Show your support - Adopt a Shark!

World Record Diving Malta will be supported by Sharklab-Malta during our upcoming Finathon Challenge. Sharklab-Malta is a local NGO dedicated to research, education and raising awareness about all Elasmobranch around the Maltese islands. WRDMalta would like to promote Sharklab-Malta's 'Adopt a Shark' campaign. 

The sharks available for adoption have all been recovered as fertilised eggs from their mothers landed by fishermen at the main Maltese wholesale fish market. In the past these eggs were simply thrown into the waste bins, but now they have a chance to survive and with your support, Sharklab-Malta aim to support their development and release them back to where they belong. The two Oviparous (egg-laying) species which can be adopted are Smallerspotted Catsharks (Scyliorhinus canicula) and Nursehounds (Scyliorhinus stellaris).

The “Adopt a Shark” campaign is part of the “Oviparous species Recovery and Release Program”, which is coordinated by Sharklab-Malta and supported by the Malta National Aquarium. This campaign is focussed on education and will also help to raise funds for the running of this campaign and to enable Sharklab-Malta to undertake further research.

So What Happens When You “Adopt a Shark”?

1. Upon receiving your completed adoption form and payment of €25, Sharklab-Malta will send you the adoption pack, which includes details of the recovery and release program and information about the species you have chosen to adopt.

2. After approximately 6 months you will receive a picture of the species you adopted and your very own shark eggcase, just like the one your shark will have hatched from!!

3. And finally you will be personally invited to witness the release of sharks back where they belong. 

Visit:
http://www.sharklab-malta.org/images/Sharklab/Sharklab/adopt-a-shark.pdf to adopt a shark today! Simply fill out the form and return it to Sharklab-Malta and be part of making a difference!

JAWSOME!

One of the main reasons why WRDMalta's Sean McGahern has chosen to spend a number of days inside the shark tank at the Malta National Aquarium is to try and change people's perception of sharks. 

Unfortunately, far too many people picture the pneumatically powered great white shark prop from the film 'JAWS' upon hearing the word 'Shark'. The film made the mistake of portraying great white sharks as vengeful predators, and this had a massive impact on people's perception of sharks in general. Even today, a very large percentage of mankind seem to be under the impression that all sharks are bloodthirsty man-eating machines and are afraid to even put their foot in the water. Sadly, the press and media make it difficult for many people to understand why sharks are worth saving, let alone why we should take measures to help protect the species.  

What mankind does not realize is that we have more of a chance of getting struct by lightening or being killed by a coconut than by a shark. Moreover, people don't realize the vast variety of shark species that there are out there and how harmless they all are to humans. 

During Sean's time in the tank, he will be greeted by black tip reef sharks and zebra sharks, amongst other marine species. So far, during training both species of shark have been completely uninterested in consuming Sean for dinner. Quite the contrary, Sean's presence has not bothered them in the slightest and they seemed pretty content to host him in their home - which is pretty damn jawsome in our opinion!!

Support Sean by donating at http://finathon.org/finathon-malta. For every $100 donated he will spend a day in the tank! 

New Challenge - 2015

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is to be understood”. This November, World Record Diving Malta’s very own Sean McGahern will be taking on a challenge by spending a target amount of hours engaging with the various species of sharks and rays found inside the exotic tank at the Malta National Aquarium. Species in this tank include black tip sharks, reef sharks, zebra sharks, horn sharks, as well as cownosed and honeycomb rays.   

The main scope behind this challenge is to raise funds and awareness to protect vulnerable shark and ray species whilst encouraging people to change their mentality towards sharks, who are in fact, a misunderstood species, endangered due to the threats that are a result of human activity.

Shark fishing is largely unregulated around the world. Overfishing, bycatch and shark finning kills thousands of sharks every day. Project AWARE has helped close loopholes in the EU finning ban and secure international trade protection for 8 of the world’s most vulnerable sharks and rays. They now continue to fight to enforce controls at global levels in order to ensure the survival of more species. World Record Diving Malta would like to join the fight and help by raising funds through this event and by taking on a Finathon Challenge. Donations may be made at: http://finathon.org/finathon-malta

Sharklab-Malta, a local NGO dedicated to research, education and raising awareness about all Elasmobranch around the Maltese island, have been working closely with the Malta National Aquarium over the last few years. Projects include the rescue of unborn shark egg cases, which are collected from the fish markets and taken to the Malta National AqVuarium where they are then kept under observation until hatched. After about 6 months, the shark pups are then released back into the sea where they belong. World Record Diving Malta would like to encourage all those interested in helping out to sign up for the ‘Adopt a Shark’ campaign by visiting http://www.sharklab-malta.org/ or http://www.aquarium.com.mt/ .

Sean is very much looking forward to being a temporary guest inside the sharks' and rays’ home and hopes to spend up to 8 days in the tank without breaking the surface at any time. This would set a new Guinness World Record for the longest dive in a controlled environment. Sean and the team would like to encourage all to come and visit the Aquarium during this event. For more information follow our page at httm://www.facebook.com/WorldRecordDivingMalta.

