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

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September 9, 2020

Shark experts at Walker's Cay: Jeremy Stafford-Deitsch, Erich Ritter, & Gary Adkison
(photo by John Bantin)

Controversial Shark Expert Dies. Swiss-born Erich Ritter (61) unexpectedly passed away in his sleep at his Florida home in late August. He gained degrees in zoology and paleontology at the University of Zurich, but it was his shark behavior theories that sometimes drew him into conflict with other shark experts. His approach tended to divide opinion between those who saw him as an insightful champion of sharks and others who regarded his theories as unscientific and his attitude reckless. He reckoned he could lower his heart rate so that the sharks did not recognize him as prey and some thought he took unnecessary risks, for example, denying a shark the bait by putting his body in the way. In 2002, he survived a severe shark attack during filming at Walker's Cay with Nigel Marven for Discovery Channel, during an attempt to prove to Florida shark attack victims of that year that sharks were not dangerous. As a pundit, Ritter came up with terms such as 'angstination' – the combination of fear and fascination inspired in humans by sharks. www.divernet.com

Another Legend Passes. Pioneering Florida underwater photographer, author, and publisher Jerry Greenberg has passed. He began manufacturing underwater housings way back in 1953 and invented the first waterproof marine identification cards. He was among the first to sound the alarm that coral reefs were imperiled and was inducted into the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame in 2004. Jerry was very helpful to Undercurrent in our early days.

Questions Arise Over World Depth Record. Not so relevant to the amateur scuba diver, in 2014, an Egyptian army colonel, Ahmed Gabr, broke the scuba depth Guinness World Record, formerly held by Nuno Gomes, by diving to 1090 feet deep. Now, insiders to the event are beginning to allege inconsistencies that reveal the attempt might have been faked. These deep-diving records are notoriously tricky to adjudicate, but if we find out more, we'll let you know. You can read Michael Menduno’s comprehensive interview with Gabr and the ramifications here.

Charges Loom for Conception Fire Deaths. Court documents say criminal charges are imminent after 34 people were killed aboard the dive boat Conception last year. A year after the tragedy Capt. Jerry Boylan was briefed on the evidence prosecutors have against him. Prosecutors would only need to prove simple negligence or misconduct on the part of the captain or crew. A conviction carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. Since the fire, the Coastguard has issued additional safety recommendations such as the unsupervised charging of lithium batteries and the use of extension cords and power strips. Click here to view the article.

Good News for Some. Travelers from New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, or Connecticut who can present a negative coronavirus test will be able to fly to Costa Rica starting September 1. Costa Rica is the jumping-off point for Cocos Island. See here for details.

Odds Slimmer Than You Might Think. That's what some scientists are saying about your chances of catching Covid-19 on a flight. However, this doesn't account for risks you might encounter within the airport, and at the end of August, sixteen passengers on a flight from Zante to London tested positive after a small number of passengers refused to wear masks, and another 200 faced 14 days of quarantine. You can read it here.

Indonesia Closed for This Year. Bali, the Indonesian island, popular with foreign tourists from all parts of the world, will not be open to visitors in 2020. The plan to reopen in September has been scrapped over concerns about Indonesia's mounting Covid-19 cases. The move has renewed worries about the impact on residents in an economy heavily dependent on tourism. Not only has Bali been popular with traveling divers but is also one of the ports of departure for some liveaboards operating in the Indonesian islands to the East.

Illegal Aquarium Trade Busy in Hawaii. A 47-year-old Naalehu man is another Big Island resident to be cited for the unlawful collection of fish for the aquarium trade. Jason Beevers was arrested when enforcement officers spotted his boat while patrolling in waters off South Point, Ka'u, and after they boarded it, they found 333 yellow tangs and three Achilles tangs. Meanwhile, another alleged offender Tyron T. Terazono awaits a Court hearing after his vessel was boarded back in February, and 550 live fish were successfully returned to the ocean. West Hawaii Today

