Flotsam & Jetsam

A Few Corrections. We have a few errors to correct from our March issue. In the Rocio del Mar article, our writer swam with seals, not sea lions. In the article “Our Deteriorating Coral Reefs,” the resort St. George’s Reef is in Belize, not Bonaire. And in the sidebar “Join the Hunt for Lionfish,” Blue Magic Scuba is actually in Cozumel, not Cancun. I’ve been at this too long, it seems.

Contact Any Scuba Manufacturer. In our last issue, we lamented in the article “Where’s Your Customer Service, Scubapro?” how some dive gear makers didn’t list good contact info for themselves. Ken Kurtis, owner of Reef Seekers Dive in Beverly Hills, CA, told us that info is publicly available. “It’s on my website, www.reefseekers.com. Click on the ‘Merch & Mfgs’ icon, and you get a list of almost every manufacturer with their phone number, fax number and website.”

Thumbs Down. For that world-class photographer aboard the Komodo Siren last fall who, in the words of our spy, “ran across a pristine coral reef at 80 feet, fins under his arms (with extra weight) so he could position himself to get shots of manta rays passing through as they fed. I also witnessed him, with a divemaster at his side, scooping up nudibranchs, frogfish and other creatures in a large white plastic bowl. The DM would position the animal in the bowl while he took photos so he could have an all-white background to later Photoshop the picture into any background of his choice.”

See This Disney Movie. On April 22, Earth Day, Disney is releasing Oceans, a close-up look at marine life worldwide, using the latest film technology (meaning IMAX screens, hopefully, but probably not 3-D). Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud direct, Pierce Brosnan narrates. See the movie during its opening week, April 22-28, and a portion of your ticket sales goes to the Nature Conservancy’s “Adopt a Coral Reef” program.

Pot-Smuggling Diver. A smuggler in scuba gear braved the sewers along the U.S.- Mexico border to bring cannabis into the country. Via infrared camera, Border Patrol agents watched a group approach the border fence near Douglas, AZ, one morning; one man was carrying two bundles. The group ran away when the agents approached but the man was seen in the sewer, wading through waist-high water in scuba mask and tank. He fled back to Mexico but the pot he left behind was valued at $44,000.