Atlantis diver Nathaniel Alapide feeds squid to a Cownose Ray in The Lost Chambers aquarium at the Atlantis hotel in Dubai, August 2, 2011. (Jeff Topping/The National)
Atlantis diver Nathaniel Alapide feeds squid to a Cownose Ray in The Lost Chambers aquarium at the Atlantis hotel in Dubai, August 2, 2011. (Jeff Topping/The National)
Atlantis diver Nathaniel Alapide feeds squid to a Cownose Ray in The Lost Chambers aquarium at the Atlantis hotel in Dubai, August 2, 2011. (Jeff Topping/The National)
Atlantis diver Nathaniel Alapide feeds squid to a Cownose Ray in The Lost Chambers aquarium at the Atlantis hotel in Dubai, August 2, 2011. (Jeff Topping/The National)

Atlantis guests can now swim with fish and other marine animals


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DUBAI // It takes a special kind of holidaymaker to willingly jump into a huge tank with 65,000 species of sharks, rays and fish - and pay for the experience.

Visitors to Atlantis The Palm who sign up for the Ultimate Dive will do just that in the hotel's 11.2 million litre aquarium - the largest in the region and among the top five in the world.

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After divers enter the water, hundreds of fish and a number of curious rays begin circling below, which for the novice is a little perturbing.

But Nathaniel Alapide, 33, and Alan Aguilar, 32, aquarium specialists and assistant diving instructors at the hotel, are quick to explain the behaviour is harmless.

"The bigger animals are going to come and check you out because they're used to being fed by the divers," Mr Aguilar says. "They will come to see what you have to feed them. There is nothing to be worried about."

Video: Diving into The Lost Chambers

The National's reporter, Essam Al Ghalib, dives into The Lost Chambers in Atlantis to feed it's inhabitants.

Once on the bottom, while visitors on the other side of the glass wave and take photos, Mr Alapide opens a container of shrimp - and the feeding frenzy begins.

Hundreds of fish circle around, showing cupboard love for their new friends by rubbing against them. The rays come in and gently nudge, looking for a treat.

Steve Kaiser, the vice president of marine science and engineering at the hotel, says feeding the fish is a precise science.

"We feed them about 350kg of food a day, with the majority going into the Ambassador Lagoon," says Mr Kaiser. "Probably one of the greatest challenges is to present a balanced diet, as obesity is a major concern.

"We need to feed enough so the smaller animals do not become prey, but not so much that our larger animals become obese. So we concentrate on high-protein, low-fat foods such as squid and shrimp, and a lot of lettuce and garlic."

The Ultimate Dive is actually two dives, and costs Dh2,500.

"Each dive lasts for approximately 30 minutes," Mr Kaiser says. "The first serves as a familiarisation dive, exploring the lost city of Atlantis and its ruins, and thousands of marine species native to the Gulf.

"The guests will then have the opportunity to take some refreshments, and will be given a … briefing in preparation for the second dive."

On that dive, guests can interact with and feed the fish.

"Our experience is unique, where the dive will be in the largest open-air marine habitat in the region," says Mr Kaiser.

The first dive is followed by a traditional Arabic-style platter of fresh fruits, tea and coffee, and after the second dive, hot and cold mezze and mixed grill are served in an outdoor majlis next to the lagoon.

Hotel officials say the aquarium was designed to entertain and educate guests about the environment and marine conservation.

"Our mission, our goal, is simply to wow our guests," Mr Kaiser says. "Once that happens, we can engage them in a conversation about conservation and education.

"Simply put, the 'wow' opens their mind and allows us to fill it with good stuff."

See a video of the dive experience at thenational.ae

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Super Bowl LIII schedule

What Super Bowl LIII

Who is playing New England Patriots v Los Angeles Rams

Where Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, United States

When Sunday (start time is 3.30am on Monday UAE time)

 

Stage result

1. Pascal Ackermann (GER) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 3:29.09

2. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto-Soudal

3. Rudy Barbier (FRA) Israel Start-Up Nation

4. Dylan Groenewegen (NED) Jumbo-Visma

5. Luka Mezgec (SLO) Mitchelton-Scott

6. Alberto Dainese (ITA) Sunweb

7. Jakub Mareczko (ITA) CCC

8. Max Walscheid (GER) NTT

9. José Rojas (ESP) Movistar

10. Andrea Vendrame (ITA) Ag2r La Mondiale, all at same time

How to get there

Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
 

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Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
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'Young girls thinking of big ideas'

Words come easy for aspiring writer Afra Al Muhairb. The business side of books, on the other hand, is entirely foreign to the 16-year-old Emirati. So, she followed her father’s advice and enroled in the Abu Dhabi Education Council’s summer entrepreneurship course at Abu Dhabi University hoping to pick up a few new skills.

