Snorkeling is a safe, easy, and enjoyable way to explore the world beneath the waves and is open to all ages and skill levels, from children to grandparents. Snorkeling is a great activity for the whole family. Snorkeling is certainly the easiest and least expensive way to enjoy Hawaii's underwater paradise. All you need is a mask, snorkel and fins. Many of Hawaii's top dive sites, particularly the shallow sheltered bays are just as rewarding for snorkelers as they are for divers.
There are many boat operators that offer cruises to popular snorkeling locations on each of the islands and some companies that offer kayaking snorkel trips. If you have never snorkeled before, it is a good idea to seek some instruction before you start and seek some advice on where to go snorkeling for the first time. A great place to begin is in a swimming pool, either at home before coming to Hawaii or at the hotel pool once you arrive. This way you will get used the mask and to breathing through your snorkel in a safe, controlled and confined environment.
Showing posts with label Advance Scuba training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Advance Scuba training. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
UP COMING FIELD STUDIES
By Leda A. Cunningham, Executive Director
Greetings from REEF HQ! Conservation science is in sharp focus here at REEF, from an expanded Grouper Moon Project to new uses of REEF data in the Channel Islands. REEF is making giant strides in the Florida Keys community with a successful For the Love of the Sea benefit event, upcoming citizen science panel discussions and the recognition of two invaluable volunteers by a prominent community foundation. If you're looking for travel opportunities, consider jumping on one of the 4 spots just released on the Turks and Caicos Field Survey, April 19-26, or joining the Sea of Cortez Field Survey October 5-12. Educators can apply to join these or other REEF Field Survey teams through a special scholarship. Please read on . . .
Greetings from REEF HQ! Conservation science is in sharp focus here at REEF, from an expanded Grouper Moon Project to new uses of REEF data in the Channel Islands. REEF is making giant strides in the Florida Keys community with a successful For the Love of the Sea benefit event, upcoming citizen science panel discussions and the recognition of two invaluable volunteers by a prominent community foundation. If you're looking for travel opportunities, consider jumping on one of the 4 spots just released on the Turks and Caicos Field Survey, April 19-26, or joining the Sea of Cortez Field Survey October 5-12. Educators can apply to join these or other REEF Field Survey teams through a special scholarship. Please read on . . .
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Pipeline - North Shore - Oahu
This is how you might feel your first time out at pipe.
Breaking close to the beach and visible just towards Kaena Point next to Ehukai Beach Park is the "Pipeline" reef. Usually pipeline is the hollowest, biggest barrel on the North Shore. Pipeline is nearly always extremely crowded, and for good reason, no place else breaks like it.
The biggest barrel in the world at times, and one of the absolute best waves on the north shore. For sheer adrenaline, power, beauty and danger, Pipeline has no equal.
Pipeline's famous lefts break best on a west or northwest swell, the north lines tend to make it close out. The is where the really big barrels are.
The right at Pipeline, or Backdoor Pipeline, can deliver a sometimes longer, faster barrel than pipeline itself, although there is no channel back out, like pipeline has.
The drop at Pipeline is almost always late, and critical, with the wave jacking up much bigger by the time you get to the bottom. Wave selection can be key because not every wave is makeable.
When the swell gets over 6-8 feet, pipeline starts breaking from the second and third reef, allowing a easier take-off at times, which gives the rider time to set-up for when it hits the first reef and starts to barrel.
Pipe is not a place for beginners, with a defined pecking order when it gets really good.
Breaking close to the beach and visible just towards Kaena Point next to Ehukai Beach Park is the "Pipeline" reef. Usually pipeline is the hollowest, biggest barrel on the North Shore. Pipeline is nearly always extremely crowded, and for good reason, no place else breaks like it.
The biggest barrel in the world at times, and one of the absolute best waves on the north shore. For sheer adrenaline, power, beauty and danger, Pipeline has no equal.
Pipeline's famous lefts break best on a west or northwest swell, the north lines tend to make it close out. The is where the really big barrels are.
The right at Pipeline, or Backdoor Pipeline, can deliver a sometimes longer, faster barrel than pipeline itself, although there is no channel back out, like pipeline has.
