spend a little time with a couple of my employees out spear-fishing or lobster hunting on our off days, which helped me understand a little better what their value systems were.

But let's be honest here. I was brought up in Montreal. A big cosmopolitan city. I may have aspired to being able to culturally adapt but I can't fool myself. I had certain ingrained expectations that required a very open mind to simply look at when it came to some local customs, and quite frankly, who was I to say if my ways were better than their ways, with the exception of a few things.

It's always easier to reflect on experiences after they've happened. No doubt about that, but I like to think that the days Yim and I got to wander north along the coastline of Belize, splashing our feet in the water and trying to encourage Sheba, our Belizean mongrel pup, to actually come in the water were the days where Belize was what it was supposed to me for me.

In the mornings we would walk to the Ocean's Edge and have our coffee, Sheba trying to dig up a buried crab frantically and sometimes, a small juvenile manta ray would bump into our feet.

But then again, we had some money, not a lot, but we could simply drive into town and buy some food if we chose. Lots of the locals had no money whatsoever and their days were focused on the most basic of human needs... nourishment.

In that context, where does money come into play?

I have ben writing a book on Belize and one of the short stories I am including goes as follows;

Title: But Steve… I caught three fish.

We waited and waited for Wayne to show up for the bone-fishing charter we had arranged. Eventually, we managed to find another fishermen at 9:30 am but by then, it was already too hot for the best bone-fishing of the day.

I waited almost three days until I saw Wayne again. Wayne was a good guy… fairly dependable and a likeable fellow so when I saw him, I asked him if he was all-right, thinking something must have been wrong.

He said he was fine and asked why I thought something was wrong.

I said, ‘Well, Wayne, you had a fishing charter that a guest was really looking forward to and you did not show up.’

He replied, ‘Well Steve, on my way in that day, I caught three fish.’

A little puzzled, I said, ‘Yes, but you had a charter, Why didn’t you show up?’

He repeated to me that he had caught three fish.

Now a little annoyed, I said, ‘Yes Wayne, but we had a guest who waited for you for almost three and a half hours.’

He repeated to me once again that he had caught three fish, only this time he added, ‘So I didn’t need any money for a few days. I had food.’

It was on that day when I realized that it would be a long time before I would be able to figure out just what made the world go around in southern Belize.

Parrotfish

2008-07-09T23:21:00.000-07:00

Parrotfish, which are abundant almost everywhere I have ever dived, are named for their oral dentition, as you can see above.

Their numerous teeth are arranged in a tightly packed mosaic on the external surface of the jaw bones, forming a parrot-like beak which is used to scrape algae from coral and other rocky substrates.

Most of the Parrotfish I have seen have been brightly coloured in shades of blue, green, red and yellow. Although they are considered to be herbivores, parrotfish eat a wide variety of organisms that live on coral reefs and some species may include corals polyps in their diet.

Their feeding activity is important for the production and distribution of coral sands in the reef and can prevent algae from choking coral. Ingested during feeding, coral rock is ground up by their teeth. After they digest this it is excreted as sand thus at times creating small islands and the sandy beaches of the Bahamas and Caribbean.

Maximum sizes vary widely within the family, from 20 cm in the smallest species, such as the green parrotfish to 1.5 m in the largest species, the bumphead Parrotfish.

Parrotfishes are diurnal and stay within shallow waters of no more than about 70 meters in depth. By night they cram themselves into crevices, some species secreting a thick coat of mucus, like a little surrounding bubble. The mucus is thought to mask their scent from nocturnal predators such as the moray eel and may serve to protect the fish from infection by parasites.

At this point, they are fairly easy to spot when night diving and on more than one occasion, I have picked one up and placed it in Yim's hands and motioned for her to shake it just a bit and the Parrotfish will wake up and swim away, in a bit of a dash.

What's also interesting is that after a massive die-out of the sea urchins in the Caribbeans, parrotfish now are the main grazers in the area. While underwater, it is often easy to hear Parrotfish before you see them as you can hear them crunching the coral reef. In fact, protecting parrotfish is proposed as a way of saving Caribbean coral reefs from being overgrown with seaweed, since Parrotfish are such productive producers of sand.

Coral Reef Global Distribution

2008-07-08T12:26:00.000-07:00

For years, I was puzzled by my fascination for destinations within a certain latitude until I did some research on coral reef distibution globally. That answered all my questions.

Golden Ray photos of amazing mass migration...

2008-07-06T22:40:00.001-07:00

Golden Ray photos of amazing mass migration by Nick Allen of the Telegraph in London. Neat story...

'Looking like giant leaves floating in the sea thousands of Golden Rays are seen here gathering off the coast of Mexico. The spectacular scene was captured as the magnificent creatures made one of their biannual mass migrations to more agreeable waters.

Gliding silently beneath the waves they turned vast areas of blue water to gold off the northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula.

Sandra Critelli, an amateur photographer, stumbled across the phenomenon while looking for whale sharks.

She said: "It was an unreal image, very difficult to describe. The surface of the water was covered by warm and different shades of gold and looked like a bed of autumn leaves gently moved by the wind. It's hard to say exactly how many there were but in the range of a few thousand. We were surrounded by them without seeing the edge of the school and we could see many under the water surface too."

"I feel very fortunate I was there in the right place at the right time to experienced nature at his best."

Measuring up to 7ft (2.1 metres) from wing-tip to wing-tip, Golden rays are also more prosaically known as cow nose rays. They have long, pointed pectoral fins that separate into two lobes in front of their high-domed heads and give them a cow-like appearance.

Despite having poisonous stingers they are known to be shy and non-threatening when in large schools. The population in the Gulf of Mexico migrates, in schools of as many as 10,000, clockwise from western Florida to the Yucatan.'

I'd love to see that migration...

The rewards of teaching...

2008-06-29T17:19:00.000-07:00

For those of you who wonder why I love scuba diving... well, here's one of the reasons.

This past April, I gave a free presentation at the local Fernwood Community Centre in Victoria, BC. My goal was to try and get kids interested in diving and the ocean at a young age with the hopes that they will become stewards of our oceans for the future and a very smart five year old named Luc attended.

He was quite astounding as he paid attention and asked relevant question about topics which can be quite difficult to understand no matter how simple I try to make them. At one point, during a conservation about the differences between hard and soft corals, he looked up at me and asked, 'Steve, are soft corals animals too?'. I was amazed at how well he was retaining and processing the information...

Today, I received this e-mail from him (via his Mom).

Dear Steve,

I watched two Scuba Diving movies. One was about dolphins and one was about different sea animals and coral.

Where do you like to Scuba Dive the best?

When I am eight or past eight I will be able to go to Scuba Diving classes.

And if my mom doesn't have enough gas she'll just go to the gas station and get some gas and she said that when I was eight she would take me to Sidney to the classes.

Learning about diving from you, this is what I like the best. I like breathing through those things that go in your mouth. And I also liked putting my arms in that backpack thing and making it puff up and puff down.

And I liked looking at those little pieces of coral.

Bye Steve!

From, Luc

(Hi, I hope you remember Luc. He sure remembers you. He and I came to see you speak at the Fernwood Community Centre. The above note was dictated by Luc to me, his mom (Emilie). He became more inspired after seeing your presentation and plans to move us all to the Bahamas one day. A venture I will certainly not hinder. In fact, his teacher told me that he sadly announced the news to his class and told them that it was probably too far away for him to keep attending kindergarten with them.)

My thanks go out to Luc and his Mom for attending.

Anthony's Key Video.

2008-06-20T08:34:00.000-07:00

For those of you joining us on our trip to Anthony's Key in Roatan next January, here is a short video of what you can expect.

We still have room for four to six people so sign up soon if you would like to join us.

Mo'orea

2008-06-17T20:40:00.000-07:00

I've been reading The Fragile Edge by Julia Whitty recently and she talks about Mo'orea and the fact that it is between 1.2 million and 2.5 million years old and was in it's prime, a towering island of 10,000 plus feet and has been slowly slipping back into the ocean, and now sits with a maximum elevation of just over 4,000 feet.

The island was formed as a result of a geologic hotspot in the mantle under the oceanic plate that formed the whole of the Society Archipelago.

But I guess what crossed my mind is the fact that these islands are all slowly slipping away to become atolls or perhaps, if the coral problems continue and no barrier reef is formed around the island, a flat topped Guyot.

A guyot, also known as a tablemount, is a flat-topped seamount. Guyots are most commonly found in the Pacific Ocean.

Guyots show evidence of having been above the surface with gradual subsidence through stages from fringed reefed mountain, coral atoll, and finally a flat topped submerged mountain.

I highly recommend the book. Very interesting.

Sharks decline by 97 percent in Mediterranean.

2008-06-12T09:59:00.000-07:00

Sharks decline by 97 percent in Mediterranean - Reuters - Wednesday, June 11, 2008

The number of sharks in the Mediterranean has fallen by 97 percent over the past 200 years, putting the sea's ecological balance at risk, a report released Wednesday said.

The report by the Lenfest Ocean Program, which is based in Washington, used records like fishermen's logs, museum specimens and sightings to estimate the number and size of Mediterranean sharks over the past two centuries.

There was only enough data on 5 of the 20 big shark species present in the Mediterranean to be useful to the study: the hammerhead, thresher, blue and two species of mackerel shark, which averaged a decline of 97 percent.

