Undercurrent Online Update for Subscribers

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

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April 22, 2023

Cocos Island Liveaboard Volunteer Opportunity. The nonprofit Turtle Island Restoration Network has two spots left on their May 23 expedition aboard the Sea Hunter at a $500 discount. Besides seven days of fabulous diving, they will be catching sharks to insert internal tags (you can photograph). They expect to capture and tag turtles with the aid of several scientists/activists aboard. Talk to your accountant about the tax deductibility. Contact Todd Steiner at tsteiner@tirn.net or 415.488.7652. See here for details.

Has a Dive Operator Ever Stopped You Because You Were Too Old to Dive? An Undercurrent subscriber wrote that she and her husband are 77 years old and have about 150 dives, but they haven't been diving in a couple of years and have heard that some dive operations won't take people of a certain age, even if they pay extra to have their own dive master. Have you or your friends ever been turned away from a dive operation because you were too old? We'd like to hear about it. Write to BenDDavison@undercurrent.org, not forgetting to mention your town and state.

Deepest Fish Ever Seen. Scientists have filmed a species of snailfish swimming at the extraordinary depth of 27,349 feet, breaking the record for the deepest fish ever caught on camera. An autonomous lander submersible filmed it in the Izu-Ogasawara Trench, south of Japan. The lead expedition scientist said the snailfish could be at, or very close to, the maximum depth any fish can survive.

More Than Sargassum Washing Up in Cozumel. The influx of unsightly sargassum seaweed polluting Caribbean beaches is doing more than upsetting the tourist industry. It's upsetting the drug cartels too. At the beginning of April, military personnel patrolling the east side of Cozumel found 40 kilos (88lbs.) of illegal drugs in black bags tangled in the seaweed. Two weeks previously, officers found 65kg (143 lbs.) of cocaine bricks in the sargassum weed. (Riviera Maya News)

U.S. Government Failing to Protect Corals. Two years ago, the National Marine Fisheries Services promised to protect more than 6000 square miles of coral habitat and never did so, says the Center for Biological Diversity. They have filed a lawsuit to force the Service to act, specifying 12 endangered coral species across the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean that have been decimated by warming waters, pollution, and overfishing.

What’s That? A Drowning Diver? A South Carolina jogger thought she saw a man drowning in Lake Jocassee at the "crack ass of dawn" (her words), so she stripped to her underwear and swam out to save him. "This dude looked dead," she posted on TikTok. "His head was tipped back, eyes closed, bobbing like a fishing lure." When she got to him, she found herself surrounded by military divers on a training exercise. Laughing, they offered to help her back to shore, but she said, "Even if I had to dog paddle, I wouldn't accept that defeat . . . . At the shore, I threw my shoulders back and shame-marched out of the water in my sports bra and undies in front of some pretty badass men." (The Mirror)

Some Good News for Caribbean Corals. Scientists have discovered a new tool in their fight against the Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD), which is devastating the reefs of Florida and the Caribbean. Once infected, large hard coral structures that can take hundreds of years to grow can die in a few weeks. Since its discovery in Florida in 2014, it has infected corals in 72 other Caribbean territories. Led by Smithsonian Marine Station researchers, the study published in April in Communications Biology found that a bacterial probiotic treatment effectively stopped or slowed SCTLD in nearly two-thirds of tested infected coral fragments. It also prevented the infection from spreading in all laboratory transmission experiments. Researchers are actively starting field trials on diseased corals in the Florida Keys. Volunteers throughout the Caribbean are currently using an untested antibiotic paste with some success (Axios.com)

Want to Dive with Sudafed in Mexico? Be Careful. It is illegal in Mexico to possess over-the-counter drugs that contain pseudoephedrine (such as Actifed, Sudafed, and Vicks inhalers). If you're caught entering with them, they will be confiscated, and you may be arrested (pseudoephedrine is meth's key ingredient). However, if you have a medical prescription, you may carry prescribed drugs; the prescription requires the name of the doctor, his/her signature, contact details, and professional registration, all translated into Spanish. You may carry only the amount you need during your stay. You should also inform your airline before traveling. See here for details.

Your Travel Experiences are Important to Other Subscribers. Undercurrent readers' independent reports are vital to helping divers select their next destination. There's nothing like the unvarnished truth delivered by fellow divers to give an accurate impression of dive resorts and liveaboards, what their accommodations, diving, and safety are really like. Now numbering more than 11,000, these reports are unedited and tell it like it is -- which is where you come in. Please report on your recent trip and post it alongside others. Don't hold back -- tell both the good and the bad. It's easy to compose because you can edit as you go or even return to it later. You can even add photos if you wish. Go to www.undercurrent.org/SubRR to get started.

Coming Soon in Undercurrent: Are you safe on a liveaboard? . . . When insurance is only window-dressing . . . Dining insurance crisis for Caribbean operators . . . Helen Reef, Palau -- a reef 400 miles from Koror . . . Too many divers in Molokini Island's crater? . . . and much, much more.

A Spectacular New Wreck to Dive Coming Soon. Video footage released by Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine's Minister of Defense, taunts Russia on the first anniversary of the sinking of the Moskva, a prized Russian naval cruisier. Sunk in the Black Sea, it will be, says the Minister as he taunts Russia, "Ukraine's next big scuba diving attraction." www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vTT6MQqCsc

New Regulations for Whaleshark Encounters in Mexico. The annual aggregation of whale sharks off Mexico is known as the Afuera. The sharks aggregate annually off Holbox, Cancun and Isla Mujeres to feed on plankton and small fish. Under the Mexican Caribbean's ecotourism standards, the Whale Shark Reserve regulations include: No more than 10 people per boat, buddy-system swimming (maximum two people in the water at one time), no touching of whale sharks, snorkelers must keep a minimum of six feet from a whale shark, and flash photography is banned.

Ben Davison, editor/publisher
BenDDavison@undercurrent.org