Flotsam & Jetsam

Is Dive Gear Getting Expensive? So it seems, if the recent robbery of Force-E Scuba in Boynton Beach (FL) by two knuckle-heads is anything to go by. Justin Malik Simmons, 29, and Anne Elizabeth Izatt, 25, face charges after a store assistant was injured by their getaway car. Simmons had grabbed four BCs worth up to $10,000 but dropped three when tackled by a staff member. The getaway car turned out to be registered to Izatt's father. After scuba equipment was used in a restaurant robbery in Disney Springs in September, maybe untraceable stolen scuba gear is achieving a unique desirability among Florida's criminal fraternity. Keep an eye on yours.

Sharks Killed for Pretty Faces: Following severe restrictions that had been in place since 1998, the Maldives imposed a total ban on shark fishing in March 2010. But in September, President Mohamed Muizzu reversed that policy, urging locals to prepare their equipment in order to resume gulper shark fishing even though revenue from divers visiting the Maldives archipelago is greater than earnings from the sharks' oil. Particularly prized for their squalene, used mainly in facial cosmetics, gulper sharks live in deep water, but the bycatch of the hooks and lines used to catch them includes tiger sharks, hammerheads, and thresher sharks, as well as many other species.

Old Wives' Tale is an Excuse: In November, a 26-year-old Chinese woman snorkeling in the Maldives was bitten on the wrist by a nurse shark as she chased and attempted to play with it. She says she was bitten because she was menstruating at the time -- even though menstrual blood is known not to attract sharks in any meaningful or proven way. According to the Florida Museum of Natural History, there is no "positive evidence that menstruation is a factor in shark bites . . . when swimming, the water pressure will temporarily stop the flow of menstrual blood, decreasing the chances that any blood is released into the water." The myth persists because of exaggerated claims that sharks can smell a drop of blood from miles away. Luckily for the woman, nurse sharks tend to feed more by sucking than tearing, so they don't have serious teeth. Even so, tourists need to be stopped from harassing marine life. It rarely ends well, as the woman found out.

So Good It'll Make a Movie: Howard Rosenstein's 2024 book spins a gripping tale about the early days of a diving industry, set in the Sinai in turbulent times. His book Treasures, Shipwrecks and the Dawn of Red Sea Diving was reviewed in last August's Undercurrent. Now a trio of American producers has secured the film rights. "This is a powerful, untold story of exploration and risk at the limits of underwater discovery," said film producer George Linder. "The historical depth and sheer adventure make it perfect for the screen. We look forward to translating this remarkable work into a visually stunning film."

Apple AirTag Tracks Dog, but not in a Rip Tide. AirTags are popular with travelers who want to know where their bags are, and in December, the tag had a new use as it was attached to the collar of a wayward pet black Labrador, Sadie, which went missing while on vacation with its owners in San Diego. Sadie was tracked by her owners to Ocean Beach, but the feckless animal went swimming and got drawn out by a rip tide. An hour-long search for Sadie had been called off when a jet ski rider spotted her. Lifeguards picked her up. Sadie couldn't be tracked in the ocean because AirTags piggyback their signal on nearby iPhones. So, divers can drop any idea of using AirTags to get located after they drift away from their dive boat.

Biting the Hand that Helps You. A local diver, attempting to release a blacktip reef shark caught in ghost fishing gear near Kaalualu Beach, Hawaii, was bitten on the thigh on December 9. Other divers helped the 24-year-old back to shore, where he was treated by paramedics before being transferred to the Kona Community Hospital. The police issued a warning to leave such activities, however well-intentioned, to those trained to do them.

The Black Pearl is Now a Florida Artificial Reef. The iconic vessel from the movie series Pirates of the Caribbean was sunk in 75 feet of water in November off Panama City Beach, for the benefit of divers. It was sunk after being towed from Orange Beach, Alabama, where the steel vessel had been thoroughly cleaned and prepared to meet artificial reef standards. To enhance it, students from Haney Technical College helped weld themed accessories such as steel cannons, flags, a ship's wheel, and even a treasure chest, turning the wreck into an underwater playground. Panama City Beach maintains more than 800 artificial reefs, making it a premier dive destination in the Gulf of Mexico.

Too Deep to Recover the Missing? Tim Bennett, 65, skipper of the Australian dive-boat Clearwater, was reported missing on December 15. He failed to surface from a deep rebreather dive at Herald's Surprise Reef, about 175 miles south-east of Cairns in Queensland, in the remote Coral Sea. A two-day air and sea search for the fish collector was eventually abandoned because there were no divers able to reach the depth he was seeking fish. He was recognized worldwide for his professionalism and experience, according to Cairns Marine, the GBR's biggest coral-harvesting operator.