Undercurrent Online Update
for Subscribers

For Subscriber David Denson Whiteside (with username 'dwhitesi' exp: 2024-08-20', at dwhite95815@hotmail.com )
July 22, 2014

We reported in our May issue about the kidnapping of a female tourist and a resort worker from a dive resort near Sipadan, attributed to the Filipino militant group Abu Sayyaf. On July 12, they had a shootout with police on the island of Mabul, a divers' favorite off the east coast of Sabah, killing one policeman and kidnapping another. The shootout occurred just before midnight when eight gunmen in military fatigues landed on the island. Divers staying in Mabul resorts reported to the Star newspaper in Malaysia that they heard gunshots. There had already been several attempts by the gunmen to breach security around Mabul. Malaysia has tightened security measures in the region after a spate of killings and abductions, and its government officials now warn everyone against anything but essential travel to all islands off the coast of eastern Sabah.

If you're trying to get a new policy or change your current one, you have to wait, says a posting on the Diver Alert Network's website: "Due to regulatory issues involving the previous provider of DAN's travel insurance program, we are in the process of updating our suite of travel insurance products. . . .the process is taking longer than expected . . ." Current policyholders still have the same coverage and benefits. DAN's marketing director Rachelle Deal tells us that starting the first week of August, DAN will introduce two insurance plans: a per-trip plan that covers one dive trip at a time, and a revamped annual plan for those who take multiple dive trips a year. Details will be posted on www.dan.org/travel. If you have questions in the meantime, call DAN at 800-446-2671.

One of my favorite Undercurrent travel stories this year is about snorkeling with manatees in Florida's Homossassa River. However, they live in dangerous waters -- they're struck by power boats, infected by pollution and harassed by tourists. Last year, 830 manatees were killed in Florida waters. The advocacy group Defenders of Wildlife is urging the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to give manatees more protection by creating a new winter sanctuary for them, expanding two current ones, and starting a no-touch policy for the marine mammals. There's a petition for you to sign that Defenders of Wildlife will send to Washington. Go here.

Our undercover travelin' divers review diving in Bali, St. Vincent, the Red Sea, the Texas Flower Gardens and more . . . Part II of our advice-filled story on how to trim the weight and cut the costs of dive travel . . . a new device to make freediving safer . . . why you should research weather conditions before you book a dive trip . . . John Bantin's advice on picking the right liveaboard for your needs . . . and much more.

If you read our April issue, you remember the big story we did about the legal issues that made Buddy Dive shut down its two Galapagos liveaboards, M.Y. Wolf Buddy and M.Y. Darwin Buddy, limiting the number of spots available for divers to book their trips down there. But the British liveaboard group Blue O Two just announced it will offer Galapagos trips aboard the M/V Galapagos Master starting next year. The 105-foot boat, built 10 years ago and currently undergoing a complete interior retrofit, will offer eight cabins for seven- 10- and 14-day trips. They're touting a camera set-up station with multiple charging points (US round pin plug), a plasma TV for slideshows and lots of storage drawers for photographers. For details, e-mail info@blueotwo.com.

This Indonesian dive resort's latest attraction: playing surrogate parent to tiny sea turtles. While they can live to be 100 years old, most don't survive their first few days, due to a gauntlet of predators between their nests and open water. Wakatobi staff have been seeing more female sea turtles crawling onto its beach at night and laying eggs, probably due to their typical habitat being in decline, so to give the babies a better chance, Wakatobi built a turtle nursery. Once hatched, the tiny turtles are moved to holding tanks, in a former greenhouse, with a seawater circulation system, where they're fed a diet of salad, seagrass and a little raw fish. They are kept for about a year, and then released near their original nests.

Most divers don't think much of the fear of sharks generated by Discovery Channel's Shark Week, so the only redeeming value of two new films to be released is that they are unbelievable, at best. The Syfy Channel is premiering its low-budget sequel, Sharknado 2: The Second One, on July 30. The lead character, surfer-turned-shark fighter Fin Shepherd, must save his family - and now New York City -- from deadly airborne man-eating sharks. Then on August 2, Syfy introduces another movie about killer sharks, but this time it also features Conan O'Brien. Sharktopus vs. Pteracuda is a sequel to Syfy's 2010 movie Sharktopus and features the return of the part-octopus, part-shark creature doing battle with a part-pterodactyl, part-barracuda monster. O'Brien told the Los Angeles Times it was "the first and only film role offered to me." Or rather than seeing these, just rent the original Creature of the Black Lagoon, a 50s nightmare.

Ben Davison, editor/publisher
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