Salt Water People

We have evolved.

2009-11-18T23:25:00.000-08:00

Blogger has been great. But now I have set up another one.

http://www.saltwaterpeople.com/

Hope you enjoy it. Thank you for visiting and thank you for your support.

the heat is on

2009-10-14T14:52:00.000-07:00

You can feel really feel the heat. Sometimes you wonder if it had been this hot always. Even 5 or 10 years back. The sea is no better. It’s warming up. Just a slight increase in temperature would be catastrophic. The coral reefs would bleach and it would take ages to recover. Scientists are predicting an El Nino to hit us towards the end of 2009 or beginning of 2010.

On October 24th as part of the 350 movement people from all over the country are going to campaign and call out to reduce the carbon emission to 350ppm and less. In Maldives 350 post cards are going to be sent to all the leaders of the world. Demonstrations are going to take place and vehicles would be halted. 350 divers would stay underwater for 24 hours on that day of action. All of these activities and more in defiance of climate change.

On one of his speeches the environment minister of Maldives stated that no one in the Maldives would like to be climate refugees. They would rather perish in their homelands than be in some strange land. Or grow gills to survive underwater.

WE the citizens of the world can’t just sit back and watch the world changing for the worst. WE need to rise up. Staying put is one of the worst things you can do. Spreading information and making everyone aware is a good beginning. But to combat global warming and reduce climate change we need to do more. A lot more. Everyone must rise up against it. WE must push the policy makers to go for a cleaner and greener way on doing everything.

350, it is more than just a number.

2009-10-09T23:52:00.000-07:00

Despite the arguments by the skeptics there is a lot of evidence we see, here and feel that tells us climate change is real and global warming is affecting everything. The melting of ice causes rise in sea level and the increase in ocean temperature destroys the very coral reefs that is meant to guard the islands from the sea. Decrease in fisheries and an increase in irregular violent weather are just a few examples of what's happening.

The science is clear but the politicians haven’t made up their mind yet. Not all of them. And most of them are not on the same level on ways to combat climate change. So to make them listen and to make them care a movement called 350 started some years back. The focus is on the number 350 which stands for 350ppm of carbon in the atmosphere. Currently the concentration of carbon in the atmosphere is 387ppm and it is continuing to rise. We need to bring it down to 350ppm which is the maximum we can have. Otherwise life as we know would cease to exist. Humanity will suffer and the earth would just die out.

On October 24th which is marked as international day of climate action, people from all around the world, all countries and territories would be having actions which promote the number 350. The idea is to have many demonstrations so as to grab the attention of the media and make the world leaders listen to the people.

In Maldives several activities are going to take place. And one of the key events on the international day of action is the 24 hour Underwater Rally organized by the Divers Association of Maldives (DAM). 350 divers, diving in teams are going to spend 24 hours underwater. The message DAM is giving is that Maldives is sinking and it’s more than just a country being lost to the sea. A unique heritage is gone. An irreplaceable ecosystem is being destroyed. The rally would be one of a kind.

Another event organized by Divers Association of Maldives is the first ever underwater cabinet meeting. The President of Maldives along with all the cabinet ministers are going to meet underwater while using scuba. Using hand signals and slates they are going to endorse and sign a message from the people of Maldives to the world leaders meeting at Copenhagen this December for the Conference of Parties (COP 15).

The cabinet of Maldives with dive Instructors of DAM after completing their PADI Discover Scuba Diving Program.

One might think what direct benefit would come out when the cabinet meets underwater and from the underwater rally. There is none. Almost all the actions of October 24th are symbolical. So are the events organized by the Divers Association of Maldives. It is so as to grab the attention of people and make them aware of the number 350. To get the world leaders to implement ways to reduce to amount of carbon to 350ppm and below. We are on the edge. With just a couple of steps forward Maldives along with a number of other vulnerable countries will be lost beneath the waves. We ask everybody not to sign our suicide pact.

To lean more about 350 visit www.350.org
To follow the 350 events of dam check out www.dam.org.mv
Visit the DAM facebook page http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Divers-Assoication-of-Maldives-DAM/119403063518?ref=ts

All photos provided by Mohamed Seeneen (Sindi)

Shark Fishing Ban: a step forward

2009-03-02T22:42:00.000-08:00

Last week the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture has banned shark fishing in all Atolls of Maldives. The range extends to 12 nautical miles from the rim of each atoll. This step was taken so as to protect the reef shark stock of the country which has now declined to a serious level.

