Current Online Updates*
The Latest Dive News

A Lucky Draw Wins a Borneo Dive Trip
Get Teenagers Interested in Marine Life
The Death of A Shark Diver
What Happens When There's Not Enough Divers?
A Diver's Guide to The Art of Underwater Photography
Peter Hughes' Paradise Dancer Delayed
Abandoned Diver Gets Permission to Sue Dive Boat
Too Much Time on These Divers' Hands?
Special Discounted Introductory Offer
Coming Up in the May Issue

A Lucky Draw Wins a Borneo Dive Trip :  April 15, 2008

Feeling lucky? Island Dreams Travel is sponsoring a lucky draw for a seven-day cruise on the M/V Celebes Explorer, sailing the waters of Borneo, Malaysia. This liveaboard offers the best opportunity to dive the waters around famous Sipadan Island. To register for your chance to win and to learn more about M/V Celebes Explorer, visit www.divetrip.com. You can also contact Island Dreams Travel toll free at (800) 346-6116.

Get Teenagers Interested in Marine Life :  April 15, 2008

The Little Cayman Research Centre is hosting its annual Caribbean Sea Camp August 15 to 22 for teenagers age 14 to 18. This year's activities are based on the National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration's coral reef conservation program. Open to divers and non-divers, teenagers learn about Caribbean marine biology and conservation through seminars with experts and diving, snorkeling and sea kayaking Little Cayman's reefs. The cost is $2,300 for room, meals, diving, field trips and airport transfers. Applications to join are being accepted through April. More information is at www.reefresearch.org.

The Death of A Shark Diver:  April 15, 2008

The latest diving shocker happened in late February when Austrian diver Markus Groh died from a shark bite while diving from the MV Shear Water in the Bahamas. Rumors, hearsay and theories abound about what actually happened but no one is officially talking. Either way, Groh's death emphasizes the divides between divers, businesses and governments about diving with sharks, and it may have an affect on how it is done now in Bahamian waters. Read our detailed article at Undercurrent.

What Happens When There Are Not Enough Divers?:  April 15, 2008

We're doing a future story addressing that question. Have you ever booked a dive trip that has been changed or canceled because the dive operation's minimum number of divers has not been met? Such as a trip to that far dive site or a night dive, or a switch from a small boat only with divers to one jammed with snorkelers. Has something similar happened to you, after you paid a bundle to get to your destination? Or did a dive operation that lacked its minimum capacity still take you diving or do something for you that made you happy you booked with them? Send your stories to PublisherBenD@undercurrent.org.

A Diver's Guide to The Art of Underwater Photography:  April 15, 2008

This book by Andrea and Antonella Ferrari, is filled with spectacular images, designed not only to offer great technical guidance, but also help the underwater photographer discover and develop the artist within. Clearly the best and most beautiful 'how-to" book ever produced. Rigorously field-tested digital techniques; the hidden techniques behind imaginative framing and lighting, wide-angle and fish-eye to macro photography, from fish portraits to above/below split images, from basic point-and-shoot digital pocket cameras to complex housed professional DSLR systems, it's all here in a highly-readable, technically-accessible, step-by-step guide. 360 color photos. Purchase at Undercurrent and the commission we receive from Amazon will go directly to projects to save coral reefs.

Peter Hughes' Paradise Dancer Delayed:  April 15, 2008

In our October issue last year, we wrote about the Paradise Dancer, the massive liveaboard scheduled to set sail this month in Indonesia. Subscriber Richard Bennett (Napa, CA) was booked on one of the first trips this month but received notice on March 19 that the boat will not be ready. "The weather Gods in Indonesia have decided not to favor us as well. Kalimantan in Borneo, where the keel was laid and the hull built, was flooded so severely that the vessel was two months late in its launch date and subsequent scheduled arrival in Bali for completion. But Bali too has had extremely unusual weather, which hampered our catch-up efforts. At this point, we are not 100% sure if Paradise Dancer will have completed all required sea trials by the time our first two charters occur." As an insurance policy, Peter Hughes chartered a Sea Safari Cruises boat Sea Safaris 9 (www.seasafaricruises.com) for the first two voyages to go as scheduled. It now says that the Paradise Dancer will be ready to sail starting May 12.

Abandoned Diver Gets Permission to Sue Dive Boat:  April 15, 2008

A Superior County judge has ruled that Daniel Carlock can take to trial his $4 million lawsuit against Ocean Adventures Dive Co. in Venice Beach and Sundivers Charter for abandoning him in the ocean during an April 2004 dive trip. After getting separated from 20 other divers, Carlock was left in the ocean amid foggy conditions seven miles off Newport Beach while the crew never realized he was missing. Carlock floated for four hours until he was found by a boat of Boy Scouts (read all the details from the June 2004 issue of Undercurrent.). He sued for emotional and physical trauma (he developed skin cancer from his bad sunburn) but Ocean Adventures and Sundiver Charters tried to dismiss his case on the grounds that he assumed the risk of being left in the ocean. The case is set for trial on June 9.

Too Much Time on These Divers' Hands?:  April 15, 2008

There's actually a Guinness World Record for time spent by the most people ironing while underwater (70). On March 31, 72 divers broke the record near St. Leonards, Australia. Divers marched into the water with tanks on their backs, ironing boards under their arms and an article of clothing to iron. Breaking the record proved a challenge when some divers struggled to sink with their surprisingly buoyant ironing boards. But they succeeded and raised $865 for reef protection.

Special Discounted Introductory Offer:  April 15, 2008

Sign up now for a one-year membership to Undercurrent for $29.95, $9 off the standard offer, PLUS it includes a free copy of our Travelin' Divers' Chapbook 2009 (when printed), with reviews of more than 1,000 dive resorts and liveaboards worldwide.

Coming Up in the May Issue:  April 15, 2008

• Reef's End, Tobacco Caye, Belize
• Malapascua and Panglao, Philippines
• Why Divers Die: Part III
• Proper Hygiene on Liveaboards
• Yoga for Scuba Divers
• And much, much more

Ben Davison, editor/publisher
PublisherBen@undercurrent.org  

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Note: Undercurrent is a not-for-profit organization. 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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