Sunday, October 19, 2008

ANNOUNCEMENT

IN MY OTHER BLOGSPOT, livelife-olavides.blogspot.com, you will find my posts on medical missions, christian school international activities where my daughter is now enrolled, and other posts.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

HAPPY REUNION TO MY CLAN!!!!



Happy Reunion to the Olavides Clan... too bad mga agaws, cancelled my plans to attend, kinda short of budget this time.. maybe next two years, I can have the resources to bundle up all my issues to meet you all.. really meaning to have this chance to know my bloodroots..

Friday, March 28, 2008

problem with uploading pictures

There seems to be a problem with uploading picture in blogspot but not with wordpress. I thought this was because of my slow connection which is still dial-up but when I opened my new wordpress site, lifeliners, olavides.wordpress, I can load pictures easily.. so this past few days, I have been blogging at wordpress, my picture feature blog.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Be Aware Of What Fish You Eat - Part 2



On my March 2 post I warned about the kind of fish we buy in the market... Today, we got this news from ABS-CBN interactive ----



Puffer fish kills 1, downs 10 others

One person died while 10 others were hospitalized after reportedly eating puffer fish in Cebu province, ABS-CBN Regional Network Group reported Monday.

The report said the incident happened around 4 p.m. in Madrilejos town.

According to Mayor Salvador de la Fuente, the victims are from Sitio Romblon in Barangay Malobago.

Puffer fish (also known as Tetraodontidae) is classified as the second most poisonous in the world. Its skin and certain internal organs are highly toxic to humans.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Air Tank in SCUBA Diving





These pictures of SCUBA ( Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus ) tanks I took at Dakak Dive Shop in Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte. There were no diving activities when I went there but I met Mr. Paul Jalosjos, the in-house Dive Master. It was pleasant meeting him and talked about his dive experiences and the dive industry in Philippines which is not so good in this part of the country inspite of the fact that they have one of the best dive spot in the country. He attributed this partly because only foreigners are into this sports and few pinoys are certified divers. This prompted me to research on this.. probably next time.

Well now, for the scuba tank commonly used in recreational dive is made of aluminum and holds 80 cubic feet of air compressed into an area of the tank which is 2 feet high and 6 inches in diameter. Please take note that it is compressed air and not oxygen as many think it is. The compressed air is almost the same as the air we breathe on tierra firma. The standard tank is filled with 2000 to 3000 psi ( pounds per square inch ) of air pressure. The usual dive time I have with 3000 psi is 45 minutes with only 100 psi remaining when I surfaced. Currently, Nitrox, a mixture of nitrogen and oxygen, prolongs bottom time but you take another PADI nitrox course that will teach you the advantages and limitations of Nitrox. As to the double tank, it usually used for extended dive time but is now rarely used, it is too cumbersome.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Be Aware of What Fish You Eat !!! ( Awat ta tits, Butete Kang Daku!!!)








"Awat ta tits !!! Butete kang Daku" , - in English, " You can't fool me, you're a big blowfish"...
A week ago, we went to Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte, for our monthly medical mission in a nearby barangay of Sibutad, and the day after, our group went on a side trip to Dakak Park and Beach Resort and also did some pasalubong hunting in Dapitan
Public Market. My wife bought some dried fish which she said was cheap compared to prices in our city and that it is quiet fresh and meaty. That's the picture above which is around 1 kilo at 100 pesos per kilo. The next day my wife cooked some for breakfast and it really looked delicious with its meaty part and I ate some dipped in spicy vinegar, also my wife took some big portion and loudly proclaiming that it was really good.. But my son took noticed of the fins and rightly blurted out that's a puffer fish!!!!. Well, we stopped eating and hence the picture...I just don't know what species of puffer fish this is considering that there are 120 species of puffer that live mostly in tropical seas.. It is commonly called butete, tikong in Cebu area, is abundant in Philippine seas. They are aptly named because of their defensive action of inflating themselves with water or air when threatened to make difficult for predator to swallow. Their toxin called tetrodotoxin is mostly located in the liver, testes,ovaries and eggs. The Japanese consider this as a delicacy and even have licensing for chef for preparing this.
Symptoms of tetrodotoxin poisoning is said to occur within fifteen minutes to several hours after eating the puffer fish. Feeling like floating, nausea, vomiting and stomach pain is experienced, lips would feel numb or itchy. Now, this dried fish is in the freezer awaiting further research, meantime, I will have to be content with the familiar dried fish sold in our city..the safest is the fish called "bolinao" which is fondly called "lansang", nails in English..By the way, which is safer to eat, a puffer or a nail???

