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A Travel E-Newsletter to Consider
Why You Should Subscribe to Ours
Is Your Local Dive Shop Treating You Right?
What You're Missing in This Month's Issue
The 25th Anniversary of Shark Week
The Risk of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning in Your Tank is Higher than You Think
Hollywood-Goes-Diving News
Don't Mess Around in California Marine Reserves
What Happened to This Diver?

A Travel E-Newsletter to Consider:  July 19, 2012

One of my must-reads is Joe Brancatelli's weekly e-newsletter, Joe Sent Me. While it focuses largely on travel to Europe and Asia, (and the US) the tips on sales, business class deals, and upgrades for airlines; hotel deals, seat assignments, even airports, are excellent information if you fly long regularly. Just last month, Joe apprised me of a fare drop, so I rebooked and saved $1,000. The well-worth-it annual membership is $49, but Joe tells me he offers a free version of his newsletter, with about half the subscriber stories listed.

Why You Should Subscribe to Ours:  July 19, 2012

Letters from our readers say it all. The latest came from Jorge More (Downers Grove, IL), who e-mailed to thank us for the June story we ran about DEMA's stance against the Obama administration's proposed National Ocean Policy. "Well written and informative. I am with you on this. It would be good to have more articles on how federal and global policy are affecting our oceans." He also wrote thanks for our February and April two-part story "How Divers Can Give Back," which inspired him to sign up for one of the marine research (and tax-deductible) dive trips. "It took a while, but it seems like I will be going on a research trip for the New England Aquarium. I pay, of course, but I learn and may even be able to help." You can be another fortunate diver who gets the scoop first on ocean policy and dive expeditions in our monthly issues. Subscribe now for $39.95 per year or $4.95 per month. Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back.

Is Your Local Dive Shop Treating You Right?:  July 19, 2012

We received an e-mail from a reader who calls out his former dive shop (The Scuba Shack) for poor customer service. "My wife and I did a refresher course there years ago, and ultimately bought our gear and we were very pleased with both. However, we do not do any business with them now because we found another shop that has a much nicer pool and store (although the Shack does our annual gear service for the warranty). That new shop has a lot of folks that come over from the Shack for a variety of reasons. One of the most common is that the Shack will not allow you to dive with them unless you either rent their equipment or buy your gear there. If you bring in something you purchased elsewhere, they must 'inspect it,' claiming it's due to an insurance issue. Is the Shack just trying to force customers to buy from them?" So for an upcoming story, we want to know if you've experienced something similar to this reader. What's the response from your dive shop if it finds out you bought gear online or from another store? Do they also require an inspection? If you sign up for classes and bring along your bought-elsewhere gear, how are you treated? Are there any other instances where your dive shop tries to make you feel guilty for not buying everything dive-related that you need from there? E-mail me your stories at PublisherBenD@undercurrent.org.

What You're Missing in This Month's Issue:  July 19, 2012

Jost Van Dyke, British Virgin Islands: Choose your arrival time wisely for good diving here . . . Fiji's Lalati and Matangi resorts: a tale of two experiences in dive luxury. . . Fiji airlines' abysmal service . . . is the Siren Fleet safe to sail? . . . why doesn't DAN have the same insurance standards worldwide? . . . great marine protection news from Mexico and Australia . . . DEMA's response to our story about its stance against a national ocean policy. . . and much more

The 25th Anniversary of Shark Week :  July 19, 2012

Love it or hate it, Cable's longest-running ritual celebrates its 25th anniversary on the Discovery Channel. Air Jaws Apocalypse (Aug. 12, 9 p.m. ET) has shark expert Chris Fallows returning to Seal Island, South Africa to see what has been happening with a 14-foot great white named Colossus, and discovering a "true scientific breakthrough." Shark Fight (August 14, 10 p.m. ET) focuses on shark-attack survivors who ended up as shark advocates fighting to save the animals from extinction. In Great White Highway (August 15, 9 p.m. ET), Stanford marine-sciences professor Barbara Block shows off new tagging technology that tracks great whites in real time. And we think that Louis Zamperini, the main character in Laura Hillenbrand's great read, Unbroken, is one of the two American WWII heroes profiled in Adrift:47 Days with Sharks (Aug 16, 9 p.m. ET), who survived 47 days on a raft in the always "shark infested waters" of the Pacific after their plane crashed. (Of course, if you've read Unbroken, you know the 47 days on a raft circled by sharks was nothing compared to what happened next.)

While the series began picturing sharks as ubiquitous and deadly, it's become more balanced, thanks, I'm sure to protests by plenty of people, divers included.

The Risk of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning in Your Tank is Higher than You Think:  July 19, 2012

After the death of a diver in Baja California attributed to carbon monoxide poisoning, should the blame for foul air lie with dive shops? One dive air expert says that dive training agencies -- and divers themselves -- must also take responsibility. Read this in-depth, important article for free at Undercurrent.

Hollywood-Goes-Diving News:  July 19, 2012

The sad tale of Gabe Watson, the American who pleaded guilty to the mansalughter of his wife, Tina, during a Great Barrier Reef dive, is being turned into a movie. The producers of Australian film Fatal Honeymoon promise to delve deep into Watson's psychology. Harvey Keitel will play Tina's father, Tommy Thomas, "whose determined pursuit of justice will be a focus of the movie." It's unclear whether the movie will follow Thomas' pursuit back to Alabama, where Watson was acquitted of murder in March.

Don't Mess Around in California Marine Reserves:  July 19, 2012

State officials are cracking down on misbehaving divers. When Marbel Para, 30, admitted to illegally taking more than three times the daily limit of lobsters in Laguna Beach State Marine Reserve in March, he had to give up all his gear, serve a seven-day jail sentence, pay fines of more than $20,000 and promise to stay away from protected areas. The case was the first of kind prosecuted since a California law took effect on January 1 that established protected marine areas in the state.

What Happened to This Diver?:  July 19, 2012

Australian diver Karen Lee, 42, disappeared on July 8 during a wreck dive at Melbourne's Point Lonsdale. Lee's dive buddy lost track of her as they were ascending, about 25 feet from the surface. Her gear and camera were found, but not her body. Police called off the search after discovering Lee's BCD was shredded, indicating a shark attack (the vest is currently being analyzed to determine what type of shark was involved). But the man who runs the dive operation Lee used on her last dive believes that while sharks ate Lee's body, they didn't kill her. Jason Salter of Dive Victoria told the Geelong Advertiser it was likely Lee drowned because of her own mistake or a medical problem. "When a person dies in any ecosystem [with] animals, unfortunately things take advantage of a free meal," he said, adding that sharks in Port Philip Bay aren't aggressive. A day before Lee's disappearance, authorities in Western Australia said it would introduce rules to ban most shark tourism after four fatal attacks on bathers there over the past year. While there are currently no shark cage or feeding dives there, Western Australia would ban such operations with the new rules.

Ben Davison, editor/publisher
Contact Ben

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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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