Month of June , 2007

Ernie van Onlangs is in the Netherlands from 27 June to 6 July. He is there for discussions with the editing company and to take the last images needed for the film on colonisation and ballast water. Joanna Bouma will continue working on board the Morgan.

Many animals scare off predators by their intimidating appearance. And so it is with the moray eels. But despite their fierce appearance they are usually harmless to divers. They will not bite divers unless provoked. We went to find the beautifully coloured Tiger Moray, and we found not only this species, but also the more common Dotted Moray Eel.

Coming back from taking Quirky for her long morning walk, both of us looking forward to breakfast, we noticed that someone was already busily tucking into his breakfast. A many armed starfish was greedily hugging and eating a dead Sharpnose puffer fish, right under the pontoon.

How do you dive without getting wet? Well, one way to do so is in a submarine. Here in the marina of San Miguel in Tenerife is a small yellow submarine that takes visitors on an hour’s trip outside the marina to enjoy the marine life. So for the first time we joined a trip. While it was fun, it was also work.

The eighth of June is World Ocean Day. It is a day that gives recognition to the blue planet and the wondrous life within. It is also a day in which we should stop and think about what the oceans give to us human beings. In the first place, the plankton in the ocean provides us with over 60 percent of the air we breathe. The ocean really is the lungs of the earth.

In honour of World Ocean Day on 8 June, a new information centre in Rotterdam Zoo's aquarium, the Oceanium, will be opened. The information centre, called ‘Platform Zeezicht’ (Sea View Platform), is a platform where a number of organisations in the Netherlands can inform the general public about their work in marine conservation,

Much of the Canary Islands is volcanic. This creates amazing landscapes where hardened larva beds are clearly identifiable, and craters dot the horizon. The volcanic topography continues underwater, making each dive distinct. Vegetation does not grow on lava, so the combination of diving over bare lava beds and strange formations makes for a very eerie atmosphere.

We were very pleased when Radio MegaWelle (Mega Wave Radio), a German language radio station here in Tenerife, sent two of its journalists to interview us on board the Morgan. Katja Wolf and Judith Mahro turned up on a warm and sunny afternoon. They were very interested in our work and in marine conservation, so before we knew it two hours had gone by and we had talked about many issues concerning the oceans.