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

SHARK ATTACK ! ! !



I am reprinting this news article from CNN because of my latest blog about Great White Shark.. although the attack does not involve the great white shark, nevertheless, all divers are to take lessons from this incidence.. please take note of the list of sharks that are potentially dangerous to humans!!!





From Susan Candiotti
CNN


MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- The leader of a shark tour whose customer was mauled to death Saturday was warned that his practice of allowing people to swim close to hungry sharks could lead to tragedy, a colleague said.
art.shark.ap.jpg

Shark feeding was banned in Florida in 2001, so dive operators take customers out to Bahamian waters.

Markus Groh -- an Austrian lawyer -- died after being gnawed during a dive led by Jim Abernethy's south Florida company.

Groh, 49, died from loss of blood resulting from the shark attack near the Bahamas, The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office said.

Neal Watson, a president of the Bahamas Diving Association, told CNN he implored Abernethy to stop what Watson considered a dangerous practice: Cageless shark dives specifically targeting dangerous shark species.

"I hate to say I told you so out of respect for the victim's family, but I've always said it wasn't a matter of whether something like this would happen, it was when," he said.

Abernethy did not return phone calls from CNN seeking comment. The shark dives are advertised on the Web site of his company, Jim Abernethy's Scuba Adventures.

"Abernethy has been swimming with sharks almost his entire life, and is a pioneer in diving with tiger and great hammerhead sharks," the site proclaims. "No one can get you closer, or get you the best photographic opportunities!"

In shark-dive excursions, dead fish and fish entrails are used to attract the sharks and bring them close to the divers. Cageless dives put divers and sharks in close proximity, without a metal underwater cage protecting the diver.

Watson told CNN he also offers a cageless shark tourist experience in the Bahamas, but only with less dangerous species: Caribbean reef sharks, blacktip sharks, blacknose sharks, nurse sharks and silky sharks.

Shark feeding was banned in Florida in 2001, so dive operators take customers out to Bahamian waters, Watson said.

Watson said that he had sent a letter to members of the Bahamas Diving Association in July 2007 urging them to stop cageless dives with about 10 dangerous species. He said he wrote the letter to everybody, even though Abernethy is the only dive operator he knows of who does it.

The letter read in part, "We recommend all operations immediately cease and desist conducting open-water, non-cage shark diving experiences with known species of potentially dangerous sharks such as tiger sharks, bull sharks, hammerhead sharks, lemon sharks, and mako sharks. ... Purposeful feeding or interaction with these species without a proper shark cage is highly discouraged."

Watson said the letter was copied to the Bahamas government, which he said has not outlawed the practice.

Abernethy did not respond, Watson said.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Great White Shark!!!






Yes, it is a great white shark, following the man on a kayak.. This picture is from the Africa Geographic, September, 2005 issue... As a scuba diver in the Philippines, one of the first questions they asked me if I have encountered a shark during my dive?..which is also my first question during my PADI certification training to my instructor..His answer was,.. " I have already lost count of my dive logs and the only times I have encountered sharks were during dives where we specifically go to sites where sharks are known to congregate, and great white shark I have not encountered even once."

The great white shark is the most feared and largest of predatory fish in the ocean, it is also called white death and can reach in length up to 20 feet and weigh up to 2 tons..that's big fish indeed..But what is more fearsome is the shark's rows of teeth behind the main ones, it is serrated like sharp saw..This image of a teeth was permanently imprinted in the movie Jaws..

Great white sharks live in almost all coastal and offshore waters which have a water temperature of between 12 and 24 deg centigrade with densest population found in Dyer Island, South Africa and also found in tropical waters the Caribbeans..It is pelagic,open ocean dweller , been observed in depths of 4,000 feet but usually found close to sea surface.

