Pictures courtesy of Pirate Divers
LAHAD DATU: The “newly discovered” blue holes off Silam waters here was found and mapped two years earlier by a local tour operator from here.
Pirate Divers operator Glen Hapirulla said two years ago, his team had explored the site which they called it as blue rings reefs instead of blue holes as reported.
It was reported that on Feb 14, a team of researchers had discovered the dive sites and described them as the only known “blue holes” in Malaysia which poised to be a world tourism spot.
Glen added that during the scientific expedition in February, Sabah Parks had invited him for the exploration but he was not around that time.
The report raised concerns among divers who are familiar with Pirate Divers’ constant work in exploring new dive sites at the waters and actively promote Lahad Datu as tourism destination.
The local-born dive instructor, who had discovered 55 dive sites at Silam waters since 2009, described the blue rings reef does not fulfill the criteria as “blue holes”.
Blue holes are roughly circular, steep-walled depressions, and so named for the dramatic contrast between the dark blue, deep waters of their depths and the lighter blue of the shallows around them.
“(The blue holes) are not connected. Each is a different large hole,” he said.
Since the discovery of the Blue Ring reefs, the operator has been bringing divers to the area, which he divided into three dive sites- Blue Ring Reef Hole 1, Blue Ring Reef Hole 2 and Outer Ring of Blue Ring Reef.
Explorative video of the blue rings reef in 2017 can be watched at https://www.facebook.com/kent.chen.54966/videos/10154884260107237/.
LAHAD DATU: The “newly discovered” blue holes off Silam waters here was found and mapped two years earlier by a local tour operator from here.
Pirate Divers operator Glen Hapirulla said two years ago, his team had explored the site which they called it as blue rings reefs instead of blue holes as reported.
It was reported that on Feb 14, a team of researchers had discovered the dive sites and described them as the only known “blue holes” in Malaysia which poised to be a world tourism spot.
Glen added that during the scientific expedition in February, Sabah Parks had invited him for the exploration but he was not around that time.
The report raised concerns among divers who are familiar with Pirate Divers’ constant work in exploring new dive sites at the waters and actively promote Lahad Datu as tourism destination.
The local-born dive instructor, who had discovered 55 dive sites at Silam waters since 2009, described the blue rings reef does not fulfill the criteria as “blue holes”.
Blue holes are roughly circular, steep-walled depressions, and so named for the dramatic contrast between the dark blue, deep waters of their depths and the lighter blue of the shallows around them.
“(The blue holes) are not connected. Each is a different large hole,” he said.
Since the discovery of the Blue Ring reefs, the operator has been bringing divers to the area, which he divided into three dive sites- Blue Ring Reef Hole 1, Blue Ring Reef Hole 2 and Outer Ring of Blue Ring Reef.
Explorative video of the blue rings reef in 2017 can be watched at https://www.facebook.com/kent.chen.54966/videos/10154884260107237/.
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