FathomOz

Worms are sold as bait for beach fishermen.  It takes skill to spot the worm.  A bag of stinking meat is the attraction.

Same whale shark in both pictures.  35mm lens vs. 15mm lens

In early 1942, the (RAAF), experiencing air attacks on towns in northern Australia, found itself unable to obtain British-designed interceptors or sufficient numbers of P-40s. US Fifth Air Force squadrons in Australia were already receiving the brand new P-39D-1. Consequently, in July 1942, older USAAF P-39s, which had been repaired at Australian workshops, were adopted by the RAAF as a stop-gap interceptor.

Seven P-39Ds were sent to No. 23 Squadron RAAF at Lowood, Queensland. Later, seven P-39Fs were operated by No. 24 Squadron RAAF at Townsville. In the absence of adequate supplies of P-39s, both squadrons also operated Wirraway armed trainers. However, neither squadron received a full complement of Airacobras, or saw combat with them. The home air defence role was filled first by P-40s, followed by Spitfires. Plans to equip two more squadrons with P-39s were also abandoned. 23 and 24 Squadrons converted to the Vultee Vengeance in 1943.

Source: Wikipedia

Cyclone Yasi warning before she hit Queensland as a category 5 – the worst in maybe 200 years.

North Stradbroke Island, off Brisbane.

An old cottage nearby had a sign above the door “Amityville Horror” - named after a B  grade movie of the the same name.

Dumping ‘rubbish’ to slow down beach erosion is no longer permitted. Today Amity has very high land values. Entire streets have vanished into Moreton Bay at Amity Point – fortunately it’s been a slow process.

John Harding and Ben Cropp aboard Freedom III (2001)

Handbook for Skindivers (By Ben Cropp 1963) had instructions in a chapter ‘How to make a speargun’.

The design was a simple and functional identical to this spear gun used today by Ben Cropp (right).

A piece of Silky Oak timber, a trigger mechanism purchased by a sports store.  The handle could also be purchased – or in 1963 when these were not available, a carpenter’s woodworking plane handle would be sufficient.

I made three spear guns to these specifications and  have one left today.   A shark swam away with another in 1963.

The fish is a Barramundi – not speared.

Young sharks taken from their dead mother – some survived and swam away.  One of the sequences of Australian Seafari destined to be added to You Tube.  The girl is Sandra Greentree - a speargun model from the pages of Fathom magazine.

Meanwhile check out other amazing marine videos of a variety of subjects.  http://seauw.blogspot.com

Also check out the complete 480 pages from Fathom magazine.  http://fathomoz.wordpress.com

Although similar to the content here there are a few differences.  Click pictures to enlarge them.

There are TEN issues of Fathom.  Each is 48 pages.

Edition numbers can be located in CATEGORIES in right hand column.

First issue was  1970.  Issue TEN was 1973.  Fathom magazine is said to have put Australia on the international diving map during those early years, as the stories and advertising will illustrate.

In the same era the Captain Wally Muller owner of charter boat Coralita began operation for scuba divers.  The first live-aboard and with dive destinations to The Coral Sea.
We hope you will enjoy these pages from the past.

South of the Margaret River area was this stunning (for snorkel diving) piece of coastline.  The best view of good free diving territory possible.

Providing water depth is 15 feet or more in the bright sandy patch, there would be sufficient depth elsewhere.

It looks like it might have been good for abalone at one stage.

Getting down the steep landscape would be good exercise too.

Opposition
Many of the arguments used by China, Japan, Russia and several North African countries to oppose the measure were expected to be recycled by delegates later this week when proposals to tightening regulations on the shark trade are considered.

China and Russia argued that shark populations aren’t suffering. Japan insisted that current measures in place are more than adequate. Developing countries like Libya and Morocco complained that any effort to protect sharks would damage the economies of poor fishing nations and burden them with expensive enforcement requirements.

The Chinese delegation said there was no scientific evidence that the shark’s survival is threatened and CITES was not the right forum to handle the issue. The Chinese would prefer to leave regulation to existing tools like the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and regional bodies which conservationists argue have failed to crackdown on illegal fishing and even uphold their own modest quotas.

There’s a lot of out-of-date information circulating.  Consider these points first.
1.  Fishermen prefer to catch marlin, swordfish, tuna – high value products.
2.  Sharks take the baits intended for tuna, marlin, on lines many kilometers long.
3.  Sharks, unable to swim, then drown.  Unable to swim, they drown, dead in 95% of cases.
4.  So, what to do with the dead sharks?  Throw them away?  Process them for $2-3 kilo?
5.  Many (or most) countries, by law, now make fishermen bring whole sharks home, fins attached.
6.  Shark meat is processed into fake fish products, crab sticks, fish fingers etc.
7.  Shark fins are just a bonus, (as compared with a large tuna) crazy to wast them.
8.  A new bait is being trialed, a bait that tuna take yet is distasteful to sharks. It’s expensive.
9.  Fishermen see many sharks offshore and sincerely believe there is no detrimental shortage.
10. There is a decline in all other fin fish, world-wide this is accelerating.
11.  Shark diving companies would have you believe all of the above shark info is untrue.
12.  Same applies to self-promoting marine ‘experts’.  Easy to be interviewed speaking ‘doom and gloom’ info.
13.  Bottom line at Taipei Shark Conference 2002 “We (scientists) should speak more often with fishermen to help with our research.

A world decline in fin fish is resulting in small shark becoming acceptable as cheaper substitute species.  Fins must not be removed at sea – a law for several years in most but not all countries.

WildAid organized the International Shark Conference in Taipei which focused on shark fining and brought about changes in fisheries laws.  The published magazine for the conference is now available on line “The End of the Line”.

The picture of a recently fined shark was an error in that a blunt knife has been used and only the dorsal fin removed. Otherwise there is some excellent research material here.