In August 2014, we were fortunate enough to dive in a hidden treasure within the Gulf of Mexico. The Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary is situated ~115 miles directly south of the Texas/Louisiana coast. Encompassing 56 sq. miles (36,000 acres), the sanctuary contains incredible reef systems that are absolutely teaming with life. After an overnight trip in calm seas… Read more »
The C.H.U.M Club AKA City of Houston Underwater Mariners (chumclub.org) does a yearly challenge called the Dive A Month (DAM) and the rules are pretty simple: Basically a member of the club needs to complete 1 dive per month for an entire year. Unfortunately for 2014 we only started our diving season in June because of some other commitments. However… Read more »
Native to reefs in the Indo-Pacific region, the lionfish is a member of the scorpion fish family. Growing upwards of 45 cm in length and 1.3 kg in weight, it is an aggressive, territorial species with very few predators likely due to the fact that they are venomous. Large spines located within the dorsal, anal, and pectoral fins are… Read more »
Did you know that 8 June is World Oceans Day? Like all days of designated observance, World Oceans Day was started to bring a yearly awareness, in this case to the state of our underwater world. Although water makes up ~70% of Earth’s surface, our seas remain one of the most unique, important, and yet unexplored parts of our world…. Read more »
With the new challenges wildlife faces daily, it is no longer enough just to survive. To ensure species longevity, individuals must learn to quickly adapt. Although a lot of attention is given to the conservation of the large, iconic creatures of land and sea, it is often those species that reside in the middle of the food chain that play… Read more »
How many bottles of water do you drink every month? What about in one week? How much do you consume in a single day? Did you know that in the United States alone, over 50 billion bottles of water are consumed annually? And of those more than 50 billion bottles less than 20% are recycled? But the bottled water dilemma… Read more »
The ocean, for most, represents a great blue void. It is sometimes hard to imagine that an incredible world, much larger than the space terrestrial beings inhabit, lies beyond the shoreline and below the surface. The Censes of Marine Life, completed in 2010 by 2,700 scientists from 80 countries, identified more than 1 million species that call the ocean home. … Read more »
Used as a tasteless thickener in soup and an inconclusive cure all in Ancient Chinese Medicine, shark fin, or more specifically shark finning, claims the lives of more than 70 million sharks annually. Think about that number for a moment; more than 70 million sharks. Portrayed as mindless, blood-thirsty killers in Peter Benchley’s novel Jaws, sharks are persecuted not on… Read more »