The drop at Pipeline is almost always late, and critical, with the wave jacking up much bigger by the time you get to the bottom. Wave selection can be key because not every wave is makeable.
When the swell gets over 6-8 feet, pipeline starts breaking from the second and third reef, allowing a easier take-off at times, which gives the rider time to set-up for when it hits the first reef and starts to barrel.
Pipe is not a place for beginners, with a defined pecking order when it gets really good.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
KAUAI ZODIAC TOURZ
WELCOME TO KAUAI ZODIAC TOURZ
THE ONLY BOAT TOUR ON KAUAI SPECIALIZING IN SNORKELING!
Come explore Kauai's PRISTINE offshore reefs and caverns
Snorkel equipment, food and beverages- All included
More Fish and Turtles- Less People !!!
Hawaiian owned- Experience shared with aloha!
Extraordinary Family Adventure- Beginners Welcome.
Humpback Whales (Dec.-May), Turtles, Dolphins and Exotic fish - Not to be missed!
10% DICOUNT ON ALL WEB-SITE RESERVATIONS! CONTACT THEM TODAY!
1-808-742-7422 or Toll-Free: 1-888-998-6879 (1-888-9ZTOURZ)
Hawaii Reef Divers/Scuba Jay recommends this operator!
THE ONLY BOAT TOUR ON KAUAI SPECIALIZING IN SNORKELING!
Come explore Kauai's PRISTINE offshore reefs and caverns
Snorkel equipment, food and beverages- All included
More Fish and Turtles- Less People !!!
Hawaiian owned- Experience shared with aloha!
Extraordinary Family Adventure- Beginners Welcome.
Humpback Whales (Dec.-May), Turtles, Dolphins and Exotic fish - Not to be missed!
10% DICOUNT ON ALL WEB-SITE RESERVATIONS! CONTACT THEM TODAY!
1-808-742-7422 or Toll-Free: 1-888-998-6879 (1-888-9ZTOURZ)
Hawaii Reef Divers/Scuba Jay recommends this operator!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
The Oceans
Scientists have long understood the key role that oceans play in regulating the Earth's climate. Oceans cover 70 percent of the globe and store a thousand times more heat than the atmosphere does. What's newer is the understanding of how this key component of our climate system responds to global warming.
"Even five years ago most scientists had no inkling of the extent to which global warming was affecting the oceans—but slowly over the years a consensus has been building," says Environmental Defense marine ecologist Rod Fujita. Today, the scientific community believes there's plenty to worry about: changes are afoot in global ocean dynamics that could have profound ecological impacts.
A brake on global warming—for now
One of the ocean's most important climate functions is absorbing heat and carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the gases that causes global warming. Acting as a heat sponge, the oceans have absorbed huge amounts of heat and CO2 in the last forty years.
Fujita explains that "the oceans are saving us from faster climate change—in essence, they are a big flywheel that delays rapid overheating of the earth, putting a brake on the climate system."
"That's the good news," he adds. "The bad news is that the oceans only slow the atmospheric warming. Once the oceans come to equilibrium with a greenhouse-gas warmed earth, the excess heat will remain in the atmosphere and things will get much hotter."
In effect, the oceans are taking up the slack for the atmosphere and delaying the full impacts of global warming. But where and how the oceans release this accumulated heat is uncertain. And as the ocean stores heat, fragile underwater ecosystems are struggling.
The most recent scientific report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also notes with concern that the ocean is acidifying because of increased absorption of atmospheric CO2, and thus posing a threat for shell-forming species, which are an essential part of the marine food web. Projected increases in carbon dioxide levels will cause further acidification of the ocean. (IPCC, 2007)
Currents distributing heat
Another important role the oceans play is that of distributor. Oceans deliver heat and life-sustaining nutrients around the globe. Just as blood vessels and capillaries bring oxygen and nutrients to cells in the human body, the ocean's currents carry oxygen, nutrients and heat throughout the Earth. The ocean distributes 25 to 50 percent of the energy the planet receives from the sun.
For example, the Gulf Stream carries heat across the Atlantic. This warm current gives northwestern Europe a milder climate than it would normally have so far north. A change to the ocean's circulation patterns could plunge Europe into a colder era, even as the rest of world experiences warmer temperatures. (Find out more about the ocean's circulation system on oceansalive.org.)