Right now the fisheries ministry is working to ban oceanic shark fisheries as well and to put a total ban on export of shark products. So most probably within a year this would happen.

It has taken years to bring about this change and it would not have happened if not for the dedication of a lot of people in various sectors.

Right now the major concern is to enforce these regulations.

For more information check out

http://www.minivannews.com/news_detail.php?id=6096

picture taken at a local island

all species of sharks are fished

shark meat drying in the sun

whale shark researchers and dive staff of Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru...

...hitches rides and harrases these animals. site: Baa Atoll Hanfiaru.

whale shark with its dorsal fin nearly cut off. taken at South Ari Atoll.

they mean no harm to the sharks!?!

2008-09-09T14:38:00.000-07:00

“Nothing that will damage the environment is going to happen there. There is no chance” said the son of the developer of Baa Atoll Hanifaru. According to him there is not going to be any platforms for the sea planes to land. And the island isn’t going to be developed for agriculture. Three greenhouses that uses hydroponics is going to be built there plus a beach house.

Developers are known for plundering the natural environment of the places they are constructing. So we should all keep an eye what happens and is going to happen at that place. Just in case…

For those of you who have no idea where Hanifaru is and what we are talking about please check out

http://www.bluepeacemaldives.org/blog/?p=65

photoz 0008

2008-09-09T14:24:00.000-07:00

yellow explosion

close observation

red against the blue

significance

co-existence

Photoz 0007

2008-03-30T21:50:00.000-07:00

"let there be light"

Slaughtering of the Sharks

2008-02-14T00:23:00.000-08:00

A picture is worth a thousand words. A few thousand worth of stuff is down below. See for yourself! LOCATION: H.dh Kulhudhufushi.

a few questions come into my mind

is it really worth catching all these sharks?
what kind of affect has it already created in the environment?
what kind of impact does it have on other fisheries and tourism?
how many sharks is caught per year?
who is behind all this?
who is looking our for all of this? where are all the laws to stop this?
what can be done?
is it too late?

Many thanks to the photographer who photgraphed all of this!

SHARK WATER

2008-02-11T22:54:00.000-08:00

This movie sets out to show the world the truth about the sharks.
See for yourself!

International Year of the Reef 2008

2008-02-10T07:21:00.000-08:00

The ICRI International Year of the Reef 2008 is a worldwide campaign to raise awareness about the value and importance of coral reefs and threats to their sustainability, and to motivate people to take action to protect them. All individuals, corporations, schools, governments, and organizations are welcome and actively encouraged to participate in IYOR 2008. [More]

taken from http://www.iyor.org/

a whole new year ahead

2008-01-06T11:08:00.000-08:00

so whats up for the new year?

a whole lotta diving
clean up 08
dive for earth day 08
more diving
meeting new salt water people
ride the current and see all the life that goes by

more activities would be coming up for sure...

happy new year to ya all

Fish Dying.....is it a serious issue?

2007-12-21T23:14:00.000-08:00

It has been few weeks not since dead fish has been seeing floating around Male’ and the nearby islands. Some resorts said their staff had to clean the beaches hourly and took dead fish by the bag full.

So far no definite answer has been given by the government officials on the cause of this. Few speculations are in the air. Some says its hypoxia while others say it’s due to some kind of poisonous plankton or algae. Also there are some far fetched theories stating that this incident is due to some kind of pollutants caused by India or Pakistan.

This incident actually is said to have started several months back. Fisherman and Scuba divers in Meemu atoll reported that the fish were mysteriously dying in great numbers. Eventually it spread North to Felidhu, Ari and Male’ Atoll.

It’s not only the triggerfish, Odonus niger and the Unicornfish that has been dying. Lots of other species including the “reef fishes” and Wahoo (kurumas) has been seen floating around, dead. Benthic fishes such as stone fishes were also seen.

This phenomenon is still continuing. And we need to find out what’s going on here and take action. If all the fish in our seas die what are we going to do?

stone fish, dead and bloated up

For more information check out http://www.bluepeacemaldives.org/blog/?p=3

think globally

2007-11-06T07:22:00.001-08:00

think globally
Originally uploaded by Salt Water People

Reusable shopping bags...think about it.

Maldives import plastic bags by the millions each year and most of it is used only once.

Small Small Victory

2007-09-30T14:33:00.000-07:00

The National Handicraft Center located in the STO trade center has removed the black coral products sold there. Last Wednesday a person from the Trade Ministry informed that it was illegal to sell black coral. They had asked Najah Art Place, their business partner to remove all the products from their shop.