"It will have a major impact on the ecosystem because large predatory sharks are at the top of the food chain," said Francesco Ferretti, the lead author of the report. Losing the top of the food chain can mean smaller fish thrive and consume more of their prey, upsetting the ecological balance.

"If we lose these sharks, we are going to lose this important portion of the ecosystem functioning," Ferretti said.

A report last month by the International Union for Conservation of Nature found that 11 kinds of shark faced extinction due to overfishing, partly caused by booming demand for shark fin soup in Asia.

Fishers from all over the world catch and trade sharks for their lucrative fins, often discarding their carcasses, the report said, citing Indonesia and Spain are among the top culprits.

Ferretti said the practice was not thought to be common in the Mediterranean due to the small number of sharks now present there. A greater problem is that sharks are caught in long lines meant to snag tuna and swordfish.

"The Mediterranean has been fished since Roman times, it's a historical thing," said Ferretti. "But now, fishing has put big impact on the shark population."

A little bit about Shark Finning...

2008-06-08T12:47:00.001-07:00

Shark finning is a practice where sharks are caught, hauled on board, have someone slice their fins off, and then the still-living, finless bodies are tossed overboard.

Unable to swim or breathe by keeping in motion, the sharks endure a painful death from suffocation, blood loss, or predation by other species.

Why is this happening?

Shark fins have become a hot commodity. With shark fin soup costing as much as $100 a bowl in Asia, the fins themselves cost up to hundreds of dollars per kilogram.

I went searching for a Shark Fin soup recipe and came across the following;

---

“A shark's fin is tasteless, but has an amazing ability to bring out and enhance the flavor of other foods cooked with it. It is usually simmered in rich flavorful broth. In making shark's fin soup, first class restaurants would use superior stock or "high soup", a bowl of which is made from hours of simmering chickens, fine pork and ham, and at times with dried scallops and abalone into concentrated essence.

Other ingredients like crab meats and eggs can be added while black vinegar makes a good accompaniment with shark's fin soup. A dash of whisky or brandy can be used in replace of vinegar to add a zip to it.”

---

So, in fact, the shark fin adds absolutely no flavour and at best offers the unproven ability to ‘add flavour’ to other foods cooked with it. In fact, it is the chicken, pork or ham that actually add any flavour… or the also endangered abalone used in preparation.

Shark Fins also presents the lovely risk of Minamota Disease. Just Google that and take a read if the sheer brutality of shark finning is not enough to trigger a deep awareness of the need to stop this practice, perhaps learning a bit about this disease is.

In comparison to the fins, shark meat has a relatively low commercial value, netting only $865 per ton. While the fins are like gold, the rest of the shark is not worth the space on the boat to fishermen.

This is resulting in sharks being killed at wildly unsustainable rates for their fins. In a study of the shark fin trade published in the October 2006 edition of Ecology Letters, it was estimated that the harvest of sharks for their fins is between 38 million and 73 million sharks each year.

There are 17 nations that have outlawed the practice of shark finning and yet the practice continues. Poaching goes on in national waters, in off-limits preserves, and in the largely un-policed international seas.

Countries such as Ecuador and Costa Rica have strong shark finning regulations but don’t aggressively police the shark-rich, protected areas of the Galapagos and Cocos Island, mostly due to the isolated natures of these reserves and the lack of funding. Sharks are poached in the Pomene reserve of Mozambique, where fishermen get $280 per kilo of shark fins. Wherever there are sharks, there are people after their fins. While there have been cases of illegal shark fin activity being stopped, most of it is not.

Customs data shows that more than 100 countries are involved in the business of trading in shark fins. Most are exporters while the main consumer nations are mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. The United States and the European Union also import significant quantities to local Chinese communities.

While there are many causes for the decline in shark populations, shark finning is no doubt one of the main contributors. Shark finning is a worldwide problem that can only be solved by a conscious effort on a global scale.

Here is a list of nations and regions that have passed some shark finning regulations:

American Samoa
Australia
Brazil
Canada
Costa Rica
Ecuador
European Union
Nicaragua
Oman
Palau
Panama
USA

I suggest, if you are a diver, that you place these nations higher on your list than all others.

Yim and I have been face to face with sharks, myself on many occasions and have never once felt even the least bit endangered. In fact, in my interactions with sharks, sharks usually got out of our way so fast, we usually only got a brief glimpse of them.

If you are a scuba diver particularly, I believe you have an obligation to learn more about this brutal practice and use your skills, education and platform as a diver to make all your students and guests aware of Shark Finning and urge all of them to take some type of action, however small, to make their friends and families more aware of the brutality.

Knowledge will help us save the sharks.

Botanical Beach, Vancouver Island.

2008-06-03T21:16:00.001-07:00

Botanical Beach offers one of the best opportunities to view intertidal marine creatures and plants on Vancouver Island and is on my list of one of the Top Ten things to do on Vancouver Island.

It is one of the most amazing places on the entire West Coast, particularly at low tide. This is when you can walk a long way out across flat sandstone and granite outcroppings to view tide pools filled like jewel boxes with brightly coloured marine animals. Purple, red and orange starfish and sea urchins, blue mussel shells, white gooseneck barnacles, and green sea anemones and sea cucumbers only begin to hint at the spectrum of intertidal life that thrives here.

It's a great day trip.

Read more at www.oceansedge.com

Grey Whales in Ucluelet

2008-05-25T22:58:00.001-07:00

Ucluelet is a spiritual place. Ucluelet directly translated means Safe Harbour. Visiting Ucluelet to watch Grey Whales migrate is mesmerizing.

It was from this small town that we boarded a Zodiac all by ourselves to spend a few hours looking for migrating Gray Whales. It didn't take long. Within fifteen minutes, we had located a group of three at first, feeding on Herring spawn in a small cove, in water barely deep enough to cover them.

Gray whales feed on small crustaceans such as amphipods, and tube worms found in bottom sediments. They feed primarily during the summer months of long daylight hours in the cold Arctic waters of the Bering and Chukchi seas.

As a baleen whale, it has a series of 130-180 fringed overlapping plates hanging from each side of the upper jaw, where teeth might otherwise be located.

The plates are off-white and about 2-10 inches (5-25 cm) in length. To feed, a whale dives to the bottom, rolls on its side and draws bottom sediments and water into its mouth. As it closes its mouth, water and sediments are expelled through the baleen plates, which trap the food on the inside near the tongue to be swallowed. This is what we were watching them do over and over.

Gray whales inhabit shallow coastal waters of the eastern North Pacific. The gray whale makes one of the longest of all mammalian migrations, averaging 10,000-14,000 miles (16,000-22,530 km) round trip. In October, the whales begin to leave their feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi Seas and head south for their mating and calving lagoons in Baja California, Mexico. The southward journey takes 2-3 months. The whales remain in the lagoons for 2-3 months, allowing the calves to build up a thick layer of blubber to sustain them during the northward migration and keep them warm in the colder waters. The return trip north takes another 2-3 months. Mothers and calves travel very near shore on the northbound migration.

A migrating gray whale has a predictable breathing pattern, generally blowing 3-5 times in 15-30 second intervals before raising its fluke and submerging for 3-5 minutes. A gray whale can stay submerged up to 15 minutes, and travel at 3-6 miles per hour (4.8-9.6 km/hr). Mothers are very protective of their calves, and earned the name "Devilfish" from early whalers in the lagoons because of their violent defensive behaviors. Orcas (killer whales) are a cause of gray whale deaths, and many gray whales have orca teeth scars on their flukes.

At one time there were three Gray whale populations: a north Atlantic population, now extinct, possibly the victims of over-hunting; a Korean or western north Pacific stock now very depleted, also possibly from over-hunting; and the eastern north Pacific population, the largest surviving population.

Hunted to the edge of extinction in the 1850's after the discovery of the calving lagoons, and again in the early 1900's with the introduction of floating factories, the gray whale was given partial protection in 1937 and full protection in 1947 by the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Since that time the eastern north Pacific gray whale population has made a remarkable recovery and now numbers between 19,000 and 23,000, probably close to their original population size.

They are now thankfully well accepted to be worth far more to the local economy alive and bringing in guests from around the world to see them during their migration.

This is a must see trip for the avid scuba diver and naturalist, for the trip generally circles the Broken Island Group, dozens of Islands in Barkley Sound where thousands of Sea Lions reside most of the year.

Ucluelet. Life on the Edge.

2008-05-19T22:06:00.000-07:00

One of my Top Ten spots to visit on Vancouver Island is Ucluelet.

The only Highway to Ucluelet is Highway 4, that starts at Parksville, travels through Port Alberni and on to Ucluelet and Tofino, 140km (86.6 miles) away. From Port Alberni, the Pacific Rim Highway (Highway 4) leads west through the rugged mountain scenery of the Mackenzie Range, past the rushing waters of Kennedy River and the shores of Kennedy Lake, to the west coast of Vancouver Island.

At the edge where land meets the Pacific Ocean lies Ucluelet.

