Last Saturday (24 may) was the 3rd sesh of UWR in Singapore, and things were looking good !! (with no injuries!)
Some words from Coach Khee:
"Great Turn-out (15people) and superb Game play yesterday! It was only the third session and I can proudly announce that UWR in Singapore has some good potential
Both teams were scoring heaps and the game was intense and attacks back and forth were aggressive."
Climate change. Some people believe it's happening, some think it's utter BS, some don't really care. What prompted me to write this was viewing this website: http://worldunderwater.org/ # / , which allows you to type in an address and see what the area will look like when the polar ice caps have melted and sea levels rise. I typed in my home address and found that the entire first level of my house would be flooded. I would either have to swim underwater to get in the front door, or take a boat to get in at the 2nd storey.
While this site can not predict for sure what will happen in the future (nothing can), it paints a grave picture of what could happen if we allow of things to continue as they are. I do like being underwater, but not for it to happen like this!
Some background info on global warming:
- Global warming occurs due to the greenhouse effect, which is how the earth is kept warm - Over the past century, human activities such as burning fossil fuels for energy (this is a big one), deforestation, industrial processes, and some agricultural practices have released large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, enhancing this effect. If you're a visual person, check out this infographicby National Geographic that explains this phenomenon.
I could flood you with more facts and figures on the evidence of global warming and the future effects, but that is not my point (there's heaps about it on the internet). My point, is that global warming is real, and it's our fault as humans , and that you should do something about it.
So, what can you do about it? Lots!!! Start small, in the home, by:
- using energy-efficient lightbulbs (and turn off the lights and other electrical appliances when not in use)
- using energy-efficient electrical appliances (check the usage rating)
- 3Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle which reduces the energy used to produce things
- don't waste water - energy is used to treat and pump this too
- plant more plants in your balcony/garden - plants take in CO2 and give out O2 when photosynthesising
- tell everybody you know!!
If you're interested to learn more, I found NASA's website quite well organised, with before and after pictures that illustrate how the earth has changed due to climate change.
To end this post, here's a funny video on climate change featuring Bill Nye the Science Guy! !
Plastic. I hate it. It's everywhere. But I still use it. Because it's everywhere and you can't escape from it. BUT you try and use as little as possible.
Watch this little video in what happens to plastic after we use it.
Too many times while out freediving or surfing I see plastic bags, candy wrappers etc floating by..... I pick them up but after my pockets are full and there's still more you get a bit discouraged and fed up.
Now have a look at this simple food chain (in reality, food webs can be much more complicated).
http://climatekids.nasa.gov/ocean/
As you can see, plankton are at the bottom of the food web in the ocean. Lots of other organisms feed directly on plankton; filter feeders such as sponges, clams and krill, and even the big stuff like manta rays, whale sharks and baleen whales. If you've been in the ocean before, you've probably swallowed a mouthful of seawater with plankton in it. And let's see.... what other organism is at the top of the food chain, and likes to eat clams, small fish, big fish, mackerel and tuna? Oh, humans.
Well there you go, what goes around comes around... I haven't heard of any studies on the impact of plastic ingestion on humans, especially micro-plastics, but I bet the picture's not pretty.
So if you would like to reduce the amount of plastic we are putting into the environment, here are some tips (I didn't make them up, just gathered them from elsewhere).
- Bring your own bag to the store. Don't be lazy, make an effort to remember. Leave reusable bags in your car or hanging near the door if you're really prone to forgetting.
- Don't use plastic utensils. Use reusable ones and wash them after use. Don't be lazy. Throwing a big party? Serve finger food.
- Don't buy bottled water. This can be hard in some countries where clean drinking water isn't readily available. In that case, bring your own small portable water bottle, buy the largest bottle of water possible and refill your smaller bottle from it. Larger volume of the bottle, smaller surface area to volume ratio, less plastic used proportionally. Every little bit helps.
