Undercurrent Online Update for Subscribers

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

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March 30, 2022

The Cold North Atlantic Continues Warming. So much in fact that the carcass of a Greenland shark, a species that lives in frigid Arctic waters, was discovered off the warmest part of Britain's coast. In mid-March, a member of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust found the carcass on a beach at Newlyn Harbour, near Penzance, before the rising tide washed it back out to sea. However, the crew of a tourist vessel saw it and took it in tow, returning it to land so that it could be examined. Of course, one could argue that the waters were colder than usual, but as the Arctic Ocean warms. Arctic dwellers are no longer limited to their normal territory.

Buying Lettuce for Manatees. More than 55 tons of lettuce have been fed successfully to starving manatees this winter because their natural food -- more than 60 species of marine plants -- in Florida's coastal inland waters is being destroyed by water pollution. More than 1,100 manatees died from starvation last year. About 7500 remain. Individual donations are funding the cost of the lettuce, and you can add to this fund here. AP News

Great Bali News for Traveling Divers. Indonesian authorities are eliminating COVID-19 quarantine restrictions for Bali and issuing visas-on-arrival nationwide starting April 1. Presently those arriving in Bali can get a VOA if from one of 42 countries, including the U.S., Canada, the UK, and EU member nations. A PCR test on arrival is required. Click here to view the article.

Bad News from the Great Barrier Reef. The sixth mass coral bleaching even since 1998 is underway, says scientist Prof. Terry Hughes of James Cook University. Data from monitoring flights operating along all 1,430 miles of the world heritage site have found that 60 percent of the hard corals show bleaching. Scientists began to worry back in December after water temperature levels rose to record levels up to 7°F higher than normal. The Guardian

Avoiding Accidents with Passing Boats. At the end of a dive, wise divers send up a large inflated surface marker buoy, which they have on a line fed from a reel or spool. The recent sad incident in Mexico that resulted in the deaths of two experienced American divers who were run over by another dive boat as they were surfacing reminds us that every diver should be so equipped and well-practiced at deploying one.

In Eight Days, Three People Die Diving Florida. As the weather warms, the casualties mount up. On March 9, Jon Lassus, 61 (Fort Wayne, IN), diving Molasses Reef off Key Largo with Rainbow Reef Dive Center, had not gone underwater yet when he started to struggle and lost consciousness. The next day, local woman Karen Ruth Zaslow, 69, died after snorkeling from the charter boat Floridays off Sand Key, near Key West. On March 17, Chief of Medicine at South Shore Health (Weymouth, MA) Robert K. McIntyre failed to surface after a dive. McIntyre was on a diving trip arranged by the Jupiter Dive Center when the dive boat captain notified the Coast Guard that the doctor had not surfaced from the Lake Worth lagoon. Take care out there.

You Never Know What's Under There. Just six feet deep and close to a popular beach of the Spanish Mediterranean island of Mallorca, local divers discovered a well-preserved 3rd or 4thCentury Roman wreck loaded with more than 300 amphorae, many still with their painted inscriptions. Undisturbed for around 1,700 years, local divers repeatedly told the authorities something was there to be discovered. Now there is 24-hour police surveillance to allow maritime archaeologists to do their work.

This July, Scientists Want You to Look for Sharks. The Shark Trust is asking divers and snorkelers worldwide to join their Great Shark Snapshot and record every shark, ray, and skate spotted between July 24 and July 31. That information will be added to the Shark Trust's Shark Log, allowing shark scientists to build a picture of species distribution and any changes that occur. If possible, take photos or videos, but at least write down what you spotted. Go to the website to get more information and register.

Coming Soon in Undercurrent: A trip to Small Hope Bay in Andros, the Bahamas; a Belizean divers’ hideaway; a Grand Turks divers’ getaway … When debris harms marine life … 99 years and counting; a tribute to a well-loved character … Can sharks learn to hunt lionfish? … When you get left behind by changing diver certification … Diving magazine awards and their weaknesses … When rules clash with reality ... and much, much more.

Underwater Museum for Costa Rica. Punta Arenas is the jumping-off point for trips to Cocos Island, but now the otherwise inauspicious town has the first underwater museum in Central America. The Hotel Punta Leona developed this plan as part of their rocky reef conservation project. Located 150 feet offshore between 6 feet and 16 feet deep (depending upon the tide), three statues stand, depicting an olive ridley turtle, a stingray, and an indigenous leader, each around 10 feet in length.

It Can Be Hard to Know What to Wear. How thick a wetsuit should you take? It's a perennial question. So why not be prepared with layers? Take a close-fitting 3mm neoprene wetsuit and a new lightweight, hydrophobic-material suit that is neutrally buoyant (so needs no extra weight) to wear over it if need be. Good choices are Sharkskin and Fourth Element Thermocline.

America's Pacific Coast Threatened by Critters. Since the 2011 Japanese tsunami, unusual objects have been washing up, from plastic bottles to floating docks and lost vessels. But they don't come without passengers. The Asian hitchhikers that made it across the entire ocean include huge colonies of sea creatures, which represent a potential environmental disaster. It's been a mass rafting event that's deposited invasive species in places where they have no natural predators. www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGDEnFEMZP8

The Changing Landscape of Diving. The pandemic has undoubtedly changed things, but your travel reports prove a unique resource for other subscribers. Undercurrent readers' reports are all online for you to view to get informed about diving, dive centers, and dive locations in 2021 and 2022, and your report too is needed. Nowhere else can you find unedited facts based on actual experiences and not driven by advertising. So, let subscribers know what you enjoyed and what might have disappointed you. You can even upload photos, and you don't even have to finish the report in one sitting. Your reports help your fellow subscribers make their travel decisions. Go to: www.undercurrent.org/SubRR.php

Disappointment with Coral in French Polynesia. In early 2019, mass bleaching devastated coral reefs around the French Polynesian island of Moorea, affecting more than 80 percent of Acropora coral in some areas. A few months later, marine biologists noticed that some of the bleached coral colonies seemed to have bounced back. By the end of that year, they had regained their colorful algal symbionts and appeared completely healthy. But as the adage goes, looks can be deceiving. Scientists led by Sarah Leinbach, a graduate student at Auburn University (AL), show that even though the bleached coral colonies had a seemingly miraculous superficial recovery, they had lower energy stores and produced fewer eggs than their unbleached counterparts. Hakai Magazine

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Ben Davison, editor/publisher
BenDDavison@undercurrent.org