Few questions arises…Wonder what made them do that? And I wonder what happened to all the removed items? Should it be burned in front of the press at Dhoonidhoo along with all the other illegal stuff the government confiscates? What about the profit the shop has yielded from selling the illegal and endangered black coral? And what kind of action would they take from any further trade of it and to stop such trade from the rest of the tourist shops?

The Great Divide - Khandhogu Hanguraama!

2007-09-20T14:52:00.000-07:00

The people VS the island chief

The people of L. Gan, Thundi avah has dug a trench across there main roads. Some people on the island are taking sand from the beach and selling it to the building contracting companies. This was done to prevent the pick up trucks from going to the beach area and transporting the sand across the island.
I think somewhere in some rule it says that it’s illegal to take sand from the beach of any inhabited island. The only places you could mine the sand is from the isolated lagoons which are not connected to any islands. And now people are taking the sand from their own island!
According to the islanders the biggest “Sand Stealers” are the island chiefs of both Thundi and Mathimaradhoo avah of L. Gan. The beach sand is being sold at 6 MRF per bag. Apparently hundreds of thousands sand bags has been sold by them!
The trench diggers said they had no choice but to do so. They had tried in the first place to be civil and go through the proper channels by informing the government and the police but no corrective action was taken.

its a beutiful place out there

wonder how long it would take until we cover the whole place with garbage

and poison all the life

Robber Dealer Black Coral Stealer!!!

2007-09-12T13:01:00.000-07:00

Friend of mine told me to take a look at the new souvenier shop opened at the STO trade center, so I popped my head in to see what was there

most of the items at the shop were made out of black coral

necklaces, ear rings, ornamental knives, staffs, etc

Black coral is listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

also black coral is listed in Maldives as a marine product that is prohibited to export.

After inquiring with the sales personal at the shop, it was found that the place was run by the government in alliance with Najah of Najah art place. Apparently its the Trade Ministry which is behind the set up.

I dont know if the laws have changed yet or not. We've yet to find out whats this all about and whats going on here.

The souveniers at the shop has a tag that boasts that they are "Authentic Maldivian Products".

A shark jaw and some ormaments made out of shark teeth at the same shop.

Pink Coral, used as decoration in the shop.

What next? Shark Fin Soup available at Nasandhura?

All pictures was taken on 12th September 2006.

Take a Day to Leave a Legacy - International Clean Up Day

2007-09-09T02:02:00.000-07:00

International Clean up Day is coming up next weekend - 15th Sepmtember 2007. Maldivers is joining with Strength of Society (a local NGO) for a beach clean up at Hulhu Male'. All volunteers welcome!

Swimming With the Giants

2007-08-14T23:01:00.000-07:00

Manta Season is in high gear on our side of the atoll and its possible to see them in the tens.

They put up a fine show for the divers as they come to the cleaning stations to get rid of parasites.They glide by, somersault and chase each other.

Planktons for lunch anyone? All the giants of the sea skip through several levels in the food chain to feed on the planktonsWonder where the manta chaser we ran into last year is? Everyone keep an eye out for him. Lets hope we run into him again....hehehe...

This video was taken on 22/07/2006. It shows the dive guide from Gasfinolhu leading the divers onto the topof the manta cleaning station engaging in some active interaction.

The Man Dolphin

2007-07-23T05:05:00.000-07:00

Some of you might know him from school as the guy who fanatically listened to bands such as Korn, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tool, etc and the dive crowd might know his as that free diving guy with the weird conjoined fins who came to the clean ups we had.

Several years ago Monde’ (Mohamed Hamza) came up with the thought that he wanted to take up free diving as a sport. We didn’t take him much seriously back then but today it’s a reality. He is off to Egypt to undergo training with some of the best free divers out there and in a few months time to take part in an international free dive competition. As far as I’ve heard of he is the first Maldivian to take part in such a competition.

Free diving with its disciplines is one of the most extreme sports out there. And it takes dedication and years of practice to be able to enter into such a competition.

Good luck to you Monde’ and may you kick some ass!

for more information abotu apnea and free diving plz check out the following links
http://www.aida-international.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-diving
http://thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com/long280.html

Official Shark Awareness day

2007-07-16T00:33:00.000-07:00

Did you know that last Saturday, July the 14th is the Official Shark Awareness day? It was just yesterday that I realized that that day before was that day. So here’s some belated enlightening for you all.

