MilaBooks.com Newsletter   
  
  The
 Sea-gram
 April, 2013
  
For ocean lovers, divers, and "deep-thinkers."

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 Diving Turtle, Cozumel  

       Diving Hawksbill, Cozumel Mexico, Paul Mila photo�

Welcome to the April Sea-gram,
      the monthly newsletter from MilaBooks.com
  
This month, sea turtles are on the agenda.
  
I was able to take this great headline photo above, a hawksbill turtle diving, by observing their habits when they rise to the surface to breath.
I noticed they like to return to the bottom as fast as possible. I suppose turtles know that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. So if you anticipate their path, you can get a great shot.
  
To see what it looks like when a turtle is diving straight down toward you, check out this short YouTube clip (the sound you hear is a passing boat. Underwater noise pollution!):  
Turtle Diving in Cozumel
Turtle Diving in Cozumel
  
Last month the folks from the annual Beneath The Sea scuba expo in New Jersey granted me a spot at their author's booth.
I was signing my new Caribbean mystery thriller,
Near Miss, when friends Charlene, Lisanne and Yannich stopped by to say "hello."
Paul & Friends at BTS  
 Charlene, Paul, Lisanne, and Yan at the BTS author booth
  
Bonnie and Larry McKenna, who are on a mission to save leatherback sea turtles from extinction, were at the neighboring booth.
 
Larry is the founder of S.O.L.O: 
Save Our Leatherbacks Operation.
Click on their website to learn more about this very worthwhile cause:
  
Larry's work with endangered leatherback sea turtles is featured in this month's
Conservation Corner, below.
   
This month's Story About The  Photo section
features some comic relief, as my friend, Cayman Island dive buddy Frank Kaufman, Gets a Hickey From a Stingray. 
 
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. 
  
 If you know someone who would enjoy reading Sea-gram, perhaps a friend in need of an overdue "dive fix", please forward Sea-gram to your buddy, using the link at the end of the newsletter. 
 
To view past Sea-grams click our ARCHIVE link below:

I hope you enjoy Sea-gram !
Sincerely,
 Paul J. Mila
MilaBooks.com
516-334-6189

The Story Behind The Photo . . . 
     He Got A Hickey From A Stingray!      
                        By Frank Kaufman
Frank took a day off from diving to snorkel with the rays at Cayman's famous Stingray City, when he ran into this amorous critter.
  Stingray Hickey
In Frank's words:
"My daughter Casey took the shot with my SeaLife800 Digital Camera. It was in the afternoon and we were all playing with the Rays. They were all very receptive to the interactions with so many people, and they seemed to enjoy being around all the people in the water.
We stayed about an hour with the rays and got to touch them, feed them, and swim with them. It was a wonderful experience for all.
"This stingray was a lot of fun. I got to kiss it and it also rubbed my back. It was so playful that I was able to hold it in my arms like a cat. It was a wonderful experience which I will never forget!!"
 
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Conservation Corner . . .
     Saving Leatherbacks
Larry McKenna's work takes him to the remote land of Papua, Indonesia, home to the Aboriginal Papauans, and site of the largest leatherback sea turtle nesting beach, about 18 kilometers long and up to 100 meters wide.
  
Larry describes the scene on the beach:
"The only illumination is a reflection of moon light on the white foam of a breaking wave. All is quiet, except the gentle lapping of the surf while we wait for a living dinosaur to exit the sea and laboriously climb the slope of the beach. 
She will locate where she was hatched 12 or more years ago, repeating the 150-million-year drive to reproduce so the species may survive. Left alone, this ancient hatching process would continue unimpeded, but  humans have introduced the specter of extinction of this most valuable creature of the seas."   
Leatherback Eye
The Eye of a Leatherback Turtle During Nesting Trance

When the leatherback selects her nesting spot and begins to dig a four-foot-deep nest, she goes into a trance and does not recognize any activity. Enlightened humans can approach and marvel at the amazing beauty nature provides.

 Leatherback sea turtle 

However, while she is in this egg-laying trance the nesting female is in danger from other humans: those who would slit her throat and use her skin for handbags and fashion items, in addition to senseless killings, egg poaching, and trophy collecting.

Global warming poses another threat, as high tides drown nests and heat cooks the eggs in their shells.

 

Leatherback hatchlings are about four inches long and cannot crawl over a twig. Yet they must face a host of jungle predators at nesting beaches, such as wild pigs dogs, salt water crocodiles, crabs, and pythons.

 Leatherback Hatchling

 Larry's activities include relocating eggs from tidal nests into bamboo pens, and excavating the nests that hatched in the night to examine the remains and determine what happened to unhatched eggs.

 

In almost every nest he finds several comatose hatchlings, which ran out of air climbing upward to freedom.

He places an unconscious hatchling in the palm of a guest's hand and encourage him/her to give it "leatherback CPR" by softly blowing into its face and nose. Soon it begins to wiggle and wants to be set on the sand. All the volunteers have tears in their eyes because they have just given life to a leatherback baby which would have become crab food later in the day.