Ucluelet, population 1,753, is surrounded by the spectacular beauty of Canada's temperate rainforest and the Pacific Ocean. Some of British Columbia's largest inventories of red cedar stand adjacent to the town. They enjoy a fairly temperate climate with year-round temperature ranging from 5ºC to 20º C. Snowfall is minimal, and the town have roughly 328 frost-free days and 1800 hours of sunshine a year. Nice enough... but rain it does.

The Nuu-Chah-Nulth people have long used the word U-clue-let, meaning "safe harbour" and it is indeed an apt description for a village that offers both a sheltered inner harbour and magnificent vistas of the open Pacific Ocean within easy walking distance. From the sheltered inner harbour, watch the bustle of the fishing and charter vessels, spot the ever present bald eagles as they soar overhead, and keep an eye out for the Sea lions, harbour seals and river otters and even occasional Orcas We saw three Orcas on our trip, all of which were speedier than my ability to get my camera.

The rocky shoreline of the open Pacific offers spectacular view and breathtaking winter storm watching.

There are numerous signs with information about where you can hike, stroll the beach and camp. For a good overview of the Pacific Rim National Park, visit the Wickaninnish Centre, towards Tofino, an interpretive centre with theatre programs, exhibits, displays and activities helping visitors to understand the marine ecology, ocean and rainforests.

Visitors from around the world come here for the excellent fishing, whale watching, scuba diving, nature cruises, beachcombing, kayaking, wilderness hiking and the pristine nature. We simply went this time to visit.

We hiked the Wild Pacific Trail (entrance photo above), which takes you along a coastal old growth forest walk. Don't miss this. It is well worth the hike.

In addition, every spring, over 20,000 gray whales move through these waters on their annual migration from Baja California and Mexico to the Bering Sea. There are locations in the Park for whale watching, or you can take a whale watching tour. We watched the Grey Whales migrate through this year and it was a wonderful day out on the water.

During the winter months, see nature at its wildest during storm watching season. Eight-meter waves, thundering surf, and ocean spray whipped into a foaming frenzy provide nature's ultimate natural theatrics. Watch the storms from safe, designated viewpoints outdoors or from the comfort of an ocean view inn.

Places we recommend to stay; The Cabins at Terrace Beach or The Terrace Beach Resort.

The Georgia Aquarium officials announces plans for a $110 million expansion !

2008-05-08T21:46:00.000-07:00

Imagine this...

"On Tuesday, May 6, 2008, The Georgia Aquarium officials announced plans for a $110 million expansion, increasing itself by 1.5 million gallons, most of which will be used for dolphin windows, dolphin shows and something called “dolphin encounters.”...

The new addition may eclipse the size of an aquarium, claiming to be the “world’s largest indoor marine mammal pavilion,” that is being built in the mammoth Dubai Mall and due to open in the United Arab Emirates in 2009."

$110 Million Dollars !

I just don't get it... I just don't understand why that money is not allocated to protecting dolphins globally and educating fishermen, who are killing off the dolphins at an astounding rate.

Once a year, we take guests to Anthony's Key in Roatan to swim with Dolphins in the wild. They are free to come and go. If they (the dolphins) do not want to interact with us, they can simply go away. It is a phenomenal experience. One which I will never forget each time I play pitch and catch with one of these beautiful mammals.

Compared to staring at Dolphins through a window, or swimming with them in a captive area, I highly recommend you join us in Roatan and develop a greater appreciation of this incredible intelligent mammal who shares our world in their habitat...

BC Marine Naturalist

2008-05-06T09:51:00.000-07:00

So, after a few days of intensive information, I am now a certified BC Marine Naturalist.

Some interesting concepts bounced through my mind while I was attending this course. Part of our discussion was the spiraling problems Canada has due to our not having the ability to protect our marine environment.

To me, there's no real question. We, as a nation, have to stop exporting our own fish. It's simple to me. To export them, we don't fish them sustainably and the agencies which are charged in managing them lie to themselves about the populations remaining and the amount of time we have before we run out of salmon, as an example.

If we are going to eat them, then don't export them. Create a sustainable fishery with the mandate to feed Canadians and the local native population and then stop fishing. Create an industry which values our natural resources and implement a new curriculum based on educating our children on the need to protect and respect our local resources.

What brought this thinking on to me was the thought that in Belize, we (several groups working together) managed to change the thinking of a substantial number of local fishermen. It made sense to support proposing to the fishermen that they could make more money leading tours to where the Whale Sharks migrate each year than they could in little Mexican skiffs hauling out fish for export.

Anyways, that having been said, I am now a certified BC Marine Naturalist. Watch out Sea Otters... I know where you are now and I'm coming to look at you.

And don't get me started on what they did to Sea Otters off the BC Coast and what the local fishermen are proposing now...

Sustainable Tourism is not easy.

2008-04-29T10:35:00.000-07:00

During our three to five years in Belize, we saw many changes.

The first year we visited and bought our property, Placencia was a very laid back fishing village which offered some very nice dive locations. Yim and I rented a small house close to the water tucked away in the mangroves 25 feet from the clay road which led to the village. The roads were covered by palm trees and had no pavement in any direction for at least 25 miles.

The cost was $300.00 a week. We stayed for three weeks.

We rode bikes across the airstrip to watch the planes land and take-off just over the ocean, watching them arch quickly to gain altitude. We walked along the shores and watched small rays forage for food along the Ocean's Edge.

When we visited the property we eventually bought, we knew this was where we wanted to be.

When we left in 2004, there was a construction company that had opened 500 feet down the road from us which started work at 5 am and a resort adjacent to our property on the way up, at least 25 fairly major developments in various stages of construction, crime on the rise dramatically and we knew this was no longer the place we had wanted to be.

On last view, there was virtually a solid row of resorts along the coastline of Placencia and more under construction faster than we could have possibly imagined. The growth was explosive. This is not sustainable development.

Placencia is a 12 mile peninsula. At it's widest point, I'm guessing it is perhaps 1/4 of a mile wide. On many occasions, we were told that we were very lucky as we had purchased the highest point of land on the entire peninsula. Our property was six feet above sea level.

As we watched the development take place, we had to wonder what this would do to the local environment. Where would the sewage go. The sand could not possibly leech away all that additional waste. How would that affect the surrounding waters?

I think what I found hard to deal with was the alienation the resort owners had with the locals. I found that it was difficult to share the local values if the owners spent their time in New York City and came down to continue development. There was little respect for the locals and that is where I believe Placenica will eventually fail.

The village of Seine Bight was a good example. By North American standards, the villagers lived poorly. Often, their homes had no windows, no running water and no garbage removal services of any type, so the ocean was their form of washing away the garbage which accumulated.

The introduction of resorts surrounding the village did little to help as very few of the resort owners recognized that while they may have been employing the villagers, they were certainly not assisting them in any way. That is not sustainable development.

Villagers had some money now but overwhelmingly, the resort owners insisted that these villagers, myself included to a smaller degree at first, show up for work at exactly 8 am and 'put in a full work day'. From my perspective at the time, I loved to scuba dive and was building a business where all my staff could earn a decent living and create a better life for themselves. Why would they not want to be a part of that?

I quickly learned that what was important to me was certainly not important to the locals who had lived there their entire lives and I began to spend a little time with a couple of my employees out spear-fishing or lobster hunting on our off days, which helped me understand a little better what their value systems were.

But let's be honest here. I was brought up in Montreal. A big cosmopolitan city. I may have aspired to being able to culturally adapt but I can't fool myself. I had certain ingrained expectations that required a very open mind to simply look at when it came to some local customs, and quite frankly, who was I to say if my ways were better than their ways, with the exception of a few things.

It's always easier to reflect on experiences after they've happened. No doubt about that, but I like to think that the days Yim and I got to wander north along the coastline of Belize, splashing our feet in the water and trying to encourage Sheba, our Belizean mongrel pup, to actually come in the water were the days where Belize was what it was supposed to me for me.

In the mornings we would walk to the Ocean's Edge and have our coffee, Sheba trying to dig up a buried crab frantically and sometimes, a small juvenile manta ray would bump into our feet.

But then again, we had some money, not a lot, and we could simply drive into town and buy some food if we chose. Lots of the locals had no money whatsoever and their days were focused on the most basic of human needs... nourishment.

In that context, where does money come into play?

I have ben writing a book on Belize and one of the short stories I am including goes as follows;

Title: But Steve… I caught three fish.

We waited and waited for Wayne to show up for the bone-fishing charter we had arranged. Eventually, we managed to find another fishermen at 9:30 am but by then, it was already too hot for the best bone-fishing of the day.

I waited almost three days until I saw Wayne again. Wayne was a good guy… fairly dependable and a likeable fellow so when I saw him, I asked him if he was all-right, thinking something must have been wrong.

He said he was fine and asked why I thought something was wrong.

I said, ‘Well, Wayne, you had a fishing charter that a guest was really looking forward to and you did not show up.’

He replied, ‘Well Steve, on my way in that day, I caught three fish.’

A little puzzled, I said, ‘Yes, but you had a charter, Why didn’t you show up?’

He repeated to me that he had caught three fish.

Now a little annoyed, I said, ‘Yes Wayne, but we had a guest who waited for you for almost three and a half hours.’

He repeated to me once again that he had caught three fish, only this time he added, ‘So I didn’t need any money for a few days. I had food.’

It was on that day when I realized that it would be a long time before I would be able to figure out just what made the world go around in southern Belize.