“Most of us have this dream of opening a business,” said Afra, referring to her peers are “young girls thinking of big ideas.”

In the three-week class, pupils are challenged to come up with a business and develop an operational and marketing plan to support their idea. But, the learning goes far beyond sales and branding, said teacher Sonia Elhaj.

“It’s not only about starting up a business, it’s all the meta skills that goes with it -- building self confidence, communication,” said Ms Elhaj. “It’s a way to coach them and to harness ideas and to allow them to be creative. They are really hungry to do this and be heard. They are so happy to be actually doing something, to be engaged in creating something new, not only sitting and listening and getting new information and new knowledge. Now they are applying that knowledge.”

Afra’s team decided to focus their business idea on a restaurant modelled after the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Each level would have a different international cuisine and all the meat would be halal. The pupils thought of this after discussing a common problem they face when travelling abroad.

“Sometimes we find the struggle of finding halal food, so we just eat fish and cheese, so it’s hard for us to spend 20 days with fish and cheese,” said Afra. “So we made this tower so every person who comes – from Africa, from America – they will find the right food to eat.”

rpennington@thenational.ae

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
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  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
ICC Awards for 2021

MEN

Cricketer of the Year – Shaheen Afridi (Pakistan)

T20 Cricketer of the Year – Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan)

ODI Cricketer of the Year – Babar Azam (Pakistan)

Test Cricketer of the Year – Joe Root (England)

WOMEN

Cricketer of the Year – Smriti Mandhana (India)

ODI Cricketer of the Year – Lizelle Lee (South Africa)

T20 Cricketer of the Year – Tammy Beaumont (England)

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Hobby: Running and watching Welsh rugby

Travel destination: Cyprus in the summer

Life goals: To be an aspirational and passionate University educator, enjoy life, be healthy and be the best dad possible.

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SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities

Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails

Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies

Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments

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THE SPECS

Engine: Four-cylinder 2.5-litre

Transmission: Seven-speed auto

Power: 165hp

Torque: 241Nm

Price: Dh99,900 to Dh134,000

On sale: now

Labour dispute

The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


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Manchester United 1 (Rashford 36')

Liverpool 1 (Lallana 84')

Man of the match: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)

What are the main cyber security threats?

Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.

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Winner Final Song, Christophe Soumillon (jockey), Saeed bin Suroor (trainer).

7.05pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (Turf) 1,000m

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8.50pm Dubai Stakes Group 3 (TB) $200,000 (D) 1,200m

Winner Gladiator King, Mickael Barzalona, Satish Seemar.

9.25pm Dubai Racing Club Classic Listed Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 2,410m

Winner Universal Order, Richard Mullen, David Simcock.

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Engine: 51.5kW electric motor

Range: 400km

Power: 134bhp

Torque: 175Nm

Price: From Dh98,800

Available: Now

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4. Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 5,705
5. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 5,025
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13. Kei Nishikori (JPN) 2,180 (-2)
14. Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 2,125 ( 1)
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17. Karen Khachanov (RUS) 1,840 (-9)
18. Alex De Minaur (AUS) 1,775
19. John Isner (USA) 1,770 (-2)
20. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 1,747 ( 7)

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Starring: Dennis Quaid, Michael Ealy, Meagan Good

One star

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Cast: Boumi Fouad , Mohamed Tharout and Hisham Ismael
Rating: 3/5

The specs: 2018 Maserati GranTurismo/GranCabrio

Price, base Dh485,000 (GranTurismo) and Dh575,000 (GranCabrio)

Engine 4.7L V8

Transmission Six-speed automatic

Power 460hp @ 7,000rpm

Torque 520Nm @ 4,750rpm

Fuel economy, combined 14.3L (GranTurismo) and 14.5L (GranCabrio) / 100km