Undercurrent Online Update
for Subscribers

For Subscriber David Denson Whiteside (with username 'dwhitesi' exp: 2024-08-20', at dwhite95815@hotmail.com )
November 10, 2016
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Lisa Choquette left Dive Makai and Hawaii’s Big Island years ago to open a tiny dive operation on Marovo Lagoon in the Solomon Islands. She has done a remarkable job, not only with the local people but also with reef appreciation and preservation. But, politics have not been kind. She writes that a family in the village of Chea engaged the aid of Solomon’s Minister of Finance, who ordered them to shut down. “They wish to take over and operate the guest house and dive operation, despite having neither the knowledge nor the skills to do so. This is similar to what happened to us in Peava in 2012. The jealousy and greed of a small group of people ruined us there. The village here is very supportive -- they know what they will lose.” She and her crew are under police protection, are packing up, and hope to resume Solomon Dive Adventures in another village soon.

You’ve got to hand it to Australia in its efforts to solve the problems of an invasive species. It’s harnessing the power of herpes. Invasive carp are problem in freshwater down under. Not natural to Australasia, they’re destroying the biodiversity just as lionfish are in the Caribbean, costing the country’s economy AUS$500 million a year. To stop this carpocalypse, the government there plans to release into the waterways a specific herpes of a type that harms only carp and leaves other creatures unharmed.

Jellyfish are about 90 per cent water and composed of highly absorbent matter. An Israeli start-up company is using the matter, calling it Hydromash, to make diapers and tampons. Don’t worry – it’s treated to remove the sting! Where do they get it from? Because of increasing water temperatures, the world’s oceans are rapidly becoming infested with jellyfish and they’re a problem for infrastructure such as nuclear power stations, that get clogged up when draw cooling water from the sea. These become a natural collection point – and the diapers are biodegradable.

Researchers at the Diving Diseases Research Centre Healthcare in the UK conduct on-going research into a broad range of health issues, and in 2016 have turned their attention to flying after diving. Hyperbaric chambers often see and treat divers returning from a diving vacation, and DDRC Healthcare is interested in finding out more about all divers who fly after a dive trip. If you are a diver who travels by air after a dive trip, whether you have suffered DCI (DCS) symptoms or not, they’d like to hear from you and welcome your contribution to their survey before the end of November. www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/YF9SPXJ

Don’t omit the opportunity to file a report on your last dive trip. You can browse thousands of other first hand reports other subscribers have filed on their land and liveaboard trips, to get the full-nine-yards on their next destination. Undercurrent’s factual information and honest reviews are the perfect trip insurance for traveling divers. Your fellow subscribers count on you, just as you count on them so please, fill out our online trip report form at www.undercurrent.org/members/UCnow/SubRR.php

Harry Hawksbill Helps his Friends follows Harry along the reefs of Cozumel as he interacts with scuba divers, angel fish and other turtles. Author Paul Mila has used his own photos, his love of Cozumel, and his fine storytelling to have Harry teach kids about reef conservation and to teach angelfish that just because they don't look alike, they are more alike than they realize. Show your kids what you love. Order at www.bestpub.com/kids $11.95. 48 pages, full color.

On the 7th November a 68-year-old diver was miraculously found drifting at the surface more than 17 hours after he was separated from his boat off Queensland’s coast. You can read the details in the next issue of Undercurrent together with steps you can take to make sure this never happens to you. Diver Safety – It’s Not Sexy!

and we promise you a bumper issue that will see you through the holidays. Coming your way: a luxurious Indonesian liveaboard with remarkable diving; tales of sick divers and macho divemasters, as we comment on a dozen good and not-so-good destinations; underwater statue parks, our readers’ horror stories of assigned bad buddies, more on that important equipment recall, the pitfalls of group divemaster gratuities, equipment issues, when great white cage dives go awry, and much, much more.

Ben Davison, editor/publisher
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