Undercurrent Online Update
for Subscribers

For Subscriber David Denson Whiteside (with username 'dwhitesi' exp: 2024-08-20', at dwhite95815@hotmail.com )
November 20, 2015
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Join the nonprofit Turtle Island Restoration Network (TIRN) for one of its three 2016 dive expeditions to Cocos Island to help scientists study and protect sea turtles and sharks, while enjoying three dives a day. There’s a special 10-day “Earth Day Celebration” trip in April aboard the Sea Hunter, a 12-day trip in August, also aboard the Sea Hunter, and a 10-day trip in November aboard the Argo. TIRN is offering Undercurrent subscribers a free rash guard and a raffle ticket worth $100 for a 1-in-200 chance to win a spot aboard a future trip. Prices start at $6,135, and my accountant would find that much of that is tax-deductible. Visit www.SeaTurtles.org/expeditions/ or contact info@seaturtles.org, and mention Undercurrent.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is asking divers to help it identify aluminum scuba tanks that have invalid RINs stamped into the tank, near the neck, which erroneously claim the tank has been hydro tested. Someone is stamping phony and invalid RINs that appear as a letter “C” over the letter “L,” stamped between the month and year of the hydro test date. Who’s doing this? Apparently, someone in Southern California who doesn’t want to pay for proper hydro testing, says Mark Gresham, CEO of the scuba cylinder inspection agency PSI-PCI. In August, a California dive shop found a tank with a phony RIN, and a month later, the same markings showed up on a tank in a Hawaii dive shop that had cylinders shipped from California. If you see or have a tank with the improper RIN, contact DOT official Earl Whitley at earl.whitley@dot.gov or 909-222-9546.

Ran Mor from Mozaik Underwater Cameras just sent us this email: “Ikelite started an awesome promotion, valid until December 26, dropping their prices up to $400 on various products, including housings, ports, and strobes. It's an excellent opportunity to save on your next purchase, especially if you were looking for a more affordable option for your DSLR (there are price drops of $200 to $400 on DSLR housings.” One example we saw on Mozaik’s website: DSLR housing for a Canon EOS 1200D is marked down from $1,600 to $1,200. View the sale at http://www.housingcamera.com/time-limited-promotions/.

Are these really the world’s most dangerous dives? . . . safety questions to ask yourself before going off to a remote dive destination . . .. . what gets you a better dive package deal: the Internet or the travel agent? . . . do the politics of DEMA serve sport divers? . . . what rats can tell us about diving, drinking and DCS . . . and much more.

The folks at the Underwater Photography Guide are giving away more than $75,000 worth of prizes in its fifth annual photo competition, including more than 20 scuba resort, liveaboard, and underwater photo gear packages (brand names include SEA&SEA, Ikelite and Light & Motion). If you’ve got a photo you want to submit, the submission deadline is Tuesday, November 24 at 11:59pm U.S. Pacific time. For more info, go to http://www.uwphotographyguide.com/ocean-art/.

Our readers and our editors need your help. Please send us your personal reports of this year's land-based or liveaboard dive trips to be included in the 2016 edition of our Travelin' Divers Chapbook (we offer that as our December issue) as soon as you can. Just as you rely on Undercurrent, we and your fellow readers rely on you to report your dive travel experiences. Send in your Report via our online form. You can also follow the link "File a Report" on the left side of our homepage.

It’s not every day you see a sea lion catching a ride on the back of a whale, but these lucky whale watchers got the chance. It’s at the end of this 1:40 YouTube video (after close-ups of the whales near the boat, and a giant whale penis) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX7mN2l5i28.

Ben Davison, editor/publisher
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