Undercurrent Online Update for Subscribers

For David Denson Whiteside (with username 'dwhitesi', exp: 2024-08-20, at dwhite95815@hotmail.com )

Forward this email | Home | Login | Forgot Password? | My Account | FAQ

A pdf of this email is attached for your convenience

May 19, 2020

Bruce Bowker, Iconic Bonaire Dive Leader, Dies. Bruce Bowker, the owner of the long-established Carib Inn on Bonaire, died on May 9 from the head injuries he sustained in an accident unconnected with scuba diving, on May 5. He was instrumental in 1999, in raising funds with the help of the Dutch Royal family to buy Klein Bonaire, which was donated to the people of Bonaire under the strict stipulation that it should never be developed. It is now officially designated as a Protected Area, and it is part of the Bonaire National Marine Park. His family intend to keep Carib Inn operating as soon as Covid restrictions are lifted -- see here.

Traveler's Tales-of-Woe Update: It's been a harrowing time for the dive travel industry, and many people we contacted were understandably a little tardy at getting back to us when we contacted them about specific problems our readers encountered. After we published the story of Josh Hall (also known as Michael) in Undercurrent (May), PADI Travel contacted us to say that they have worked extremely hard to advocate on his behalf and ultimately bore the cost for him, as the boat operator of MV. Dolphin in the Philippines was unwavering (with them and other agents). Josh says he's now happy with the outcome. Whether our story led to the positive results is anyone's guess.

Rogue Scuba Instructor: A scuba instructor in San Jose, California, has been in prison since March 12 for molesting a 13-year-old student during seven months of private diving lessons, and prosecutors are trying to find out if anyone else has been molested by him. Bruce Fischer, 62, of Newark, California, was charged with 22 counts of child molestation. He is being held without bail and has not yet entered a plea. The alleged abuse began in January 2019 after private lessons at San Jose State University's pool and in Monterey County, but Fischer doesn't work at the University. He is a private PADI dive instructor working through a company called Any Water Works. His LinkedIn page says he has been affiliated with the company since 2006, providing training and certification “at all levels,” from beginner to master diver. If you know of anyone who might be a victim or who otherwise has information about the case, contact the San Jose State University Police Department at (408) 924-2222. (San Jose Mercury News)

Open and Shut Cases. Filled with optimism, Nautilus Dive Adventures has announced the reinstatement of its Socorro trips in mid-June. With hotels in Cabo San Lucas planning to reopen May 17 and the lockdown in Mexico due to finish at the end of the month, some airlines plan to resume flying from the USA and Canada. Augmenting its fleet, Nautilus is also introducing a new vessel, the MV. Westerly, for operations in the Sea of Cortez, starting September.

Slow Down on Cayman: Meanwhile, the Cayman government confirms that the islands will remain closed to visitors until at least the beginning of September. This may well set a precedent for other Caribbean nations as well although there are rumors that Saba and other islands in the Netherland Antilles will open on June 1.

Long Distance Shark. A ten-foot tiger shark tagged by non-profit OCEARCH with a satellite tracker has surprised researchers by trekking 4,000 miles from the Mozambique coast, across the Indian Ocean to within 800 miles of Indonesia. Researchers with the Biopixel Oceans Foundation and the Oceanographic Research Institute are behind the discovery, and they're trying to figure out where is it heading and why?

Personal PADI Certification Details Exposed? Security Discovery, a cybersecurity company, says it has discovered an open and unprotected Elasticsearch data server that appears to contain personal details of more than two million US-based divers certified by PADI. Even though this data is said not to contain payment or sensitive information, such structured and targeted collection of data would pose a clear risk to people whose data was exposed. An identity thief or phishing actor couldn't ask for a better payload. The company says PADI has been notified. You may read more about it here.

Do You Know a Diver Who Became Infected by COVID-19? Did it happen while they were traveling? Where did they go? Who did they dive with? Do you know their email address? Write to BenDEditor@undercurrent.org, not forgetting to add your town and state.

Thousands More Sharks Killed for Fins. Customs officers in Hong Kong, alerted by suspicious labeling in Spanish, seized 26-tons of illegal dried shark fins worth more than $1 million. The fins came from two species vulnerable to extinction - thresher and silky sharks. An estimated 38,000 sharks would have been killed to provide so many fins. HK Customs officials have already foiled nine other shark fins smuggling cases in the first four months of this year.