Currents circulating food
Changing ocean circulation patterns would also affect the nutrient delivery system for marine life. Colder waters are more productive than warm waters. The warming of the oceans may be starting to break the ocean's food chain.
The system of currents replenishes deep waters with oxygen and carries nutrients to surface waters where microscopic plants known as phytoplankton can use them. When cold, nutrient-rich waters rise to the surface seasonally and mix with sunlit surface waters, the upwellings trigger the growth of phytoplankton. The areas where these upwellings occur are often rich fishing grounds, the sea's "gardens of Eden" where an abundance of marine life flourishes.
As oceans absorb more heat, upwellings of cold, nutrient-rich waters can become less frequent. Without this nourishment, blooms of plant plankton, a critical link in the marine food chain, are disrupted and so food for sea life up the food chain, like krill, larger fish and seabirds, is cut off.
To make things worse, phytoplankton use carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. With fewer plankton, the oceans could not remove as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
An example: Starving sea birds
Some signs already show that the marine food web is fraying. In 2005 on the U.S. West Coast and 2004 in Britain, hundreds of thousands of seabirds failed to breed. Dead seabirds like cormorants and Cassin's auklets have washed up on West Coast beaches.
Juvenile rockfish counts were the lowest they had been off California in more than 20years. Most alarming, small crustaceans like krill—the base of the ocean's food web—suffered steep declines.
The culprit for the collapse appears to be slackening upwellings, which decreased phytoplankton blooms in these coastal areas. Fewer phytoplankton mean fewer fish, leaving the birds to face mass starvation. Monitoring of the oceans off Hawaii over the last 20 years shows that upwellings are decreasing. Scientists suspect that this is an effect of global warming.
The debate over global warming has shifted from whether it is happening to how to avoid catastrophic damage. Significant changes loom for seabird and fish communities, ocean circulation patterns and basic processes of ocean chemistry.
"We're facing warming waters and major alterations in many oceanic processes and ocean chemistry, damage to coral reefs, and effects from sea level rise on marine ecosystems," says Environmental Defense scientist Doug Rader.
Without emissions cuts, the effects will be even worse.
"The ship is already in motion, and it will take immediate action to turn it away from the danger ahead," sums up Environmental Defense climate scientist Dr. James Wang.
KEYWORDS:
Advance Scuba training, Adventure Sports, airlines, Basic Open Water, Digital Underwater Photography, discount travel, Divemaster scuba, Enriched Air, Extreme Scuba and Jason Kilgore, family travel, family vacations, Hawaii reef divers, Hawaii Scuba Diving, Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian Islands sight seeing, hotels, Jason Kilgore, Kona, Maui, scuba certification, other specialty certifications, NAUI, NOAA, scuba diving, scuba rental gear, sharks, SSI, TDI/SDI, Underwater Instructors, vacation, Scuba and Jason Kilgore, Naui and Jason Kilgore, How to scuba dive, skin diving, snorkel, mask, fins, Reef Relief, coral reef, reef fish, maui divers, dive shops, scuba dive shops, cave diving, ice diving, wreck diving
"Even five years ago most scientists had no inkling of the extent to which global warming was affecting the oceans—but slowly over the years a consensus has been building," says Environmental Defense marine ecologist Rod Fujita. Today, the scientific community believes there's plenty to worry about: changes are afoot in global ocean dynamics that could have profound ecological impacts.
A brake on global warming—for now
One of the ocean's most important climate functions is absorbing heat and carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the gases that causes global warming. Acting as a heat sponge, the oceans have absorbed huge amounts of heat and CO2 in the last forty years.
Fujita explains that "the oceans are saving us from faster climate change—in essence, they are a big flywheel that delays rapid overheating of the earth, putting a brake on the climate system."
"That's the good news," he adds. "The bad news is that the oceans only slow the atmospheric warming. Once the oceans come to equilibrium with a greenhouse-gas warmed earth, the excess heat will remain in the atmosphere and things will get much hotter."
In effect, the oceans are taking up the slack for the atmosphere and delaying the full impacts of global warming. But where and how the oceans release this accumulated heat is uncertain. And as the ocean stores heat, fragile underwater ecosystems are struggling.
