Undercurrent Online Update
for Subscribers

For Subscriber David Denson Whiteside (with username 'dwhitesi' exp: 2024-08-20', at dwhite95815@hotmail.com )
October 19, 2014

Send Us Your Reports. We're gearing up for the 2015 edition of the Travelin' Divers Chapbook, so we need your reports to make it as chock-full as we can. Send us reviews of dive operators, liveaboards and resorts you've dived with this year by filling out our online form. 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. Please send us your reports ASAP, and thanks for helping us keep up-to-date with the great and the not-so-great dive travel out there.

Have you ever had to contact Divers Alert Network, or other dive insurance providers, for medical information or treatment? Have you been on a dive trip where someone else needed to? We'd like to know your experiences. Send me an email at EditorBenD@undercurrent.org

An Egyptian scuba diver set a new world record last month when he reached a depth of 1,066 feet - about the height of New York's Chrysler Building. Ahmed Gabr, a former member of Egypt's special forces who now works as a Red Sea dive instructor, took 14 hours to dive down into an abyss near the Egyptian resort town of Dabab. When he came up, he was met by a Guinness World Records representative, who handed him a certificate for the world's deepest male scuba dive -- he beat the previous record, set by South African Nuno Gomez, by 16 feet. Gabr traveled with nine tanks containing mixes of trimix, nitrox, oxygen and air specially prepared by friend and tech dive trainer, Sam Hewlmy, who's keeping the exact mixes under wraps. Gabr's most magical moment: a baby white-tip oceanic shark hung out with him for six hours.

Our undercover travelin' divers review liveaboards in the Red Sea, the Caribbean and Fiji . . . why you should research weather conditions before you book a dive trip . . . should a diver's certification certificate last forever?. . . how to evaluate air fills in tanks when diving overseas . . . do you have $31,000 for this new high-tech dive gear? . . . and much more.

Sport divers complain that they can't gain admission to the big DEMA show, but Our World-Underwater is putting on three excellent dive-specific shows this winter just for sport divers: Phoenix (December 6-7), Dallas (January 24-25) and Chicago (February 27-March 1). New gear, new travel destinations, demonstrations, film festivals -- they're not-to-be missed get-togethers for sport divers and their friends. More information at http://www.ourworldunderwater.com.

GoPro introduced a few new Hero models earlier this month, a higher-end one that shoots higher-quality photos and video at faster frame rates, and an entry-level camera that's cheaper than any previous GoPro. The Hero is just $130, but has the same features as the $200-plus GoPros from years past. Hero4 Silver, in the mid-$400 range, has faster frame rates and new touch-screen controls on the back. Hero4Black, with fast frames and slow-motion options, is targeted for professionals who already have GoPro rigs, and at $500, it's at the top of the line. All these cameras can go down to 130 feet when used inside their (included) housing. http://www.GoPro.com

On September 25th, he signed a proclamation expanding the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, adding an additional 370,000 square nautical miles to the already 800,000 square miles. The designation makes the south-central Pacific marine preserve, which contains U.S. territories like Kingman Reef, Kiribati and the Gilbert Islands, six times larger than it was, and puts it off limits to commercial fishing.

Authorities recently announced four separate arrests for attempted trafficking of more than 1,400 pounds of threatened manta rays. Indonesia made reef and oceanic manta rays a newly protected species a few years ago, and trafficking in them (their gill plates are in demand for traditional Chinese medicine) now carries a maximum fine of US$25,000. Wildlife organizations praise the country's efforts to crack down on trafficking and promote the tourism trade of watching them instead. Caleb McClennen, executive director of marine conversation at the Wildlife Conservation Society told the New York Times, "Hopefully Indonesia will be seen as a leading role model that other countries will follow."

The Marine Megafauna Foundation is running its fifth annual "'Ray of Hope" Manta Expedition, hosting an eight-day liveaboard trip to Burma's Mergui Archipelago and Thailand's Similan Islands aboard the MV Deep Andaman Queen from February 28 to March 8. The foundation does research for manta ray conservation, and each day will be dedicated to diving a new area of the Andaman Sea, with the goal of documenting as many mantas as possible, while offering evening presentations and workshops. The per-person prices range from $2,000 for a quad cabin bunk to $2,900 for the Master Cabin. More info is at here.

Ben Davison, editor/publisher
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