After a prolonged illness, Hugh Bradner renowned physicist and inventor of the neoprene wetsuit, sadly died on May 5th, 2008. His career incorporated the design of many ocean technologies as well as the first neoprene wetsuit. Hugh was a faculty member of Scripps Institution of Oceanography and UC San Diego and was one of the first Americans to make a deep water scuba dive. He was an adventurous man and had a passion for the ocean, enjoying sailing and diving. In his spare time he set about to improve the diving equipment for Navy frogmen which included the invention of the neoprene wetsuit, underwater contact lenses, a single-hose regulator and a decompression meter…

“Brad’s neoprene wetsuit was a tremendous contribution to scientific diving,” said James Stewart, professor emeritus at Scripps. “He was a great guy and a lot of fun to work with.” He enjoyed life to the max, an inspiration to us all. His travels took him all over the world, enjoying the ocean’s and passing on his love to his students, family and friends. A truly great teacher who loved to pass on his joy and enthusiasm as he led people to make new discoveries. He was a painter, a jeweller, a photographer as well as a physicist, a true intellectual and an artistic visionary creator.

His wife of 65 years, Marjorie, passed away in April of this year and they will be sadly missed by his daughter, three grandchildren and one great granddaughter. A truly great contributor to the sport of Scuba, serving on the national, state and various university diving safety committee’s. A memorial service for both Hugh and Marjorie will be held at Scripps at a later date and the family request gifts to The Hugh and Marjorie Bradner Endowment at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in memory of this pioneering man with a passion for our oceans.

Source: Science Centric

Renowned marine life guide author Helmut Debelius is searching for underwater photographs of an extremely rare seahorse found in the Red Sea.

Sightings of the seahorse have only been reported twice in the last ten years, at the tip of the Sinai Peninsula and also Hurgahda. The species is as yet unnamed, but is known to live in Dendronephthya soft corals in depths of between 15 to 35m.

Debilus requests the following information:- the exact location the photograph was taken, depth and also the month and year of the sighting,

If you have photographs of the seahorse (as pictured), contact Helmut Debelius by email at ikanuw@aol.com

Work will start on the construction of the new dolphinarium in Dubai’s Creek Park next week.
The dolphinarium, which has attracted cristicism from animal rights groups, should open by the end of October next year, according to project manager Christopher Richardson.

The three dolphins aged 15, 17, and 19 will be moved from Royal Sergrex’s aquarium in the Ukraine to entertain crowds at Dubai’s Creek Park. The eight million dollar Dubai Marine World will also include a fish farm, a coral reef aquarium, a research and therapy centre and a centre called Gatorville. Another dolphinarium is being planned at The Palm Jumeirah in Dubai.

Richardson dismissed the controversy over the plans, saying the dolphins were born in captivity. “These are third generation dolphins who were born in artificial conditions and don’t know what it’s like to be in the wild,”

The dolphins would not be able to survive in the wild, he said, citing dolphins that were set free after being trained by the US and Russian navies. “Dolphins started coming around fishing boats begging for food because they are used to being fed by humans,” he said.

The dolphins will be well looked after, he said, with a full time vet and three trainers. It will cost $40,000 a month to care for each animal, he said. Entry to the indoor facility will cost dhs35, with discounts offered for school children.

“We came up with several pricing schemes to accommodate low income people because every child should see the dolphins,” said Richardson. The announcement of the 1,500-seat stadium in May angered animal rights groups.

“Confinement in captivity of dolphins can alter their behaviour so radically that captives cannot depict a true sense of their species,” said Cathy Williamson, captivity campaigner for the UK based Whales and Dolphin Conservation Society at the time.