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For David Denson Whiteside (with username 'dwhitesi', exp: 2024-08-20, at dwhite95815@hotmail.com )
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January 15, 2018

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Join the New England Aquarium on Its Bahamas Collecting Expedition -- It’s Mostly Tax-Deductible

Looking for a unique experience? How about collecting tropical fish and invertebrates for the New England Aquarium on its March 27 – April 4, 2018 expedition to the Bahamas aboard the R/V Coral Reef II? Besides learning about the animals from top marine biologists, you’ll make as many as five dives a day (many just for fun), and the $3,800 cost is mostly tax-deductible. Read a 2013 Undercurrent undercover review of the trip here, learn more by visiting neaq.org/divetrip, or contact Chris Bauernfeind at 617-973--5248 or cbauernfeind@neaq.org

Get Those Weights Off!

The death of a trainee diver in Phuket, who fell overboard from the dive boat while still wearing his weightbelt, tells us to remind divers to hand up your weights before climbing back on board your dive boat (or at least shed them as soon as you are on board). More about that tragic incident in Undercurrent’s February issue.

David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II

David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II which has already wowed audiences in the UK with its high-tech approach to getting marine life footage that was totally impossible a decade ago, will premier in the US and Canada on January 20. The ground-breaking series, which took four years to produce, involved camera crews making 125 trips to locations around the world, will be aired on a five network simulcast including BBC America, AMC, IFC, TV and Sundance TV.

Coming Up in Undercurrent:

Aboard Blue Manta in the Banda Sea . . . Did your travel insurance cough up when you needed it? . . . What every diver needs to know about rebreathers . . . Death threats to a marine park ranger . . . When diving disappoints and the promised marine life doesn’t turn up . . . Panic and diving are dangerous bedfellows . . . If diving was regulated in the US - your take . . . Who’s at fault when a tourist gets bent? . . . Dive guides and a captain charged over deaths . . . and much, much more.

California Getting More Great Whites

Beaches across California’s coast were under shark warning advisories almost every day in 2017. Chris Lowe, professor of marine biology at Cal State Long Beach, explains that LA’s sea frontage is home to one of the largest white shark nurseries in the world. The young are attracted to the warm water of the Californian bays, but since the water didn’t seasonally cool as usual, they had little reason to leave. So, when the new crop of young sharks arrived, the population effectively doubled.

Transmitters for Integrated Computers

By now we hope you will have had your Suunto transmitter upgraded at no charge but don’t forget to insert the newly supplied flow-restrictor before fitting it to your regulator first-stage. You will have the option of two types depending on whether you fit it directly or use a high-pressure hose. If in doubt, ask you dive shop or instructor.

Other Subscribers Need Your Travel Reports

Independent Reader’s Reports are unique to Undercurrent. It’s a vast and ever-growing resource of information. Share your experiences, good and bad, of dive resorts and liveaboards, and see it online and in our annual Chapbook. It’s easy to file a report using the online form at: https://www.undercurrent.org/members/UCnow/SubRRTopMA.php

Thanks for being a loyal member and subscriber.

Ben Davison, editor/publisher
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