International Year of the Reef -2008.

2008-04-28T14:18:00.000-07:00

The International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), a partnership of two-dozen government agencies, NGOs and other institutions, has designated 2008 as the International Year of the Reef (IYOR).

IYOR 2008 is a worldwide campaign to raise awareness about the importance of coral reefs and the threats they face, and to motivate people to take action to protect them.

Blue Ventures, the organization we partner with to offer our Madagascar Trips, have partnered with Coral Cay Conservation and the Project AWARE Foundation to hold public events and educational activities throughout IYOR 2008 to promote reef conservation and motivate people to take action to protect them.

Coral reefs have been called the “rainforests of the sea” because of the vast diversity of life they support. Reefs cover less than one percent of the Earth’s surface, yet they are home to 25 percent of all marine fish species.

But more than half of the world’s coral reefs are at risk from human activities. At the present rate of destruction, 70 percent of the world’s reefs will be destroyed by the year 2050.

The last IYOR took place in 1997 during which hundreds of groundbreaking studies were conducted to determine the status of coral reefs and numerous international policies were enacted to protect these vital resources. But much more needs to be done.

Coral Cay Conservation, Blue Ventures and Project AWARE Foundation will work with like-minded businesses, government
leaders, non-profits and individuals to raise awareness for the need of reef conservation and push for policies and programmes that will ensure these precious resources remain healthy and productive for generations to come.

Ocean's Edge supports these efforts and asks for all our members to take some time to read more of what can be done by visiting the International Year of the Reef web site.

The beginning of Ocean’s Edge.

2008-04-20T22:39:00.000-07:00

In January 1999, Yim and I flew to southern Belize to spend three weeks on the beach and scuba dive. By the time we left, we had placed an offer on an acre or so of beachfront property along the Caribbean Sea with plans to build our own small resort.

We named the property Ocean's Edge.

The property was completely overgrown and we looked forward to returning the following year, walking the property, clearing some of it and developing plans to build our little resort. When we did, we began to clear the property according to our plans. Above, Yim is standing in front of the large Sea Grape we tried to keep but couldn't.

We secured what we thought was financing in Montreal with a partner whom we would be in an equal partnership with. Unfortunately, that would turn out to be a very big mistake for us.

Over the next two years, I designed beach houses, developed the landscaping plans, Yim and I found a builder and set about building the resort. It became our little piece of paradise for three years. Yim and I personally planted 155 Palm Trees, Alamanda, Oranges, Bananas, Limes, Rubber Trees, Plantain, Hibiscus, Oleander, Orchids, Periwinkle, Bougainvillea and Birds of Paradise.

The houses were constructed to my drawings and delivered in sectional pieces, which we then constructed on site. We built it entirely from indigineous materials found in Belize, Guatemala and San Salvador.

We designed septic systems which utilized the grey water to fertilize our garden.

We developed a cistern system which caught our rain water and filtered it through multiple charcoal filters, which we kept stored in multiple 5,000 gallon tanks. We even bought the telephone pole and our own transformer and had it installed.

We built a walkway which allowed guests to walk above the sand if they chose. In short, we had some fun.

The most rewarding thing about this project is that Yim and I built Ocean's Edge entirely on our own, with no help from anyone except those we hired to do work we designed.

However, after three years of constant fighting with the fellow we thought would be a good partner, turned out to be a terrible choice for us and because of all the hassles with him and we eventually sold the property to him. That was a big disapointment to us because they had never even heard of Belize when Yim and I found the property and never actually helped at all during the construction of the resort, other than to one day come down and offer cigars to the electrical crew while they were hooking up the transformer it had taken me eight weeks to source. The crew laughed at him and as usual, Yim and I completed the work.

In fact, when we formed the partnership, he was not married and by the time we had started building, he was and his 'new wife' was telling us that unless we bought certain colors, she would not agree to the purchase... ugh.

So, we now continue along with www.oceansedge.com like all good troopers. Life goes on along the Ocean's Edge...

Discover St. Martin, FWI

2008-04-20T15:29:00.000-07:00

In 1986, I was asked to help a company on the Island of St. Maarten create their first every tourism magazine.

The first year was mostly spent traveling back and forth and all we really accomplished was setting up the Islands first ever telephone directory by armed with all that info, we had the connections to create a full fledged magazine... so I move to Marigot, St. Martin, and lived in the lowlands just outside the town where one of my neighbors was Jasper Johns.

It was a very interesting year for me and an experience which got me deeply involved in scuba diving.

Hurricane Iris...

2008-04-19T15:30:00.000-07:00

After a 17 day road trip from Vancouver Island, we finally arrived in Maya Beach in Belize for the first night we could stay in our little house by the beach and there it was, with no roof left on it after Hurricane Iris.

To say that was a disappointment would be an understatement but once we drove into Placencia and realized that most of the houses we recalled being there were nowhere to be seen, we began to count ourselves very lucky.

We had a partner at the time who now owns our little houses that Yim and I put so much effort into creating and his first words to us upon hearing about the damage was that we should move into the shed for the time being so the guests we had booked could still take their vacation.

Bermuda

2008-04-19T15:05:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are unfamiliar with my background, it has included not only my traveling but cooperating in the development and marketing of several very well know destinations books and tourism publications, including this book on Bermuda, where I spent two years helping build a brand identity for the Royal Naval Dockyard and creating and producing the Bermuda Department of Tourism guides.

That traveling experience is what makes Ocean's Edge an interesting web site to read or to take part in by joining us on one of our trips.

What is the Great Barrier Reef ?

2008-04-16T23:43:00.000-07:00

The Great Barrier Reef is about 500,000 years old, but it has not been present in its current form for all of that time.

Reefs have grown and receded on Australia's continental shelf, depending on sea level changes. The present reef structure is only about 6,000 to 8,000 years old, and is growing on top of the underlying structure of old reefs formed during periods of higher sea levels.

The Great Barrier Reef is not a single continuous reef along Australia's continental shelf. Rather, it is composed of around 2,900 individual reefs of many shapes and sizes, and includes some continental (or rocky) islands surrounded by reefs. The Great Barrier Reef comes quite close to the mainland, within a few kilometres, in the northern Great Barrier Reef, and is hundreds of kilometres offshore in the southern parts including the Swains Reefs.

Most reefs of the Great Barrier Reef have formed on the continental shelf rather than in the deep ocean like atolls, and are generally known as shelf reefs. The reefs on the Great Barrier Reef include fringing reefs, ribbon reefs, deltaic reefs and platform reefs.

Fringing reefs form adjacent to the mainland or a high island.

Platform reefs are oval in shape, 3km to 10 km long, and often have a lagoon in the middle. Some platform reefs accumulate sand in one section to form a coral cay, and this may be stable enough to support vegetation, and hence populations of birds other small animals.

Ribbon reefs occur only in the northern section of the Great Barrier Reef, close to the edge of the continental shelf. They are long and thin and lack a lagoon.

Deltaic reefs occur only in the northern Great Barrier Reef, and resemble a river delta.

Courtesy of The CRC Reef Research Centre.

Ogden Point Enhancement Society

2008-04-14T20:40:00.000-07:00

It's not every day I am asked to sit on a Board of Directors, and when the Ogden Point Enhancement Society asked this month, I instantly agreed.

Ogden Point is one of the spots in Canada that I consider among the best dive locations, particularly for beginners and the Society is committed to protecting and promoting the location. Ogden Point is not only the location I completed my Instructors Certification, it is home to some of the finest and most accessible scuba diving in the Pacific Northwest.

So, it is with some sense of pride that I have been appointed to The Board of Directors of the Ogden Point Enhancement Society, dedicated to preserving and promoting the area. We hope to add an Interpretive Center within the Point this year to inform visitors on the marine life of Ogden Point and the surrounding areas.

The Ogden Point Breakwater and Docks were constructed between 1914 and 1917 and required over one million tons of rock, ten thousand granite blocks, fifty three concrete caissons and over one million cubic yards of dredged fill to build. Indeed, a Canadian engineering marvel.

There are a number of entry points along the breakwater which allow entrance at a wide variety of depths, but the farther you go, the harder it is to get there with a dive tank strapped to your back on the walk out. However, the farther out you go, the greater the variety of sea life...

Ocean's Edge new web site is now live...

2008-02-03T16:22:00.000-08:00

After what seems like months to me, the new web site at www.oceansedge.com is live.

I love it... and I hope all our supporters do as well.

Just what is a Coral Reef?

2008-01-27T23:35:00.000-08:00

Coral reefs are one of the most complex and colorful tropical ecosystems, rivaling rainforests in their richness of life. Coral reef organisms build massive & intricate physical structures that are home to some of the most fascinating plants and animals in the world. Their extraordinary beauty captivates visitors and their productivity provides a wealth of resources for local communities and the world.

Coral reefs are massive structures made of limestone that is deposited by living things. Although thousands of species inhabit coral reefs, only a fraction produce the limestone that builds the reef.

The most important reef building organisms are corals.

Coral reefs support over twenty-five percent of all known marine species. As one of the most complex ecosystems on the planet, coral reefs are home to over 4,000 different species of fish, 700 species of coral and thousands of other plants and animals. A good way to imagine a coral reef is to think of it as a bustling city or community, with the buildings made of coral, and thousands of inhabitants coming and going, carrying out their business.

