Photo Corner/Blue-ringed octopus

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Look at these amazing photos that Sue Goodman got of a Blue-ringed octopus in Manila Channel recently.  Did you know that the mating ritual for the blue-ringed octopus begins when a male approaches a female and begins to caress her with his modified arm, the hectocotylus. A male mates with a female by grabbing her, which sometimes completely obscures the female’s vision, then transferring sperm packets by inserting his hectocotylus into her mantle cavity repeatedly. Mating continues until the female has had enough, and in at least one species the female has to remove the over-enthusiastic male by force. Males will attempt copulation with members of their own species regardless of sex or size, but interactions between males are most often shorter in duration and end with the mounting octopus withdrawing the hectocotylus without packet insertion or struggle. Blue-ringed octopus females lay only one clutch of about 50 eggs in their lifetimes towards the end of autumn. Eggs are laid then incubated underneath the female’s arms for about six months, and during this process she does not eat. After the eggs hatch, the female dies, and the new offspring will reach maturity and be able to mate by the next year. To read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-ringed_octopus

Diver training in the Philippines

Learning with Asia Divers….fun, safe and thorough!

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Congratulations Wenchao Zhu for getting your PADI Open Water in Puerto Galera with Asia Divers! He had Pete plus instructor intern Chen to guide him though the course.

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Yao Zhang and Wei Li became PADI Advanced divers this week and got to put their skills to use in some strong currents. Nothing like a good drift and feeling comfortable to build up your confidence!

Photos of the week

Here are a few photos taken by Sergey Kazantsev this past week. Don’t you love the natural lighting?! It’s really amazing what’s here in Puerto Galera. Every day you can see something special. Asia Divers has four scheduled divers per day, plus a night dive so you have lots of opportunities to take some wonderful photos and bring home some amazing memories from the Philippines.aug16c7 aug16c8

Crocodile Club at Asia Divers

It’s been a great time diving with our friends from Russia:  Oksana Golubeva, Sergey Grigoryev, Svetlana Grigoryeva, Vasily Kuravkin, Yulia Kharchenko, Irina Shutoba and missing from this

Sergey Kazantsev. They have made the most out of their time here enjoying the PG diving and waiting for sun-tanning times!aug16c1

SeaLifeBase

aug16b10This blog is about interesting sea life that has been sent to us by SeaLifeBase. The one is about “Ocean Giants: Giant Squid”.

Last time we talked about the Kraken, that it’s a squid-like sea monster and that its identity can be either of the two known largest extant squids. First was the heaviest, the colossal squid Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni. The second is the longest, the giant squid Architeuthis dux with a cosmopolitan distribution. To read more, please see: http://sealifebaseproject.blogspot.com/2015/05/ocean-giants-giant-squid.html
You can become a SeaLifeBase collaborator. WHAT is a “SeaLifeBase collaborator,” and WHO can be one? In a nutshell, SeaLifeBase collaborators are the people who help us by: a) sending or alerting us to references and photos, which we have not yet used; b) assembling data from published sources using a preformatted template; and/or c) verifying or correcting data that we have extracted and incorporated into the information system.  Some of them are — but not limited to — biologists, taxonomists, scientists, and other experts.  Some are aquarists, photographers, businessmen, and marine-life enthusiasts.  Truly, we welcome contributions from anybody who has a passion for marine life.

Cover photo for the “Monday News” August 2016

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This month’s cover photo is by Beth Watson. Photography and scuba diving are Beth’s passions. Adoring the ocean and everything it has to offer, she focuses on capturing images that are unique, creative and thought-provoking. Through her imagery she strives to illustrate the beauty and wonders of the sea, hoping it will inspire others to conserve and preserve our ocean environment. Fascinated by it all, she enjoys the challenges of photographing wide-angle reefs and wrecks, as well as the tiniest animals in the sea. Beth is a international multi-award winning photographer who has done some of her best work here in Puerto Galera.  Her images have been published in books, magazines, newspapers, brochures, websites and have been selected for juried art exhibitions. Visit www.bethwatsonimages.com for additional information. If you would like to subscribe to our weekly newsletter to keep up to date on everything going on at Asia Divers/El Galleon please email us at instructors@asiadivers.com

Instructor Development with Asia Divers in Puerto Galera

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Cheng Wang is back with us in Small Lalaguna and a busy little bee she has been! Completing 4 more PADI Instructor specialty courses and taking part in her Instructor Internship where she has already gained 8 certifications. The instructor Internship is included for all our instructor candidates and is a great way to get some teaching experience while under the supervision of the more seasoned Asia Divers Team. It’s also a great way to gain a few certification credits so you can start to climb the ladder towards the dizzy heights of PADI Staff Instructor.