Flotsam & Jetsam

What's a Black Water Dive? When Jeff Hauser (Telluride, CO) goes out with Aldora in Cozumel, he goes at night "far offshore where water is 800-1200 feet deep; they throw in some powerful lights for about 30 minutes, then we dive 20-70 feet deep to see what's coming around." (www.aldora.com/blackwater). Many operations are doing blackwater these days, like Jack's Diving Locker in Kona (jacksdivinglocker.com), and you'll be fascinated with the plankton varying as much as snowflakes. And, who knows? Maybe an oarfish or a squid will wander up from depth.

Cayman Aggressor IV Runs Aground. The well-established Caribbean liveaboard ran aground in Grand Cayman's North Sound on the morning of September 21. The 108-foot vessel was stuck on the reef, and while we reported, all guests and crew were removed in a timely manner, Undercurrent subscriber Jeffrey Haines (Port Saint Lucie, FL) was on board and gave us a firsthand report. He emailed us and said, "The vessel hit a solid reef, not a sandbar . . . It ran aground while steaming on auto-pilot at normal cruising speed at 2:30 a.m. . . The crew never called the coast guard until 4 a.m., and we were all stuck on the listing badly damaged boat until well after dawn . . . Not a timely evacuation at all. It was sheer luck that no one was seriously injured or killed."

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 it here. https://tinyurl.com/2mz4vhjh

Sponge Bob Hosts Sharks. A story in The New York Times tells how Australian ichthyologist John Pogonoski discovered up to 30 little banded catsharks hiding in the cavernous body of a single sponge. The discovery initially reported in the Journal of Fish Biology is the first on record of any shark using a sponge as a habitat. Little sharks are subject to other predatory fish. The sponge-burrowing turned out to be a popular activity, and researchers eventually discovered 57 such sharks in two kinds of sponge. We're not sure what the sponge gets out of the deal.

Older Divers. The second part of our September article will appear in our November issue. Sorry for the delay.

Watch Out for Big Bulls. Bull sharks are one of the three species involved in most fatal attacks in Australia. They can grow to 11 feet long and are considered particularly dangerous as they prefer warm coastal waters and can travel up rivers. Researchers have found certain conditions that increase the chances of encountering a large bull shark: when the water temperature is higher than 68°F, after heavy rain, or when the water is murky, because these are favorable conditions for ambush predators like bull sharks.

The DPG Masters Underwater Imaging Competition 2023 has a submission deadline of December 1. The prizes, worth more than $75,000, include dive trips with the world's top resorts and liveaboards, as well as the latest underwater photo and video gear. Entrants compete for prizes in eight categories, with the top image among the category winners receiving the grand prize of $1,000 in cash. More information here. https://tinyurl.com/8298tm5v