100 million sharks are killed annually worldwide

200 sharks are killed every minute (that’s 3 sharks per second)

Many millions die a slow death, robbed of their fins

Sharks reproduce late in life and have few offspring

10,000 tonnes of shark fins are traded around the world

Shark finning is associated with crime and corruption

Once sharks are gone from the oceans, tourism all over the world will be affected, causing fundamental effects on local economies

Sharks are top predators of ecosystems - without them a whole range of species will be affected

Few months ago a friend of mine who works as a GRO in a nearby resort called me from Himmafushi where some of his guest were touring the island. There is a fish processing plant on that island apparently belonging to a local famous comedian and puppet of the regime and there was a dead big hammerhead shark being brought to the plant. After doing some digging he found out that this shark was caught just off Furana Fushi (Furana North-the dive site).

Sharks being the top predators play the part of keeping the fish stocks healthy. And without them the quality of the fishes are going to go down. And the food chains come crashing down. Sharks are highly migratory and they are moving around our waters. Most our country is the sea and most probably it is not monitored well in terms of who fishes in our waters, what they catch and what methods they use!

Pink, the new Black?

2007-07-13T14:01:00.000-07:00

Recently, a friend and I were going about the tourist souvenir shops at the STO trade center and we came stumbled upon a shop where they had pink coral for sale. The guy in the shop was cementing smaller pieces of the pink coral to make it into a big piece. Pink Coral along with Red Coral are one of the most precious types of coral and it is used in the making of jewelry and home deco materials.
It might not sound like a big issue taking a few chunks of some coral and selling it to the tourists. But in the long run it could lead to over exploitation like what happened to the Black Coral. Although Black Coral has been banned there was a time when this slow growing species was cut down and made into various items and sold as souvenirs along with the shark jaws and turtle shells.

I once saw a documentary on Nat Geo where a diver from Italy does very deep dives for the pink coral and is sold for quite an amount but this is the first time I’ve seen it being sold here. In Maldives. The representative of all the small island states. The follower of all responsible and sound environmental practices. And the leading example of conservation.

Photoz 0005

2007-07-01T12:49:00.000-07:00

filter feeding

twice the service

a dangerous client

sleeping hole

hanging out at Maldive Victory

old man of the wreck

inside....the shimmerings created by trapped air

creature from the deep

selt portrait...

wasaaaap!

10 steps for a clean up event

2007-06-23T01:02:00.000-07:00

1. gather the people
2. send in the divers
3. send in the snorkellers
4. gather the trash
5. send it up
6. hook it on
7. pull it up
8. drag out of harms way
9. sort out and record data
10. have fun

It has happened - The Reef Clean up of 2007

2007-06-23T00:18:00.001-07:00

we came

we dived

we heaved

we shared

we heaved some more

we got what we came for

and we left!

More than 177 divers, snorkellers and other environmental enthusiasts participated in this years Reef Clean up. Approximately 779 square metre of reef was cleaned and a otal of 153 bags of garbage was taken. Amont the 177 particpants were 63 students from 4 schools of Male'.
Clean ups like this is crucial for the well being of the environment. With the increase in population and the careless care free lifestyle we have are damaging our eco system. When would be the time for us to realize and change all this. When the islands are washed away and when there is no life left except for scorpions anc cockraoches?

Check out the article Reef Clean Up 2000: Community Action

Boat On The Water

2007-04-30T23:39:00.000-07:00

Xiphias... ready to be launched

all spic

the original builder of xiphias (guy with the sarong)... known that time as the oatum dhoni

palm tree boat yard

xiphias on wheels

being lowered.

FYI Xiphias is now bit faster and vibration free (almost)

Dive For Earth Day 2007

2007-04-27T19:56:00.000-07:00

Dive for earth day 2007

a total of 115 divers from 11 dive centres participated

clean up was at Old Shark Point of North Male' Atoll (near thilafushi)

86 bags of trash was removed

gunny bags, fishing lines and plastic bags were the main items

the main aim of earth day is to raise awarenss about the environmental issues

wonder what they are videoing?

the clean up was followed by an awareness program for school kids...
a real eye opening one...

team maldivers

thilafushi....the nations answer to garbage disposal?

very many thanks to all our supporters and participants. also many thanks the the big S, our sponosorer.

Earth Day T-8 hrs

2007-04-21T13:25:00.000-07:00

Its been a hectic couple of days working on the earth day event. I gotta wake up in 6 hours.But still coudnt sleep.

