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Photographers of all backgrounds and at all skill levels, from amateur to professional, can enter to win a Grand Prize package that includes US$500 cash as well as many marine conservation related gifts.Four other prizes packages will be available: three for honorable mentions and a “Biodiversity Award” for the submission that best highlights the need for biodiversity.

Scientists and conservationists are especially concerned about recent failures of legislators to protect marine species. During the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species meeting in March, short-term economic interests won out over scientific evidence that many marine species are in need of further protection, including endangered hammerhead sharks, oceanic whitetip sharks, red coral and bluefin tuna.

The organizers would also encourage participants to visit ARKive’s ”Most Wanted” list to find out how you can help them catalog photographs of the more than 17,000 species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Marine Photobank will work with ARKive to find and share contest submissions that would help them meet their ambitious goal, to raise awareness of species conservation through imagery. 

Deadline for photo submissions is August 31st, 2010.

To read more and enrol: 
http://wetpixel.com/i.php/full/call-for-entries-for-oceans-in-focus-competition/

The Red Sea oil spill update
The community of the Red Sea has once again stood up to protect their environment, livelihood and health. The valiant efforts of fishermen, dive operators, hotels and the local government to control the spill must be commended. The governorate has committed all its resources in manual cleanups at nearly all affected beaches in cooperation with the local community. The cleanup efforts over the past five days have been outstanding, over 90% of the impacted beaches on the mainland have been entirely cleaned, and work is still ongoing. Dive operators have expressed their relief that there is no apparent damage 
to any dive sites; and that business is back to normal.

The Northern Islands protected area is the most heavily impacted region. These islands are one of the few pristine areas in the northern Egyptian Red Sea, and are of high ecological value as they host a number of key habitats, including mangroves, sea grass beds, protected bird nesting grounds, turtle nesting grounds and an extensive reef system.

The spill was from an oil rig approximately fifty nautical miles north of Hurghada that began to leak on Wednesday the 16th of June; the leak has been sealed.

We must continue to push as a community for the protection of our natural environment and protect our ecosystem.

Source: Hepca

To read more: http://www.oceanicworldwide.com/p_computers_geo20.html

To read more: http://www.theoceanproject.org/action/consumption.php

USA
Price: 65 US$
Month of trip July 
Precise date of beginning July 07, 2010 
Precise date of ending December 12, 2010 
Nbr. of available places 15 
We do daily dive charter trips to 25 miles of the best reefs in Boynton Beach 
FLA. 2-tank dives. Group rates available. Air/Nitrox/Equipment available. 
http://www.gooddive.com/board/classifieds.php?a=2&b=448

Maldives
Price 2'500US$
Precise date of beginning February 18, 2010 
Precise date of ending December 10, 2010 
Nbr. of available places 16 
We are currently offering valuable diving options, from chartered cruises to stays on exclusive islands. Contact us at: 
info@unwindmaldives.com.mv for more details and reservations.
http://www.gooddive.com/board/classifieds.php?a=2&b=429

Central Florida, Daytona Beach
Price: 195 US$ per person
Get PADI certified with our team. We include everything in this price you need 
with only two exceptions: 1. You provide your own personal mask, fin and snorkel and 2. Since we dive in the springs which are Florida state parks there is a fee of $10.75 per visit to the parks that you pay. Everything else is included per person for only $195.00 The class time is a total of 24 actual hours which are usually done in 4, 6 hour sessions. We often use the beautiful Florida Springs to do our classes in crystal clear water and safe settings comfortably warm at a year round 72 degrees. Once your PADI open water certified you can dive anywhere in the world for the rest of your life, you can rent tanks and gear at any PADI shop world wide. 
http://www.gooddive.com/board/classifieds.php?a=2&b=428

Check the board http://www.gooddive.com/board/classifieds.php regularly for new great deals.
If you have a great offer don't hesitate to post it. This service is free!!

Objective
The Coral Rehabilitation Workshop is a rewarding and beneficial program designed to teach students about coral rehabilitaion. At the same time students are being groomed as responsible role models to help promote conservation and further education. 

Coral Nursery
In April 2006 the Phuket Marine Biology Center, supported by The Adventure Club installed an underwater floating coral nursery.

The concept of the nursery came from researchers from the National Institute of Oceanography in Israel who participated in a cooperative research project with the PMBC and researchers from 4 other countries, UK, Italy, Singapore and Philippines, under the programme “Developing ubiquitous practices for restoration of Indo-Pacific reefs”, REEFRES, supported by European Commission

Artificial Reef
100 concrete blocks were provided by the DMCR in July 2006 to create a new artificial reef.

The Adventure Club and volunteers of the Phi Phi Dive Camp have assembled the blocks into 3 large pyramids, in the hope of creating a new interesting scuba dive site.

To read more: http://www.phiphidivecamp.com/

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