David Hartman will be giving a presentation on Egypt-Red Sea dive travel Saturday August 28, 2010 at 6:00 pm at Sterling Silver SCUBA in Sterling, VA. Mr Hartman’s presentation will cover information on touring ancient Egypt and the Red Sea as a dive destination as well as details on Sterling Silver SCUBA group trip to Egypt on June 25-July 10, 2011. Please call Kevin Davenport at Sterling Silver SCUBA to reserve a spot in the seminar (703) 731-0257. Guests are welcome.
Sterling Silver Divers Egypt-Red Sea Group Trip page:
The Spanish Dancer is the largest nudibranch in the Red Sea and extremely colorful often bursting with bright red color on the sea floor. Once in a great while you can see a Spanish Dancer in flight which is such a surreal experience.
There are eight known species of the Bannerfish (Genus Heniochus), which is a member of the Butterflyfish family Chaetodontidae, meaning “bristle teeth” in reference to their prising snout and dentition. All eight species are similarly shaped with laterally compressed sides, a pointed rostrum and a lengthened fourth dorsal ray.
The Chaetodontidae are very colourful fishes that are popular with divers and aquarists. The family consists of ten genera with about 120 species. They mostly inhabit coral reefs but some have become adapted to temperate and deep waters. The geographical distribution is mainly focused on the Red Sea and Arabian Sea coral reefs, 4 are found in the east Pacific and 12 in the Atlantic. The genus Chaetodon is the largest in the family, with 114 species in 13 sub-genera. Heniochus as mentioned above comprises 8 species, with the remaining genera being single species (monotypic), or with only a few species each.
Most species inhabit the shallows of coral reefs, living in pairs or in large schools. The diet typically consists of coral polyps and hydroids, and small invertebrates such as polychaete worms; some are adapted to live on zooplankton. Butterflyfish produce tiny spherical pelagic eggs about 1mm in diameter, and the larvae have a bony head amour, often with serrated spines. These larval stages are in the region of 10mm long and settle among corals and rocks.
Of the eight species of Heniochus, two are common to the Red Sea: the Red Sea Bannerfish (Heniochus intermedius), and the Schooling Bannerfish (Heniochus diphreutes). The other species are the Long-Fin Bannerfish (Heniochus acumminatus), Pennant Butterflyfish (Heniochus chrysostomus), Masked Bannerfish (Heniochus monoceros), Phantom Bannerfish (Heniochus pleurotaenia), Humphead Bannerfish (Heniochus varius) and Singular Bannerfish (Heniochus singularius). The Red Sea Bannerfish can grow up to 8 inches and is found also in the western Gulf of Aden. It lives at depths between 10 and 165 feet, feeding on zooplankton during the day. These fish swim in pairs but are also found in groups of up to 24. Juveniles are found primarily at the base of reefs, living in larger groups.
In the Red Sea, these fish feed most actively at sunset and during the night, so divers may be less likely to see many Bannerfish in the daytime, as they may be hiding among corals. The Red Sea Bannerfish appears to be a generalist feeder. It has been reported as a benthic feeder eating mostly sedentary polychaetes and some corals and other invertebrates off Eritrea, but as a planktonic feeder on larvaceans in the Gulf of Aqaba. It has a short gut, indicating that it doesn’t eat algae and corals as much as some other butterfly fish species, but it is likely that it consumes some.
These fish are very territorial, with the territory often having a table coral at its centre. In the late afternoon, pairs of fish move to the borders of the territory to challenge neighbouring fish of the same species, whilst others within the same genus pass across the territory unchallenged. Schooling Bannerfish grow up to 7 inches and are characterised by an elongated 4th dorsal spine. They have two black bands, the second starting behind the dorsal filament, yellow pectoral, dorsal and caudal fins, with a grey spotted snout and nape. They live along the reef front or external reef, in large schools swimming in mid water.
It resembles another Heniochus species, Heniochus acuminatus, but is smaller, with shorter snout, snout and nape spots lighter, and usually lives in large schools. These fish are found not only in the Red Sea through to the Arabian Gulf, but are widespread also in the Indian Ocean. They inhabit depths from 3 to 700 feet, living in aggregations in the water column above the reef tops, feeding on zooplankton. Juveniles are found living closer to the bottom near reef patches, whilst adults spend the entire day in open water, protected by the schooling behavior. Schooling Bannerfish are typical Plankton feeders, with juveniles also acting as cleaners, feeding on parasites collected on other fish skin.
At first sight it may appear pretty nondescript, how you might describe your everyday pet goldfish! But take a closer look at this 7cm fish. It has the most amazing violet streak below the eye, which illuminates the surrounding water. On mass the orange/gold colour of their body lights up the entire reef making you think you are surrounded by thousands of stars.
Also known as the lyretail coralfish, the lyretail anthia or the scalefin anthia, anthias are members of the family Serranidae (basses, basslets, groupers) and make up the subfamily Anthiinae. They occur in all tropical oceans and seas of the world from the western Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean as far east as Japan and Southeast Australia. The first species recognized in this group was described in the Mediterranean and northeast Atlantic and was given the name Anthias anthias by Carolus Linnaeus in 1758. Pretty remarkable stuff, huh! Small, peaceful and beautiful they form complex social structures based on the number of males and females and also their position on the reef itself. They are mainly zooplankton feeders and shoal by the thousands. The male, 15 cm in length and a fuschia colour with a very distuinguishing banner, retains a harem of 5-10 females. When the male dies (no surprise there) one of the females will undergo sex reversal and take the place of the missing male!
