Undercurrent Online Update
for Subscribers

For Subscriber David Denson Whiteside (with username 'dwhitesi' exp: 2024-08-20', at dwhite95815@hotmail.com )
January 25, 2012

The 2013 Travelin' Divers Chapbook print edition has just arrived from the presses, and it's impressive in its size (700 pages) and quality of information. (It's unedited; the content is as our readers delivered it). Our subscribers can order it for a discounted rate of $17.36 (PLUS shipping and handling), the price for nonsubscribers is $19.95. We sent you information in December explaining that you can download the Chapbook for free on our website, or have it e-mailed to you, choosing the format of your choice (all the details or just the highlights) and sized to fit your printer -- you can still do that. But, some folks prefer a hard copy, so all the details for ordering it in print or online are here

Buy a $100 raffle ticket to win the dive trip of a lifetime. Sea Turtle Restoration Project (STRP) is hosting a Cocos trip aboard the Undersea Hunter's 14-passenger Argo April 11-21. You'll get the opportunity to help tag sea turtles and shark so STRP can track their migration patterns. The normal cost of the trip is $6,040. The raffle ticket drawing date is February 1, and every ticket includes a free STRP membership. Get the details at www.seaturtles.org/article.php?id=1108

If you don't have the time or money for STRP's Cocos trip, you can still help the organization out as it tries to put a stop to turtle farming. STRP has a petition to close down the Cayman Turtle Farm, which recently made news for the unsuitable conditions its captive green sea turtles live in, and change the farm into a turtle rehab and education center. If you want to join STRP's campaign, sign its petition here

Easy diving down in Baja California and up in British Columbia . . . one diver's tale about being stranded 12 miles from shore and how he made it back . . . why the sister of a dead diver can't sue a dive equipment manufacturer, even though its gear was found defective . . . can scuba diving really burn 400 calories per hour? . . the link between women, age and DCS . . . Ben's reviews of DEMA's big dive convention . . . yet another recall of dive hoses . . . must-have dive apps for your iGadget . . . and much more.

Thanks again to all of you who sent in your stories about diving after major medical procedures. They were all useful, and we included a bunch of them in this month's article "Post-Op Diving." Now we want to know what sort of odd injuries might happen on dive boats -- the types of injuries that aren't covered by DAN. If one of those happened to you, did you get a bill? Did you have supplemental medical insurance or not? Ultimately, how was the issue resolved? Send your stores to me at EditorBenD@undercurrent.org

A recent article from the Daily Beast discusses how funding for underwater laboratories and piloted exploration has been severely cut, and it may now all be left to robots. Read this interesting, detailed story about the history of ocean exploration and the big names in the field, which include Richard Branson, James Cameron and Google chairman Eric Schmidt. "Her Deepness" Sylvia Earle is interviewed at depth here, as she plans to build a pair of ocean-depth submarines - all she's lacking is $50 million. ( Global Oceans )

To kick off 2013, Chile became the first country to ban bottom trawling in all vulnerable marine ecosystems, including all 118 of its seamounts. Under a new law, fishing quotas will be decided by independent scientific committees, without participation of the fishing industry. "This means that Chile's catch will no longer exceed scientific recommendations and will, hopefully, become sustainable," according to a statement by Oceana, a nonprofit that campaigned to overhaul the country's fishing laws. Another major development: All fisheries must now create plans to reduce bycatch, and take added measures to protect species like marine mammals, turtles and seabirds that are incidentally caught.

On a manta ray night dive led by Ocean Wings Hawaii off the Kona coast, a bottlenose dolphin slowly swam around the divers before approaching one and turning upside down and over. Diver Keller Laeos saw that its pectoral fin was entangled in fishing line and set about cutting it with his dive knife. You can see the eight-minute rescue efforts on this YouTube video taken by Ocean Wings owner Martina Wing. Animal entanglement is an everyday problem. Project Aware is trying to get more divers to help with its Dive Against Debris project, which aims to get recreational divers to collect and report the underwater trash they find on every dive outing they take.

Ben Davison, editor/publisher

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