Undercurrent Online Update for Non-Subscribers

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June 21, 2022

Do You Download Your Dives? Modern diving computers allow you to download information from a dive to your laptop or desktop computer, giving a time/depth graph and other information. Undercurrent is working on a story, and we wonder if you find that feature useful? If so, in what way do you use the information you download? And if you have decided not to download data, let us know why. Email BenDDavison@undercurrent.org, not forgetting to tell us your town and state.

The Noise of Your Boat Disturbs the Fish. Coral reef fish breed more successfully if motorboat noise is reduced, according to a study published in Nature Communications. Near Lizard Island Research Station on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, researchers from the universities of Exeter and Bristol monitored three reefs with normal boat traffic and three where the traffic was calmed (e.g., slowed down and controlled). During a summer breeding season, the researchers swam every other day to monitor 86 spiny chromis broods. Of 46 nests on reefs where traffic had been calmed, 30 still contained offspring at the end of the breeding season. Only 16 out of 40 still contained offspring on the reefs with no traffic control. However, the researchers stress that limiting boat traffic alone is insufficient to protect coral reefs completely.

Florida Dive Center Owners Finally Convicted. The British owners of the now-defunct Key Largo Scuba Shack, Alison Gracey and Christopher Jones, who evaded arrest after a diver died when their boat, Get Wet, sank at Molasses Reef (Undercurrent January 2012), were extradited to the U.S. from Spain, where they were hiding, In April. They each face up to eight years in jail for involuntary manslaughter. A criminal investigation revealed that Jones and Gracey knew before the tragedy that their vessel needed repairs, but they continued operating Get Wet. The couple were first located by authorities in St. Maarten, but escaped back to Europe, where they hid in various countries until Spanish police caught them after an Interpol 'Most Wanted' notice.

BIG. Big Animals, Big Book. Adventure and wildlife photographers Amos Nachoum and Marko Dimitrijevic have produced a book of dramatic photographs of the amazing land and marine animals they have photographed over the years with Big Animal Expeditions. It’s simply called BIG and takes the reader on a moving journey across the globe with the world's largest animals. The high-quality printed book, which lists for $85, is available here for Amazon's best price.

Carry a Surface Marker of Some Sort. It seems that more divers get separated and lost from their boat when they are on the surface than when they are underwater. A long safety sausage that can be inflated and sent to the surface on a line even while you are making your safety stop will allow your boat driver to anticipate where you will surface. Should you become stranded in the dark, a fully charged diver’s flashlight beam will tell people where you are. Both are essential items for your safety. Always carry both no matter how benign you think the conditions may be.

No More Pre-flight COVID testing; however, . . . The CDC will no longer require pre-departure testing for travelers returning to the U.S.; however, don't let your guard down. COVID is still out there -- 144,000 Americans each day test positive, says the CDC -- so carry test kits, and if you have symptoms, test yourself. If you pick it up in another country, you'll miss your flight home and be responsible for the costs of a place to stay while recuperating. However, many countries require proof of vaccination or COVID tests for entry, so do your research.

This Month in Undercurrent: Itza Resort at Lighthouse Reef, Belize . . . Another Big Hurricane Season Coming . . . Dolphins versus Divers in War . . . Tough Punishment for an Unauthorized Dive Boat Buoy . . . El Galleon Resort in the Philippines . . . That Deadly Underwater Debris . . . Another Liveaboard Burns and Sinks . . . New Pathogens in the Ocean . . . Are You Overtaken by the Race for Certification, or Age? . . . and much, much more.

Why You Should Subscribe: Call us the “Consumer Reports of Scuba Diving.” Subscribe and 10 months a year, you will receive our 16-plus-page ad-free newsletter that will keep you up to date on the safe spots to travel and where you should avoid traveling, with stories by our undercover writers who pay their own way. Get the latest on the Keys, Belize, Indonesia, Bonaire, Hawaii; Undercurrent is there. And we report on unique safety issues -- like that bent diver who ignored her computer and listened to her guide -- equipment, and much, much more. Undercurrent subscribers can access nearly 400 recent travel reports posted by readers who have started diving once again. They're back at resorts and liveaboards worldwide, and nowhere else can you find such honest and unedited appraisals not driven by advertising.

For two more days, I am offering you a six-month trial subscription for just $19.95. And I'll send you a FREE download of my commercially published scuba thriller set in Belize -- Tropical Ice. If at any time during this period you want your money back, you'll get it, a promise I've kept since 1975. Click Here.

Stay Safe

Ben Davison, editor/publisher
BenDDavison@undercurrent.org