- Pick up plastic when you are at the beach, in the ocean, walking down the street... Just like all roads lead to Rome, all drains lead to the ocean. Plastic will find it's way there. Stop it before it does! When I was in Fiji last year, I picked up every bit of plastic I could find while walking around the island I was on. I got a nice "Thank you" from the staff working on the island and hopefully wherever you are, if locals see you doing it, they will too.
-Don't buy individually packaged items. It really gets to me when I see excessive packaging, like a bag of biscuits with every single piece in it's own packaging. It's so unnecessary.
- Recycle. Make the effort to chuck recyclables in a recycling bin.
- Refuse a plastic bag if you don't need one. More often than you think, you don't actually need one.
If you are reading this blog, it's quite likely you are an ocean goer. I know lots of people who like the beach, scuba diving, freediving, surfing... but still use don't make the effort to reduce the amount of plastic they use. Strikes me as a little odd, maybe hypocritical. Don't be like that! Help protect what you love.
I recently completed my certification with AIDA 4 * Miguel Vannieuwenhoven from Andaman Apnea. I learned so much during my time with Miguel! He's extremely knowledgeable and experienced as a freediver, instructor and coach, having attained very impressive PBS (among others, 7:30 STA and 80m CWT!) The course was not easy, especially the pool sessions where we spent a few hours working on technique and training, which was tiring. But all worth it in the end, Because thanks to Miguel's coaching, I have a new static PB of 5:03! And I am also one step closer to my goal of becoming a freediving instructor. With that, I (reluctantly) came back to Singapore armed with new ideas for training, the the which I will put to use for sure when I am back in the water.
Here are some of my favorite photos from the trip:
Friendly dog outside my room at Naiharn On the Rocks Resort. Beautiful place with amazingly friendly hosts :)
The rocks Themselves ... hopped in for a snorkel just here every afternoon. Plenty of beautiful sea life.
Bearded fireworm. If you see these, don't touch! They sting.
White eyed moray eel in a rather defensive posture.
Did not mean to disturb it!
Another little moray, this one was rather curious and came right up to the camera, I have a video of it's mouth!
Plenty of small lionfish in this spot, I saw at least 10 in a single session snorkel! Very curious as well, swam up to me then turned to face it's spines towards me when it got too close!
Massive school of catfish
A stonefish
Crown of thorns starfish. I only saw one, so it doesn't seem like the reef is not being overrun by them, which is good news!
School of baitfish
Plastic!!! I hate seeing this when I'm in the water. Everyday when I went snorkeling, I came out holding lots of trash. It's such a shame that the local people do not realise / care that they are damaging the very environment that they rely on for food and tourism. It could all be managed very easily, I feel.
After this training trip... I entered the unofficial club of freediving 145 ..... 100m dynamic, 40m depth, 5 min static. This is nice, but to me, freediving is not so much about results (though yes, it's awesome when you get them) but about enjoying just being in the water. So if you enjoy training and pushing the limits (safely), you will improve!
Now that I've stopped studying and started working, I have more time (though it's never enough) to dedicate to my favorite hobby ... Freediving!!
Me at my first ever freediving competition in 2012 - the Andaman Freediving Challenge
Earlier this year, I started the Master Course freediver with Apnea Total on Koh Tao, spending two weeks training with them. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it :)
The Apnea Total boat
The crew at Apnea Total are very professional and experienced, I learned so many new things and now have a deeper understanding (pun intended!) of this extreme sport that I am addicted to.
Within about a week and a half of training, the which consisted of dry land exercises and dive sessions once a day, I hit a depth of 41m doing free immersion (pulling oneself down a rope), a 6m improvement on my depth PB of 35m (though this was constant weight using a monofin - a different discipline) the which I set last year in April. Slow progress (hopefully this will change) but that was my first time training depth after I set the last PB.
Nothing makes me happier than freediving... (though surfing is a close second!)
Hopefully I have the chance to finish my Master Course and become an instructor soon!
Last Sunday, while I was recovering from surgery, Sharmila, a dolphin at the Marnine Life Park, Resorts World Sentosa, died.
