Tag Archives: Pangsama

Take only memories, leave only bubbles

As a diver, you have hopefully been told multiple times in the Divemaster’s briefings not to touch, chase or collect any underwater marine life. But maybe not all Divemasters have explained why this is.

The effects of touching marine life are not always so obvious and a lack of knowledge might pursue those who are curious causing further harm. Touching fish, animals or corals can be as damaging in the long run as intentionally killing or catching them.

Many underwater creatures such as turtles, rays and many species of sharks rely on bio-films (protective slime) to keep away infections. By touching, we can damage this film. Even the different bacteria we have on our hands can ‘eat away’ this protective film and can cause the animal to be more susceptible towards infections, which in the worst case may lead to death.

Corals are equally fragile. The slightest contact can damage the coral polyps’ hard exterior. This leaves the polyps with a reduced immunity which in its turn can lead to the polyp to die off completely. Of course the more polyps are damaged, the bigger the effect on the coral colony.

The damage humans can do as divers and snorkelers alike is very evident. Not only through poor buoyancy control or carelessness by stepping on the reef, but also the sunscreen we wear before going in to the water can damage the reef more than most might know. Sunscreen in particular can damage vast amounts of reef in popular dive or snorkel spots, since the sunscreen will wash off and will do exactly the same to the coral as it would to your skin. The difference is that coral needs sunlight to be able to survive and when covered with sunscreen, no light can get to it.

If you’re not able to get a hold of coral safe sunscreen, the best thing to do is to put sunscreen on one hour before you enter the water. This way most of the sunscreen is soaked into your skin and does not wash off when swimming. Or better yet, prepare for your diving/snorkeling holiday by ordering some coral safe sunscreen beforehand.

As divers and snorkelers, we are able to make a difference. Through our explorations under water, we can raise awareness about the marine environment. We are all fighting to protect our dive and snorkel sites. By telling people what you know after reading this blog post, our impact can continue to be a positive one. Take only memories; leave only bubbles!!!

More information about coral safe sunscreen www.stream2sea.com

A Christmas reef clean up – making a difference

Here at Quo Vadis Dive Resort, we think that being a diver carries more responsibilities than just diving and looking at fish. As soon as you get certified as a diver, you don’t just learn about safe diving practices, but your instructor should also have taught you about the importance of being a responsible diver in regards to the environment.

The surface of the world as we know it right now consists of 71% water, and the oceans hold about 96.5% of all Earth’s water. Rain forests are responsible for roughly one-third of the Earth’s oxygen, but most of the oxygen in the atmosphere is produced by marine plants. The production of oxygen in the ocean is created by plants (phytoplankton, kelp and algal plankton) that live in the ocean. Same as plants on land, the marine plants produce oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis. This process converts carbon dioxide and sunlight into sugars that the organisms use for energy. One specific type of phytoplankton (Prochlorococcus) releases vast amounts of oxygen into the Earth’s atmosphere. It is the most abundant photosynthetic organism on our planet.

Phytoplankton creates the base of the marine food chain. The health of all organisms in the ocean is directly related to the health of phytoplankton.

So how can we help to save our oxygen?

Save the phytoplankton!

How do we do this?

Decrease you impact on pollution by using less energy (go to work via public transportation or your old school bicycle), help protect habitats on land and in the ocean (donate to organizations that can make a difference or volunteer on land or in the ocean by doing clean ups), encourage others to stop over-harvesting ocean wildlife (talk about the negative effects in the ocean of consuming predatory fish and also the consistency of mercury in bigger predatory fish and personal health risks that are related to the consumption of a lot of fish).

Since you see what is going on as a snorkeler or a diver below the surface, you can personally help out by not only telling how amazing the marine life is, but also the changes that you might have seen already over the last few decades. Your pictures and stories can help others care as much as you about the ocean and their habitants, and hopefully through your stories you can educate others about the importance of protecting our oceans. You are a diver, snorkeler, and with it you are the most important ambassadors to help protect our oceans and oxygen.

Want to make a difference soon?

Come and join us on our Christmas reef clean up and by diving against debris we will donate 500 Php of the money you paid for the dive to PROJECT AWARE to help save our oceans. Find us on Facebook or simply e-mail and sign up! See you on the 22^nd of December!

Christmas Reef Clean up - 22qnd of December 2017

Christmas Reef Clean up – 22nd of December 2017

Written by Inge Leys – Quo Vadis Dive Center Manager

What exactly is coral??

Coral reefs are formed by groups of marine invertebrates that live together.

Each individual is known as a polyp. Corals feed by sticking out their tentacles into the water and catching drifting plankton and when they’re inactive, corals protect themselves by withdrawing their tentacles.

Large coral colonies you see are formed over hundreds and even thousands of years as polyp growth rates are extremely slow – up to 1cm per year.

When a polyp dies naturally a new polyp will form over the top. Repeated over many years, this process eventually results in the massive coral formations you will see today. As sea levels rise and fall over geological time the ‘active’ area of the reef changes over time. The white sandy beaches you see around these islands are produced by dead coral broken up over time in to smaller particles of calcium carbonate.

Coral garden – Top Pescador Island

How Does Coral Feed?

Only a fraction of a coral’s food is from what is caught by the tentacles.

Coral’s main food source comes from a symbiotic relationship (mutually beneficial partnership) with photosynthesising algae collectively known as zooxanthellae.