Now, what is the probability, if you dive in the Philippine seas, being attacked by a great white shark? " Many shark conservationists will answer that the chance of being attacked by a shark is exceedingly unlikely, far smaller than winning the lottery." According to Shark Trust, shark population are on a serious decline, down 2 percent of their original level because of over fishing. But writer James Delingpole of the Daily Mail counters, " just because something probably won't happen doesn't mean it won't happen. And it is that possibility, however slim. which will, for many of us, continue to be the stuff of nightmares."

IS THIS YOUR NIGHTMARE??

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Iponan River, Cagayan de Oro City : Muddy




This aerial picture was taken sometime in November, 2007, on a sunny day and for weeks it has not rained in Cagayan de Oro City and Talakag, Bukidnon area. It has been observed by those near the river banks that this situation has been that muddy for many years now. The river is virtually dead and has affected the nearby shores of Barangay Bulua and Bayabas. No swimming or crawling creature can possibly survive in this muck of a river. Contrast that to the picture below and surely one shudders at the thought that this could happen to this site also..That area to the west is where a bible camp is located which stands to be ruined or ruined already. The last time, I dived there with Engr. Derecho, I already noticed a 4-inch deep mud in the vicinity in front of the bible camp and also in the east portion of the river, along the Bulua shore up to the canal drainage of NHA Kauswagan, where once in the late 70s, as a marine biology student we did our plankton survey. Fresh catch of fishes were abundant and the air was as still smog-free then..

It seems that the culprit for this is the activity upstream of Iponan River where gold mining is on-going..Maybe, the local government can do something about this?

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Weather and Water Condition Good For Diving



An ideal picture of a good day to dive...Well, not so good for the past three days here in Northern Mindanao, raining and windy all day Monday, white caps and current strong on Macajalar Bay.. even airline flights were canceled that day. a ruin day if one is about to go diving. You got to cancel and plan for another better day.

A good way to insure for a fun dive is monitoring the weather in the targeted dive area a week in advance. A source for this is the local radio and television stations that gets the forecast and trend from PAGASA weather station, and as the week progresses, get the specific local frontal condition of the area such as current, wind and fog and other local illegal fishing practices which might endanger the diver, such as dynamite fishing which I observed still done in Molugan, El Salvador area while I was snorkeling there.

On the dive day itself and at the dive site determine the environmental condition if there is a possibility that it will change while you are down underwater. Pre-plan a signal from the boatman for any eventuality. The water condition is assess by its A)current, if too strong to make it difficult to hold a position, B) wave action, it is exhausting while on surface, C) water visibility, would be nice to see clearly the wonders God made underwater, and D) wind, it is always cold after a dive. Crystal blue water indicate good visibility and gray or greenish water reduced visibility.

HAVE A FUN DIVE!!!

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

A Tribute To Dr. Tim Sevilla, A Pinoy Diver




Farewell to the Father of modern SCUBA diving in the Philippines...the first Pinoy Diver to receive SSI Platinum Pro Plus Diver Award in 2002. A former PADI Course Director and has trained thousand of divers from all over the world. True to his wishes, his ashes put in a concrete box is buried at the underwater Cathedral sanctuary where a cross he planted with former President Fidel Ramos..

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Buddy System in Scuba Diving



This picture is from the movie Man About Town, which part of the scene depict this cartoon picture which I just grabbed because of the topic of Buddy System in Scuba Diving. This really look nicer than the one which shows the two of them in an aquarium tank.. Their story is not about diving but life in the advertising world, love lost and found, and a side glimpse of old age care..which I will blog in another time.

Now,in scuba diving, the buddy system which is called buddy diving is quite emphasize for its obvious safety reason while still preparing for a dive, into a dive, while underwater and up to the end of the activity. A plan of the dive is shared with the buddy, checking each others gears, monitors each others gauges and review sign languages..All these are taught in the dive certification process which ensures the optimum safety of an individual diver. And yes, in adventure dive, one would not enjoy much scuba diving solo..