 

How you can help:

1. Should you wish to experience this truly exciting and memorable visit to the leatherbacks, along with some of the best diving in the world, please contact P.J. Campagna, a very dedicated foundation volunteer, for the details:

 

2. Watch this short youtube video (which includes donation information), placing you right there on the nesting beach, but which also shows some of the ATROCITIES humans inflict on these gentle giants:

LEATHERBACK TURTLES NEED YOUR HELP RIGHT NOW!
LEATHERBACK TURTLES NEED YOUR HELP RIGHT NOW!

The above text, information, and photos are used with permission, from Larry's article: To Touch A Dinosaur.

About MilaBooks.com
www.milabooks.com is your home for exciting dive adventure novels, YouTube videos about ocean creatures, and more.
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Thanks for visiting, and we'll see you next month!
Paul J. Mila 
 Paul in Cozumel
MilaBooks.com
75 Titus Avenue
Carle Place, New York 11514
516-334-6189
 
To forward Sea-gram to a friend, please click the "Forward email" link below.
In This Issue
The Story Behind The Photo: ....He Got A Hickey From A Stingray!...
Conservation Corner: Saving Leatherbacks


Conservation Corner

Featured Article:

Saving Leatherbacks

 

Read about Larry McKenna's crusade to save endangered leatherback turtles from extinction.

Story lower left column.

  


 Quick Links
         
Updates & Miscellaneous Features:
             
Fun & Games Dept.
 What Kind of Shark Are You?
 
Sea-gram fan and free-lance editor Lorraine Fico-White of
 sent in this interactive test to determine your "shark personality."
Take the quiz and see what kind of shark you are:
 
* * * * * * * *
  
Chompy the Shark
  
It's a routine fishing day for this kayaker -- until Chompy shows up. Pretty funny!
  
* * * * * * *
  
Speaking About Sharks

Jamie Pollack, Director of Shark Angels, www.sharkangels.org 
appears in their new video promoting shark conservation.
  
One of the Shark Angels, Julie, strokes a very large tiger shark in the video. 

* * * * * *

  

Whale News 

 

  A Surprise Encounter

  

These divers have no idea what's coming their way!

(Advance to the 3:15 mark in this

4-minute video)

A Surprise Diving Encounter with a Humpback Whale
A Surprise Diving Encounter with a Humpback Whale

  

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Sea Shepherd

Campaign Update

 

 

 

 The Institute of Cetacean Research, the front organization for Japan's illegal whaling program, has released their kill report for 2012/2013.

 Here is the official scorecard from Sea Shepherd's recently concluded Operation Zero Tolerance:

     

Japan wanted 50 Humpbacks. They took none!
Japan wanted 50 Fin whales.

They took none!
Japan wanted 935 Minke whales. They killed 103!


832 Minke whales saved!

 

 

 

50 Humpbacks and 50 Fins not slaughtered!
Congratulations, Sea Shepherd!

 

  

 

* * * * * * *    

  

 

More Whales!

 

 

 

  

 

 

 Several years ago I traveled to the Dominican Republic's humpback whale sanctuary in the Silver Bank with Joan Ocean and friends 

 

  

 

 Paul & Friends in the Silver Bank 

 

  

  

That trip, and the photo I took of this baby humpback, inspired the story behind my anti-whaling novel, Whales' Angels

 

 WHALES' ANGELS Cover      

 

  

Joan Ocean and her friends recently completed another visit with the humpbacks of the Silver Bank this past February, which included an unexpected bonus: whale shark encounters!

   

Click below to see some of photographer Lisa Denning's fantastic images, as she documented all the encounters:

 

   2013 Humpback Whale Visit

 

 

 

  

* * * * * * * *

 BP SPILL IMPACT

  NOT OVER! 

  

 

 Sea-gram reader Jeff Reed sent in this story about the latest troubling findings regarding the impact of the BP oil spill and the methods used to contain and eradicate the oil: 

 

 

     

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www.cozumelisparadise.com

 

  A fun dive site, where you can rent a beachfront condo, view great dive photos, and more!

 

   

 

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GUEST LINKS

  

Scuba Flea Market  
  
   Sea-gram friend and Long Island diver Linda Gotti told us about a local dive-related flea market:
  
Long Island's Largest Flea Market for the Diving Community (This year to include fishing, boating and water sports) Saturday, April 27th, 2013. 
 At the Knights of Columbus 400 South Broadway, Lindenhurst New York 11757 from 8:00 AM to 2:30 PM.
$3.00 admission. 
 Kids under 12  Free!
 
Buy, Sell or Trade your SCUBA gear, dive artifacts, old bottles, fishing tackle, boating gear or any other water sports related things you have.
For more information and table rental, visit our web site: http://www.scubaflea.com/
(Dealers $ Shops Welcome)
 
* * * * * * * * *

Great Cozumel
Information Resource
 
Whether you want to advertise a service, or just find out what's going down on the island, check out Laura Wilkinson's fabulous local newsletter:
  
 * * * * * * * 
  
Available Links!
Post a link to your web site here!
E-mail [email protected]
 for details.
 
 
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