Squeezing Sponges

I can't resist commenting now that we have official opinions about the upcoming impact of the global financial crisis on Sabah's tourism. Yesterday a drop was predicted which seems much more realistic to me. I feel sorry for those who depend on tourism income. Yet I also feel a little bit happier for the denizens of TARP who might just get a little less squeezed by all the attention they have been trying to get used to in recent years.

I've been investing huge amounts of effort reformatting my fish guide mock-up. Undoubtedly no one will now be wanting to invest commercial money in the project in the near future; after all, who would buy it? But as a not-for-profit conservation project a donor might be interested to cover the costs. And if I'm willing to make no profit and still can't get it published then maybe I will post the book in PDF format on-line so people can print their own copies: perhaps on waterproof paper or for laminating if they want to take it under water.

I'm also looking into obtaining photos of previously unseen fish (by me) via other outlets so as to improve the comprehensiveness of the guide. We'll see: they too are likely to be feeling the pinch and may not have much time now to help.

Here's a gorgeous Poripheran (sponge - possibly Family LEUCETTIDAE) which I hope will have a less pressured 2009 (photo taken on 21st July 2006 off Sulug island).

Mind-googling technology

My friend Marc is an Orangutan specialist here in Sabah; he loved this crab when we came across a similar one whilst diving together (Achaeus japonicus commonly known as an Orangutan crab) from the Family MAJIDAE. I took this photo on Bubble coral between Sulug and Manukan islands on 23rd June 2007.

I'm beginning the task of modifying my fish identification on-line, to include an example of every photographed sighting I have logged in the park. It allows me to locate each photo too (if you have Google Earth then a simple button allows you to see the photos dotted around the park to show actual distributions). It also makes it easier for others to double-check and question my identifications (go right ahead) and hopefully will provide a more meaningful legacy for future researchers into the fishes in TARP. Not wanting to pay Google anything, I am limited to 250 'albums' per log-in ID (I have over 370 species with 400+ colour morphs) so I am starting with an ID for 'Sinkers' - fish which tend to sink if not swimming, as opposed to 'Swimmers' (I didn't have the heart to call them 'Floaters') who find it hard to sink except when asleep at night. I've already uploaded material for 9 species, for example Gymnothorax javanicus; go ahead and hit the 'View in Google Earth' button in the bottom right of the screen to see the distribution of my sightings, with the details on any one if clicked. It will also provide a gallery to locate other peoples sightings if they send them to me with or for identification and permission for me to add them.

I'm making changes to the checklist off-line to provide the relevant links too, but this is incremental and I'll only upload it when I next upload substantive changes to it.