Many thanks to all who stuck with us till the end to help out.

Lets see how things go tomorrow!

Photoz 00004

2007-03-27T02:28:00.000-07:00

Ous Rif Diving

two of a kind

they are soldiers

flavimaginatus and house mate

huuuge sea fan

Inside the big cave

home among the foliage

imperial angel fish

not quite an adult yet

Roll Up Roll Up your wet suit sleeves.

2007-03-27T02:17:00.000-07:00

Earth day is coming up soon. On the 22nd of next month 9 dive centres (from Male’ and nearby resorts) are joining together to have a reef clean up event. The targeted site is Old Shark Point of North Male’ Atoll.

The participating dive centres are:

Bolifushi Diving Centre
Dive Centre Laguna
Divers Lodge (Viligili)
Maldivers Diving Centre (Male')
Multimarine Services (Male').
Ocean Diving Desk (Male')
Planeta Divers (Giraavaru)
Sea Exploreres Associates (Male')
Vadhoo Diving Club

The aim of having this clean up is to clear the reef from debris which is harmful to the reef inhabitants and corals. Although its not a badly hit reef with garbage everywhere (like Male’ or Villingili) its been identified as one of the locations that needs cleaning up the most. So we believe a day cleaning up the place would really make a difference,

Apart from the reef clean up we are also planning to have an awareness program for school children.

Anybody is welcome in participating in the event and helping us out.

Roll up Roll up your wet suit sleeves,

dive for earth day.

El Massacre

2007-03-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

We do have quite a dolphin friendly fisheries. I've never heard of an instance where dolphins were caught or accidently caught. (Ok there might be a few catches every now and then)

But for Japan its a very different story, where thousands of dolphins are killed every year in the cruelest of ways. Check out the video to see what I'm talking about. Hundreds of dolphins are driven ashore by boats and once they are rounded up and trapped in the shallow waters, they are slaughtered. The whole area turns red due to the blood.

Outraged are you? Click here to sign the online petition against this.

The Groupers Under Pressure

2007-03-10T03:50:00.000-08:00

Twenty species of grouper, a globally important group of 162 coral reef food fishes, are threatened with extinction unless management or conservation measures are introduced.

For more info about it and to find out about the work shop held to assess the fisheries data and population information for groupers click on this link. It was the first ever workshop held on the subject of protection of groupers.

Better management methods are needed to protect the resources of reef. Experts says that maintating Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) helps to protect the biodiversity of the marine ecosystem.

Photoz 0003

2007-02-20T01:06:00.000-08:00

gathering of the hordes

departure

the briefing

the descent

sun lit reef

school of oriental sweetlips, sways with the current

1 metre grouper moves up from beside you, swimming in the blue

porcupine fish out sight seeing

aimless wandering

a hawksbill turtle decides to race you
Avanti Quatro vs Nature

sunshines even to the depths

schools of fish swarms above

your view gets darkened a bit by ...
"yeah, you wanna say"

you hit the max. depth

the divemaster, seemingly quite narked, gives the level-off signal

fairly odd pair
goby and the blind snapping shrimp

simply red

bushes of red gorgonias fill up the sea floor

the well camouflaged flutemouth, stalking

mydas

looks at you

turns around

shows off its smooth and polished back

then turns away, looks to the left

then right

and takes off

up and away

cools off near a sea fan

unterwasser magic mushroom

while some sleep

others are out

hunting the small fry

doing a headstand

another place to cool off

peaking inside

local dentist/surgeon/beutician

sheltering inside

mess of colours

hard shelled

crunching away

divers best friend

sleeping featherstar

polyps out, currents up

pesky unicornfish that was hovering above my head (you can see bit of my hair)
so I shot it
(with my camera)

and it went away

drifting along

ascending

balloon up

its been a great day discovering local diving

going back home

"...to dive along the coral reef is to dream with both eyes open. You drift, soar, glide in silence through sprawling cities inhabited by millions of strange creatures..."
Quoted from the writings of Tom Melham, 1978

Things to Do

2007-02-12T11:43:00.000-08:00

The sea may swallow up the Maldives whole, said our benevolent leader on an interview given to Reuters about the issue of global warming. So in the spirit of “think globally, act locally” I wonder how many measures have we, as a small island nation taken to combat global warming.

We might be a small island nation and what we do might not compare much to what other countries do but I think it would be nicer if we actually practice what we preach before we go on knocking on our neighbours door and demand them to take action.

