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The Latest Dive News   What's this?

Missing Five Days, Diver Found Alive
Should Divers with Head Colds be Quarantined?
Remains of Historic Shipwreck Discovered
Safe Seas Act Would NIX Shark Diving
Scientific Community Guffaws about Celebrity Shark Diver
The Scourge of Ghost Fishing Nets
Florida Scuba Charter Captain Gets More Than Eight Years in Jail
Ningaloo Reef in Peril
Share with Your Fellow Divers Where You Have Been Diving

Missing Five Days, Diver Found Alive.   August 17, 2025

A Chinese diver in his 40s, identified only as Wang, went missing minutes into a dive in a river on July 19 in Xiangxi, Hunan province. He accidentally entered a cave complex and was unable to find his way out. After five days of extensive searching, with rescue divers going as deep as 400 feet, they found him surviving in a dry air pocket. He was only saved because he could jump back into the water and flash his dive light at passing rescuers. Online commentators described his survival as superhuman.

Should Divers with Head Colds be Quarantined?   August 17, 2025

A bad cold that prevents divers from clearing their ears can ruin a dive trip. But how can you avoid catching one in the close confines of a boat? Another passenger joining the trip with obvious symptoms can risk infecting the divers and dive crew. Should they be quarantined? What about contagion before symptoms show? What precautions do you take? Please write and tell us what you think, or share a story that happened to you. Email BenDDavison@undercurrent.org, including your name, town, and state.

Remains of Historic Shipwreck Discovered.   August 17, 2025

In May and June, East Carolina University diver/archaeologists recorded four newly discovered shipwrecks along the shoreline of Brunswick County, North Carolina. The remains of one may be the Spanish privateer La Fortuna, which exploded during an attack on the port at the end of King George's War in September 1748. The others were also discovered at the waterfront, all dating back to the colonial era.

Safe Seas Act Would NIX Shark Diving.   August 17, 2025

DEMA has alerted its members that two Florida congressmen, Daniel Webster and Darrel Soto, have introduced a bill that would prohibit divers from feeding sharks to observe and photograph them. The bill does not prohibit feeding sharks to kill them. HR 3831 would effectively eliminate shark diving in federal waters. It would prohibit divers from introducing, or attempting to introduce, food or any other substance into the water to attract sharks. The fishing community would be exempt.

Scientific Community Guffaws about Celebrity Shark Diver.   August 17, 2025

Shark Whisperer, the documentary about Hawaiian shark diver Ocean Ramsey, has met with criticism from some scientists specializing in shark research. One board member from the American Elasmobranch Society wrote on social media, "Ocean Ramsey does not collect data, does not publish research, does not collaborate with researchers who do except for a study testing the effectiveness of shark repellent where her role is not clear, does not present at scientific conferences, does not train students in research methods, does not have research ethics permits for her activities, regularly misrepresents her own expertise and credentials, and regularly shares unequivocally factually incorrect statements about background issues related to shark biology and conservation despite being repeatedly corrected."

The Scourge of Ghost Fishing Nets.  August 17, 2025

Discarded fishing nets continue to trap and kill marine life until they disintegrate. In August, Australian sport divers discovered a ghost net stretching more than 500 yards along the coastline inside the Christmas Island Marine Park. An Australian Border Force vessel, Ocean Protector, assisted Extra Divers in removing it. While abandoned nets are a global threat, the separate Queensland's Gulf of Carpentaria is considered the world's worst hotspot for ghost nets.

Florida Scuba Charter Captain Gets More Than Eight Years in Jail.   August 17, 2025

The owner and captain of Florida scuba charter-boat Southern Comfort has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison following the horrible death of diver Mollie Ghiz-Flynn five years previously (Undercurrent October 2024). In March, a federal jury found 50-year-old Dustin McCabe guilty of seaman's manslaughter (both as the vessel's owner and captain) and lying to the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 pandemic relief funds. At the time, there was a Palm Beach County ban on tourist diving and other water-based activities because of the COVID outbreak, but McCabe ignored it. He reversed his vessel over Ghiz-Flynn as she was attempting to reboard the boat near Palm Beach Inlet, killing her. It was his second such incident in consecutive days, but the earlier diver was luckier.

Ningaloo Reef in Peril.   August 17, 2025

On Australia's northwest coast, Ningaloo, the world's largest fringing reef and home to whale shark diving, is endangered by unusually hot weather. Spared the worst effects of climate change until now, a marine heatwave has stressed the corals, and they've turned white. This is the first time that reefs on both Australia's western and eastern coasts have been bleached. It's the world's fourth global bleaching event, which experts say has affected more than 80 percent of the world's coral reefs. Because the current Administration is doing whatever it can to reverse programs that might slow climate change, there seems to be little hope for once-magnificent reefs.

Share with Your Fellow Divers Where You Have Been Diving.   August 17, 2025

Your independent readers' reports are the lifeblood of Undercurrent. They are essential reading for anyone booking a dive trip and provide an opportunity to share your experience with others. You can convey both the good and the bad, as well as everything in between. Unedited and unmoderated, your reports will brief other subscribers about the dive resorts you've visited and the liveaboards you've taken. Don't hold back. Over 11,000 entries have now become essential reading for traveling divers. You can post photos too. It's easy to post a report of your last dive trip. And your fellow divers will be thankful. File your report at www.undercurrent.org/SubRR, and we will also include it in the year's Chapbook, which will be sent to readers next December.

Ben Davison, editor/publisher
BenDDavison@undercurrent.org

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Note: Undercurrent is a registered 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization donating funds to help preserve coral reefs. Our travel writers never announce their purpose, are unknown to the destination, and receive no complimentary services or compensation from the dive operators or resort.

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