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Sea Cucumbers Anyone?




The Sea Cucumber at the Agutayan Island sanctuary...so named because of its cucumber-like shape. It is an echinoderm with elongated body and leathery skin. I think this one delicately raised at Agutayan is a beige-sea-cucumber which is expelling a sticky foam as a defensive action. They eat plankton and decaying organic matter on the sea floor and also sift through the sediments and position themselves in the current to catch food that flows by with their open tentacles. The common name of sea cucumber is "balat" which was once abundant in the seashores of Opol and El Salvador. My wife who hails from Surigao del Norte often tells my sons that "bayat", yes, "bayat" , the surigaonon way of changing the L to Y, is abundantly picked for food which is a delicacy in their province. Some varieties are said to have healing properties and also endowed with aphrodisiac powers. My son Ronald at the Bolinao Marine Research is involved in a research of sea cucumbers and sea urchins of which kind, I do not know, but surely one which would put back a population of sea cucumbers in a sustainable way. As for the dry land kind of cucumber, widely cultivated vine plant of the gourd family which includes the squash. Its fruit is roughly cylindrical, elongated with tapered end. When it is still unripe green form is eaten fresh. Having an enclosed seed and developing from a flower, it is classified as a fruit and in culinary term only it is classified as vegetable.. I guess, no problem there. It is a beauty aid for many!!!

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

I AM OK, ARE YOU OK ? SIGNAL




"I am OK" signal by rexel...Often times we see this hand signal from a diver.. indicating he is okay, or is asking his dive buddy if he is okay. Circle with thumb and index finger, while keeping middle finger straight. a variation of this is forming a large circle with both hands above the head while underwater or one hand forming a circle touching the head while floating as this can be difficult to see the hand ok sign from a distance. In a night dive or cave diving where visibility is difficult, flashlight signal is used by drawing a circle on the ground or to illuminate your hand signal. Another way of signaling, when one diver is connected with a rope with a dive buddy in a low visibility situation, is to pull the rope once to indicate you are okay or ask if he is okay.. two pulls indicates stay put or stationary. This rope signal is also used for the rope tendered to a boatman above.

In my first few dives I got confused with this ok signal with the thumb up sign we usually do in tierra firma.. .the thumb up sign, a gesture of closed fist held with the thumb extended upward, is generally an approval gesture. In china, it is a "you number one " sign or after a meal, it is an approval of a delicious dishes eaten. In basketball, a double thumbs up is a jump-ball!!! In SCUBA diving, thumb up sign is a signal to go up.. So now I know, I dont use the thumb up sign to mean I am ok anymore because the last time I did that, my dive buddy abruptly went up to surface.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Pinoy Diver, Pinay Diver too.



Picture grabbed from Ms. Dindin Fortich Bollozos's Friendster... I believe she is the one diving here with her female student, also, she has a twin sister diver at UP MSI Bolinao Marine Laboratory...As I am featuring here in my blog my dive blogs and my two sons', I will also include pinay divers who are increasingly into this pre-dominantly macho image sports or adventure. In fact, the students now enrolled in Marine Biology courses are increasingly female and the ratio when my 2nd son Ronald graduated was 3 to 3. During my time,only male graduates and we only have stag parties during field trips. Although I did not graduate as a marine biologist, I retained fellowship with many of my marine biology classmates, who were also Crusader Magazines staffers, namely,Dr. Ronaldo Ferraris, based now in New Jersey, Bong Tiro, based in Canada, Nestor Musni, Nestor Abanil.. They were the ones we assisted during their field work along shores of Laguindingan , El Salvador which the school has its marine station before, Opol up to Bulua and Punta Gorda in Jasaan where we always did our skin diving.. we still did not have scuba gears back then, only fr. bolinas used to do scuba with a primitive gear but it looked sophisticated back then. Arnil Emata,younger than me, a PhD consultant with BFAR, Tomas Young, a chinoy cebuano who was the maintenance man for our aquarium in the lab and pond in front of the science building, Alvin Mangubat, now state-side were backliners of the marines during those days, I cannot remember our female classmates if there were any.. Rachel Polistico, also a diver now, I think was political science major back then, I dont know if she second coursed marine bio...Dean Dawang was a top student in chemistry, is also a pinay diver. Almost all the biology teachers at Xavier Universtity now, are divers, and are mostly females, except for Mr. Fra-and Quimpo , who is an Advanced Open Water Diver.
As I have mentioned, increasingly, female divers are on the rise, or I should say, are underwater, expect more of my blogs with pinay divers...I will feature pinay divers more often,. up next will be the pinay diver who discovered a new specie in Israel..I have to ask permission first...