In this sense, a coral reef is like a metropolis under the sea.

CUSO

2008-01-22T11:35:00.000-08:00

Those of you who know me, know that I've spent much of my life diving and creating web sites, direct mail, advertising and marketing materials. And as I have gotten older, I've turned my attention to creating materials which are fund raising oriented in nature.

This piece I created for CUSO addresses issues affecting our oceans in Thailand but brings the idea home to our shores by introducing the oceanic global conveyor belt to constituents and allowing them to understand how what affects the oceans on the other side of the world will soon affect us here at home.

Since the ocean is one of my true interests in life, I wrote and conceptualized this piece with considerable interest.

CUSO finds outstanding organizations working in the global South who are making real and lasting changes in their own communities… and partners with them. CUSO’s aim is to bring the expertise of those in the global South and Canada together—through volunteer placements, mutual collaboration, training, programming, exchanges, and resource sharing—so both can continue to enhance and grow vital social justice programs for the long-term.

For more information on CUSO, visit www.cuso.org

The new Ocean's Edge logo for 2008...

2007-12-31T19:01:00.000-08:00

After a great deal of thought, I am happy with this new look, which is not very much different than the original. The typeface is the same but instead of the beach logo, I've changed it to a Compass Rose, which seems more appropriate as we shift towards offering diving and sailing adventures.

I'd be happy to hear your comments.

Happy New Year to all and thank you for helping make the Ocean's Edge web site a little more successful this past year. We look forward to presenting you with the new web site within the next four weeks or so and are excited by the new features and trips we've been able to work out for you.

Steve

Sail the BVI's and Dive The Wreck of the Rhone.

2007-12-08T15:57:00.001-08:00

Sailing and diving in the British Virgin Islands with Steuart and Fran aboard Two if by Sea was our best trip ever... from the moment we landed to being picked up by our friends, Steuart and Fran and whisked away to Two if by Sea, the trip was perfect.

The first morning we headed off for The Chimneys. And what a re-introduction to diving it was.

We anchored the boat at the Ocean's Edge and slowly entered the water to descend to forty-five feet and head towards a spectacular site called The Chimneys which is, as you guessed it, a chimney-like vent which starts at forty-five feet in a large cavern and ends at the surface as you make you way through a small but comfortable opening ten feet below the surface. The light pierces it and forms a spectacular spotlight effect when you are at the base of the vent. Just Wonderful.

After snorkeling around a while, we also discovered that you could swim through the rocky outcrops above the water and within one of them was a hollow area which was just great as well. A deep pool surrounded by rock and coral engulfs you while inside, but you had better be a fairly strong and confident swimmer.

Later, we lifted anchor and headed off towards The Bitter End Yacht club and anchored off a small island just west of the club for the night.

The next morning, we set sail around the tip of the island and while we had plans to head to Anegeda, we chose to tack off towards the Baths on Virgin Gorda.

The Baths are truly amazing. Boulders the size of apartment buildings are leaned up against each other and in the center form a walkway which is incredible as you wander your way through 100 ton boulders perched inches above your head.

Our next stop was the world famous Wreck of The Rhone.

Widely regarded as one of the best wreck dives in the Caribbean, the two halves can be dived separately. The Bow lies in 60 ft - 90 feet - divers can swim inside the ships hold and see coral encrustations along with many fish. Diving inside a wreck that has great ambient light is always fun On our first dive, Yim and Fran stayed above the wreck and followed our bubbles through the dive.

Lobsters and crabs apparently often hide inside the wreck. And I mean crabs. I found one that had at least a four foot span.

Outside of the wreck, the foremast and crows nest can be seen along with the boilers, condenser, wrenches and winch.

The stern, often done as the second dive (15 ft-60 ft), shelters lobsters and octopus hiding in the metal work of the boiler gear box housing, the rudder and the propeller. Many fish varieties including Barracuda, Southern Stingrays, Eagle Rays and Turtles live in this National Park area.

We swam through the open area beside the propeller... it's a great spot to boost a divers confidence in safe conditions.

Read more on www.oceansedge.com

A nice note from the World Wildlife Fund...

2007-11-27T00:18:00.000-08:00

In 2002, I had the opportunity to visit and dive the second largest barrier reef in the world in southern Belize led by Steve Roper. Along on this trip were several members of the Board of Directors of the World Wildlife Fund.

During the trip out, Steve explained in great detail the wonders of the barrier reef system and the need for people to respect and protect this wonderful resource of ours. He carefully explained the dive to us and led us along a remarkable visit. I happen to recall his charm when he commented on how good a diver I was. He made us all feel at ease.

His commitment to our oceans impressed me as he outlined his vision to reduce commercial fishing vessels and install moorings along the barrier reef to preserve this pristine environment, a vision I share.

I pleased that he is continuing to contribute knowledge and insight into ways others can protect our Oceans. Keep up the good work Steve.

Kathryn Fuller. Past President. World Wildlife Fund

An all new Ocean's Edge Web Site in early 2008...

2007-11-12T20:35:00.001-08:00

After almost five years, we are pleased to show off the completed concept for the all-new Ocean's Edge Web Site.

It's cleaner, easier to navigate around and offers a wider variety of travel opportunities and travel stories while incorporating a new section on Ecotourism.

Our Destinations link features spots which we think offer great vacations and which we recommend and can book for you. We are paticularly thrilled to offer our sailing vacations to the British Virgin Islands.

Our Travel Stories link offer a wider variety of opinions on the destinations we've traveled to for your review. We are also working on incorprating a listing of available properties for sale in Belize, for those of you interested

Our Ecotourism link offer insight and information into areas of conservation which we are personally interested in.

Look for the new site to appear in early 2008.

The Blue Hole of Belize

2007-11-01T21:07:00.000-07:00

Approximately 60 miles (100 kilometers) from Belize City lies the almost perfectly circular Blue Hole.

More than 1,000 feet (305 meters) across and some 400 feet (123 meters) deep, the hole is the opening to what was a dry cave system during the Ice Age. When the ice melted and the sea level rose, the caves were flooded, creating what is now a magnet for intrepid divers.

Today the Blue Hole is famed for its sponges, barracuda, corals, angelfish—and a school of sharks often seen patrolling the hole’s edge.

This is on my list of Top Ten Dive Spots in the World.

Goldstream Provincial Park on Vancouver Island

2007-10-28T12:46:00.001-07:00

Just 17 kilometers from downtown Victoria, Goldstream Provincial Park lies amid the splendour of a spectacular old-growth temperate rain forest.

Besides being a beautiful day trip within a short distance from downtown Victoria, from October through December you can see a world class salmon-spawning stream with thousands of Salmon returning. And quite literally, within arm's length. During this period of the year, the Goldstream River is the scene of one of nature's spectacles as chum, coho and chinook salmon enter the river via Finlayson Arm from the Pacific Ocean. Three to four years previously, these same salmon were born here before traveling to the sea to grow and mature. Their return to spawn and die in their ancestral spawning beds is fascinating.

It doesn't stop there. During this amazing time of year you can visit the park and it's always-changing Visitor Centre. The centre is named after Freeman King, an early naturalist who probably reached more children than any other naturalist on Vancouver Island. The centre is at the mouth of the river, overlooking the Goldstream estuary, nestled among giant black cottonwoods and red alder trees.

If you are ever in Victoria and have a couple of hours to enjoy something wonderful, visit Goldstream Park

Ecotourism is not just a marketing catch-phrase.

2007-10-28T12:15:00.000-07:00

Ecotourism is not just a marketing catch-phrase. It is a term used to describe ethical tourism that focuses on appreciation and preservation of a country's flora, fauna, ecosystems and culture.

The basic idea behind ecotourism is that visitors to a place can contribute to the environment and support the people who live in that environment. If the local people can make a living from tourism, then there is less need to burn off the forest for food or hunt endangered animals for the price of their skins.

Ecotourist friendly companies work with local guides through their resorts and consciously contribute to the local economy, environment and community in each country in which they operate. Your tourist dollars have a tangible influence in saving the environment, providing jobs, and raising environmental standards.

Ecotourism can only work if it is supported by wildlife and nature lovers like you, who care about the environment. To help you better enjoy and contribute to the environment of the countries you visit, there are several things you can do.

As a traveler to the rainforest you will see evidence of massive deforestation due mostly to growing bananas and grazing cows for exportation. The best way you can help is to support sustainable environmental growing practices when you buy these products. Buy locally grown, organic and sustainable agricultural products that do not damage irreplacable old-growth
rainforest ecosystems.

Nesting sea turtles should be observed only with the assistance of a trained guide. Photograpers should keep their distance.

Travel to rainforest areas are best undertaken in the company of trained and experienced local guides (some areas permit only guided tours for the protection of both habitat and visitors). If you do decide to proceed without such a guide, take the time to learn about the area and how to ensure that you do not inadvertently stray too close to important wildlife habitats.

Sailing in the British Virgin Islands

2007-10-24T20:04:00.000-07:00

Sailing and diving in the British Virgin Islands with Steuart and Fran aboard Two if by Sea was our best trip ever... from the moment we landed to being picked up by our friends, Steuart and Fran and whisked away to Two if by Sea, the trip was perfect.

