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Huish Recalls 7,200 Regulators
A Surface Marker Might Save Your Life
Do You Really Protect Reefs?
An Underwater Mailbox?
Not So Shy Swine
Now Customs Problems Reach Cozumel
Ever Dived Nauru?
Disappearing Cuttlefish
Your Fellow Divers Need a Report on Your Last Dive Trip

Huish Recalls 7,200 Regulators.   August 17, 2026

If the Hollis 200LX regulator second stage is dropped or struck near the inhalation-control knob, the inlet tube can crack or break, and may cut off air underwater -- obviously a dangerous problem. Huish Outdoors, the parent company, has received 17 reports of the inlet tubes breaking. If you have a Hollis 200LX regulator, don't use it again and return it to an authorized Hollis dealer for free rectification. You can also contact Huish Outdoors (www.hollis.com) to obtain a prepaid shipping label to return the product by mail for a free repair. Otherwise, email recalls@hollis.com.

A Surface Marker Might Save Your Life.   August 17, 2026

A lobster mini-season dive turned into an emergency when three Florida Keys divers surfaced on August 2 and were unable to see their boat. Luckily, a person remaining on the divers' own boat issued an emergency call that reached first responders just before noon. Within minutes of launching the joint search, personnel in a U.S. Navy Search and Rescue helicopter were able to spot a surface marker and the three men from a quarter mile away, two miles from their boat. The Coast Guard said the marker was the reason they were able to locate the drifting divers. The three had started their dive near Duck Key during Florida's popular two-day recreational lobster mini-season.

Do You Really Protect Reefs?   August 17, 2026

No doubt you have seen divers land on reefs, kick them, or grab them. What did the dive guide do, correct them or ignore them? What did you do at the time or when back on board? Did you do or say something about it, or decide to stay out of it? What about that obviously careless diver or an over-weighted diver plowing through the coral? Did you take them quietly aside? Do you call them out once you were both out of the water? If not, why not? Have you ever seen a divemaster correct a diver? Or ignore their carelessness? Let us hear your story. Let us know your name or, if you wish, stay anonymous. But please tell us your story and your thoughts. Write to BenDDavison@undercurrent.org.

An Underwater Mailbox?   August 17, 2026

A struggling Japanese beach town needed tourists, so its postmaster sank a mailbox 30 feet underwater. Susami is a small fishing town in Wakayama Prefecture with a population of around 3,700 people. It was the kind of place tourists drove through without stopping. In 1999, Toshihiko Matsumoto, the town's 70-year-old postmaster, thought he could fix that. His solution was to sink a working mailbox into Susami Bay, 30 feet below the surface. Matsumoto arranged for waterproof plastic postcards to be sold at the local dive shop, along with oil-based markers that wouldn't smear. "I thought it would be interesting if divers could send letters from under the sea." Today, divers deposit up to 1,500 pieces of mail each year.

Not So Shy Swine.   August 17, 2026

Divers often stop off at Stirrup Cay in the Grand Bahama-Exuma Islands to dive with feral pigs – yes, the pigs like to play in the water with people. New Yorker Jason Gordon visited from the Bahamas' Exuma Island chain on a cruise ship and took a dip with the swine, but one clamped down on his right leg and drew blood, later requiring stitches and painful post-exposure treatment to fend off the possibility of developing rabies. Nobody knows how the pigs came to be on the island, but if you plan to take a break from diving in the Bahamas to snorkel with them, be aware they, just like sharks, have teeth.

Now Customs Problems Reach Cozumel.   August 17, 2026

Back in October 2019, Undercurrent reported the experience of divers landing in Cabo San Lucas and being charged a non-refundable 19 percent import tax on their underwater photography equipment. From current reports, it appears that customs officials in Cozumel and Cancun have caught on to the idea and are similarly charging those who bring in any electronic equipment, including GoPro cameras and dive computers. The amount demanded seems to be quite arbitrary, as it is down to the discretion of the particular official whether to charge or even for how much. Undercurrent investigates the current state of play. Results in the September issue.

Ever Dived Nauru?   August 17, 2026

In our 50 years of publishing, we've only heard from two people who dived the South Pacific island nation of Nauru, and now, no one will dive it again. You see, it has changed its name to the Republic of Naoero, matching the spelling and pronunciation in the national language, much like Turkey is now Türkiye.

Disappearing Cuttlefish.   August 17, 2026

A cuttlefish is a diver favorite, but in South Australia they have disappeared almost overnight. Each year, up to hundreds of thousands of giant Australian cuttlefish assemble off the coast of Whyalla to breed, the only place globally where cuttlefish gather en masse. In surveys dating back to 1998, populations ranged from a low of 13,500 in 2013 to a high of 247,000 in 2020, with 63,000 just last year. This year, scientists counted just 43. Numbers this year were widely expected to be the lowest on record, after the devastating effects of the toxic Karenia algal bloom. The divers who surveyed the coastline in July counted only 440 eggs where there would normally be millions. On July 1, the state government introduced restrictions on snorkeling to minimize disturbance to breeding cuttlefish and help protect their eggs and hatchlings. Cuttlefish live short lives and adults usually die after breeding, making the population heavily dependent on the success of each breeding season.

Your Fellow Divers Need a Report on Your Last Dive Trip.   August 17, 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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