The most recent scientific report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also notes with concern that the ocean is acidifying because of increased absorption of atmospheric CO2, and thus posing a threat for shell-forming species, which are an essential part of the marine food web. Projected increases in carbon dioxide levels will cause further acidification of the ocean. (IPCC, 2007)
Currents distributing heat
Another important role the oceans play is that of distributor. Oceans deliver heat and life-sustaining nutrients around the globe. Just as blood vessels and capillaries bring oxygen and nutrients to cells in the human body, the ocean's currents carry oxygen, nutrients and heat throughout the Earth. The ocean distributes 25 to 50 percent of the energy the planet receives from the sun.
For example, the Gulf Stream carries heat across the Atlantic. This warm current gives northwestern Europe a milder climate than it would normally have so far north. A change to the ocean's circulation patterns could plunge Europe into a colder era, even as the rest of world experiences warmer temperatures. (Find out more about the ocean's circulation system on oceansalive.org.)
Currents circulating food
Changing ocean circulation patterns would also affect the nutrient delivery system for marine life. Colder waters are more productive than warm waters. The warming of the oceans may be starting to break the ocean's food chain.
The system of currents replenishes deep waters with oxygen and carries nutrients to surface waters where microscopic plants known as phytoplankton can use them. When cold, nutrient-rich waters rise to the surface seasonally and mix with sunlit surface waters, the upwellings trigger the growth of phytoplankton. The areas where these upwellings occur are often rich fishing grounds, the sea's "gardens of Eden" where an abundance of marine life flourishes.
As oceans absorb more heat, upwellings of cold, nutrient-rich waters can become less frequent. Without this nourishment, blooms of plant plankton, a critical link in the marine food chain, are disrupted and so food for sea life up the food chain, like krill, larger fish and seabirds, is cut off.
To make things worse, phytoplankton use carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. With fewer plankton, the oceans could not remove as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
An example: Starving sea birds
Some signs already show that the marine food web is fraying. In 2005 on the U.S. West Coast and 2004 in Britain, hundreds of thousands of seabirds failed to breed. Dead seabirds like cormorants and Cassin's auklets have washed up on West Coast beaches.
Juvenile rockfish counts were the lowest they had been off California in more than 20years. Most alarming, small crustaceans like krill—the base of the ocean's food web—suffered steep declines.
The culprit for the collapse appears to be slackening upwellings, which decreased phytoplankton blooms in these coastal areas. Fewer phytoplankton mean fewer fish, leaving the birds to face mass starvation. Monitoring of the oceans off Hawaii over the last 20 years shows that upwellings are decreasing. Scientists suspect that this is an effect of global warming.
The debate over global warming has shifted from whether it is happening to how to avoid catastrophic damage. Significant changes loom for seabird and fish communities, ocean circulation patterns and basic processes of ocean chemistry.
"We're facing warming waters and major alterations in many oceanic processes and ocean chemistry, damage to coral reefs, and effects from sea level rise on marine ecosystems," says Environmental Defense scientist Doug Rader.
Without emissions cuts, the effects will be even worse.
"The ship is already in motion, and it will take immediate action to turn it away from the danger ahead," sums up Environmental Defense climate scientist Dr. James Wang.
KEYWORDS:
Advance Scuba training, Adventure Sports, airlines, Basic Open Water, Digital Underwater Photography, discount travel, Divemaster scuba, Enriched Air, Extreme Scuba and Jason Kilgore, family travel, family vacations, Hawaii reef divers, Hawaii Scuba Diving, Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian Islands sight seeing, hotels, Jason Kilgore, Kona, Maui, scuba certification, other specialty certifications, NAUI, NOAA, scuba diving, scuba rental gear, sharks, SSI, TDI/SDI, Underwater Instructors, vacation, Scuba and Jason Kilgore, Naui and Jason Kilgore, How to scuba dive, skin diving, snorkel, mask, fins, Reef Relief, coral reef, reef fish, maui divers, dive shops, scuba dive shops, cave diving, ice diving, wreck diving
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Trawlers Destroying Deep-Sea Reefs, Scientists Say
Trawlers Destroying Deep-Sea Reefs, Scientists Say
John Pickrellfor
National Geographic News
February 19, 2004
Typically imagined as explosions of color in shallow, warm, azure tropical waters, coral reefs are often regarded as the rain forests of the sea. It wasn't until recent years that scientists realized that reefs at much greater and darker depths also teem with life—and may be home to the majority of coral species.
