Undercurrent Online Update
for Subscribers

For Subscriber David Denson Whiteside (with username 'dwhitesi' exp: 2024-08-20', at dwhite95815@hotmail.com )
August 18, 2016
Cancel all Undercurrent emails

A subscriber was at Cayman Brac resort for 4 days of diving in early August when a tropical depression started forming to the east of the island and the morning dives were canceled due to the weather. While he didn’t dispute the decision, the shop told him that there were no refunds for dives canceled by the shop and they were told to claim on their travel insurance. He – and Undercurrent think it is morally wrong to keep money for a service not provided. Have you ever had a dive cancelled by a shop and they refused to refund you? We want to hear your story. Please email me at BenDEditor@undercurrent.org

You’ll find a plethora of interesting items from racing cephalopods to electric disco clams to very different types of shark interaction and a particularly deep scuba dive.
www.facebook.com/Undercurrent.org

In Bali, Dewa Suardipa of, the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association has suggested that since hundreds of tourists visiting the island’s north coast pay local boatmen to take them out in search of dolphin, often without success, it would be better to capture the dolphins, hold them in cages and even train them to be summoned by whistles and pieces of fish. Give me a break! Stand by for protests for conservation groups or even a boycott of Bali.

Manufacturing neoprene is a dirty business, not only for the environment because it is made from non-renewable petro chemical by-products or limestone, products of either drilling or mining, but also it’s hazardous for those in the less developed countries of the Far East that produce it too. A new plant-based polymer called Yulex may revolutionize wetsuit production, or so wetsuit manufacturer Patagonia would have us believe. It’s derived from Hevea trees, grown on reclaimed land in Guatemala and Patagonia claims it reduces the amount of CO2 emitted in wetsuit manufacturing by around 80 per cent (though it still requires mixing with a small amount of synthetic rubber for improved durability and UV resistance). We’ll have to wait to see if wetsuits made from this material are useful for scuba divers. The amount the material compresses under the pressure of depth will be crucial.

Recent medical research at the University of Medicine in Berlin should once and for all end any debate about nitrox for divers. A double-blind crossover randomized trial has proved that breathing enriched air nitrox reduces venous gas bubbles after simulated scuba diving. The conclusion was that breathing EAN reduces venous gas bubble emboli and, avoiding oxygen toxicity limits, EAN increases safety when compared to breathing compressed air. No news there then, except for a few remaining non-users! (source: http://journals.plos.org)

to protect you from your own foolhardiness underwater? Should they risk their own health? If the boat rules say don’t go deeper than 100 feet, do you have a right to expect that if something happens deeper, they will do everything they can to save you? What if there is an injured passenger on board that must get back to shore to live, but another diver has gone missing in the water? What should the skipper decide to do? It’s something we examine soon in Undercurrent. To tell us what you think, email BenDEditor@undercurrent.org

They are the lifeblood of Undercurrent. The August edition included a feature that draws on some recent reports. Send us reviews of the dive operators, liveaboards, and resorts you’ve dived this year by filling out our online form. You can also follow the link “File a Report” on the left side of our homepage at www.undercurrent.org Or after logging in, follow the “Reader Report” link in the top navigation bar.

Enjoying dolphins the Bahamas . . . A rare case of equipment failure . . . A tragedy compounded by a poor payout . . . Reef sharks – are they over-valued? . . . Have lionfish met their match? . . . The man who made your diving safer . . . A mako bite makes it to court . . . Talk about tank valves . . . and much, much more.

Ben Davison, editor/publisher
Contact Ben

*** Do Not Reply to This Email -- This Address is NOT monitored ***

You have received this message because you are a current subscriber/Online Member and/or are a current paid subscriber to the former print edition of Undercurrent . To manage your account settings, visit our Account Center.