Swimming With Sharks!

Enjoying Sharks in Their Own Habitat

I have always considered how wonderful the animal kingdom is and how fascinating it is. By this remark, I mean the "big picture" of how everything serves a vital purpose in maintaining equilibrium amongst themselves and in relationship to the world.

Every animal or insect serves an important purpose and without them another portion can spin out of control. They co-exist in a harmony that is important to their survival but ours as well.

True animal experts all seem to agree that the best methods of research can have no interference by humans, in order to come up with the most accurate information. I have often hoped that a research team form some wildlife TV show would "step in" and rescue the weak and emaciated your animal and save it from a horrible death quite easily, but instead, let nature work it's course and record the events (good or bad) as they took place without interfering. I've gotten used to this and see the wisdom in such research techniques.

Well, I was relaxing the other night and had an "Animal Planet" show on the TV and there was this man who took scuba parties out into the ocean to his favorite nurse shark haven. It seems that this man dives their almost daily and has the local nurse sharks conditioned to take small baitfish from his hand, as he pets, hugs and kisses them on the mouth - without the regulator covering his lips! That's really pushing it!

He was featured in a video clip with his boatload of tourist divers, all submerged in his nurse shark "honey hole" and was showing the folks how to hold a baitfish for the sharks while also petting them, turning them upside down and kissing their stomach, hugging them and kissing them on the mouth when ZANG, one of them clamped down on his mouth like a Pit Bull on steroids!

Nurse sharks are loaded with gnarly teeth and are known for clamping down and not letting go of their iron grip. I honestly forget if they used some technique to get the shark to release him. In fact I don't think they could, if memory serves, the shark finally just released him with his mouth hanging off of his skull.

He was taken to the hospital where cosmetic surgeries were performed and finally he healed up and looked as good as new, despite the difficult task of reconstructing his mouth and lips. He attempted to lamely explain (as an expert) how some movement he made triggered the shark bite and is down there still, probably today, bringing home his paycheck, courtesy of the patient and long-suffering nurse sharks that inhabit his underwater circus.

Now this was just the worst, in keeping with the theory that human interraction with wildlife changes the animals and throws the whole system out of sync. I believe he got what was coming to him and will again someday if he persists. You may be one of those bleeding hearts who wants to wrestle and cuddle with the big, maned, pussy-cats of the Serengeti or kiss sharks on their cute little tummies, but not this kid - never! There's a Bible Proverb that comes to mind - "never follow a fool in his folly"!

Are you a snorkeler or scuba diver? Bring back unforgettable memories of your exploits, use an Ewa-Marine waterproof camera case for digital, SLR and video camcorders!

To all of my fellow Americans - have a safe and fun filled Fourth of July weekend!

Parasailing Mom and Child Fall to Deaths

A Dangerous Water Sport!

A mother and her 13-year-old daughter were killed Wednesday when a parasail harness broke, dropping them more than 20 stories to the shallows of Fort Myers Beach.

Several witnesses, including a second daughter aboard the tow boat, watched in horror as the two dropped into thigh-deep water.

"The parachute twisted three times, flying up, but the women started falling," said Klaus Westerville, 46, of South Carolina.

Lisabeth Hope Bailey-Straney, 37, and her daughter, Taylor Straney, of Vine Grove, Ky., were killed in the accident.

As the mother and daughter crashed into 3 feet of surf, a witness rushed into the water to help.

"The young girl moved her hands and her lips, but she couldn't say anything," said Chris Liberis, 50, vacationing from Germany. "It was obvious that she was in a lot of pain."

Lisabeth Straney was unconscious, he said. Liberis dragged the Straneys out of the water.

The accident happened at 12:30 p.m. as a storm approached, whipping up waves and pelting the sand with a heavy downpour.

"I turned to my wife and said, 'There are people parasailing, I can't believe it, this is no day to be parasailing,' " said Westerville, who was watching the rainbow-colored parachute from a hotel room.

Suddenly, a gust swept up the parachute, and the women were in trouble. The mother's older daughter, 18-year-old Kristin Bailey, watched in horror from the tow boat.

Next door at his Sandrac condominium, a neighbor called Clark Shedden to point out the people parasailing. "Look outside," the neighbor said. "It looks like a parasailor is having trouble."

"Just as I looked up, the rope broke, falling in an arc-like shape," Shedden said. "One of the women was horizontal, she was flailing. It was like she just fell from the sky."

