NEW WAY IDC

Miami, Florida — The team efforts of scientists and crew from the Waitt Institute for Discovery, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute have paid off with the recent discovery of three never-before identified Lophelia coral reefs which were located 35 miles off the coast of Florida and 450 metres deep. The CATALYST ONE expedition which kicked-off on December 4 combined the scientific expertise of Harbor Branch’s senior research professor, John Reed, with Waitt Institute’s cutting edge autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and Woods Hole’s high-tech operations skills. The discovery of the first two deep coral reefs occurred during the first dive of the expedition on 5 December. The third Lophelia coral reef was discovered by the AUVs on 7 December after the re-positioning of Harbor Branch’s research vessel Seward Johnson to the expedition’s third survey site.

‘Lophelia corals are found in the deeper ranges of the Straits of Florida, but it is still not clear how extensive these reefs are,’ said Reed.

Vulnerable to bottom trawling fishing equipment that can turn a healthy reef into lifeless rubble, the CATALYST ONE expedition accomplished its objective to survey, map and identify areas that contain deep coral reefs. With this newly acquired information, Reed will submit these findings to the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council to provide further data for their proposed Deep Coral Habitat Area of Particular Concern (HAPC) to protect these fragile reefs. Reed has studied the deep coral reefs off Florida’s coast for more than 30 years, and he is largely responsible for gathering supporting data to make the case for the marine protected areas that now exist to protect the shallower Oculina coral reefs that are found 15 to 20 miles off Florida’s east coast.

Divers find Ms Thailand’s heirloom ring
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:54:00 11/01/2008

ALAMINOS CITY, Pangasinan, Philippines—For about an hour on Friday, five divers combed the waters off Clave Island in the Hundred Islands National Park to find a diamond ring owned by Miss Earth candidate Piyaporn Deejing of Thailand.

On Thursday, Deejing’s ring, a family heirloom, was dropped by a staffer of the beauty pageant while the candidates were visiting the Hundred Islands as part of the pageant’s activities to promote environmental concerns.

The search bore fruit as the ring was found and returned to Deejing on Friday night while she and the other contestants were in Capas, Tarlac.

Tearful contestant

The staff of the beauty pageant and personnel of the city government searched for the ring the moment it was reported missing but high tide prevented them from doing a thorough search.

Deejing turned gloomy and sat down crying, but she soon joined the other contestants in the activities.

She said the ring was important to the family, noting that she represents the third generation to wear it.

“My grandmother gave it to my aunt who then gave it to me,” she said. “It is not the price but the sentimental value of the ring that matters.”

Rey Livara, a staff member of the Alaminos City government, said Deejing hardly touched her breakfast the following day when the group had to leave for Tarlac, their next stop.

Talking to sand

“She really looked sad. We told her not to worry because we would do everything we could to find it,” Livara said.

Mayor Hernani Braganza promised Deejing that they would find the ring and return it to her.

On Friday, when the tide had receded, divers Leonil Mabanta, Leonardo Mapanaw, Romeo Donato, Paul Viray and Jun Eliseff returned to Clave Island to search for the ring.

The spot where the ring was dropped was marked with a rock. Around it, the divers sifted the sand using their hands and empty shells. “We were like crazy as we even talked to the sand, telling it to return the ring,” Viray said.

Reputation at stake

He said they wanted to find the ring “kasi nakakahiya kung hindi maibalik. Nakataya din pangalan ng Alaminos (because it was embarrassing if we failed to return it. Alaminos’ reputation was also at stake here.”

About 45 minutes later, Donato found the ring buried more than a foot deep, about half a meter where it was supposedly dropped.

On Friday night, the divers and Alaminos personnel traveled to Capas to hand over the ring to an ecstatic Deejing, who hugged the diver who found her ring.

The other candidates cheered as the divers gave her the ring at the lobby of the hotel where the candidates were staying.

Deejing said she thought she would never see the ring again.

“I called up my mother to tell her I lost the ring and she was screaming over the phone. I called her again [to tell her] that it had been found and she was so happy,” she said.