Yet even before these deep reefs have been fully explored and documented, they are being destroyed by unregulated deep-sea trawling. Concerned that many species may be lost before they are identified, a group of 1,136 scientists from 69 countries is appealing for new laws to protect deep-ocean corals and sponges.
RELATED
Is Bleaching Coral's Way of Making the Best of a Bad Situation?
Why Is Seaweed Killing Florida's Coral Reefs?
Hawaiian Coral Reef Ecosystem a Unique Treasure
Scientists Check Coral Reef Health From Above
Raw Human Waste Killing Off Coral Reefs?
Coral Reef Paradise Found in Remote Indonesian Islands
"Based on current knowledge, deep-sea coral and sponge communities appear to be as important to the biodiversity of the oceans and the sustainability of fisheries as their analogues in shallow tropical waters," said a statement released earlier this week at both the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Seattle and the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
"We urge the United Nations and appropriate international bodies to establish a moratorium on bottom trawling on the high seas," the scientists said. They include Harvard University's renowned ecologist Edward O. Wilson and former head of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, D. James Baker.
Great Depths
Scientists first discovered deep-sea coral forests in the 19th century but only recently realized how widespread and important they are. Growing to hundreds, or even thousands of years old, deep-sea corals are filter-feeding organisms that can form dense reefs in cold and deep waters as far apart as Alaska, Tasmania, Ireland, and Colombia.
Dated at 1,800 years old, one slow-growing deep-sea coral may rival some kinds of pine trees as the world's oldest organism. Some of these corals even resemble trees, growing up to 10 meters (33 feet) in height. They have been discovered as deep as 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles). Lophelia coral reefs in cold North Atlantic waters can harbor 1,300 invertebrate species, and 850 species of coral have been found on underwater plateaus of the Tasman and Coral Seas.
These forests provide habitats for huge numbers of important deep-sea species, the scientists said Individual corals could produce chemicals potentially useful for treating high blood pressure, cancer, and chronic pain.
However, many species are being discovered only as they are destroyed by fishing, said Lance E. Morgan. Morgan is chief scientist with the U.S.-based Marine Conservation Biology Institute (MCBI), the nongovernmental organization responsible for organizing the petition. "Norway only found that it had these corals because of surveys for oil," Morgan said. "So they were discovered and significantly damaged at the same time."
Though oil and gas prospecting, deep-sea mining, and global warming are all significant threats, today's greatest danger comes from fishing trawlers, the scientists wrote.
Indiscriminate Destruction
Trawlers are fishing vessels that drag enormous and heavily weighted fishing nets at great depths across the seafloor. These can be weighted with rollers or chains that crush everything in their path, Morgan said, smashing corals and sponges and killing enormous quantities of nontargeted animals as well as the fish (including Chilean sea bass, orange roughy, and cod) and shrimp the nets are set to catch.
John Pickrellfor
National Geographic News
February 19, 2004
Typically imagined as explosions of color in shallow, warm, azure tropical waters, coral reefs are often regarded as the rain forests of the sea. It wasn't until recent years that scientists realized that reefs at much greater and darker depths also teem with life—and may be home to the majority of coral species.
Yet even before these deep reefs have been fully explored and documented, they are being destroyed by unregulated deep-sea trawling. Concerned that many species may be lost before they are identified, a group of 1,136 scientists from 69 countries is appealing for new laws to protect deep-ocean corals and sponges.
RELATED
Is Bleaching Coral's Way of Making the Best of a Bad Situation?
Why Is Seaweed Killing Florida's Coral Reefs?
Hawaiian Coral Reef Ecosystem a Unique Treasure
Scientists Check Coral Reef Health From Above
Raw Human Waste Killing Off Coral Reefs?
Coral Reef Paradise Found in Remote Indonesian Islands
"Based on current knowledge, deep-sea coral and sponge communities appear to be as important to the biodiversity of the oceans and the sustainability of fisheries as their analogues in shallow tropical waters," said a statement released earlier this week at both the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Seattle and the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
"We urge the United Nations and appropriate international bodies to establish a moratorium on bottom trawling on the high seas," the scientists said. They include Harvard University's renowned ecologist Edward O. Wilson and former head of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, D. James Baker.