Scott Siddon, captain of the 20-foot boat Hang 'Em High was trying to reel the pair back down to the boat when high winds hit.

Lisabeth Straney died at Lee Memorial Hospital. Taylor died at HealthPark Medical Center, said Lt. Gary Morse, a spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The Straneys were vacationing from Vine Grove, Ky., south of Fort Knox and Louisville. Keena Straney, Lisabeth Straney's husband and Taylor's father, is co-owner of the Lincoln Trail Country Club in Vine Grove. He was en route to Fort Myers Beach on Wednesday night.

"It was a parasailing accident, apparently due to harness failure and deteriorating weather conditions," Morse said.

Wildlife Conservation Commission agents were investigating, he said, looking closely at the harness and the sudden squall at the time of the fall.

Parasailing operations are largely unregulated by state, federal or local agencies, though the Coast Guard's Office of Marine Safety and Environmental Protection requires commercial parasail boat drivers to hold a Coast Guard license.

In the spring, the Coast Guard proposed regulations and guidelines for commercial parasail winchboat operators that would set safety standards and require at least two weeks of training.

The Orlando-based Parasail Safety Council, which was organized in 1998, also has proposed safety guidelines. Its Web site says there are 12 to 20 parasailing deaths in the world annually, with 200 to 500 injuries requiring hospitalization.

Parasail Safety Council founder Mark McCulloh offered to work with Clearwater to craft safety guidelines and training after a 1999 Sand Key parasailing accident.

In October of that year, three members of a Long Island baseball team, in Clearwater for a tournament, were aloft over the Intracoastal Waterway when their tow line snapped and they dangled in harnesses attached to the runaway parasail.

A strong wind filled the parasail and swept it away from the towboat and toward Sand Key. They cleared the top of the 20-story Crescent Beach Club by about 15 feet and dropped into the Gulf of Mexico near the beach.

An American tourist died off Nassau in August 1999 when a parasail towrope broke in a squall and dropped her and a man 70 feet.

A month earlier, a man parasailing in south Lee County died when the harness attaching him to the vehicle broke and he fell more than 100 feet.

In December 1990, George "Eddie" Myers, a New York security guard, died when a boat operator cut the line to his parasail when winds became too strong. The parasail rope wrapped around Myers' leg and dragged him across Clearwater Beach, a construction site, several parked cars, two fences and a tennis court, before toppling him head-first onto the court and severing his foot.

By Times staff and wire reports © St. Petersburg Times

Ten Destinations For Busy Travelers

Getting the Most from a Two Week Vacation

It's the sad, hard reality of American working life: the standard two-week vacation.

Whether you're just starting your career or switching jobs a few years into the game, it's likely that you're only eligible for a measly two weeks of vacation per year. On average, 77% of American employees get eight days of paid vacation, according to a report by the consumer research firm Mintel. That's barely enough time to recover from jet lag.

Making the most of the little time you have requires smart planning. With just two weeks, you're pretty much locked into taking one week off at a time or scheduling a series of long weekends throughout the year. Your other option, of course: take time off around company-paid holidays like Labor Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day or the Forth of July.

So how do you pack in the maximum amount of rest and relaxation into a few precious days? "If you can get out of seeing your family and squandering all your time seeing relatives, you can go to places like the Caribbean, Mexico and Latin America," says Pauline Frommer, author of the forthcoming Pauline Frommer's Guides and daughter of travel guide expert Arthur Frommer. "Take six long weekends in [the] course of a year."

Frommer's main advice for short trips is to avoid going anywhere that requires you to take more than one plane. If you've got just two weeks, here are five ways to make the most of your time:

Stick within your time zone. Try not to waste time recuperating from jet lag. This applies to older travelers and those who require at least eight hours of sleep. South America is an ideal option, says Frommer. It's within the same time zones as the United States, and the dollar goes farther than it would in Europe. She recommends Ambergris Caye, Belize's largest island. The tropical setting was made infamous several years ago when the reality series Temptation Island was filmed there. There are plenty of direct flights from the northern and southeastern parts of the U.S. that also fly to Costa Rica, Brazil and Argentina.

Avoid hurricanes. So you want to go to the tropics, but you don't want to be put in harm's way? Try some of the islands on the outer region of Hurricane Alley, such as Aruba, Curaçao, or Trinidad and Tobago. "They haven't had a hurricane in over 150 years," says Frommer. Curaçao, in particular, is quiet, with picturesque views of beaches and postcard-perfect sunsets. If you're into snorkeling and other water sports, these islands are all great options.

