Undercurrent Online Update for Subscribers

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

November 22, 2019  

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Is This The Future?

The potential star of the November DEMA show had to be the Russian Hydroid Aquabreather. Looking like something from the imagination of Jules Verne, it’s a closed-circuit rebreather entirely enclosed within a diving-helmet-like device. We saw it demonstrated in the DEMA show pool. Things didn’t go according to plan. Find out how it panned out, with more details of products at the show, in our DEMA report in the next Undercurrent.

Your Reader Reports are Important

Your reader reports are important because they tell both the good and bad and make us a unique read in the dive travel industry. In December, Undercurrent subscribers will receive a 700-page downloadable book with more than 600 worldwide 2019 travel reviews from their fellow subscribers, which help make our monthly newsletter a matchless source for serious divers. They join more than 10,000 other reports in our online database. It’s easily searchable by any other subscriber -- so don’t forget to file your report of your last dive trip at: www.undercurrent.org/SubRR

Is the U.S. Coast Guard to Blame for the Conception Disaster?

The National Transportation Safety Board has repeatedly called for improved fire-safety measures, prompted by numerous small passenger vessels that have gone up in flames. A Los Angeles Times review of federal documents spanning the last 20 years reveals the U.S. Coastguard, which has the sole authority to mandate safety measures, has often rejected the NTSB’s recommendations. More details in the next Undercurrent.

Never Dive from an Unattended Boat

Three spear fishers left their boat unattended 25-miles out in the Gulf of Florida, only to surface to see it on the distant horizon after its anchor dragged. Melody Shearin Engle, Michael Yagmin, and one other were in big trouble but Melody got her head down for the three-hour swim to catch the drifting boat, call the U.S. Coast Guard on the radio and watch Mike hauled from the waves by helicopter while the unnamed friend was pulled from the water by Coast Guard motor vessel.

Can You Spare Some Change?

Travelers arriving at Los Cabos International Airport will be asked for about $18 each. But local officials say this isn’t a tax. It's a request for a voluntary contribution to benefit a new fund for a Sustainable Baja California Sur. There will be no such collections at La Paz airport.

A Shark Resistant Suit?

Scientists at Flinders University, South Australia, say they are working on a wetsuit that will protect swimmers, surfers and divers from massive blood loss after a shark bite. Testing it in the shark prevalent waters, they enticed some sharks to bite through the material to be able to compare the level of damage. Reducing blood loss can help the emergency services reach a victim before it is too late.

Coming Soon in Undercurrent

Survivors from the Red Sea Aggressor 1 fire tell their stories. . . . Lithium-ion battery charging confusion . . . When your cabin-mate gets sick . . . How to use a delayed deployment surface marker buoy . . . When you don’t have insurance . . . What’s going on at the annual DEMA show . . . and much, much more.

Thanks for being a loyal subscriber.

Ben Davison, editor/publisher
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