Great Depths
Scientists first discovered deep-sea coral forests in the 19th century but only recently realized how widespread and important they are. Growing to hundreds, or even thousands of years old, deep-sea corals are filter-feeding organisms that can form dense reefs in cold and deep waters as far apart as Alaska, Tasmania, Ireland, and Colombia.
Dated at 1,800 years old, one slow-growing deep-sea coral may rival some kinds of pine trees as the world's oldest organism. Some of these corals even resemble trees, growing up to 10 meters (33 feet) in height. They have been discovered as deep as 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles). Lophelia coral reefs in cold North Atlantic waters can harbor 1,300 invertebrate species, and 850 species of coral have been found on underwater plateaus of the Tasman and Coral Seas.
These forests provide habitats for huge numbers of important deep-sea species, the scientists said Individual corals could produce chemicals potentially useful for treating high blood pressure, cancer, and chronic pain.
However, many species are being discovered only as they are destroyed by fishing, said Lance E. Morgan. Morgan is chief scientist with the U.S.-based Marine Conservation Biology Institute (MCBI), the nongovernmental organization responsible for organizing the petition. "Norway only found that it had these corals because of surveys for oil," Morgan said. "So they were discovered and significantly damaged at the same time."
Though oil and gas prospecting, deep-sea mining, and global warming are all significant threats, today's greatest danger comes from fishing trawlers, the scientists wrote.
Indiscriminate Destruction
Trawlers are fishing vessels that drag enormous and heavily weighted fishing nets at great depths across the seafloor. These can be weighted with rollers or chains that crush everything in their path, Morgan said, smashing corals and sponges and killing enormous quantities of nontargeted animals as well as the fish (including Chilean sea bass, orange roughy, and cod) and shrimp the nets are set to catch.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Spinner Dolphin
Spinner Dolphin Pictures, Behaviors, Video and Information (provided by the Wild Dolphin Foundation)
The Hawaiian name for dolphin is nai'a, and refers to most all dolphins found here. Hawaiian Spinner dolphins are shaped and colored somewhat differently from other species of spinner dolphins.
With 13 species of toothed dolphins (nai'a) swimming in the tepid waters of Hawaii, the most common are the Hawaiian spinner, spotted (kiko), bottlenose and rough-toothed dolphins. Other often seen members of the dolphin family - although termed as whales (kohola)- are pilot and false killer whales.
Dolphins in Hawaii are commonly termed as "porpoise" by local folks, especially fishermen, who use the word "dolphin" when referring to the dolphin fish, or mahi mahi.
So called for their high, spinning leaps, spinner dolphins are known as playful, eager bow-riders throughout much of their range.
In certain areas in Hawaii, spinner dolphins are seen on an almost daily basis. Probably since the islands have formed, the Hawaiian spinner dolphins have come into nearshore daytime habitats along the west coast of Oahu. We have traced their occurrence in our area back at least 800 years.
Below are descriptions of daytime behaviors the acrobatic spinners frequently engage in. Pictures and videos were taken during our dolphin encounter tours.
Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins Stenella longirostris "Nai'a"Size: 1.7 to 2.2 m, 75 kg. Males slightly larger than females Calves at birth: 77 cm 45 to 65 sharp-pointed teeth on each side of upper and lower jaw Food: Fish (small deep-ocean species) and squid Habitat: Mainly offshore Range: Tropical, subtropical and warm temperate world ocean Status:
Population unknown, but common in most parts of its range. Substantial declines have occurred in the eastern tropical Pacific
To see the enlarged pictures, please click on the desired picture. Double click to open movies.
Spins
Spinner dolphins are famous for their fantastic jumps high out of the water. They can leap into the air and make as many as 7 complete spins before diving back into the ocean! Few dolphins are known to leap as high as the Spinner and except occasionally for the Clymene dolphin, no others spin. Why Do Spinner Dolphins Spin?Note: Click on the picture to the right to see good spin video >>
Head-Over-Tail
This aerial behavior is probably the most energetic. While the spin is more like a top, this leap is a series of mid-air somersaults.Note: Click on the picture to the right to see head over video >>
Head Slaps
This very young spinner has already learned a way to get mom's attention. Repeated head slaps send an acoustical message. Notice the pinkish underside, normally white, this could mean excitement or the product of vigorous slapping!
