Flotsam & Jetsam

New Octopus Documentary Series. A three-part documentary on National Geographic Live and Disney+ offers a fantastic glimpse into the lives and behaviors of octopuses. Dr. Alex Schnell, a marine biologist and comparative psychologist, spent years studying cephalopod behavior, and she reveals her great passion in Secrets of the Octopus. The series highlights the immense diversity of the enigmatic cephalopods, with the day-time octopus of the Great Barrier Reef; blue-ringed, coconut, and mimic octopuses in the Lembeh Strait; and Canada's giant Pacific octopus among many highlighted.

Pipin Loses a Libel Case. If you had watched the 2022 Netflix film No Limit (Sous Emprise in French), you might well have assumed it was a parallel story in fiction of the actual death - perhaps murder - of record-setting free diver Audrie Mestre. Well, José Ferreras (Pipin) thought so. The movie leaves little doubt that the free-diving character Roxana was killed in some wayward plan by her lover, Pascal, and Ferreras believed it accused him of causing his wife's death, and sued Netflix for libel. His lawyer stated, "This is one of the strongest libel-in-fiction cases I've come across." The judge thought differently and threw out the case. Ferreras plans to appeal.

Drought. The Caribbean is facing a massive water crisis due to the lack of rainfall, but it is exacerbated by population growth, agriculture commercialization, and record tourism, with cruise ships leading the way. Dominica has a significant decrease in freshwater resources, St. Vincent and St. Kitts have had to ration water, and aquifers on Utila are disappearing. Every island is affected. Even so, islands divert water to hotels and tourist-dependent businesses, often leaving locals without water for hours or days and fining them if they violate use restrictions. And for divers, Mexico City, population 22 million, may only be a stopover, but it will start to run out of water as early as June - another example of what's happening south of the U.S. Keep in mind we're only visitors.

Another Silly Scuba Record. In Curacao in April, 138 scuba divers played dominos in a bid to gain a new Guinness world record, beating the number of divers who set the record at 60 in a pool in the U.K. 10 years ago. The Curaçao divers hovered around 35 tables suspended by buoys and played in groups of four for 23 minutes, with a Guinness official as a witness.

Orca Gang Sinks Yacht. A pod of orcas has sunk a yacht after ramming it in the strait of Gibraltar, the latest in a series of similar incidents involving the animals. The vessel, Alboran Cognac, which measured 49 feet in length and carried two people, encountered the highly social apex predators on May 12. The passengers felt sudden blows to the hull and rudder before the boat started taking on water. A nearby oil tanker transported them to Gibraltar, leaving the yacht to sink. Scientists believe the marauding orcas are juveniles out for fun. Or we think they may be trying to get back at idiots like the New Zealander who jumped off his boat a few weeks ago to cannonball an orca. He was fined about $370 U.S., not enough in our minds. (The Guardian)

Pedaling An Underwater Bike? Many divers are fond of DPVs, but what do you do when the battery runs flat? Now, a French company, Seabike, has come up with a novel idea: harnessing the efficiency of a propeller to increase the power of your legs. The crank-driven pusher prop looks like an underwater unicycle with a 15-inch propeller. You can cycle backward, too. Aimed initially at swimmers, we'll have to see if the idea catches on with scuba divers. (New Atlas)

Coral Bleaching Hits Thailand. According to the Thai Department of National Parks, 19 of 26 marine parks are subject to extensive coral bleaching. Eight are in the Gulf of Thailand, and the others in the Andaman Sea. To address the problem. Some parks have been closed until the situation improves. (Bangkok Post)

Divers Find a Mastodon Tusk. Exploring half a mile off a Venice beach (FL) in late May, Blair Morrow and Alex Lundberg discovered the tusk of an Ice Age mammoth sticking out of the sand. Around four feet long, it could be a million years old. Venice Beach area is known for finds of shark teeth, including fossil megalodon teeth.

Whale Sharks Disappearing. Scientists are spotting fewer large whale sharks in global oceans; the primary reason may be that commercial ships are hitting them in shipping lanes, like those off the coast of the Yucatan. A new study showed that reducing vessel speed by 75 percent increased transit time by just five percent, making it much easier for ship captains to see and avoid sharks. Another simulation showed that re-routing ships away from core habitats was even less disruptive for shipping, with transit time increasing by just 0.5 percent - an average of around 2.4 hours per vessel. Will anyone listen?

Cozumel's Dark Side. While divers visiting Cozumel enjoy what seems like a tranquil little island with 90,000 residents, it has dark corners. On May 21, authorities found two bundles of marijuana washed up near Playa Punta Sur, and later that day, ten packages of cocaine were discovered toward Punta Molas, and later, six more were found entangled in seaweed in the Arrecifes area. In April, two adults and a minor were arrested for committing three murders this year; in May, a couple was arrested for heading Cozumel crime group for 11 years, that engaged in arms trafficking, kidnappings, extortion, and drug dealing. Sure, visit Cozumel and enjoy it. Tourists aren't a target, but just exercise the caution you would, say, in Miami or New York. (Riviera Maya News)

Keep Your Bullets Out of Cozumel. On May 26, an American man who landed at the Cozumel Airport was arrested when officials found nearly 100 unused gun cartridges in his suitcase. Bringing "war materiel" into Mexico is a federal offense. He was taken to a Cancun jail until he is presented before a judge.