The first morning we headed off for The Chimneys. And what a re-introduction to diving it was.

We anchored the boat at the Ocean's Edge and slowly entered the water to descend to forty-five feet and head towards a spectacular site called The Chimneys which is, as you guessed it, a chimney-like vent which starts at forty-five feet in a large cavern and ends at the surface as you make you way through a small but comfortable opening ten feet below the surface. The light pierces it and forms a spectacular spotlight effect when you are at the base of the vent. Just Wonderful.

After snorkeling around a while, we also discovered that you could swim through the rocky outcrops above the water and within one of them was a hollow area which was just great as well. A deep pool surrounded by rock and coral engulfs you while inside, but you had better be a fairly strong and confident swimmer.

Later, we lifted anchor and headed off towards The Bitter End Yacht club and anchored off a small island just west of the club for the night.

The next morning, we set sail around the tip of the island and while we had plans to head to Anegeda, we chose to tack off towards the Baths on Virgin Gorda.

The Baths are truly amazing. Boulders the size of apartment buildings are leaned up against each other and in the center form a walkway which is incredible as you wander your way through 100 ton boulders perched inches above your head.

Our next stop was the world famous Wreck of The Rhone. Widely regarded as one of the best wreck dives in the Caribbean, the two halves can be dived separately. The Bow lies in 60 ft - 90 feet - divers can swim inside the ships hold and see coral encrustations along with many fish. Diving inside a wreck that has great ambient light is always fun On our first dive, Yim and Fran stayed above the wreck and followed our bubbles through the dive.

Lobsters and crabs apparently often hide inside the wreck. And I mean crabs. I found one that had at least a four foot span.

Outside of the wreck, the foremast and crows nest can be seen along with the boilers, condenser, wrenches and winch.

The stern, often done as the second dive (15 ft-60 ft), shelters lobsters and octopus hiding in the metal work of the boiler gear box housing, the rudder and the propeller. Many fish varieties including Barracuda, Southern Stingrays, Eagle Rays and Turtles live in this National Park area.

We swam through the open area beside the propeller... it's a great spot to boost a divers confidence in safe conditions.

Read more on www.oceansedge.com

Bottom Trawling

2007-10-08T22:15:00.000-07:00

This spectacular squid is discarded bycatch on a Spanish bottom trawler.

Ancient forests in danger ... deep under the ocean. Biologists estimate that somewhere between 500,000 and 5,000,000 marine species have yet to be discovered. But many of these species are in serious danger from the world's most destructive fishing practice - bottom trawling This is truly the last undiscovered wilderness left on the planet.

The deep ocean floor has its own mountains, called seamounts. They rise at least 1,000 metres above the surrounding seafloor. Amazingly, the Earth's longest mountain range is not on land but under the sea - the Mid-Oceanic ridge system, which winds around the globe from the Arctic Ocean to the Atlantic. It is four times longer than the Andes, Rockies, and Himalayas combined!

Seamounts are uniquely rich areas of biodiversity. Think colourful forests of attached cold water corals, soft seapens, sponges and seawhips, sea spiders and lobster-like crustaceans. Many seamount-dwelling species are not found anywhere else, and it is believed that some are confined to only one or two individual seamounts!

Number 1 Threat: Bottom Trawling

Unfortunately, the commercial fishing industry has gotten to know about the rich pickings that exist in deep waters. The industry has extended its unsustainable fishing practices into previously unexploited deep waters and seamounts using a technique called bottom trawling.

Bottom trawling involves dragging huge, heavy nets along the sea floor. Large metal plates and rubber wheels attached to these nets move along the bottom and crush nearly everything in their path. All evidence indicates that deep water life forms are very slow to recover from such damage, taking decades to hundreds of years - if they recover at all.

If allowed to continue, the bottom trawlers of the high seas will destroy deep sea species, before we have even discovered much of what is out there. Think of it as driving a huge bulldozer through an unexplored, lush and richly populated forest and being left with a flat, featureless desert. It's like blowing up Mars before we get there.

Brac Reef on Cayman Brac

2007-09-30T22:51:00.003-07:00

Cayman Brac is a small island that lies about 143 km northeast of Grand Cayman in the Caribbean Sea. It is about 19 km long, with an average width of 2 km. Its terrain is the most spectacular of the three Cayman Islands. The Bluff', a massive central limestone outcrop, rises steadily along the length of the island up to 43 m above the sea at the eastern end. The island is named after this prominent feature, as Brac is a Gaelic name for a bluff.

Brac Reef Beach Resort is a charming, family-owned all-inclusive getaway located on four and a half acres of milky white-sand beachfront.

Cayman Brac is considered one of the world’s premier scuba diving destinations where the pristine beauty of the warm Caribbean Sea provides a spectacular marine environment for reef, wall, and wreck diving.

Check out our trips at www.oceansedge.com

Sanibel Island, Florida

2007-09-30T22:36:00.000-07:00

In 1994, I drove to Sanibel Island for a four day stay, as I was living in New Smyrna Beach for a year.

Sanibel Island is located on the Gulf coast of Florida, just offshore of Fort Myers. Located within Lee County, Sanibel is a barrier island – a collection of sand on the leeward side of the Gulf Stream from the more solid coral-rock of Pine Island.

The island's curved shape forms Tarpon Bay on the north side of the island. It is linked to the mainland by the Sanibel Causeway, which runs across two small man-made islets and the Intracoastal Waterway. A short bridge links Sanibel Island to Captiva Island.

The main reason I went, for those who know me, were the beaches and the sea shells. The Gulf side beaches are world renowned for their variety of seashells, which include coquinas, scallops, whelks, sand dollars, and other deeper-water mollusks, both univalve and bivalve. The Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum is the only museum in the world dedicated to the study of shells. Don't miss this Island if you love sea shells.

This is a wonderful place to spend a week simply relaxing in the summer.

Whale sharks in Belize

2007-09-27T21:40:00.000-07:00

Belize is one of the few places in the world where scuba divers have a real chance of spotting and swimming with the whale shark. I've had the chance to visit several dozen times during my three years of leading dive tours in Belize and it is an adventure worth the price of admission.

The whale shark can grow up to 60 feet in length, weigh in excess of 15 tons, and dive to depths of 700 metres (2,300 ft). During the months of March, April, May, and June, whale sharks migrate off the southern coast of Belize. These giants of the sea are harmless filter feeders and are a favorite among scuba divers who come from all over the world to Belize for a once in a lifetime opportunity to swim among these friendly and inquisitive giants.

For the most part, 3 days before and 7 days after a full moon, during the spring months, the whale shark can be most easily spotted. During these lunar cycles millions of snappers (dog and cubera snapper in particular) mate and spawn. The opportunistic whale sharks travel great distances to snack upon these large and tasty eggs before diving back down into the hidden depths of the sea.

A reef cut called Gladden Spit, which has a steep sandy bank pushing out into very deep sea, is the most notable place for divers to spot the whale shark during this feeding period. In fact much of this area has been designated as a marine reserve by the government of Belize for this reason.

Gladden Spit lies towards the southern end of the Belizean barrier reef.

What happens when someone panics underwater?

2007-09-23T21:23:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, I was teaching off the coast of Belize and was on an open water dive with a woman in her fifties. We were about to perform the controlled emergency swimming ascent from forty feet portion of her certification.

We talked about it before we left the boat and we settled in to a nice sandy area on our knees so she felt secure and I let her get her breathing under control. I stood next to her and motioned for her to stand up so we were face to face and I got a good grip on her BC, then asked her for the OK signal. She gave me one.

I started with signalling the three breaths prior to ascent and on the third breath, as we were set to go and started up, rather than blowing small bubbles, she literally 'blew out' all the air in her lungs before we had gone five feet and I could see her eyes bulge out as we began our ascent. She was grabbing at me and trying to swim as hard as she could to the surface, but I had a good grip on her.

I took my alternate air source and placed it in her mouth and she grabbed it and purged it and forced water down into her lungs and started to scream underwater. She was grabbing at my regulator and trying to swim as hard as she could to the surface but I kept her tightly under control and a few secnds later we broke the surface of the wat.

She grabbed me around the neck and tried to climb on tp of me and I did what we were taught. I slid down, inflated her BC and oushed her away from me. It was exactly by the book and once she realized that the entire incident had taken maybe 30 seconds, and all that had really happened is she had swallowed some water, she bagan to calm down, as I spoke to her.

This was the first time someone panicked on me and it sure taught me a lot about what we had studied to become PADI instructors. She was fine, I was fine and after a brief break on the boat, she decided it was time to try it again and was successful.

So, what happens when someone panics underwater. A little discomfort and a little learning if you truly stick to what you were taught as an Instructor.

Shark Finning...

2007-09-18T20:58:00.000-07:00

Every year tens of millions of sharks die a slow death because of finning. Finning is the inhumane practice of hacking off the shark's fins and throwing its still living body back into the sea. The sharks either starve to death, are eaten alive by other fish, or drown (if they are not in constant movement their gills cannot extract oxygen from the water). Shark fins are being "harvested" in ever greater numbers to feed the growing demand for shark fin soup, an Asian "delicacy".