Tail or Peduncle Slaps
Often seen before a change in the pods behavior. Most often, immediately after we see this behavior, the pod will change its traveling direction. Tail slap video and how it looks from underwater. The dolphin is excited about his "play toy!"
Nose-Outs
Often seen before going into a rest mode, or when they seem to have interest in us. These, although still classified as aerial behaviors are the least energy taxing.
Fluke-up Dive
Dives with the tail (flukes) raised in the air seem to signal deep dives. This a borderline aerial behavior - as it still happens above the water line, but is not very active.
Playing Behavior
Spinners often make "play-toys" of objects in their environment. In our area, the tradewinds blow lightweight plastic grocery bags into the ocean. The dolphins drape these over their fins and pass them back and forth. Note: Click on the picture to the right to see dolphins play video >>
Echelon Swimming
Newborn calves can be seen swimming near their mothers head for about a week before they swim nearer to her dorsal fin. This is termed as echelon swimming. Dolphins carry their young inside their womb and gestation is about 12 months for a bottlenose. The baby emerges tail first, and will suckle from its mother for up to 4 years.
Breathing
Oceanic dolphins have evolved a method of breathing without surfacing from the water. They blow a bubble when near the water surface and then quickly draw breath in when the bubble forms a bridge between the blowhole and the air, through the water. Dolphins breathe through their blowhole located at the top of their head. A dolphin may empty and refill its lungs in less than a fifth of second. As the dolphin breathes the air leaves the blowhole at speeds of over 100mph. To sleep, a dolphin must shut down only half of its brain, as its breathing is under voluntary control.
Social Behavior
Spinner dolphin's pectoral flippers are used to steer them through the water, and they also use them to stroke one another, increasing the social bond between them. Dolphin "friends" may swim along face to face touching flippers. Dolphins that appear to be closely bonded may swim in synchrony, twisting, turning and swimming in perfect harmony together.
Whistles
Spinner Dolphins can be very noisy under and above water, click here to hear for underwater video and sound of spinner dolphins vocalizing and a signature whistle.
More spinner dolphin photos
Hear a dolphin click train
Our wildlife tours focus on education and conservation so that an interactive relationship can be maintained in the best interest of both humans and dolphins. We strive to foster admiration and deep respect for these wonder-ful marine mammals.
GREAT KEY WORDS
Scuba Hawaii Hawaii Travel Caribbean Scuba Scuba Certification Scuba Jay Costa Maya Suba Dive Gear Hawaii Reef Divers Scuba Diving Cave Diving Naui SSI TDI SDI Water Rescue Diving Water Rescues PADI Technical Scuba Diving Dive Rescue Jason Kilgore What is Scuba Diving Scuba Dive Answers Jason Kilgore and Martial Arts Jason Kilgore and USANA Jason Kilgore and Karate Jason Kilgore and Scuba Diving Sacramento auburn California Hawaii Jason Kilgore and Sierra Foothills Karate Sierra Foothills Karate and Scuba Diving Jason Kilgore and Scuba Diving, Advance Scuba training, Adventure Sports, airlines, Basic Open Water, Digital Underwater Photography, discount travel, Divemaster scuba, Enriched Air, Extreme Scuba and Jason Kilgore, family travel, family vacations, Hawaii reef divers, Hawaii Scuba Diving, Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian Islands sight seeing, hotels, Jason Kilgore, Kona, Maui, scuba certification, other specialty certifications, NAUI, NOAA, scuba diving, scuba rental gear, sharks, SSI, TDI/SDI, Underwater Instructors, vacation, Scuba and Jason Kilgore, Naui and Jason Kilgore, Whalens Hotel/Resort, How to scuba dive, skin diving, snorkel, mask, fins, maui divers, dive shops, scuba dive shops, cave diving, ice diving, wreck diving.
Whales! A Special Winter bonus...
