Flotsam & Jetsam

Preserved in Chilly Depths. Ernest Shackleton's Endurance has been discovered remarkably preserved in the freezing depths of Antarctic waters, but it's not the only such find. Six hundred feet deep in Michigan's Lake Superior, the 19th Century schooner Atlanta, a 160-foot vessel that sank in a storm in 1891, was photographed by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). Too cold and deep to dive for most, though.

Wakatobi to Reopen. In the light of Bali dropping COVID restrictions for most foreign visitors, the luxurious Wakatobi Resort in South Sulawesi has decided to reopen in June after it closed its doors in March 2020. During the 26-month interim, the proprietors upgraded the resort, including improving the airstrip (for private guest charter flights from Bali), widening the jetty, and updating the dive boats. They say many local reefs that had endured historic damage have since recovered to near-pristine status. www.wakatobi.com

Losing Their Color. Scientist Professor Terry Hughes of James Cook University says that the Great Barrier Reef's sixth mass bleaching event since 1998 is underway, recorded by monitoring flights operating along all 1,430 miles of the world heritage reef. Brightly colored fish are becoming increasingly rare, too, according to another study from James Cook University published in Global Change Biology. The diversity of fishes of different colors living in the ecosystem has declined sharply since the earlier 1998 global coral bleaching event.

Papua New Guinea is now Open. After two years of closure, fully vaccinated international travelers will be admitted to PNG, provided they can provide proof of a negative COVID test taken within 72 hours before leaving their original port of departure. They must take a further test on arrival. Test positive, and it's a quarantine. Rules change, so check the latest travel advice before departure.

South Atlantic Plundered by Vast Fishing Fleet. The Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise has encountered 400 fishing vessels in the South Atlantic, as governments at the UN have failed to agree on a Global Ocean Treaty to protect international waters. If the oceans are to survive, enormous areas must become off-limits to destructive fishing.

Key Largo Lion Fish Derby April 22-24. Join the Reef Environmental Educational Fund to clean the reefs of lionfish. www.reef.org/derby In the 2021 Florida state-wide challenge 21,146 Lionfish were removed by 180 divers. Brooks Feeser of Jupiter finished first in the recreational division with 1,632 fish removed. You can find a list of all the lionfish spearing challenges here: https://tinyurl.com/4dtd2xjh

Divers Surprised to See a Bushtail Possum Riding a Buoy at Sea. So, what else to do but rescue it? Speculation is that it may have been nesting on a boat when it set out to sea, so the possum panicked, jumped off, and headed to a buoy in the busy Portsea harbor in Australia's Victoria state. Divers from Redboats Scuba saw its plight and netted it, after it became frightened and jumped into the water. They've rescued cats, dogs, penguins, and people in the past.

Indonesia Update. It's now visa-on-arrival for tourists and foreign visitors at most international airports in Indonesia. No PCR test is required if you are fully vaccinated with no symptoms on arrival, provided you have a passport from one of the 42 major countries.

Feeling chilled? Watch This Movie. In 2010, Johanna Nordblad had a bike accident resulting in a broken leg. A doctor advised her to use cold water treatments, and in 2015 she set a women's world record by swimming 164-feet under the ice in one breath. In March 2021, she swam a CMAS-certified 338 feet without fins or wetsuit beneath two-foot thick ice at Lake Ollori near Hossa, Finland. She stars in a Netflix documentary in which she attempts to set a world record for distance traveled under the ice with one breath. It premieres on Netflix on May 3. www.netflix.com/gb/title/81082317

They're Out There, Folks. We reported about great whites off the coast of the Carolinas (Undercurrent March), and now a Jupiter High School student, Nick Bailey, went diving with them off Florida He gathered national attention after filming a very rare encounter with a great white shark - actually two encounters and with differ-ent sharks - a few miles off the Florida coast near the Stuart Inlet Fortunately, his video camera was already recording The first shark was bigger than the second, which he encountered off the coast of Jupiter a day later, and was distinguished by a dam-aged dorsal fin.

Traveler's Medical Guide. Divers Alert Network (DAN) has published the latest edition of its guide, which is free and easily downloaded Created to help divers, boaters, and adventure travelers rec-ognize and manage various travel-related illnesses and injuries, this digital guide explains common symptoms, illnesses, and treatments in an easy-to-understand manner. https://tinyurl.com/2p95t7k6

Crocodile Attacks Belize Diver. Though not injured seriously, Joshua Young, a resident of Caye Caulker, was attacked by a crocodile April 8 while diving and spearfishing on the northern side of the Split area. He sustained injuries to his forehead and chin and was taken to the hospital for treatment. The Department of Forestry is working with ACES Wildlife Rescue to search for and capture the crocodile.