Undercurrent Online Update
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For Subscriber David Denson Whiteside (with username 'dwhitesi' exp: 2024-08-20', at dwhite95815@hotmail.com )
September 16, 2015
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Tropical Storm Erika hit Dominica hard late last month – 31 people died and 20 were reported missing. Undercurrent contributor Ken Kurtis reports that the main airport is still closed, as are 40 of the 100 hotels on the island. The primary way to reach Dominica now is via ferry from Guadeloupe or Martinique. Buddy Dive's new Dominica operation suffered no major damage other than one boat being run aground. Castle Comfort posted on its Facebook page that it was also spared, but "a few of our staff members have lost their homes and everything in it . . . If you are able to donate, please assist." The best way to do so apparently is through the Dominica Red Cross – https://www.ammado.com/nonprofit/158968

Our readers and our editors need your help. Please send us your personal reports of this year's land-based or liveaboard dive trips to be included in the 2016 edition of our Travelin' Divers Chapbook as soon as you can. Just as you rely on Undercurrent, we and your fellow readers rely on you to report your dive travel experiences. Send in your Report via our online form. You can also follow the link "File a Report" on the left side of our homepage.

The Baja California-based liveaboard just announced that its new sister ship, the Quino el Guardian, will start running nine-day trip to the Socorro Islands next month. It has three special voyages this fall/winter that Rocio del Mar calls "serious scientific expeditions." On October 24-31, the boat sails the Sea of Cortez, with dives in Cabo del Pulmo, for $1,750 per person. November 7-15 is for "citizen scientists" to research shark and manta biology in the Socorros alongside professional scientists, for $3,500 per person. The "Big Migrations Expedition" January 28 to February 11 offers the rare chance to dive isolated Clipperton Island as well as the Socorros during shark and whale migration season. More info is at http://quinoelguardian.com

How dive operators are at keeping track of their divers while in the water, and which ones need to do a better job . . . are these really the world's most dangerous dives? . . . safety questions to ask yourself before going off to a remote dive destination . . . what gets you a better dive package deal: the Internet or the travel agent? . . . a rarely visited island in Micronesia . . . BVI's Cuan Law Liveaboard . . . John Bantin's new book . . . and much more.

It's closing up its shop at Cobalt Coast Resort on December 1, moving its headquarters to its Lighthouse Point dive shop, and launching a dedicated dive travel department. After 15 years partnering with Cobalt Coast Resort, Divetech will now offer travel deals at multiple hotels, condos and B&Bs for 2016 dive packages via its new website (www.divetech.com) and a new toll-free number (877-946-5658). And congratulations to Divetech owner Nancy Easterbrook, who will be inducted into the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame on October 2 for her efforts to in making Grand Cayman a divers' favorite.

Jean Loughry from Salem, PA, is awaiting word from Guinness World Records on her quest to be named the oldest female scuba diver. At age 85, Loughry made her 626th dive in March in St Thomas, where she got certified 35 years ago (she told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that her favorite dive was Truk Lagoon). When a fellow dive club member searched the Internet for another female diver over age 85 and didn't find one, he encouraged Loughry to contact Guinness. In our November 2014 issue, we wrote about subscriber Erwin Staller who, at age 93, got a Guinness certificate for being the world's oldest diver. Any of our women subscribers out there who can challenge Loughry for the title she's applying for?

A team of researchers at Croatia's University of Split medical school says divers shouldn't overexert themselves after a dive. Their new study, in the Journal of Applied Physiology, states that exercising after a dive could increase the risk of an arterial gas embolism. The"arterialization" of gas bubbles after diving is associated with preexisting heart problems, and the pulmonary passages that bubbles pass through open up during exercise, so researchers wanted to see if post-dive exercise increases arterialization. After putting divers through a 47-minute dive at 60 feet, then putting some of them on exercise bikes that incrementally led to strenuous cycling, researchers found that exercise after diving increased the incidence of arterialization from 13 percent while at rest to 52 percent. They wrote that "basic activities associated with diving, such as surface swimming or walking with heavy equipment, may be enough to allow" arterialization. Read the full study.

Ben Davison, editor/publisher
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