Friday, January 18, 2008

Divers-Down Flag




WARNING!!! Divers down under the sea!!!...It is a must to prominently display this flag in the area where the diving occurs and on the dive boat's highest point which is not obstructed of visibility. This is to warn other vessels in the area to stay clear at least 300 feet away for the safety of the divers which at anytime may surface.

In the Philippines, often times we see this flag printed on t-shirts, hats and stickers on cars and car plates. it might be a dive enthusiast wearing the t-shirt or driving the car, but no diving activity on dry land!!!

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Pinoy Idol, Pinoy Diver?



Pinoy Idol kicks off here at Cagayan de Oro SM mall...Hundreds of Cagayanons flocked at the activity center to register for audition. As of my last picture taken it is already at number 1309, maybe the numbering started at 1000... Well, I got curious today of so many teenagers and twenty-agers at the mall, and many of them attired to the max!!!. The Philippine Idol of GMA diay.. not the ABC version, which run in 2006.. This time, GMA got the franchise from FreemantleMedia of American Idol. Raymond Gutierrez is the host and the format for this will be country-wide, and the next stop is in Batangas on January 24.... As to the question, is Pinoy Idol, a Diver? Maybe, maybe not.. the looks of it, many are not.. definitely, when they become the Pinoy Idol, they will have time and the money to learn to dive.. Heres one definitely a Pinoy Diver GMA 7 has, in the person of Romi Garduce, of Born To Be Wild, Wednesday night program...he has scaled the the highest mountain and maybe he could make a new record in the Philippine Seas!!!

Friday, January 11, 2008

Selecting a Mask for Diving




My second son, Ronald... In selecting a proper mask for diving, a big consideration should be on its proper fit on your face for a good seal.. although divers are trained to put away the water inside the mask underwater, it is time consuming and put a strain to the eyes. In trying out a mask, push the mask firmly onto your face, if it remains there unsupported, then it is a good seal. Also, field of vision and comfort are essential for a fun sight-seeing underwater!!!

Mask fogging is one problem that can be prevented by smearing the inside face of the mask with tooth paste then rinse it in the water. Others do it by smearing it with their own spit. One time during our dive at Duka Bay, our dive guide use papaya leaves to smear the masks and I also tried.. it worked perfectly. I dont worry anymore if I forget to bring tooth paste during a dive, Papaya trees are everywhere in the Philippines.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Agutayan Island Tower, Low Tide




This photo of Agutayan island tower, grabbed from Ms. Piepie Roa, a marine bio senior at Xavier University, is now in ruins after a November 2007 storm hit the island.. nearby is a sanctuary of giant clams and artificial coral reef planted a few years back..Twice I was able to dive there with Ding Cabrera and my second son Ronald who is now with UP MSI Bolinao Marine Laboratory in Pangasinan..

The Local government of Jasaan in charge of the island is making efforts to restore the tower which is needed to ease the maintenance and monitoring of the sanctuary.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Safety Stop For a Fun Dive




Safety Stop is a must for a safe and fun dive... also a time for a pose... too often we see in the movies, especially action movies, divers just jump and in seconds, they are under water, without seeing them do the safety stop for equalization...they must have pop their ears everytime!!! well, it's only in the movies, they are not real.

Congratulations is in order for Dive Instructor Mario Jugador for opening his own dive shop in Cagayan de Oro City... He is the dive instructor of my son, Rexel. one time we went diving in Mantigue Island with my instructor Renoi Abrea on Diving Adventure with a bunch of Manila medical doctors. it was a perfect leisurely 120 feet dive..