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Liveaboard Disaster in the Seychelles
Daft Diver Jeopardizes His Passengers
Cocos Island June Shark Scuba Expedition Deal
Something for Super-Macro Fans
Some Full-face Snorkeling Masks Prove Dangerous
Leaving Jail, Wreck Hunter Stays Taciturn
Everything You Have Ever Wanted to Know About an Octopus
Your Fellow Divers Need a Report on Your Last Dive Trip

Liveaboard Disaster in the Seychelles   March 26, 2026

On March 13, the Galatea, a 100-foot Turkish-built steel-hulled gulet accommodating up to 14 divers, sank in bad weather near Marie-Louise Island, in the Indian Ocean, around 160 miles southwest of Mahé, the Seychelles capital. According to one source, ten people were rescued and transported to Desroches Island by dinghy, including a Swiss woman who was later found at sea. Three others, including the vessel's French owner and two Swiss guests, remain missing, and the search has been suspended. Authorities were considering dispatching a salvage vessel to tow the Galatea into shallower waters so it would be easier for divers to access the interior and search for bodies, but we have not received word whether they proceeded.

Daft Diver Jeopardizes His Passengers   March 26, 2026

When you're the only one who can drive the boat, best not to leave it to go diving. That's what the skipper of a small boat off Wellington, New Zealand, did on March 5. His two passengers became alarmed when suddenly winds up to 55mph drove waves as high as six feet. The 18-foot sports fishing boat began to be blown out to sea as night approached. They phoned the police, and rescue vessels and a helicopter were dispatched. An inflatable transferred a boat driver to the stricken vessel. The captain/diver, missing his boat, had made it to the shore.

Cocos Island June Shark Scuba Expedition Deal   March 26, 2026

Join Turtle Island Restoration Network for a 10-day research-driven liveaboard expedition aboard the Sea Hunter to Cocos Island National Park, Costa Rica, one of the world's top dive sites. This mission includes shark monitoring, turtle tagging, and policy-oriented conservation science, with evening discussions with Turtle Island's founder, Todd Steiner, and others. June 25 – July 5, 2026, seven full days of diving (21 dives) with great meals, US$7,804 (much of this may be tax-deductible), and ask about a last-minute discount. Contact Todd at tsteiner@seaturtles.org or call 415-488-7652. https://seaturtles.org/event/cocos2026

Something for Super-Macro Fans   March 26, 2026

Divers photographed a tiny marine invertebrate, a sea squirt less than an inch long, off the coast of Japan, and it turned out to be a new species. Nicknamed the "skeleton panda," its markings resemble a panda's face set against a bony frame. The white parts that look like bones are the blood vessels, and the black parts on the head that look like a panda's eyes and nose are just patterns. It attaches itself to hard substrates and pumps water through siphons to extract plankton and other small organic materials. (Daily Galaxy)

Some Full-face Snorkeling Masks Prove Dangerous   March 26, 2026

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has warned people to stop using OUSPT full-face snorkeling masks, made by Field Life of China, of which 84,000 units have been sold through Amazon. The full story will be in the April issue of Undercurrent.

Leaving Jail, Wreck Hunter Stays Taciturn  March 26, 2026

In December 2015, American shipwreck-salvager Tommy Thompson was imprisoned for civil contempt by an Ohio District Court. He had refused to comply with orders to disclose the location of 500 gold coins taken from a historic shipwreck. Their whereabouts continue to remain unknown, since the 73-year-old Thompson refused to say a word about them and was released from prison this March, after serving more than a decade behind bars. In 1988, Thompson led an expedition that located the Atlantic wreck of the passenger and mail steamship Central America. Carrying a cargo of California Gold Rush bullion, it sank in 1857 during a hurricane.

Everything You Have Ever Wanted to Know About an Octopus   March 26, 2026

A brain in every arm: no octopus has a living mother: how they treat humans they don't like. And much more in this brilliant two-minute twenty-seconds video.

Your Fellow Divers Need a Report on Your Last Dive Trip   March 26, 2026

The unedited reports of your and other members' dive trips form an ever-growing resource, with more than 11,000 entries in the Undercurrent database, for other divers who may follow in your fin strokes. By November 30, please share with your fellow divers where you have been diving, conveying both the good and the bad, as well as everything in between. Your reports will brief other subscribers about the dive resorts you've visited and the liveaboards you've taken. Don't hold back. You can post photos too. File your report at www.undercurrent.org/SubRR, and we will include it in the year's Chapbook, which will be sent to you and all readers in December each year. We appreciate your support.

Ben Davison, editor/publisher
BenDDavison@undercurrent.org

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Note: Undercurrent is a registered 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization donating funds to help preserve coral reefs. Our travel writers never announce their purpose, are unknown to the destination, and receive no complimentary services or compensation from the dive operators or resort.

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