Undercurrent Online Update
for Subscribers

For Subscriber David Denson Whiteside (with username 'dwhitesi' exp: 2024-08-20', at dwhite95815@hotmail.com )
July 15, 2013

For a limited time, active Undercurrent subscribers -- and that includes you -- can give their dive buddies a free four-month trial subscription to Undercurrent. It's very simple to do -- just log in as a member on our website, then go to www.undercurrent.org/members/BuddyGift -- or click on the big "Buddy Gift" link on the members' homepage - to send them an invite. There's absolutely no obligation for them, or you, for that matter -- we don't even ask for their credit card number. We'll send them the invitation and copy you on it. Make a dive buddy happy and informed - give 'em Undercurrent. It's a limited-time offer, so do it soon.

If you have a Red Sea trip scheduled, don't despair -- the U.S. State Department and Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office consider the resort towns of Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada, Dahab, Nuweiba and Taba to be safe. The travel agency Thomas Cooke says inbound and outbound flights to Sharm El Sheikh are incident-free, and European travel bookers say their customers aren't cancelling trips. Main thing: don't plan on hanging out in Cairo.

Then submit your reader reports so you can tell your fellow divers - and Undercurrent subscribers - about your travels and diving. Filing an online Reader Report lets you relate your experience, air a complaint, give deserving operators a pat on the back and share the highlights of your adventure. And your comments will be available online and/or in our yearly Travelin' Diver's Chapbook. Complete the online form here. You can also follow the link "File a Report" on the left side of our homepage; or after logging in, follow the "Reader Report" link in the top navigation bar.

Our undercover travel writers visit the Philippines and Mexico's Playa del Carmen . . . why Jean-Michel Cousteau's boat was seized . . . which dive-specific company ran afoul of the law in Kentucky . . . which should have control of shark-finning regulation: the states or the Feds? . . . does using decongestants raise your risk of DCS? . . . and much more.

After 10 years of discussions, and after hearing more than six hours of testimony in the latest round, the Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources voted 4-2 on June 28 to ban spearfishing while scuba diving. It also approved restrictions limiting aquarium fish collection to just 40 species. More about this in the next issue.

Are you diving less and less, maybe considering hanging up your fins, even though you're fit and able? We want to know why that would be. Fewer fish? More airlines hassles? Too expensive? Bored with beaches? Taken all the photos you care to, or maybe tired of diving with camera hogs?" I want to know your reasons for skipping out on dive trips - and what could be changed to entice you back into the water. E-mail me at EditorBenD@undercurrent.org. We'll prepare a story, perhaps including your comments (from your keyboard to dive operators' eyeballs) in an upcoming issue.

That's what Amos Nachoum, a top underwater photographer calls Big Animal Expeditions, the dive travel outfit he runs. Geared for photo aficionados, Nachoum says his big-buck trips are designed to be small (six divers max), so everyone gets close-up views of the big animals, and the best photo-taking tips from Nachoum. He has a few spots left on upcoming trips - two Great White shark expeditions near Baja California's Isla Guadalupe in October, and a Blue Whale expedition off Costa Rica January 14-27. For more details, go to http://biganimals.com

The USS Mohawk, a WWII warship and artificial reef off Florida's Sanibel Island, has been turned into an underwater art gallery until September 15. This is Austrian-born Andreas Franke's third underwater art project, putting photographic images, measuring roughly 2.5 by 3.5 feet, under Plexiglas, and letting the photos "evolve with accumulation of marine life." See samples of Franke's work on display aboard the Mohawk at www.thesinkingworld.com

There was Hans Hass, the first diver to introduce the masses to the magnificent underwater world. In the 50s, his books and films were popular with American youth, the wannabe frogmen of the day. He showed them the tropical world of corals, clouds of fishes and, yes, nearly always sharks, which he portrayed respectfully but often with a dab of danger. Hass, a marine biologist, created the forerunners of scuba and photography gear that we use today. He and Cousteau were rivals, and while Hass, a land-locked Austrian, had an early edge in popularity, he eventually lost that battle -- and the money that went with it -- to Cousteau. Hass died on June 16 at the age of 94. Some of his books are still available on Amazon. You can read his obituary here

A single lionfish was discovered there in 1991. Now, two of them were recently found off of Lebanon's northern coast, and two more unconfirmed sightings were made off Cyprus. According to a report in Mediterranean Marine Science, these specimens were of the genusPterois miles (lionfish in the Caribbean are of the closely-related Pterois volitans), which are common in the Red Sea. "The proximity of the Suez Canal [makes it] the most likely pathway for the introduction . . . into the Mediterranean Sea," the report stated. But the good news is that there are two potential lionfish predators in the Mediterranean, the blue-spotted cornetfish and the native Mediterranean grouper.

When you spot the elusive scorpionfish on a dive, the last thing you probably think about is fileting it. But at Carolina Crossroads Restaurant in Chapel Hill, NC, you'll find it on the menu. It's called "trash fish dining," and it's catching on with chefs around the country searching for fresh ways to fill their menus with sustainable seafood. "The fishermen would be like, 'This is all junk,' but I said, "I'll pay fair price for it if you'll bring it back to the dock,"' says James Clark, the restaurant's executive chef. "Eat some butter-poached scorpion fish and you'll swear it's lobster." Also on the menu at upscale restaurants nationwide are triggerfish (now you know why you are seeing fewer), white grunt, moon snails and sea slugs. Read more of the Daily Mail's story about the latest in dining

Ben Davison, editor/publisher

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