4 out of the original 27 wild caught bottlenose dolphins have died since their capture. Let's see... 4 out of 27. That's a 15% mortality rate. Looks pretty high to me.
What could have caused Sharmila's death, and the death of the 3 dolphins before her? "Prior medical tests indicated that she was healthy". I wonder if they did any tests for mental health. As a vet, I have seen animals in captivity showing signs of stress from being cooped up. They move around in circles in their enclosures (called stereotypic behaviour) or sit in one spot, staring at the wall. And I do believe that they can become depressed. Being someone who would much rather be outdoors than stuck indoors all day, I can fully empathise.
Have a look at this video (filmed by me, edited by my friend Carson Holzheimer)
I urge you to look on Youtube for more videos of dolphins having fun in their natural habitat, surfing waves, bow riding etc.
Then have a look at this video (killer whales are dolphins too):
Which one would you rather see?
Dolphins are highly energetic, intelligent and social mammals that swim many kilometres in a day. They need to be out in the open ocean, not stuck in a little swimming pool for the rest of their lives.
In my opinion, there are animals that are amenable to living in captivity, and those that are not. Animals that could do well in captivity are, for example, those that have a small home range, don't need much environmental stimuli like a clownfish, or a sloth. However, those that do have a large home range, or are migratory, like dolphins, orcas, manta rays, whale sharks... should not be kept in tiny enclosures for their entire lives.
Well, what about education, you might say? All those children, going to marine parks and watching the shows and learning about dolphin behaviour... I think that watching TRUE natural behaviour on documentaries on tv are far more educational than watching dolphins catch hoops and jumping up into the air on command. This would more than likely instill the longing to get out there and see them in the wild. It sure did it for me. And there are plenty of day-long dolphin sighting or whale watching tours that probably cost about the same or less than a ticket into an aquarium, and the effort in getting to these places where the tours leave from would probably be no more than the effort to get to an aquarium's location. Even if it were, it would be well worth it.
And from the conservation point of view... well, dolphins are classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. They don't need to be captured and bred so their species survives. In fact, that is doing the opposite - harming the wild population. And, the issue that threatens most species survival is in fact habitat destruction, which, again, is the fault of humans. It does seem rather silly to me that we can take some animals from the wild, put them in a zoo and say that we are saving them from extinction, when we are the ones causing it in the first place. Sadly though, until habitat loss and other threats can be stopped and hopefully reversed, this may be a necessity for some species, such as Gorillas, which are Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List due to habitat loss, poaching and Ebola.
I'm sure RWS didn't want Sharmila to die either. But it happened, just as it did to 3 other captured dolphins before her. Because no matter how hard you try, you can never replicate conditions in the wild in captivity for animals that are meant to be free.
Last Saturday (10 May 2014), the first ever Underwater Rugby session in Singapore (and Asia!) was held, organised by a good friend of mine, Khee. There was a grand turnout of 18 people!
I first caught underwater rugby fever in 2011, when I heard from a fellow freediver (Mr Khee himself) about the sport. I thought it sounded pretty cool, so I travelled to Sydney to play with the only UWR team in Australia (at that time).
Things I love about this sport:
It's fast
It's 3-dimensional
It requires teamwork
And of course, it's underwater.
Since then, UWR in Australia has spread to other states and there are now teams in Canberra, Brisbane (kickstarted by yours truly), Tasmania and soon, Melbourne!
This first game in Singapore was an important start for the sport in Asia. Hopefully, it will only get bigger and we can eventually travel to compete with teams from other countries.
Unfortunately, I had a little accident that day, aside from the usual scrapes and bruises that come with a game. In the diving pool where we played, there is a little ledge jutting out at about 1m depth, useful for players to stand on while at the surface. Not so useful when you're ascending quickly to get some air. In the heat of the game (and need for air), I completely forgot about the ledge and crashed right into it. The result: a cut 7cm long, down to the skull. Thanks to the quick action of my team mates, I was sent to the hospital and underwent surgery that day to fix it.
