Undercurrent Online Update for Subscribers

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

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May 16, 2022

Vortex Grounding Causes More Problems for Pacific Fleet. The 140 foot Vortex, from the same fleet as the Solmar V, ran aground May 9 near Socorro Island in Mexico's Revillagigedo archipelago. The Mexican navy rescued all 14 passengers and 11 crew members who had taken to life rafts. Once a Canadian Coast Guard boat, the newly refurbished Vortex had just started operating this year. Meanwhile, the boat is being assessed to determine whether it can be salvaged . If you were on this ill-fated voyage, email us at benddavison@undercurrent.org . . . In April, we reported that the other Pacific Fleet liveaboard, the Solmar V, had operational problems requiring last-minute cancellations, leaving passengers stranded at their Cabo Hotels. Does the Pacific Fleet owe you any money from the Solmar V fiasco? Please email us at benddavison@undercurrent.org.

The Search for Mafia Dive Sites: The surface off Nevada's Lake Mead has dropped 170 feet in the last four decades, exposing in early May a 40-plus-year-old barrel housing a body. Days later and several miles away, another set of human bones was discovered on the newly visible bottom. The remains of those days have led to a boom for the Las Vegas dive shop, Sin City Scuba. "This is one of the most positive buzzes around scuba diving locally in a long time," said staff instructor Donnie Cox, but "there is a big difference between recreational diving and underwater criminal investigation where you don't know what you don't know." However, a body stuffed in a barrel -- whoever was believed to have been shot in the '70s, the shoes being one clue -- is a Mafia-like mystery for which some people just have to take a dive.

Dive Travel Insurance Woes? We need your Help: COVID disrupted dive plans for thousands upon thousands of divers, and many lost lots of money. We’re working on a story about the best travel insurance for divers, and if you have any travel insurance problems, we would like to hear about them. Not just with DAN or DiveAssure, but with any insurance carrier. Let us know how your reimbursement went, good or bad. Please tell us your story. Write to benddavison@undercurrent.org.

Travelers, Study those COVID Entry Requirements Carefully: A long time Undercurrent subscriber was stopped at Cayman Immigration on Sunday, May 1, because they would not accept the COVID test he had taken Friday, April 29, a day before his April 30 departure from San Francisco. You see, he changed planes in Charlotte, and Cayman Immigration considered his actual departure point as Charlotte, so his test did not meet their one-day test requirement. He had to be re-tested on Grand Cayman, which took lots of time and a little money. He says travelers should know that their departure date is not from their U.S. origin point, but rather, from their U.S. exit point.

What, Another Liveaboard Sinks? This time it was the Colombian MV Maria Patricia, which infamously lost several divers off Malpelo Island nearly five years ago (see Undercurrent September 2017). It ran aground and sank while divers were underwater. One crewman lost his life when he jumped into rough seas and water too shallow. There are no other reports of fatalities. Let us know if you were on this vessel. benddavison@undercurrent.org

Two Hits Knock Out Hawaiian Coral. The Hawaiian heatwave of 2019 has raised havoc on the islands' coral reefs. Researchers found the high temperatures reduced living corals by 26 percent, with those nearest coastal development and sediment runoff more likely to die. Arizona State University researchers made aerials maps over more than 78 square miles around six islands. It's a one-two punch of heat and pollution killing coral, says lead researcher Greg Asner.

A New Novel for Cozumel Fans. Long-time Undercurrent subscriber Paul J. Mila, who lives most of his time on Cozumel, has written numerous scuba thrillers. His latest, A Fugitive in Paradise, follows a Brooklyn Mafia accountant who, after embezzling millions from his boss, is forced to secretly move to Cozumel under the Federal Witness Security Protection Program. With a Mila thriller, you're in for a ride on land and in the water. Available in both Kindle and paperback. www.amazon.com

No Lobsters for New Hampshire Scuba Divers? Lobsters were the unlikely subject of a lively debate on the New Hampshire Senate floor this month, where Senators voted down a bill that would have allowed recreational scuba divers to take a few home for a lobster bake. The bill would require divers to harvest lobsters by hand, but they could use a "tickle stick" to encourage them to come into the open. The state's commercial lobster industry wanted no competition, and the Senate agreed. After all, the warming Atlantic is causing lobsters to march north toward Canada, and who knows how long they'll hang around that brief 13-mile New Hampshire coastline?

Mass Extinction of Marine Life. The world's oceans have long been a safeguard against climate change, absorbing vast amounts of carbon dioxide and trapped heat as people burned fossil fuels and razed forests. But that has come at a cost. Last year, the oceans reached their highest temperature and lowest oxygen content since humans started keeping track. Changes to the ocean's chemistry are threatening fish, and coral reefs are in steep decline. A new study by geoscientists at Princeton University finds that if fossil fuel emissions continue at the present rate, the oceans could experience a mass extinction by the year 2300. New York Times

Diving at the Elphinstone Reef

Diver Eaten by a Shark. The body of a Swiss diver went missing on May 2 during a Red Sea dive from MY Grand Sea Serpent. A day later, divers from the liveaboard recovered it more than 165 feet deep at the north tongue of Elphinstone Reef. It had been ripped apart by a shark, but Red Sea shark expert Dr. Elke Bojanowski told Undercurrent that the divers who first spotted the body insisted it was intact, so it may have been mauled before other divers could go deep enough to retrieve it. Our informant witnessed the body's recovery from the liveaboard Blue Adventurer moored nearby and said it was not a pretty sight. The Elphinstone was closed to divers for six days.

Coming Soon in Undercurrent: The Scuba Scene fire -- first-hand accounts … Dolphins versus divers … Sunscreens damage seagrass … COVID in the Ocean? A Little-Known Resort in Belize ... Caymans’ Best Diving … the Undersea Explorer -- a Caribbean Liveaboard … The Dangers to Reef Fish of Debris in the Ocean … Have You Been Overtaken in the Race for New Certifications? … Dive Magazine Awards and Why they are Defective … A Letter of Protest from a Dive Center Owner … How the Law Catches Up with some Dive Centers … Another Ecological Problem in the Caribbean … When Old Divers went Deep on Air … and much, much more.

Write and Post Your Travel Report. Probably the most visited part of the Undercurrent website is the Independent Reader Reports of experiences at dive resorts and on liveaboards worldwide. With more than 11,500 reports already archived, just about every diving possibility is covered with Undercurrent subscribers telling it like it is. But other divers need your up-to-date reports, so tell them, warts and all, about your latest dive trip. It's easy to do, you can add to it at any time later, and there's the option to post photos. Simply go to www.undercurrent.org and get writing!

And thank you for being a subscriber. We survive solely on subscriber income.

Stay Safe

Ben Davison, editor/publisher
BenDDavison@undercurrent.org