Go for the classics. Las Vegas remains one of the most popular domestic travel destinations. There are plenty of direct flights there from virtually everywhere in the country. Sin City blends lots of options, too. For those who want to relax by the pool, take your pick. There are top-quality restaurants, shops galore and gambling, gambling, gambling. "It's uncanny how popular that destination is," says Brooke Ferencsik, a spokesperson for Tripadvisor.com. "It appeals to lots of demographics."

Also, consider our neighbors to the north: Montreal, Quebec City and Toronto. They're less than a day's drive away from many points in the Northeast and a quick flight from other parts of the country.

Although it's not in our time zone, London is a direct flight from many U.S. cities. If you're traveling there from the East Coast, in particular, it's only a six-hour flight--very doable for a four-day weekend. That gives you the perfect amount of time to catch some plays, eat Indian food and see the major sites. If you're lucky enough to spend more than a long weekend there, London is also a great home-base for traveling to Edinburgh, Scotland, and Paris.

Try a theme park. If you've done Orlando with the kids one too many times, try incorporating a bit of history into the vacation with Colonial Williamsburg, Va. It recently received a multimillion-dollar face-lift that upgraded the park and the surrounding area. There are now spas, upscale restaurants and golf. With schools starting earlier and earlier, the last two weeks of August tend to be quieter than the rest of the summer.

Do it all at once. If you're willing to blow the two weeks all at once, Ferencsik recommends combining Rome, Italy, with the Amalfi coast. "You're blending the beach and the city," he says. What more could you ask for? Source: MSNBC

You'll Need Basic Survival Gear

In an earlier post, we discussed some of the items you may want to pack for survival use. We found among the vhf radio cases and various dry bags for other essentials such as a first aid kit, food and water - one item that we'd like to add to the list.

Coming from Ewa-Marine, there is an item called the NP1 and that is a hermetically sealed pouch for signal flares. Time and moisture will cause corrosion to build up and may render your precious signal flares or flare systems unable to function.

For a small fee you can own an Ewa-Marine waterproof flare case, manufactured by the inventor of flexible housings and pouches. Don't trust your life to less. I've seen many flare kits in nifty little carrying cases but none come close to being impervious to the elements except the Ewa product.

The proven Ewa-Marine closing rail system and housing design assures protection for dive depth up to 75m / 245ft. The weight is only 0.2 lb and includes a 1 Year Warranty.
Don't just think about it - buy one now - they make great gifts and may help save your life!

Basics Of Rafting River Rapids

Learning the Basics!

As with any sport, it helps to have a basic understanding of the tools of the trade, techniques and such. Not only does this help you sound like you know what you are doing, but it actually gives you some insight into the process. Let's take a look at some of the key components:

Dry Bag – A dry bag is a waterproof bag you can keep things in on the raft such as wallets, keys and such. Water is going to get all over the boat, so consider yourself warned. Most whitewater rafting companies provide them with trips.

CFS – This abbreviation refers to cubic feet per second, a measure of the speed and ferocity of the current. The more cubic feet of water moving per second, the more aggressive the rapids and, in my humble opinion, the more fun!

Eddie – An eddie is an area where the current stops or heads back up stream. This typically occurs on the down current side of boulders. It can be a good place to collect yourself for the next rapids.

Gradient – This term refers to the general verticality of the river. The higher the gradient, the "steeper" the river is. This higher gradient means faster water and typically a more exhilarating ride.

Hydraulic – Also referred to as a hole or various cuss words, a hydraulic is an area where water is super turbulent and can suck your raft under if sufficient in size. It is typically found at the bottom of a fall or behind a large obstacle where the gradient is high and the CFS is large.

Rapid – This is why you live to whitewater raft. Rapids are turbulent areas of the water which gives the sport its name. You pop in, out, over and every which way through them.

Life-Jacket – A flotation device. Wear them always. Don’t try to be cool. If you get thrown from the raft, which can happen, these will save you. This is particularly true if you smack your head on something.

This short list of terms should give you a head start on enjoying your trip. Get out there and fling yourself down one of Mother Nature's roller coasters.

About the author: Rick Capo, with http://www.nomadjournals.com/ Visit http://www.nomadjournaltrips.com/ for more articles on the great outdoors!