Lost Leg Recovered: 13-year-old Sebastian Morris went scuba diving with his dad in St.Andrews State Park, near Panama City, FL, on May 9 and stumbled across a prosthetic leg stuck in the sand. Determined to find its owner, they started a Facebook page to spread the word. It turned out that Carter Hess had lost his leg when hit by a large wave while surfing back in April. They two parties met up at a newly reopened restaurant and the leg was returned to its happy owner.

Sandbar Sharks Gather off Israel's Coast. With seas empty of people due to the Coronavirus crisis, numerous critically endangered sandbar sharks have been spotted off Israel's Mediterranean coast. Sharks gravitate toward the warmer water emitted by the power plant at Hadera, but sandbar sharks are a rare sight.

COVID-19 Will Change the Way We Fly. Higher fares, fewer routes, pre-flight health checks, and less free food: The coronavirus pandemic is ushering in a new era of air travel. So, suggests an article in Bloomberg News, there's no knowing when people will be willing to pack into enclosed cabin spaces again. EasyJet is among those planning to keep middle seats empty, and Korean Air Lines cabin crew now wear goggles, masks gloves, and protective gowns. A further concern is that customers will be put off by health-related entry rules that may differ from country to country, especially during an uneven opening-up process. Travelers may be subjected to temperature checks, or they may even need health certificates to fly. That could be time-consuming and complicate flight schedules.

A Sci-Fi Approach to Coronavirus Safety. Hong Kong Airport has installed CleanTech pods for a 40-second sanitization procedure aimed at arriving passengers. These check a person's body temperature before allowing them into the pod, and once inside, apply a sanitizing and disinfecting process employing a UV-based photocatalyst and a sanitizing spray aimed at clothing and carry-on items. The booths are currently being tested by airport staff. Additionally, intelligent sterilization robots are being deployed to clean restrooms and other high-traffic areas, applying antimicrobial coatings to all high-touch areas.

Double Tragedy at Cape Lookout, NC. Pharmacist James May and his wife, pharmacy manager at Piedmont Health, Carla May, went diving on the Box Wreck, 25 miles off the coast, with Discovery Diving on May 10. When they failed to return, and their bubbles stopped breaking the surface, another diver went down to investigate and found them both unresponsive on the seabed. CPR failed to revive either. The couple was from Franklin. NC. The cause of their deaths is yet to be determined. The Box Wreck is around 100-feet deep.

Explorer Ventures Replies. In response to the story in Tales of Woes Among Traveling Divers (Undercurrent May), Clay McCardell of Explorer Ventures wrote, “We and probably every other travel business has refined our rebooking procedures over time in response to both rapid developments and lack of clarity in this unprecedented situation. Everyone's situation is different, and we are doing our best to be as flexible as we possibly can.”

Coke and Pepsi Sued for Plastic Pollution. According to its website, Earth Island, a Berkeley, CA-based environmental group, has filed the first major lawsuit against Crystal Geyser Water Company, The Clorox Company, The Coca-Cola Company, Pepsico Inc., Nestlé USA, Inc., Mars, Incorporated, Danone North America, Mondelez Global LLC, Colgate-Palmolive Company, and The Procter & Gamble Company for polluting our waterways, coasts, and oceans with millions of tons of plastic packaging. Research suggests that around 150 million metric tonnes of plastic are currently floating around our oceans, with that number is increasing at a rate of between 8 and 20 million tonnes per year.

Caribbean/Atlantic 2020 Hurricane Season Likely to be Tough: Nearly all the predicting agencies are saying the number and ferocity of the hurricanes will be more than usual. The average forecast -- for the 13 groups predicting -- is eight hurricanes. With the pandemic, if the hurricanes landfall, the result could be far more complicated than normal. Hurricane Season runs from June 1 to November 30, with September and October typically being the toughest months.

Undercurrent's Monthly Newsletter is in Hiatus pending the outcome of the pandemic, and subscriptions are held in abeyance - your subscription is extended for free during this time. No new subscriptions or renewals are accepted at this time.

Stay Home. Stay Safe. Protect Your Loved Ones.

Ben Davison, editor/publisher
Contact Ben