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Oceanicallstars Onboard With the RJ Dunlap Shark Research and Marine Conservation Program

March 28, 2010 By Anonymous Content

The RJ Dunlap Marine Conservation Program (formerly South Florida Student Shark Program) is part of the University of Miami’s ongoing efforts to educate the community about environmental issues. The mission of the R.J. Dunlap Marine Conservation Program is to advance ocean conservation and scientific literacy by combining cutting edge research and outreach activities. DiverWire.com SHARK correspondent Jillian Morris recently joined one of the shark tagging expeditions. Here's her story.

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Oceanicallstars Onboard With the RJ Dunlap Shark Research and Marine Conservation Program

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Enjoy Scuba Diving

January 10, 2009 By Mike

By Dean Novosat

Scuba diving can be a life-long adventure involving travel to foreign lands, continuing education and interaction with a bunch of like-minded individuals who share a passion for the undersea world and it's exploration. Our planet is 85% covered with water and at this point we know relatively little about our great oceans and seas. Only a small fraction of the Earth's waters have been explored. Diving can be done anywhere there's water including oceans, seas, lakes, ponds, and rivers. And we can technically include swimming pools since this is where most divers learn to obtain their certification. Learning to scuba dive can become the beginning of a lifelong adventure.

Many people dive both as a fun and recreational activity but there are professional scuba divers too. There are the most famous divers, the Navy SEALS. But most cities and towns have water rescue teams that include divers. So if you love diving, you can always make it a career. There are also professional treasure hunters who scour the ocean's bottom for shipwrecks laden with gold! Even though they may use high-tech devices like satellite photos and sonar, a diver is always needed to go to the bottom to recover the bounty.

Since diving can be viewed as an extreme sport, it is always recommended that the rules of diving are learned and followed accordingly while engaging in this adventure sport. You can earn your PADI certification and hundreds of locations. And if you arrive at a tropical resort somewhere and suddenly decide you want to learn to dive, most resorts offer lessons right in their pool. You can get certified quickly and then head right out into the ocean to explore the undersea world.

Many people erroneously assume that since you are underwater, the weather doesn't play a factor on when you can dive. This is not true!

Scuba diving can be limited by weather conditions just like any other activity. Since you usually take a boat to a dive site, winds and rough seas may make this unsafe. And inclement weather can greatly affect the undersea currents making diving unsafe.

Dean Novosat writes about adventure sports and scuba diving at http://www.scubadivercenter.com - Scuba Diving

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Bull Shark – Appearing Out of Nowhere

October 16, 2008 By Mike

By Tommy Hayes

One day, while free diving with a friend, the largest Bull shark I have ever seen swam under us. The problem was that we were a half-mile from the beach and Bull sharks are the most aggressive type of shark in the world. Luckily, for us, he wasn't hungry at the time and slowly swam away after a few tense moments of observation.

The Bull, Tiger, and Great White are considered the top three sharks most likely to attack humans. Growing up to 11.5 feet in length and weighing up to 500 pounds coupled with the Bull shark's very aggressive behavior means it can be extremely dangerous if a person happens to unknowingly enter into its territory or cross its path.

Although sharks are commonly known to hunt individually, I have two friends who have been SCUBA diving and seen three Bull sharks hunting as a pack in both instances (in Galveston, Texas and Jost Van Dyke, British Virgin Islands). When the first two sharks passed my friend, diving off of Jost Van Dyke, the third one, bringing up the rear of their formation, took a bite at one of his fins. Luckily, the shark continued after its companions who were chasing a large school of fish.

The Bull shark is unique in that it is commonly seen throughout the world swimming in fresh water. Sightings and attacks have occurred in the most improbable locations such as Lake Nicaragua, 2,200 miles up the Amazon River in Peru, near St. Louis in the Mississippi River, and in Lake Michigan off the coast of Chicago. After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, there were numerous sightings of Bull sharks in Lake Ponchartrain. If a river or inland body of water connects with the open ocean, there is always a possibility that Bulls could investigate and appear where it is least expected.

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