Houston's Premier Scuba and Dive Shop Oceanic Ventures Inc.

(713) 523-3483 (dive)
5808 Newcastle Drive
Houston, TX 77401

diving

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Study Indicates Some Sharks Are Color Blind

Wobblegong Shark
Spotted Wobblegong Shark.
Copyright (c) 2005 Richard Ling

A recent study by a group of Australian scientists has suggested that wobbegong sharks are color blind! Past studies that have tested color-sensing abilities in elasmobranchs (rays, skates, and sharks) have shown that some rays have color-vision, but it was believed that sharks were probably colorblind. This has now been proved in two species of wobbegong sharks and indicates the possibility of colorblindness in all sharks. But more species will have to be tested before conclusions can be drawn for more sharks.

The study looked at light-sensitive proteins in the light-sensing cells in the retina of wobbegong shark eyes. Different types of these light-sensing proteins, opsins, are used to detect various types of light and convert them into photoelectric signals. Animals usually need two types of opsins in order to have any color-vision. It was found that the two species of wobbegongs studied had only one cone opsin, concluding that their vision is colorblind. Many fish and other marine animals have color vision but this trait seems to be lost for certain types of whales, seals and dolphins, and it is unknown why large marine predators lost multiple opsins in their retina, and thus color vision. This new knowledge about wobbegong color sensitivity could have broader indications that many sharks are colorblind. This has important implications for the scuba, surfing and fishing industries, which can use this research to make their products less visible to sharks to promote diver, swimmer and surfer safety and make fishing lures that are more difficult for sharks to see in order to reduce shark by-catch!

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Scuba Divers Win Prizes at the Annual Dive Around Texas Competition

Dive Around TexasIt was unusually cold on Sunday morning, but that didn’t stop more than 100 Texas divers from coming out to the Annual Dive Around Texas barbecue and prize give away in San Marcos. Many local divers and dive shops we’re represented, including Oceanic Ventures, Inc. Also, representatives from some of the certification agencies and manufacturers were there as well; some of the atendees were  Eric Peterson with SSI, Tom Kurras with Cressi, Greg Gephart with Tusa, SEA&SEA, and Light and Motion.
We had a fun time, won some prizes—two of Oceanic Ventures’ own Steve Soulen won two Ikelite LED flashlights, and John Davis won a wetsuit.  The barbecue lunch was great and it allowed us to swap dive stories with people from all over Texas, folks from Austin, Grapevine, San Marcos, and even Corpus Christi we’re all represented at the Dive Around Texas event.
I’m glad I got enough dives in, because the prizes we’re really great! And, I can’t wait to get even more local dives in for 2013, hope you can join me underwater in Texas!

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Explore the Ocean with Google Maps!

Google Map from APO IslandSome of the newest technology related to diving has come in a form strictly for surface use, as Google Maps has recently expanded their Google Street View to the ocean and gone underwater to capture panoramas and videos of reefs around the world! Google Street View is an interactive program that allows users to virtually navigate streets, museums, and famous sites world-wide but has previously stayed on land. Google has teamed up with the Caitlin Seaview Survey to create images of 360o views of reefs, which will make phenomenal images of reefs and virtual tours of popular dive sites available to billions of people who have never experienced the underwater world.  

Google hopes to make these dive sites accessible to users to promote interest and conservation of the ocean and the images will be added to an archive for marine scientists to use for studies of these marine environments. From September to December the project will travel down the coast of Australia taking thousands of images that will be continually uploaded new sites to Google Maps. Currently there are six sites available to view on Google Maps, including three sites at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, two sites in Hawaii, and one of Apo Island in the Philippines.  

This is especially exciting for me because I have been lucky enough to dive Apo Island on an Oceanic Ventures trip and it is so cool navigate those sites via the internet! Although these images are amazing, they pale in comparison to the true underwater world of Apo Island. So, although Google cannot quite compare to really experiencing Apo Island, they’re making great strides forward and making dive sites more accessible to non-divers and divers interested in previewing sites in a sustainable way! 

You can see what I mean by going here.

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Dry Suit Scuba Diving and DUI DOG Rally and Demo Days in Texas

Diving Drysuits is fun
Diving Dry Suits Is Fun and They Extend Your Diving Season!
If you did not already know, we dive all winter! Alex, David, Joel. Madison and Rich all dive year round locally. In fact we have diving almost every weekend already scheduled and you do not want to miss a single weekend!
 But despite our living in the South, the lakes tend to cool down a bit. Dry suits are the way to dive year round and laugh at the cold. And, to make it even more special, DUI’s DOG Rally and Demo Days is coming up November 10-1, 2012 at Clear Springs Scuba Park. This is your opportunity to get certified to dive a dry suit, try out the complete line of products from DUI and get fed lunch all for one price! And, if you want to, you can even camp with the rest of our divers!
 Sign-Up today and get ready for this winters diving marathon!

 Dive Mom, I hate being cold and I want to dive! (please sign me up or send me some more information)

 Tell Me More about the DUI DOG Ralley and Demo Event

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Discovering the Why's of Diving…Science of Diving Course Scheduled

Divers under the boatWho is Archimedes and why should we care?  Is Dalton really important to divers?  What do penguins have to do with diving?  What is Martini’s Law?  Do tides really effect diving?

The answers to these questions and others that you didn’t even know to ask will be answered in the fun, interesting Science of Diving course taught by our staff of fun and exciting Dive Leaders!

While this course is required for anyone thinking about entering our Dive Leader programs, it is an interesting program designed to answer some of those Why questions behind the diving rules and procedures.  If you are interested in learning more about diving, sign-up for this program today and continue your diving education.

Course Dates: October 13 (Saturday), 16, with Scuba Steve Brennan

 

Dive Mom, Sign Me Up (or send me more information)

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Need a reason to take that Trimix Course?

Underwater Object Discovered300ft down.. perfect reason for me to get hypoxic & expedition trimix certified.  Such were the words of one of our clients, John Mittendorf.  What was John talking about you ask?  Well it seems a group of Swedish treasure hunters discovered a perfectly round object at the bottom of the Sea of Bethena off the coast of Sweden.  According to the team, it is unusual because it is perfectly round and appears to have a “drag” clearing leading up to it.

Of course there are other reasons to take a Trimix course.  Imagine being able to swim with huge sponges reaching out and up from the depths along the walls in Grand Cayman.  Visit a turn of the century sailing ship in the Dry Tortugas or a WW II submarine from the United States and another from Germany; these await deep divers in the Dry Tortugas.  There are some incredible sites waiting for Trimix divers around the world including, caves, wrecks and walls.  Dave and I have been fortunate to have visited a number of them over the past few years and we are always looking for some other adventurous souls to join us.

John, may be right.  This might just be the reason to continue his rebreather training to include Hypoxic and Expedition Trimix.  Of course you will also need some practice in a dry suit.

Here is what CNN reported about the find: