Undercurrent Online Update for Non-Subscribers

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September 26, 2023

Breath-taking Ocean Images. The winning and commended images of the Oceanographic Ocean Photographer of the Year 2023 competition were recently announced, with the marine biologist and amateur photographer Jialing Cai from the China named the overall winner for her image of a paper nautilus floating on a piece of ocean debris taken in the Philippines. The gallery of winners by contest organizers Oceanographic Magazine, with subjects from the very large to the very small, can be seen here.

Golf Sharks. For nearly two decades, the Carbrook Golf Club near Brisbane, Australia, had the ultimate water hazard: a lake teeming with bull sharks. They arrived in 1996 when raging floods swept six young bull sharks from a nearby river into a 51-acre lake near the golf course's 14th hole. When the floodwaters receded, the sharks found themselves stuck, surrounded by grassy hills and curious golfers. The sharks spent 17 years in the lake, sustaining themselves on its large stock of fish and the occasional meat treat provided by the club's staff. One shark was illegally fished out, while the others ultimately vanished after subsequent floods. Peter Gausmann, a shark scientist at Ruhr University Bochum in Germany, said they proved that bull sharks can live indefinitely in low-salinity water. (NYTimes)

You're Reading is Our Free Mid-month Email. Why not receive our ten monthly, 16-page, ad-free newsletters and become a paid subscriber? We cover subjects other dive publications avoid for fear of upsetting their advertisers. But we don't accept advertising. We are accountable only to divers. Our travel reviews are written by undercover authors who pay their way. Our stories cover equipment problems, liveaboard safety, the ins and outs of tipping, how dive insurance can fail you, and much, much more. In December, you will receive the Travelin' Diver's Chapbook, filled with hundreds of travel reviews by fellow subscribers. Not only that, you have full access to more than 10,000 Undercurrent independent readers' reports -- opinions and impressions posted without fear or favor by those who have stayed at the resorts or have been on liveaboards worldwide. I am offering you a seven-month trial subscription for just $19.95. And I'll send you a FREE download of the 40-page e-books Eight Great Liveaboards (and One Disaster) and Eight Great Dive Resorts (and One Dog). If you want your money back at any time during this period, you'll get it, a promise I've kept since we started publishing in 1975. Click Here.

This month in the Undercurrent newsletter. A trip on MV Ferox to Colombia's Malpelo Island . . . Our disappearing reef sharks . . . The tricky trumpetfish . . . An encounter with SIPE . . . Cayman, Maui, Taja Ampat, Texas, our reader's report . . . Homage to Stan Waterman . . . Is Wetpixel breaking bad? The slippery slope towards fraud? . . . Four North Carolina divers rescued far out to sea . . . The Dive – 90 minutes on Amazon with 22 minutes of air supply . . . Divers of a certain age – still diving? . . . Underjungle – an underwater fantasy . . . and much, much more.

Free to Read. Little Cayman, Maui, Raja Ampat, Texas oil rigs – thresher sharks, dying reefs, and barefoot elegance. Undercurrent readers report their experiences and they don’t spare any blushes. You can read it and more for free here.

Those Crazy Russian Divers. In the August Undercurrent, our contributor wrote, "The hyperbaric facilities in both Hurghada and Sharm el Sheikh have had plenty of experience thanks to the crazy Russian divers who flock there." True to stereotype, a Russian diver, Kristini Osipova (46), went missing in late August after her husband, Yuri Osipov (41), left her at 400 feet (indicated by his computer) as she continued deeper at a reef south of Hurghada. The husband returned to their liveaboard, suffering decompression sickness. The search for his wife was unsuccessful. There were 27 Russian divers on a 10-day diving charter on a vessel reportedly called MY Turquoise. So-called experts were quoted in the Egyptian press as saying, "After 15 hours underwater, there's every chance she may not still be alive!" How insightful.

Orcas Taking Revenge? More than 250 boats have been damaged by orcas since 2020, with 15 of the Iberian peninsula's orcas believed to be responsible. Scientists say the Mediterranean rammings are just a playful fad, warning that demonizing them could put the already endangered animals at risk. The animals caused damage, varying from teeth marks on vessels' rudders to the sinking of five boats. No doubt some enterprising writer is already conjuring up a story demonizing orcas as Jaws demonized sharks.

New Mexico, a Hotbed for Scuba? That's what marketplace.org would have us believe. Albuquerque has eight scuba schools, three within two miles of each other. So, what's the attraction in this landlocked state, Breaking Bad country? About 120 miles away is a big, rocky sinkhole filled with groundwater. Technically, the Santa Rosa Blue Hole is an 80-foot-deep artesian well with excellent visibility, one of the few training sites in the American Southwest. Divers from Oklahoma, Texas, and Colorado drive to fin in its refreshing 62°F water.

Spectacular Diving in Indonesia. One of our well-traveled writers visited an isolated embryonic resort, Maratua Island, Kalimantan, Indonesia. and found the reefs loaded with everything from critters to thresher sharks, and there was hardly a diver around. We've posted her story on our website and you can read all about it here.

Time to Subscribe to Undercurrent? If you enjoyed our mid-month email, you'll enjoy the Undercurrent newsletter more. Not only that, in addition you have full access to more than 10,000 Undercurrent independent readers' reports -- opinions and impressions posted without fear or favor by those who have stayed at the resorts or have been on liveaboards worldwide. I am offering you a seven-month trial subscription for just $19.95. If you want your money back at any time during this period, you'll get it, a promise I've kept since we started publishing in 1975. Click Here.

Ben Davison, editor/publisher
BenDDavison@undercurrent.org