We would also like to thank the sponsors supporting this challenge as without them this event would not be possible. These include: Adventure Diving Malta, Dare To Dive, O’Three Dry Suits Ltd UK,  Scuba Essentials Malta, Seashell Beach Resort Malta, St John's Rescue Corpse Malta & Innobeam International,

For more information on the upcoming event and our sponsors kindly visit our blog at http://worldrecorddivingmalta.blogspot.com.mt/

Malta's Divesites: Bristol Beaufighter

Seventy years ago a Bristol Beaufighter aircraft took off from Malta, unfortunately she never returned! Now this wreck sits just off St Julian's and she is one of the most memorable and photogenic dive sites the island has to offer!  

The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter, referred to as the Beau and nicknamed 'the ten gunned terror', was a British long-range heavy fighter. The name 'Beaufighter' is a portmanteau of 'Beaufort' and 'fighter'. In 1941, during the Second World War, a detachment operated from Malta. The aircraft proved so effective in the Mediterranean against shipping, aircraft and ground targets, that Coastal Command became the major use of the Beaufighter. The St Julian's wreck is that of Beaufighter 'N' of No 272 squadron. On March 17, 1943, she left Malta on an escort mission, but as soon as she took flight off the airfield, mechanical problems caused the aircraft to vibrate violently and the aircraft immediately began to lose altitude. The crew had to ditch the aircraft in the sea as close to the coastline as possible. 

Today, the aircraft lies upside down on a sandy bottom at a depth of 38 metres. Due to its position, this dive site is reached by boat. As divers descend, the wreck starts to come into view at a depth of about 12 to 17 metres, depending on the visibility. 

The wings and central fuselage are still intact, but most of the wreck is actually buried in the sand. The tall section of the fuselage is missing, probably broken off and scattered when the plane hit the water. Both undercarriage frames with shredded tyres now stick up from the wind position behind the engines. One of the propellers is intact and attached to the engine, which is also partly buried in the fine white sand. Due to the upside-down position at which the Beaufighter came to rest on the sea floor, the four 20mm cannon under the nose can still be seen. 

This is an excellent dive for the photographer. The often great visibility and the fine white sand makes for memorable photographs, while the Moray eels, octopus, nudibrach and bream that are permanent residents here also give the wreck a unique aura. Extra care has to be taken in planning this dive so as not to stir up the fine sand on the bottom in order to maintain good visibility.

MY OCEAN!

As scuba divers many of you may know how frustrating it may be to witness damage and harm being done to our oceans. How many times did you come across debris and litter during a dive? Did this upset you? Did it make you want to take action? Well now you can!

MyOcean is an online eco-network developed by Project AWARE to make it easier for us to all work together towards ocean protection. The network provides a platform where one can find events and activities taking place in his/her area. The global movement for ocean protection is people-powered and YOU can help make a difference!

The network is very user friendly and is a great way to get connected with other passionate scuba divers. Not only can you search for events taking place close by, but you can also start up action plans, create your own conservation events and even track and report data! You do not have to travel the world to help - just sign up at www.projectaware.org/welcome-my-ocean and get involved!

Create your own profile and help kick start solutions for the ocean today... and remember, even one person can make an impact!

Dive Against Debris - Let's Do It!

On the 9th of May 2015, World Record Diving Malta teamed up with Let's Do it Malta as part of the Let's Do it Mediterranean clean-up campaign. The vision of Let's Do it is to have a clean world, and to do so, the organisers encourage citizens in each country to take action, once a year, all together, and be part of their national clean-up, all in one day! ... and so, that is exactly what we did! 

With special thanks to Adventure Diving Malta, a clean up was organised at Qawra Bay which many of our team members attended. The event was also open to open water divers (& higher qualification) and we also had a lovely team on land support to help with the separation of waste collected.  

As one of WRDMalta's main goals is to promote marine conservation we decided to take the opportunity to record this data for Project AWARE's 'Dive Against Debris' Campaign. All of this data was recorded on the WRDMalta - MyOcean page at http://www.projectaware.org/debris-survey/qawra-bay-malta. 

Items collected varied from glass bottles, beer cans, jerry cans, wooden fragments, ceramics, cigarette buds, amongst many others. The team even retrieved a garage door from the sea bed! On average we have calculated that around 70kg of debris was collected during this dive. 

We would like to thank all those who participated in the event, both on land and underwater. We would also like to thank Adventure Diving for supplying the air and equipment for all the divers. Finally, we would like to congratulate Let's Do it Malta for their great initiative and enthusiasm - keep it up! We very much look forward to participating in next years clean up! 

Santa's Underwater Parade

With the festive season just around the corner, World Record Diving Malta is planning yet another fund-raising event: Santa’s Underwater Parade 2013!

WRDMalta organised a voting poll, during which the club’s team members nominated each other to dress as various characters related to Christmas. The team will be wearing these costumes during a scuba parade planned for Sunday 22^nd December 2013.

WRDMalta would like to invite all divers to come along and participate in the event, as well as any non-divers should they wish to tag along for a laugh. A minimum donation of €5.00 is encouraged, proceeds of which will be donated to L-Istrina 2013. All participants are required to turn up in fancy dress related to Christmas in order to take part in the dive parade. Prizes will be awarded to those voted ‘Best Dressed’ and ‘Best Effort’ as well as raffle prizes courtesy of our sponsors.

The event will take place in Cirkewwa, meeting at 10.00am. Mince pies & Christmas cookies will be available for purchase during the day courtesy of Mik's Cakes & Bakes, proceeds of which will also be donated to L-Istrina.

Let’s make this dive a jolly one! We hope to see you there!!!

For more information contact us on worldrecorddivingmalta@gmail.com