Greetings, and hope you are planning to celebrate at least part of the holiday season with a dive trip to some exotic location featuring palm trees.
Residencias Reef, Cozumel Mexico
You never know who or what will turn up underwater, unless you've gone to a specific place where you know certain creatures tend to show up. That's what friend Tim Dalton did recently, traveling to Isla Mujeres, off the coast of Cancun, Mexico, to swim with whale sharks, in our headline photo above.
Whale sharks are this month's Featured Creatures.
Check out the story below, along with more of Tim Dalton's great photos.
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Feel-good vid
eo of the Month
Sea-gram fan Martha Weisberg sent us this video of
Lala, the world's smartest penguin last year.
It's so good we're running it again.
Give yourself a treat and follow along with Lala:
This month's Conservation Corner features the Shark Angels annual auction.
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If you have a photo with an interesting story or would like to share a good dive yarn, let me know at
[email protected]
and I'll be happy to include your story in a future issue.
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I hope you enjoy Sea-gram !
Sincerely,
516-578-1482
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Featured Creature. . .
Whale Sharks
Photos by Tim Dalton
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Whale sharks are found world-wide, in temperate and tropical waters. They are not mammals, like true whales, but fish, in the family of the elasmobranchs, which are cartilaginous fishes. That means they have a skeleton made of cartilage instead of bone. So, you will never find a shark skeleton -- just their teeth.
This classification includes sharks, rays, and skates.
Whale sharks are huge, as the perspective in Tim Dalton's headline photo above illustrates. They typically range from 30 to 40 feet, and weigh from 18 to 20 tons.
Whale sharks lay the largest eggs of any animal on land or in the sea. The largest whale shark egg on record measured 14 inches in diameter. However the young hatch inside the mother and then are born live.
They do not begin producing young until about 25 years of age. It is not known how long they live, but some estimates range up to 100 years.
Despite their large size, they are docile, and will let divers approach, as in Tim's photo below.
Whale sharks are
filter feeders.They open their mouths, let water come in and their bodies filter out food, and release the water and any debris back into the ocean.
Plankton are their main food
source, but they also eat shrimp, algae and other marine plant material, sardines, anchovies, mackerels, squid, tuna and albacore.
They also eat fish eggs, and will wait for hours for fish to spawn on reefs. Then, they will swoop in and eat the eggs, as in Tim's dramatic photo below.
The diver above isn't in any danger, but being this close would make my heart skip a beat!
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Conservation Corner
Shark Angels Auction
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Sharks continue to need our conservation help, and
Shark Angels is an organization dedicated to shark conservation.
Their annual auction runs from November 29th to December 19th.
Items up for bid, include incredible SCUBA diving expeditions around the globe, beautiful artwork, and merchandise.
By bidding on these amazing auction items, you'll fuel critical campaigns and play a vital role in protecting not just a threatened species, but also the oceans. Shark Angels employs grassroots outreach, creative media, and education campaigns aimed at inspiring a global movement to save sharks - and the ecosystems they keep healthy. And it's working.
For over eight years, Shark Angels has been involved in some of the most well-known and highest impact ocean conservation programs around the world.
"We've been thrilled with the support from our donors and are very excited about this auction via a new website," says managing director, Jamie Pollack. "We are guardian angels to sharks - and give a voice to these truly magnificent animals".
Check out their auction details below:
For more information about The Shark Angels, click on their website:
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| About MilaBooks.com |
www.milabooks.com
is your home for exciting dive adventure novels
and YouTube videos featuring various ocean creatures.
My new children's book, Harry Hawksbill Helps His Friends, from Best Publishing Company, is now available.
Click on the book cover for ordering information:
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| Click the reading dolphin and swim into our website |
Thanks for visiting, and we'll see you next month!
MilaBooks.com
75 Titus Avenue
Carle Place, New York 11514
516-578-1482
To forward Sea-gram to a friend, please click the "Forward email" link below.
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| Featured Creature: Whale Sharks
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Updates & Miscellaneous Features
Milestones
Diver Gary Gamola hit dive #1000 this past month, diving with wife/dive buddy Patricia,
in Cozumel.
Details of Gary's 1000th dive:
Dive site - Columbia. Max Depth 95ft., 71 minutes. Operation - Blue XT~Sea Divers.
Dive master Pedro Pablo.
Other dive buddies: friends and neighbors at El Cantil, Dave Ahrendsen and Marci Pottern.
After his dive Gary gets ready to share a well-deserved 1000 Dives celebration cake:
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Holiday Book Gifts For Your Favorite Scuba Diver, from
Best Publishing Company
Click the link below for some great gift ideas:
 Grandson Max is really enjoying Harry Hawksbill. Click on the photo for ordering information.
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For Fresh Water Fans!
Nancy Washburne, fresh-water diver and photographer, shares her latest underwater video, featuring more images of Freshwater Discovery in Michigan
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Sea Shepherd Updates
The Sea Shepherds are always up to something interesting. Click here for details on their latest conservation initiatives:
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Great Newsletter !
If you don't subscribe to
Ben Davison's
Undercurrent Magazine,
you should. It is Informative and full of good tips on travel, dive equipment and more
Check it out:
* * * * * * * * * Visit Paradise
Check out my Cozumel Mexico beachfront condo on VRBO:
Condo Details
Here is the view from the condo:
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Morning at the Residencias Reef Beachfront Condo
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Fulvio and Sandra manage my
Little Slice of Paradise.
For other properties that Fulvio manages visit his web site:
New York Diving
Scuba Network of Long Island
Sales, Service, Basic and Advanced Dive Instruction
Local Diving & Exotic Dive Trips
For the best scuba experience in the New York area, contact
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For the best in Cozumel diving,
check out dive operator Alison Dennis:
Looking for your own Slice of Paradise ?
Contact Nancy Edwards at Cozumel Living:
or
Jaime Ramirez, at:
Post a link to your web site on Sea-gram!
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