Asia Pacific Dive and Marine Ecology
News and Articles

Puerto Galera Part II: More Sabang for the buck
ADS Feature: One year on, the lure to return to Mindoro Island in the Philippines to sample its sub-aqua delights had been too strong to resist. (June 8, 09)

Indonesia unveils massive marine park
Indonesia has opened Southeast Asia's largest marine park in the Savu Sea, a migration route for almost half the world's whale species and home to vast tracts of rare coral. (May 25, 09)

Illegal fishing destroys coral reefs in Bali
Illegal fishing has badly damaged the marine ecosystem off Menjangan Island in Buleleng regency, 100 kilometers northwest of Denpasar, Bali. (Apr 24, 09)

Seven missing after Similan dive boat sinks in storm
Hope was fading for the rescue of seven persons missing in the Andaman Sea Monday nearly one day after a tourist boat ferrying about 30 Thai and foreigners from the Similan Islands to Phuket capsized and sank during a heavy storm during the night. (Mar 10, 09)

Sipadan nominated for 7 wonders of nature
Pulau Sipadan, touted as one of the world's diving havens, is vying to be on the Internet list of seven wonders of nature in the world. (Feb 17, 09)

Philippines eyes to become "dive capital" of Asia
Local officials were urged on Saturday to help in the efforts by the national government to make the Philippines into a "dive capital" of the Asian region. (Feb 5, 09)

ADEX comes to Singapore, 3-5 April 2009
Asia Dive Expo (ADEX), Asia's largest and longest running dive exhibition, will be held from 3-5 April 2009 at Suntec Singapore. (Jan 6, 09)

Sipadan to be run by Sabah
Winds of change are blowing over Pulau Sipadan with the imminent handover of the island to the state government. The National Security Council in the Prime Minister's Department is now in the final process of handing over the administration of the world-famous diving spot. (Jan 6, 09)

DEM Asia Pacific comes to Taiwan, 20-22 March 2009
More than 10,000 visitors and over 200 dive operators and manufacturers from major Asia Pacific countries gather together in Taipei, Taiwan to cerebrate this event, the regions largest dive equipment and marketing action fair. (Dec 22, 08)

Artifical reefs to lure divers to Thai islands
After successfully growing coral in PVC pipes around Koh Samet , Thailand, national park officials have begun growing coral in three other areas in an attempt to persuade diving tourists to make Rayong their chosen destination. (Dec 11, 08)

One man coral replanting success for Sumatra
A one-man coral replanting project has proved remarkably successful in helping a coral reef devastated by the tsunami in 2004 to recover. (Nov 07, 08)

New coral reef discovered in the Seychelles
Researchers from the Department of Biological Sciences have discovered a previously unknown coral reef in the Seychelles. (Oct 28, 08)

45 poachers arrested on Tubbataha reefs
Rangers guarding the Tubbataha National Marine Park arrested 45 suspected poachers from Cebu after they tried to bribe the guards deployed in the park in exchange for allowing them to illegally collect a threatened species of shell. (Oct 23, 08)

Giant clams 'secure for another generation' after Philippine re-seeding
Re-seeding programmes on over 50 reefs are securing the survival of the giant clam for at least another generation, according to WWF-Philippines. (July 7, 08)

Malaysia International Dive Expo 2008
Visit The Malaysia International Dive Expo 2008 (MIDE) which is back for bigger and better this time and will be staged Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC), Kuala Lumpur from 4 to 6 July 2008. (June 16, 08)

Indonesian fishermen blamed for whaleshark losses
Scientists fear Indonesian fishermen hunting whale sharks are responsible for a 40 per cent drop in numbers along Australia's Ningaloo Reef in the past 10 years. (June 3, 08)

Wave of predatory starfish decimate Palawan’s reefs
An enormous wave of coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish is wreaking havoc on Palawan’s Green Island Bay, famed for harbouring one of the country’s few remaining populations of Dugong. (May 21, 08)

Sampling Sabang’s sub-aqua scenery
About a two-hour drive and an hour’s boat ride south of the balmy, bustling streets of Manila loom the cloud-covered hills of Mindoro Island, its shoreline and some of the best diving in the Philippines. (May 13, 08)

Whale shark watching in the Mergui Archipelago
Divers exploring Burma's largely uncharted waters are left as gape-mouthed as the mammoth whale sharks they encounter. There is indeed peace to be found in troubled Burma, and it's yours for the plucking in an undersea garden. (May 6, 08)

Sea Turtles almost gone from Thailand's Andaman coast
According to the Marine and Coastal Resources Development and Research Center, statistics showed the number of sea turtles coming to Thailand’s Andaman shores to lay their eggs has dropped dramatically. (May 6, 08)

Philippine Danajon Bank reefs targeted for conservation
Danajon Bank, a very rare geological formation because it comprises two sets of large coral reefs that formed offshore on a submarine ridge, has been targeted for conservation and fish harvesting. (May 5, 08)

Malaysian tourism board targets Hong Kong divers
Tourism Malaysia has targeted Hong Kong’s scuba diving enthusiasts with a campaign promoting the country’s scuba diving attributes. (May 5, 08)

PADI announces 2008 Asia Pacific Member Awards
PADI, (The Professional Association of Diving Instructors) Asia Pacific has announced the finalists of the PADI Asia Pacific Member Awards for 2008. (Apr 7, 08)

Divers help reduce starfish threat to Philippine coral reefs
Coral reefs off this town have been spared, albeit temporarily, from yet another ecological threat by the predatory Crown of Thorns starfish (COTs), thanks to clean-up operations by a group of divers. (Mar 6, 08)

Thailand's reefs to get protection from starfish and tourists
Programs will be established in Thailand's southern and eastern provinces this year to promote public awareness of the need to protect the region's amazing coral reef ecosystems. (Jan 22, 08)

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[ Asia Dive News Archive 2005 ]