Throughout the winter months (Jan-Apr), the Humpback Whales make the calm waters of the West shore of Oahu their home for mating and calving. You'll be thrilled to witness a variety of surface behaviors, such as spouts, dives, breaches, flipper and tail slappings, and to hear the intricate whale "songs" echoing in the ocean.
Week of 12/26 to 12/30 we seen 19 whales up close.. First time we seen so many pods in a general area. It was amazing and exciting. This is also a great time to swim and see spinner dolpins
Keywords:
Advance Scuba training, Adventure Sports, Basic Open Water, Digital Underwater Photography, Extreme Scuba and Jason Kilgore, family travel, Hawaii reef divers, NAUI, scuba rental gear, sharks, Digital Underwater Photography, discount travel, Enriched Air, Hawaii Scuba Diving, Hawaiian Islands sight seeing, ITAN, Kona, NAUI, NOAA, other specialty certifications, sharks, SSI, TDI/SDI, airlines, family travel, family vacations, Hawaii reef divers, Hawaiian Islands, hotels, Jason Kilgore, Maui, scuba certification, scuba diving, scuba rental gear, snorkel/fins, vacation, Basic Open Water, Digital Underwater Photography, Extreme Scuba and Jason Kilgore, Hawaiian Islands, PADI Divemaster SCUBA Certification, Snorkel Bob, Snorkling/Fin, TDI/SDI, Underwater Instructors
Throughout the winter months (Jan-Apr), the Humpback Whales make the calm waters of the West shore of Oahu their home for mating and calving. You'll be thrilled to witness a variety of surface behaviors, such as spouts, dives, breaches, flipper and tail slappings, and to hear the intricate whale "songs" echoing in the ocean.
Week of 12/26 to 12/30 we seen 19 whales up close.. First time we seen so many pods in a general area. It was amazing and exciting. This is also a great time to swim and see spinner dolpins
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Advance Scuba training, Adventure Sports, Basic Open Water, Digital Underwater Photography, Extreme Scuba and Jason Kilgore, family travel, Hawaii reef divers, NAUI, scuba rental gear, sharks, Digital Underwater Photography, discount travel, Enriched Air, Hawaii Scuba Diving, Hawaiian Islands sight seeing, ITAN, Kona, NAUI, NOAA, other specialty certifications, sharks, SSI, TDI/SDI, airlines, family travel, family vacations, Hawaii reef divers, Hawaiian Islands, hotels, Jason Kilgore, Maui, scuba certification, scuba diving, scuba rental gear, snorkel/fins, vacation, Basic Open Water, Digital Underwater Photography, Extreme Scuba and Jason Kilgore, Hawaiian Islands, PADI Divemaster SCUBA Certification, Snorkel Bob, Snorkling/Fin, TDI/SDI, Underwater Instructors
Monday, December 17, 2007
GREAT KEY WORDS
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Advance Scuba training, Adventure Sports, airlines, Basic Open Water, Digital Underwater Photography, discount travel, Divemaster scuba, Enriched Air, Extreme Scuba and Jason Kilgore, family travel, family vacations, Hawaii reef divers, Hawaii Scuba Diving, Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian Islands sight seeing, hotels, Jason Kilgore, Kona, Maui, scuba certification, other specialty certifications, NAUI, NOAA, scuba diving, scuba rental gear, sharks, SSI, TDI/SDI, Underwater Instructors, vacation, Scuba and Jason Kilgore, Naui and Jason Kilgore, Whalens Hotel/Resort, How to scuba dive, skin diving, snorkel, mask, fins, maui divers, dive shops, scuba dive shops, cave diving, ice diving, wreck diving
Hawaii scuba diving
Hawaii scuba diving offers a great variety of beautiful tropical fish and some lovely coral formations throughout the island chain. Scuba diving in Hawaii , on Maui or Kauai for example is a great way to enjoy the marine life of the islands. Scuba diving resorts, operators, dive shops and dive boats are available throughout Hawaii . Enjoy the warm water dives while seeing large green sea turtles, sharks and hundreds of vibrantly colored fish.
Check out the listings below and in the Scubaduba Directory and discover the best that scuba diving Hawaii can offer.
Check out the listings below and in the Scubaduba Directory and discover the best that scuba diving Hawaii can offer.
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