Plastic Crisis Unabated. Scientists now calculate that the upper 600-feet of the ocean alone contains up to 21 million metric tons of plastic waste. The trash isn't vanishing; it's simply getting ground down and dispersed in the sea. Macro-plastics like bags and bottles are breaking into micro-plastics (defined as bits less than 5 millimeters long) that swirl around and sink eventually sink to the seafloor. They sampled 12 sites in the middle of the Atlantic between the UK and the Falkland Islands, and in a single cubic meter of seawater, they found up to 7,000 plastic particles. Nature Communications

Hope for Florida's Coral Reefs. Scientists have coaxed imperiled Florida coral to spawn in the lab for the first time. After two years and more than $4.5 million, scientists working with the Florida Aquarium have finally pulled off something no one else ever has managed. When 30,000 coral larvae were hatched and began wiggling around, in just one day of observing those larvae, they learned more about successfully raising them than they had ever known. When they mature in around two years, the scientists will explore replanting them in the Keys as part of an effort to rebuild the declining reef system. Tampa Bay Times

Something for Divers to Consider. Covid-19 is a complex, multisystem disease that can have profound effects on many parts of the body, including the heart. A study, published in the European Heart Journal - Cardiovascular Imaging, found that around one in seven people suffering from Covid-19, who had heart scans in hospital, showed severe abnormalities likely to have a major effect on their survival and recovery. It also showed that one in three patients who received an echocardiography scan had their treatment changed as a result. bhf.org.uk

Those Damned Full-face Snorkeling Masks Again. Dive centers and other members of Egypt's Chamber of Diving and Watersports in the Red Sea resorts have been advised to discourage people from using full-face snorkeling masks. Full-face snorkeling masks have been linked with in-water fatalities before, notably following a spate of incidents in Hawaii last year, though the link was not conclusive. The tightly fitting head-straps have also been claimed to make the masks more difficult to remove in an emergency. www.divernet.com

DPV Record Attempt. Sophie Kenningale, of Leagues Ahead Diving on Spain's Gran Canaria island, tells us that on October 8, they will be attempting to set a new distance world record by scuba diving with a diver propulsion vehicle for more than 30 miles, within 12 hours. You can check their progress by going here.

That Reef Isn't Dead! Dead coral rubble can support more animals than live coral, according to University of Queensland researchers trialing a high-tech sampling method. Dead coral rubble supports more call 'cryptic' animals than live coral. These are simply hidden creatures that include tiny crabs, fishes, snails and worms – all of which hide in the nooks and crannies of the reef to avoid predation - and just like on land with small insects and bugs, biodiversity in the sea can be dominated by these tiny invertebrates. Environmental News Network

A Million Pieces of Trash. John Aaron Bozanic, son of technical diving instructor and research scientist Jeff Bozanic, is an Eagle Scout whose fourth project in conservation started as an underwater clean-up along California's coast, but as Covid-19 restrictions have limited diving activities, he widened it to make it a nationwide clean-up with Scouts and volunteers reporting activities from all 50 states, and worldwide, with the ambition to collect a million pieces of trash. You can find out more here.

$100,000 Fine for Super Yacht. The anchor chain of the $41 million yacht my.Formosa scythed through 11,000 square feet of Hawaii's precious coral as the vessel swung at anchor, destroying 431 coral colonies in Kailua Bay back in 2018, but the penalty fine was announced this week. After surveying the damage, biologists from the Division of Aquatic Resources took to repairing the affected coral. They did three dives to reposition more than 50 large colonies and to stabilize more than 250 coral fragments. The yacht is now up for sale. Business Insider

Two Wrecks Found Off Baja. Located near Magdalena Bay Rocks, the virtually intact wreck of a First World War submarine at around 50-feet deep, and the boilers and other remains of the steamship SS. Independence, lost in 1853 with 150 lives, have been discovered by a team from Nautilus Dive Adventures and has been added to their Mexican trip itineraries. Click here.

Thought for the Day from Undercurrent's Senior Editor, John Bantin: "After 25 years successfully providing photographs for first-division advertising campaigns and another 23 years as Britain's most prolifically published underwater photographer with 75,000 photos in my library, I've realised it's the photos of the people you meet that are the ones you want to keep. Sharks and nudibranchs might always be there but not the people you met along the way."

Stay Safe,

Ben Davison, editor/publisher
BenDDavison@undercurrent.org