Not only is the finning of sharks barbaric, but their indiscriminate slaughter at an unsustainable rate is pushing many species to the brink of extinction. Since the 1970s the populations of several species have been decimated by over 95%. Due to the clandestine nature of finning, records are rarely kept of the numbers of sharks and species caught. Estimates are based on declared imports to shark fin markets such as Hong Kong and China.

StopSharkFinning.net is campaigning to achieve a worldwide ban on shark finning. That means that all sharks caught must be landed intact - their fins must not be removed while the shipping vessel is at sea.

Visitng their web site may change some of your thoughts on this and if that's all it does, then that's a good start. It's an inhuman thing to do, period.

Manta Rays

2007-09-12T22:08:00.000-07:00

The manta ray is one of the largest and least known of the fishes. The manta ray, like the sharks, skates and other rays, does not possess a hard bony skeleton or elasmobranches. Although they do not possess a stinger, they are closely related to the stingray family (Dasyatidae). The manta ray, together with nine species of devil rays, (family Mobulidae) make up a subfamily known as Myliobatidae. All devil rays have common cephalic fins (extensions of the pectoral fins) to help funnel food into their mouths.

When these fins are furled, they resemble a devil’s horns. Manta rays can be further classified into the genus Manta and species birostris. Manta rays worldwide were once thought to comprise nine different species based on size, coloration, and location. However, recent genetic studies by Tim Clark, from the University of Hawaii, show that all mantas belong to a single species.

Most rays are bottom feeders. These bottom feeders have their mouth located on their ventral side. They also have a pair of spiracles on the top of their head, from which they take in water and pump it pass their gills to breathe. Manta rays are unique in that they evolved to take advantage of large abundances of zooplankton that inhabit the open water. Their large, rectangular mouth projects forward instead of downward. The spiracles, although still present, are no longer used. Instead, water enters the manta ray’s mouth while they swim, passes over their gills, and provides oxygen to the blood.

A manta ray’s internal gill arches can be seen, when the mouth is wide open. Small vestigial teeth exist in the lower jaw. These teeth barely penetrate the skin covering and they are another ancestral feature the manta rays no longer use. There aren’t any teeth in the upper jaw. Mantas have an average wingspan of about 22 feet (6.7 meters), making them one of the largest animals in the ocean. They are 2.2 times wider than they are long.

The word ‘Manta’ is Spanish for cloak, referring to their large, blanket shaped bodies. In Hawaiian, they are called hahalua.

Find out more by going to our web site at www.oceansedge.com

The Humpback Whale

2007-08-28T19:07:00.000-07:00

The humpback whale is the fifth largest of the great whales.The humpback whale's Latin name, Megaptera novaeangliae, means "Big wings of New England", and refers to the 15 foot pectoral (side) fins or "flippers" which protrude from either side of the body.

Females are slightly larger than the males in the adult stage, reaching 45 and 42 feet respectively. A mature humpback whale may weigh up to a ton per foot, or nearly 40 tons (80,000 lbs) when fully mature. Calves range from 10 to 15 feet in length, and average 3,000 pounds at birth.

Yim and I have been fortunate enough to actually be in the water off Sydney, BC when one of these magnificent whales broke the surface not fifty feet from us. Mesmerizing !

The head of a humpback whale is large in proportion to its body, comprising nearly one-third the whale's entire body mass. The mouth line runs high along the entire length of the head, dropping sharply just before the eyes. The eyes are located one on either side of the head.

Each eye is about the size of a large orange, and is found just above the end of the mouth line. The eyes bulge slightly from the orbital cavity (eye socket) and are generally brown in color with a kidney-shaped pupil.

The ear of a humpback is located just behind and below the eye. The absence of an external ear flap makes it nearly impossible to detect the tiny half-inch ear slit. The nares, or blowholes, through which the whale breathes air, are located near the center of the head, and slightly further back than the eyes. There is an elevated area in front of the blowholes, called the splash guard, or blowhole crest, which prevents water from pouring into the blowholes when the whale breathes in.

A humpback whale's head is adorned with curious knobs, which are called tubercles, or sensory nodules. These golf-ball sized bumps are located on the humpback's upper and lower jaws, and along the lips. Each tubercle contains a hair follicle, with a single light gray vibrissa, usually about 0.5 inch long. The exact function of the tubercles is unknown, but it is generally believed they provide some sensory capability, perhaps through sensitivity to either vibration or temperature.

A series of prominent grooves is located along the whale's throat, stretching from the tip of the lower jaw all the way back to the navel. These ventral pleats, which may number from 12 to 30, allow the animal to expand its mouth (to nearly three times the body's normal girth!) during feeding, but yet remain relatively stream-lined while swimming about at other times.

The torpedo shape of the whale may assist in its long migrations (upwards of 7,000 mile round-trip between the summer feeding areas and the winter breeding grounds in Hawaii).

Humpbacks may occasionally swim at speeds in excess of 15 miles per hour for brief periods. This would probably not be possible if their mouth was permanently enlarged to its full extent.

Certainly worth traveling to Maui to view their migration.

St. Vincent

2007-08-28T11:02:00.001-07:00

I was last in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in 1989 and was astounded by the black beaches. At the time, and I suppose this is still true, it was off the beaten path of most divers, so everything had the feel of being in a place for the first time.

We spent time sailing to a variety of islands aboard a 34 foot Morgan, including Bequia, Mustique and Canouaan and each place had it’s own charm.

On St. Vincent, we stayed at a small inn called Coconut Beach right across from Young Island. I recall it being a short walk to where we picked up our Morgan and set sail through a small cut in the reef off towards Bequia. It was also directly across from an odd little rock called Ft. Duvernette. You can actually walk to the top of it along a set of winding steps someone carved into the rock years ago.

Read more at Ocean's Edge >

St. Martin / St. Maarten

2007-08-28T10:57:00.000-07:00

From 1986 - 1988, I lived off and on in St. Maarten producing the first island magazine, Discover St. Maarten, for the department of tourism. And, I began to dive seriously, since the ocean surrounded me.

My first PADI certification was with Leroy French in St. Maarten along Simpson Bay. He had a simple little dive shack at the time and on both my open water and advanced certifications, I was the only diver on the boat with him. It was a very laidback operation. I'd plunk myself down on a wooden deck with my feet up and write my exams. It was Leroy who taught me how to triangulate a position out in the ocean to re-locate a dive site.

The fact that I was working on the island helped make it easier to take my sweet time getting the certifications.

After being certified, I would drive around the island looking for people to dive with, anywhere. We (whoever I found) would drive to one of the local beaches, drag our gear to the Ocean's Edge and do entries. My favorite part was coming out of the water 45 minutes or so later to unsuspecting beach goers. That and the clothing optional beaches, of course.

There were great houses to photograph and most of the beaches were deserted much of the time.

I spent hours walking along Cupecoy Beach taking photos. I'll be adding more photos, so if you are interested, check back every now and then.

It was a good time. I spent a lot of time traveling to other islands, directing photo shoots for the magazine and scuba diving.

Some of the architecture around the island astounded me as did living in a place surrounded by beaches. I took hundreds of photos of sunsets and beaches.

Cupecoy Beach was my favorite and I loved Grand Case (below) for local culture.

The Athabasca Glacier

2007-08-28T10:31:00.000-07:00

The Athabasca Glacier is one of the six principal toes of the Columbia Icefield, located in the Canadian Rockies.

Due to the warming climate, the glacier has receded more than 1.5 km in the past 125 years and lost over half of its volume.

The glacier moves down from the icefield at a rate of several centimetres per day. Due to its close proximity to the Icefields Parkway, between the Alberta towns of Banff and Jasper, and rather easy accessibility, it is the most visited glacier in North America.

And the drive there is spectacular.

The leading edge of the glacier is within easy walking distance; however, travel onto the glacier is not recommended unless properly equipped.

Book a hotel room in advance and we suggest staying on site at the lodge for easy access.

Fiji - The Mamanucas

2007-08-28T09:13:00.000-07:00

Bula. We visited Fiji, specifically, the Mamanuca chain of Islands in December 2005.

The Mamanuca (pronounced Mah-mah-noo-tha) islands lie in a majestic arc, only a short distance from the mainland of Viti Levu, curving to the north-west, and almost touching the Yasawa chain.

There are 13 islands in all, not counting those covered by the Pacific at high tide and they all share in common pristine white sandy beaches, waving palms, crystal blue waters and, at night, the cooling influence of the trade winds.

The Mamanucas are essentially volcanic outcrops pushed up from the ocean floor in a gigantic earthquake thousands of years ago. From the air you can see that the Mamanucas group is in fact two clusters known as Mamanuca-i-ra and Mamanuca-i-cake. Within the Mamanucas is the Malolo group, three miles inside the barrier reef, extending in a curve for about 75 miles. As islands, they are certainly beautiful.

Find out more by visiting http://www.oceansedge.com/t16.shtml

Ocean’s Edge... where the name came from.

2007-08-27T23:29:00.000-07:00

In January 1999, Yim and I flew to southern Belize to spend three weeks on the beach and scuba diving. By the time we left, we owned over an acre of beachfront property along the Caribbean Sea with plans to build our own small resort.

We named the property Ocean's Edge and built a small web site to book reservations. We've never given up the name even after we sold the property and are continuing to use it for evolved purposes.

The property was completely overgrown and we looked forward to returning the following year, walking the property, clearing some of it and developing plans to build our little resort.