In the Red Sea, Anthias surround coral outcrops, the fringing reef and steep slopes to a depth of 110 feet. They always point directly into current apart from when they are playing ‘tricks’ on the dive guide when you will hear that age old phrase, ‘well they were pointing the right way when I jumped in and checked.’ The Anthia, a dive guide’s best friend or his/her Achilles heel…
Post courtesy of Emperor Divers News Blog and Terry Axam.
Check out a video of Emperor Elite as a European dive group goes south to the Sudan border. The 8-minutes teaser includes marvellous views from reefs of Elba, Abu Fendera, St. Johns, Fury Shoals, Elphinstone including sitings of silky shark, crocodile fish, scorpionfish, octopus, ‘popcorn crab’, nudibranch and even underwater treasures (captain’s bell!).
Emperor Divers thanks to Kai Kaasalainen for this superb video. Watch it here.
Congratulations to Matt M. of Aurora, CO on winning Learning Through Travel’s grand prize of a 7 night liveaboard trip for two to the Egyptian Red Sea with 2 nights in Cairo, Egypt. Matt won the prize at A-1 SCUBA Center’s May Sale Event this past weekend in Englewood, CO (just South of Denver). The A-1 event was fantastic with hundreds of attendees including over 200 people at the LTT Egypt-Red Sea trip presentation on Sunday afternoon and over 300 people in attendance for the grand prize giveaway. A-1′s Egypt-Red Sea trip next April is sold out thanks to the May Sale Event and now the dive shop may book a second trip for 2011 to Egypt later in the year.
Learning Through Travel will be exhibiting and presenting at A-1 SCUBA’s May Sale Event May 21-22, 2010 at A-1′s dive shop in Englewood, Colorado. The annual event is the biggest in Colorado attracting over 1000 attendees with great deals on equipment and dive travel and free seminars on both travel and equipment. David Hartman will be presenting for Learning Through Travel on Saturday morning at 9:15 am and on Sunday afternoon at 1:45 pm. The half-hour presentation will cover Egypt as a dive destination as well as review the details of A-1 SCUBA’s group trip to Egypt April 8-23, 2011. Learning Through Travel will be giving away various door prizes and promoting trip specials during the May Sale event and we donated the grand travel prize of a one week Northern Red Sea Live Aboard trip for two in Egypt plus 2 nights in Cairo (a $3500 value!). Come see us at A-1′s May Sale event.
Thank you to SCUBA Shack in Rocky Hill, CT for a wonderful turnout and reception for our Egypt presentation on Wednedsay May 12th. SCUBA Shack is taking a group to Egypt in April-May 2011 and used their travel seminar night to launch their group trip. Over 30 people attended the hour long presentation and we received numouers questions and positive comments during the pizza dinner after the Egypt-Red Sea seminar. LTT looks forward to escorting a sold out group of SCUBA Shack customers in Egypt next April.
16 Day-14 Night trip including a tour of anicent Egypt (Pyramids, Cairo Museum, Luxor, Valley of the Kings, Nile Cruise) and Red Sea Diving: 3 night liveaboard from Sharm and 2 days shore diving in Dahab
David Hartman will be giving a presentation on Egypt-Red Sea dive travel Wednesday May 12, 2010 at 6:30pm at SCUBA Shack in Rocky Hill, CT. The presentation will occur during SCUBA Shack’s monthly free seminar class. The topic of May’s class is Dive Travel and Preparation and Mr Hartman’s presentation will cover information on Egypt as a dive destination as well as details on SCUBA Shack’s group trip to Egypt in April-May 2011. Please call Ed Hayes at SCUBA Shack to reserve a spot in the seminar (860)563-0119
April is a month to celebrate at Emperor Divers Sharm as summer finally arrives. Each year from April to September we are sometimes lucky enough to have the company of manta rays on our dives (or Manta birostris, as Emperor instructor Pete Walsh would say!) All this month there have been numerous manta ray sightings by Emperor guests up and down the coastline. No longer is ‘Ras Mohammed’ or ‘Tiran’ the most popular choice, the ‘local’ dive sites are the place to be!
Manta rays, easily distinguished by their large mandibles, are the biggest winged creatures that inhabit the oceans. The largest known specimen measured more than 25 feet across with a weight of about 5000 pounds. But here in Sharm a smaller, yet still impressive 10-13 feet is more common. Mantas feed mainly on plankton filtered from the water passing through their gills as they swim. Incidentally their top speed is only 7 miles per hour and for those of you that have had the chance to dive with them before, you’ll know it seems like they are going much faster.
Scuba diving with a manta ray is an amazing experience, often ended with a cheer of delight from the dive group upon reaching the surface. They are quite curious animals and they are often known to approach scuba divers, either enjoying the interaction and playing with our bubbles or simply wanting to see what is happening. These magnificent creatures are also frequently seen feeding near or at the surface so those snorkelling also might be lucky enough to catch a glimpse.
When diving with manta rays it is very important to remember that they are wild animals and should be observed only. The less action a scuba diver takes to scare a manta ray, such as chasing it to get a better look or to get that perfect picture, the more likely it is that the manta ray will hang around giving an unforgettable experience. Happy manta ray spotting this summer in Sharm!
Post courtesy of Emperor Divers News Blog
