News
New Book: Dining with Divers – A Taste for Adventure
If you’re still looking for the ideal present for a fellow scuba diver (or a gift for yourself) how about this new book that combines diving stories and cookery in one!
In this second volume in their Dining with Divers series, Simon Pridmore and David Strike again invite an eclectic mix of diving personalities from around the world to share some memorable underwater moments and a recipe for a favourite meal.
You will hear from an international cast of characters, representing virtually the entire spectrum of the scuba diving community. You will meet legendary figures from the dawn of sport diving as well as enthusiastic newcomers. You will follow explorers through vast and difficult cave systems that no human has ever visited, and dive down onto shipwrecks from centuries past that bear witness to man’s glories and follies. You will read about encounters with some of the greatest and most sought after animals in the ocean and also revel in some comic underwater mishaps.
This being a cookbook as well as a story book, at the end of each tale, there is a recipe for a dish and you may be delighted to find that the meal options on offer are as varied as the stories. There are curries and chillis, pastas and risottos. There is soul food and sea food, Chinese cuisine and Italian cuisine. There are vegetarian options and dessert options. You will eat mackerel on a Scottish beach and tear lobsters apart on the coast of Maine. You will cook mussels from the English Channel and share a fiery favourite inspired by a heavy metal band.
This is a book that you will come back to time and again, to share a tale of the sea, or to plan your own dinner for divers.
- Paperback 188 pages
- E-book file size: 297115KB
- Published by Sandsmedia / KDP
- Sold by: Amazon Worldwide
- Language: English
- ISBN-13: 978-1729276426
Simon Pridmore is the author of scuba diving books, travel books and, as you might expect, scuba diving travel books. He also writes a number of monthly magazine columns including blogging for Scubaverse.com. He lives in Bali, Indonesia but spends a lot of time exploring other places, trying, but failing so far, to find a cure for his itchy feet.
With a background in military, commercial, recreational and technical diving, David Strike has authored several hundred articles about diving over the years and has organised a number of world class technical diving events. A former instructor trainer and a field editor for several international diving publications, he lives in Australia.
News
Euro-Divers to close dive centre at NH Collection Maldives Havodda
Euro-Divers have announced that as of 15 April 2024, they will no longer be operating the dive centre at NH Collection Maldives Havodda (formerly known as Amari Havodda).
The popular dive centre chain released this statement regarding the closure:
Dear valid customers, business partners and friends,
We are leaving NH Collection Maldives Havodda – former Amari Havodda as of 15th of April 2024.
Unfortunately, the information reached us on short notice that we are no longer operating the dive centre at the resort.
It was a great pleasure to work with the Amari Hotel group and continue to work with the NH Hotel group.
We wish our partners great success with all their new changes.
Thanks a lot for cooperating during our time at the resort. We wish everyone with whom we have worked a good and hopefully successful future.
Euro-Divers continue to operate in several other dive resorts throughout the Maldives in addition to other locations.
To finds out more about Euro-Divers, visit www.euro-divers.com.
Marine Life & Conservation Blogs
Creature Feature: Undulate Ray
In this series, the Shark Trust will be sharing amazing facts about different species of sharks and what you can do to help protect them.
This month we’re looking at the Undulate Ray. Easily identified by its beautiful, ornate pattern, the Undulate Ray gets its name from the undulating patterns of lines and spots on its dorsal side.
This skate is usually found on sandy or muddy sea floors, down to about 200 m deep, although it is more commonly found shallower. They can grow up to 90 cm total length. Depending on the size of the individual, their diet can range from shrimps to crabs.
Although sometimes called the Undulate Ray, this is actually a species of skate, meaning that, as all true skates do, they lay eggs. The eggs are contained in keratin eggcases – the same material that our hair and nails are made up of! These eggcases are also commonly called mermaid’s purses and can be found washed up on beaches all around the UK. If you find one, be sure to take a picture and upload your find to the Great Eggcase Hunt – the Shark Trust’s flagship citizen science project.
It is worth noting that on the south coasts, these eggcases can be confused with those of the Spotted Ray, especially as they look very similar and the ranges overlap, so we sometimes informally refer to them as ‘Spundulates’.
Scientific Name: Raja undulata
Family: Rajidae
Maximum Size: 90cm (total length)
Diet: shrimps and crabs
Distribution: found around the eastern Atlantic and in the Mediterranean Sea.
Habitat: shelf waters down to 200m deep.
Conservation Status : As a commercially exploited species, the Undulate Ray is a recovering species in some areas. The good thing is that they have some of the most comprehensive management measures of almost any elasmobranch species, with both minimum and maximum landing sizes as well as a closed season. Additionally, targeting is entirely prohibited in some areas. They are also often caught as bycatch in various fisheries – in some areas they can be landed whilst in others they must be discarded.
IUCN Red List Status: Endangered
For more great shark information and conservation visit the Shark Trust Website
Image Credits: Banner – Sheila Openshaw; Illustration – Marc Dando
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