Sadly, this means I am out of the water for at least 2 weeks. I did think about doing some dry land static training for freediving, but figured my healing tissues would not appreciate the hypoxia. So, once I heal, back to training for me!
Okay I know surfing isn't underwater... (unless you wipe out) But... I love it!!! Not just the adrenaline rush, even just sitting out there waiting for a wave, in the ocean... these are some pictures a tourist took of me surfing in Bali in Jan 2014, some of the few surf pictures that I have. I have to admit that was one of the biggest wave I'd ever taken at that time and I was pretty scared! Especially since there was a massive rock jutting out of the water where the waves finish breaking, just waiting to be hit.
Surfing and freediving to me are like flip sides of the same coin... I can't have one without the other!
Always looking forward to the next surf trip (which isn't as often as I like :S).
7 fatal shark attacks in the last 3 years along the coast of Western Australia prompted the State Government to introduce the policy of setting baited drum lines off 7 beaches in WA in January. Since then, more than 170 sharks have been caught. Drum lines and shark nets have been off the coast of Queensland for years. More info on this method here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-05/shark-baiting-explained/5300414 To me, this is not logical. After a murder happens, governments don't order random people on the street to be put to death to reduce the chance of it happening again. Instead, local authorities might advise people to be more careful and look out for that murderer. If a person is identified as a killer, then a warrant for his arrest is issued. Well, I think it should be the same with sharks. It is not fair to go out killing sharks in the hopes of preventing shark attacks, especially when most species of sharks are already in danger of extinction, thanks to overfishing. And it probably doesn't even work. None of the sharks caught on the drum lines were great whites, which were the species suspected of carrying out the attacks. Of course, shark attacks are a terrible thing to happen. But everyone who enters the ocean should know that shark attacks are a risk, because you are in their environment. There are precautions that can be taken, such as not swimming at dawn and dusk, when sharks are hunting, or staying away from areas like river mouths where attacks are more common. Watch this video on the WA shark cull by Madison Stewart: http://vimeo.com/94363725 Being at the top of the food chain, sharks are important for our ecosystem. I just watched a documentary yesterday on a population explosion of Humboldt squid in the northern coastal pacific, which is in turn affecting salmon fisheries, because the squid are attacking the fish. One of the reasons thought to have caused the increased numbers of squid is the removal of sharks that prey on the squid, through overfishing. What goes around comes around....
Humans are upsetting ecosystems and caused extinction of species after species.... when are people going to wake up?
A few years ago, I flicked on the tv and came across a documentary showing World freediving champion Tanya Streeter freediving with Humpback whales (here's part of it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEsdQegy3mQ). I was instantly intrigued at how a person could possibly hold her breath for THAT long. She looked so peaceful and graceful too, just swimming underwater without any artificial breathing apparatus. I remember thinking "I HAVE to learn how to do that". I had a lot going on at that time though, so I KIV-ed it until later.
About 6 months later, I injured myself (1 broken finger, 1 very sore knee) so I couldn't do much sport. I'm a very active person and all I could do was swim very slowly, which frustrated me. So I decided to take advantage of the situation. Seeing that I couldn't do anything fast-paced, I would go slow. After a bit of research, I signed up for the next freediving course I could find. This was with Ben Noble, in Brisbane where I was living at that time.
After the course, I was hooked :D The feeling of being underwater, just swimming, being so free just could not be beat by anything I've ever done before. Before learning to freedive, I could already a scuba dive, and I loved being underwater and checking out all the marine life, but the sensations that you feel during scuba and freediving are completely different. With freediving, I don't just feel like I'm an outsider observing what is happening underwater, like I do with scuba (I mean, which sea creature breathes air underwater?), I actually feel like I'm part of this wonderful ecosystem. So, it was only after I started freediving that I really fell in love with the ocean. Sounds rather dramatic, but it's true!
I created this blog to talk about the things that matter to me, which all lead to one big thing: the ocean. Because, simply put, we can't live without the ocean.
