Undercurrent Online Update
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For Subscriber David Denson Whiteside (with username 'dwhitesi' exp: 2024-08-20', at dwhite95815@hotmail.com )
August 15, 2015
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You won't find world-class diving in the Cook Islands, but for $2,299 round-trip in business class between October 10 and February 6, you can beat the winter blues. There are caveats: Air New Zealand's LAX-Rarotonga flights still use the cradle seat in business class, not flat beds. There's only one flight a week in each direction, departing Sundays from LAX and just before midnight on Saturdays from Rarotonga. So, for mediocre diving and but better snorkeling, that's a good deal for the South Pacific, and you'll even earn frequent flyer miles. Purchase tickets by August 18. P.S.: Stay two weeks and make a hop to New Zealand or Fiji.

Bonaire's government was recently trying to open the national marine park to commercial development by rezoning protected locations next to Karel's Beach Bar and the former Green Parrot restaurant. Protestors led by Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire sued, and the court ruled in their favor on July 21, stating that authorities are "significantly breaching decades-old protection policy" of the marine park. It's not over yet: Bonaire's court of appeals will review the ruling, but plaintiffs believe it will stand. For more details, go to http://www.savebonairemarinepark.org

How dive operators are at keeping track of their divers while in the water, and which ones need to do a better job . . . a liveaboard fleet we wouldn't recommend any diver to book with . . . who's behind the idea to send a drone underwater to accompany lone divers . . . a subscriber's tale of what a lionfish bite really cost her, physically and financially. . . and much more.

The Cayman government is reviewing plans to build a cruise ship dock that would require extensive dredging and reef damage in the George Town Harbor. Several dive sites, including Devil's Grotto, Soto's Reef and the Balboa wreck, would be destroyed. The Diving Equipment & Marketing Association is taking a strong stance against the construction, asking divers to sign this online petition.The petition needs at least 30,000 signatures before it goes to the Cayman's Department of the Environment.

We're usually talking about how divers should watch out for boat propellers when ascending, but beware of windsurfers, too. A Russian diver died on July 20 after being hit in the neck by a windsurfing board when surfacing from a dive in the Canary Islands. The 31-year-old woman was diving for shellfish in Gran Canaria's Forma Bay and wasn't using a surface marker to signal her position; she bled to death from the deep cut on her neck. Spain's Civil Guard said it wouldn't press charges because initial investigations suggested the diver accidentally strayed into the area set aside for windsurfers. The windsurfer was taken to the hospital due to an anxiety attack he suffered immediately after the diver was found.

The Guinness World Record for the longest scuba dive is being challenged regularly, by both men and by women. Last month, American diver Kristi Quill stayed underwater for 51 hours, 25 minutes. In October, Kuwaiti diver Reem Abdullah Al Edan will attempt to break that record in the Red Sea, near Hurghada, Egypt. The event is being organized by the same team that helped run Egyptian male diver Walaa Hafez's record-breaking dive (51 hours, 24 minutes) last June. Al Edan is completing her SSI Instructor qualification; she wants to raise awareness of women in Arab countries who face daily challenges and inspire them to succeed in a male-dominated atmosphere. Thus, organizers want her support team to consist mainly of women, and are seeking applications from female divers interested in helping out - send resumes to reem.longestscubadive@gmail.com

Undercurrent subscriber Mayumi Kruse sent us a story from the news website TakePart about another way plastic bags are harming marine life. Turns out the little plastic bags in which captured fish are placed are miniature death traps: they leach the chemical nonylphenol, an endocrine disruptor, into the water and then into the fish. Sixty percent of fish stored in one manufacturer's bags routinely died in under 48 hours. Overall, up to 90 percent of all aquarium-caught fish die, either before reaching the store or within weeks of being purchased.

Wouldn't it be nice if you were rich enough to pay millions to build your very own private pool deep enough to dive? One homeowner in Springville, UT has done just that. Besides having four waterfalls and a water slide, the 40x60 foot pool, named "The Mountain," is 26 feet deep. The $2 million pool was built so the avid scuba-diving owner could practice without having to travel 1,000 miles to the nearest ocean. Animal Planet featured the pool in its Pool Master show. And with that, enjoy the rest of these dog days of summer.

Ben Davison, editor/publisher
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