Over the next two years, we designed beach houses, developed the landscaping plans and set about building. It became our little piece of paradise for three years. We planted 155 Palm Trees, Alamanda, Oranges, Bananas, Limes, Rubber Trees, Plantain, Hibiscus, Oleander, Orchids, Periwinkle, Bougainvillea and Birds of Paradise.

The houses were constructed to my drawings and delivered in sectional pieces, which we then constructed on site. We built it entirely from indigineous materials found in Belize, Guatemala and San Salvador.

We designed septic systems which utilized the grey water to fertilize our garden.

We developed a cistern system which caught our rain water and filtered it through multiple charcoal filters, which we kept stored in multiple 5,000 gallon tanks. We even bought the telephone pole and our own transformer and had it installed.

We built a walkway which allowed guests to walk above the sand if they chose. In short, we had some fun.

To see a bit more on the construction, visit www.stephenroper.com and go to the resort management link.

These pages feature a small tour of how we took a completely overgrown piece of property in Belize and turned it into a small profitable resort. The most rewarding thing about this project is that Yim and I built Ocean's Edge entirely on our own, with no help from anyone except those we hired to do work we designed.

The Sooke Potholes, Vancouver Island

2007-08-27T23:20:00.000-07:00

For a day of fun splashing around in the water, the Sooke Potholes is a set of naturally formed pools and unique rock formations carved into the sandstone bedrock along the Sooke River about an hour outside of Victoria. The water in the potholes has a beautiful aqua-green colour and cascades through sets of waterfalls into deep clear pools offering an excellent choice of swimming holes.

It is a wonderful day trip if you happen to be in Victoria on a hot weekend.

This part of the Sooke River is considered very sacred by the T'Sou'ke First Nation - the area's native community.

The pools and swimming areas that are available for you span a length of 5 km (3 miles) or so. The potholes start at the Sooke Potholes Provincial Park located at the end of Sooke River Road and stop at Leechtown, situated at the end of the Galloping Goose Regional Trail... so if you are up to it, you can ride your bike.

Yim and I had a very nice day trip here, hiking along the shores and down to the water's edge and jumping into the cold but refreshing water.

Ucluelet, British Columbia. Life on the Edge.

2007-08-27T22:27:00.000-07:00

The only Highway to Ucluelet is Highway 4, that starts at Parksville, travels through Port Alberni and on to Ucluelet and Tofino, 140km (86.6 miles) away. From Port Alberni, the Pacific Rim Highway (Highway 4) leads west through the rugged mountain scenery of the Mackenzie Range, past the rushing waters of Kennedy River and the shores of Kennedy Lake, to the west coast of Vancouver Island.

At the edge where land meets the Pacific Ocean lies Ucluelet.

Ucluelet, population 1,753, is surrounded by the spectacular beauty of Canada's temperate rainforest and the Pacific Ocean. Some of British Columbia's largest inventories of red cedar stand adjacent to the town. They enjoy a fairly temperate climate with year-round temperature ranges from 5ºC to 20º C. Snowfall is minimal, and the town have roughly 328 frost-free days and 1800 hours of sunshine a year.

The Nuu-Chah-Nulth people have long used the word U-clue-let, meaning "safe harbour" and it is indeed an apt description for a village that offers both a sheltered inner harbour and magnificent vistas of the open Pacific Ocean within easy walking distance. From the sheltered inner harbour, watch the bustle of the fishing and charter vessels, spot the ever present bald eagles as they soar overhead, and keep an eye out for the Sea lions, harbour seals and river otters and even occasional Orcas We saw three on our trip all of which were speedier than my ability to get my camera.

The rocky shoreline of the open Pacific offers spectacular view and breathtaking winter storm watching.

There are numerous signs with information about where you can hike, stroll the beach and camp. For a good overview of the Pacific Rim National Park, visit the Wickaninnish Centre, towards Tofino, an interpretive centre with theatre programs, exhibits, displays and activities helping visitors to understand the marine ecology, ocean and rainforests.

Visitors from around the world come here for the excellent fishing, whale watching, scuba diving, nature cruises, beachcombing, kayaking, wilderness hiking and the pristine nature.

The Ucluelet Wild Pacific Trail (entrance photo above) takes you into a coastal old growth forest walk. Don't miss this. It is well worth the hike.

In addition, every spring, over 20,000 gray whales move through these waters on their annual migration from Baja California and Mexico to the Bering Sea. There are locations in the Park for whale watching, or you can take a whale watching tour. We watched the Grey Whales migrate through this year and it was a wonderful day out on the water.

During the winter months, you can see nature at its wildest during storm watching season. Eight-meter waves, thundering surf, and ocean spray whipped into a foaming frenzy provide nature's ultimate natural theatrics. Watch the storms from safe, designated viewpoints outdoors or from the comfort of an ocean view inn.

Places we recommend to stay; The Cabins at Terrace Beach or The Terrace Beach Resort.

A little bit about Whale Sharks

2007-08-27T22:15:00.000-07:00

The whale shark is the largest living shark. It is one of the three filter-feeding species of shark, with a broad, flattened head and minute teeth. It also has a distinctive patterning of light spots and stripes over a dark background, fading to a light colour on the underside. This natural camouflage allows it to ‘blend’ into its surroundings when viewed from any angle.

Whale sharks are found in all tropical and warm temperate seas except the Mediterranean, with a range typically between latitudes 30°N and 35°S. They are known to inhabit both deep and shallow coastal waters and the lagoons of coral atolls and reefs, frequently in surface sea-water between 21 and 25°C.

The whale shark is a filter-feeder. It is believed to sieve zooplankton as small as 1mm in diameter through the fine mesh of their gill-rakers. However, unlike the megamouth and basking sharks, the whale shark does not rely on forward motion but can hang vertically in the water and ‘suck’ food.

They regularly visit Gladden Spit in Belize from February to May.

After feeding on cubera and dog snapper spawn at Gladden Spit, several miles north of The Silk Cayes, it was found that sharks dispersed throughout the Belize Barrier Reef with directed movements of over 550 km recorded to the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula and east of the Bay Islands in Honduras.

Rachel Graham, who was studying the whale shark in Belize writes that the "patterns of whale shark movement and feeding behaviour indicated that the marine reserve boundaries encompassed the main spawning aggregation and whale shark feeding zones."

"Increased visitor and boat numbers to the marine reserve coincided with alterations in the spawning behaviour of aggregating snappers and consequently the visitation of whale sharks at Gladden Spit. Strong management directives and enforcement are needed at the marine reserve to check unregulated growth of tourism and thus minimize its impacts on the fish spawning aggregations and visiting whale sharks."

She is entirely right.

During my years of leading groups to Gladden Spit, there were occasions where there were so many boats in the area diving and fishing at the same time that there was a real danger to visitors being snagged by a fishing line or simply getting confused and losing their dive group.

I have been there and counted 32 dive and fishing boats in the area, which is less than a couple of square miles. Local dive shops play politics with who will get to manage the reserve and then certain operators enjoy opportunities iother may not have acccess to.

The efforts of people like Rachel Graham will be the deciding point for places like Gladden Spit.

Ranguana Caye, Belize

2007-08-27T22:06:00.000-07:00

Diving off the barrier reef of Belize for close to four years is enough to spoil most anyone and Belize is one beautiful place to spend your days diving.

The reefs are still pristine and in places like my personal favorite, Seal Caye, at the bottom of the Sapodilla Cayes, is almost unbelievable. If you anchor carefully, you can set your anchor in 8 feet of sand at the front of your boat and 80 feet at the stern, then slide off along one of the most beautiful walls you can imagine. And easy to dive. You can do a number of different profile dives here and end the dive in ten to fifteen feet of crystal clear water before surfacing.

The diving here is truly world class. You can head down to 80 plus feet if you want but from my experience diving this many times, I found the best marine life and coral above 65 feet, frequented by Eagle Rays who flew past just off to your left if you are travleing clockwise around the reef. For more information on where the best divng is in Belize, contact us here at Ocean's Edge Belize and we'll glady give you a free guide to the best guides and places to dive in the country.

There are tube sponges as tall as a full grown man along the walls here. So, if you are in southern Belize, check this spot out.

Off Ranguana Caye, top center photo and top photo on the right, towards the south, there is a difficult to find site called The White Hole. If you leave the island from the southern side and head towards the reef about five miles away, you will find three breaks in the reef and three sandy ravines which lead to the wall.

It’s very hard to find and I suggest you find Arthur Westby in the village and have him show you where it is. Arthur was my divemaster and friend for the years I dove in Belize and he’ll show you the spot.

It features a large canyon of gleaming white sand at 45 feet which runs down to a large opening and a lip which surrounds the sand as it settles at the top of the wall. As you swim to this lip at 55 feet and peer over, there is virtually no bottom. I brought many advanced divers that I was certifying there so they could experience the wonder of a true barrier reef wall dive.

Moving along the wall at 55 feet is a magical drift dive as you travel beside the wall on your left and the coral on your right.

To the north of Ranguana lays a garden of spur and groove formations just west of the wall that you can easily spend dozens of dives exploring. In between the grooves are home to resting Nurse Sharks and a wide variety of marine life too varied to list. Worth several dives.