The algae provides a coral with it’s colour. Without any algae, all shallow water coral would be white. The relationship between coral and algae is incredibly efficient, providing the following benefits:

Benefits to coral	Benefits to zooxanthellae
supplied with up to 90% of energy requirements as well as oxygen and aids with waste removal	safe environment to grow
provided with glucose, glycerol and amino acids for production of sugars, fats and most importantly calcium carbonate for reef construction	provided with compounds required for photosynthesis

Written by Henry Collister

Dive Instructor – Quo Vadis Dive resort

Divemaster Training is more fun at Quo Vadis Dive Resort!

You know you like diving. Every holiday you do involves at least a few days of diving if not every day in a new country you visit. As soon as you think about your next diving trip, you feel your eyes light up and you dream away about the things you still have on your marine creature list you haven’t seen yet.

You find yourself asking the Divemasters that take you diving how it is like to be a full time Divemaster working in and around the ocean every day. All of them answer exactly what you want to hear: ‘Best choice I ever made in life, you only live once and you should try and do in life what makes you happy.’

Guiding

If diving makes you happy, this can be your career change. Change your uniform or suit at your current job into a wetsuit. Take people diving and show them the treasures only you know where to find. Help other divers overcome their fear for certain things, and replace it with joy.

In Quo Vadis Dive resort we make your training not only one that you will learn a lot more from than expected from the PADI Divemaster Program, but we also make sure we adapt to your personal needs and see which areas need more work than others. It involves knowledge development lessons and diving workshops that prepare you to become a professional diver. After your training you will be able to look after certified divers, assist on courses and also know more about marine life and how to protect our oceans better in general.

Assisting on courses

The duration of the course is 3-5 weeks depending on your personal needs. We will help you with finding a room to stay for the time you are in training.

To be able to start you will also have to buy a PADI crew Pack for your studies which also includes your certification fee to PADI and the first year of being a PADI Pro member.

Check out the Quo Vadis website and see if you can picture yourself in Moalboal for your Divemaster Training. Also feel free to drop us an e-mail if you have any questions regarding your Divemaster program divecenter@quovadisresort.com

PROJECT AWARE Reef Clean up

On Wednesday the 11^th of October 2017, Quo Vadis Dive Resort organized a Project AWARE reef clean- up consisting of staff and guests alike.

We had 9 guests and 9 members of staff from all over the world joining us: France, Germany, Sweden, Great Britain, USA, Canada, Philippines, Spain, China and Denmark. As if all of us were representing their own country for the reef clean.

Everyone arrived at 8:15am to prepare and listen to the special reef clean briefing, which had to include a few extra things such as carrying extra weight, not dragging the rubbish bag over the reef, extra care to buoyancy and of course don’t take anything that has got life in or on it.

To try and make it more interesting and motivational, we turned the event into a small competition: Prizes were awarded to those who brought back the heaviest bag and the largest object.

On top of this all, for every diver that signed up Quo Vadis pledged to donate 950PHP to Project AWARE. All together we collected 8550PHP (150US $) for the day prior to the clean-up.

Nudibranch the tiny wonder snail

The word “Nudibranch” is derived from the Latin “nudus” meaning naked and “branchial” meaning gills. The gills are located in the centre of the back of a nudibranch, looking like a very pretty flower. In the front of body you can find two club shaped rhinophores that detect odours.

Nudibranchs are favourites among many divers due to their sheer variety of shapes and colours. As well, anyone can spot an enormous school of sardines yet a keen eye is required to spot these tiny creatures, thus creating a welcome challenge to the avid diver!

Where are they found?

There are well over 3,000 species of nudibranchs which can generally be found in the shallows, however, some species have be known to be found at impressive depths of 2,500m.

They can be found in tropical waters and freezing waters alike, such as in the Antarctic. Though why freeze when you can find them in the warm waters here in the Philippines, which is one of the countries with the most diversity of the nudibranchs in the world? If merely reading about them is not enough then you should book your next holiday with Quo Vadis Dive Resort and we will make your dreams happen!

Stay tuned for part two cool facts about nudibranch!

If you can’t wait check out Quo Vadis Dive Resort’s Instagram for more pictures.

Facts about frogfish

Frogfish (Antennariidae) is a part of the anglerfish family (Lophiiformes) and you can find a big variety of 45 different spices. They are found around the coast of Africa, Asia, Australia and North America. Normal habitats are at reefs all the way down to the depth of 100 meters. Even though the increasing habitat destruction and pollution, wild population of frogfish are still large and healthy. The shape, colours and abilities that frogfishes has fascinated since I saw it for the first time.

Frogfish hiding at Quo Vadis Dive Resort Housereeef

Crazy facts about frogfish

The frogfish has a modified dorsal fin that looks like a worm or a shrimp that they use for hunting.
When the fish is close enough the frogfish opens the mouth so fast that it creates a suction and the poor little fish is drawn into the teeth lees mouth in one bite. This is the fastest suction among fishes.
They can swallow preys that is 2 times bigger than the fish itself thanks to the ability to expand their mouth 12 times of its normal size.
The frogfish doesn’t have a swim bladder. Therefore the frog feet’s are mostly just for walking around when they move.
The colour of the body depends on the habitat. Frogfishes can be any colours and in very weird colours combinations. It’s able to quickly change colour to blend into the environment.
They do have a social life with each other. Then the smaller frogfishes risking to become lunch for the bigger ones.
In wild the frogfish can reach an age of 20 years.

The frogfish is one of the reasons divers from all over the world they come to Philippines. At Quo Vadis Dive Resort we can find this little critters at most of our dive sites. They camouflage themselves really good trough choosing spots that is similar as them self. Our dive guides will do everything they can to find this special spots where this ugly & amazing creature hides.

Frogfish at the Sardine Run

Giant Frogfish at Pescadoor island

Blog Quo Vadis Dive Resort Moalboal, Cebu, Philippines

Living and Diving in Paradise