What can we do, what can we do? Visit the url http://marinebio.org/blog/?p=94 to find out a list of things that you can do. Some of the things stated might not be applicable to us, being a small island nation but most of them could be done. Do what you can. Something is better than nothing.

Remember that environment is not just a big word that you learned in the 1st grade and you use in meetings to impress people.

ShutterBug

2007-02-05T03:44:00.000-08:00

This is the first underwater picture that I ever took. Actually I aproached to take a picture of a Horse Shoe Hawkfish resting on the coral. But as I aproached it went away. If you look carefully I think you might see the tail of the fish. Its been a year since then. I am stil a shutterbug. But I think I'm a bit more patient now.

Photoz 0002

2007-02-04T07:31:00.000-08:00

2007-02-02T12:28:00.000-08:00

"In the end, we conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught."
Baba Dioum, Senegalese poet (not the baba who comes to the dive centre)

Every little bit that you do to conserve nature helps. If each of you does what you can then all of our bits adds up to one big effort!

Photoz 0001

2007-01-24T21:55:00.000-08:00

hanging on

Alibeys and the life boat

salt water kids

Latche' at Okobe

2007-01-24T07:06:00.000-08:00

Roses are Red,

The Oceans are Blue,

Protect high seas biodiversity,

and the world will love you.

Cick here to learn about the protest green peace had about protecting the biodiversity of the ocean

The Sea Has a Secret... Actually Lots

2007-01-24T06:42:00.000-08:00

I wonder who came up with the phrase “On gods green earth”. Only some landlubber would claim that the earth is green. The earth is blue. Sometimes purple, sometimes it may seem a bit greenish and during some seasons you can see some white among the blue.

The earth is referred to as a water planet because most of it is in fact water. But how well do we know out aquatic environment? We know more about the surface of the moon that our deep sea oceans. More species are being discovered everyday. People are finding new things about the flora and fauna that we already know of. For example scientists have discovered that a fish species on the Australian Great Barrier Reef can sniff its way back to the patch of reef where it hatched.

So what does this hold for us? We have easy access to one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world. Anythings possible to see on what you may think as a simple dive. Theres so much to see out there and most of the waters are yet untouched.

The chance for discovery awaits you!

2007-01-21T04:16:00.000-08:00

you feel as it is

just you and the blue

State Of Our Seas

2007-01-20T13:52:00.000-08:00

Today we had our usual Saturday dive trip. Our second dive was to Lions Head. Visibility was excellent and a nice current was flowing into Vaadhoo Channel. Trevallies and dog tooth tunas were in full action chasing a school of fusiliers as we drifted past the Lions Head of the Lions Head (rock formation in the reef which resembles the head of a Lion to some people). After we drifted about 30 metres past that point my buddy and I saw a big game fishing pole with a reel settled on the reef slope. Fishing line from it was all over the place. So we disentangled the line from the reef and took the pole.

Lions Head is a protected marine area and one of the most closest to Male’. Do people really know that protected marine areas exist? Does the concerned government office inform the public about the laws regarding those places? No! At least to a certain extent. How many times have we seen people fishing at Emboodhoo Kandu or Banana Reef? We need to work to make people more aware of the importance of these places. It’s not only the resorts and the divers responsibility to take care of the sites. Government needs to open its eyes to what’s going on and in our seas and take the necessary measures. Some sort of monitoring system should be introduced to preserve these locations.

And as for the owner of the fishing pole, we know its very expensive and all. You’re not getting it back. However if you manage to convince us with a story like “actually I lost it near Villingili and it drifted all the way to Thila Faru” we might consider returning it.

Us

2007-01-19T12:05:00.000-08:00

Who is a Salt Water Person? I am a person who has to go to the sea everyday. Friends of ours go there several times a day. Almost all the people I know has the urge to go there and goes when ever they can. Maybe that’s because a lot of people I know are divers or some sort of water enthusiast. Basically that’s who we are. But there is nothing basic about what we do.

Iruvai (North-East Monsoon) is ahead. What does that bring us? More diving of course. Weather is clearing up, sea is getting calmer as the “Iruvai Halha Jehun” (rough patch during the North-East Monsoon) comes to an end and the spring currents are flowing through the atolls creating excellent visibility. For those of you who want to see the “big stuff”, explore you favourite dive sites in a different perspective or just ride the current, Maldivers DC and Xiphias awaits you.

Wish you all a great time down there.