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Good News for the Siren Fleet
The Fijians Need Your Help
Undercurrent Goes Where Other Media Fear to Tread
What You Missed in the Last Issue of Undercurrent
Do Marine Reserves do the Job?
A Spate of Dive Accidents in Thailand
Snorkels. Do you love them or hate them?
www.Undercurrent.org

Good News for the Siren Fleet  March 16, 2016

If you were a subscriber to Undercurrent, you’d know that Siren Liveaboard Fleet has been particularly star-crossed, with the cyclone in Fiji driving the Fiji Siren aground and laying her on its side, the sixth major disaster in their fleet in less than seven years. But she has been refloated, the superficial damage repaired, and is back on schedule with divers aboard.

The Fijians Need Your Help  March 16, 2016

Cyclone Winston caused several deaths and severe damage on February 20, leaving tens of thousands of people homeless. Jean-Michel Cousteau, whose resort and dive center escaped major damage, has made a direct appeal to divers to donate to the Fiji Emergency Fund, at www.oceanfutures.org

Undercurrent Goes Where Other Media Fear to Tread  March 16, 2016

Without any paid-for advertising to hold the whip hand, Undercurrent writers are free to write what they consider to be unbiased reports about every aspect of scuba diving. Lori Stripay (Greensburg PA) recently wrote, “It's the only publication with serious substance! Thank you all for that!” Subscribers also get first dibs on exclusive dive travel deals we offer to readers, plus detailed travel reviews, the hard-hitting investigations of the dive industry, the in-depth equipment reviews, the different angles of diving that no other publication covers, and more. Your satisfaction guaranteed or your money back. Subscribe here and as our thanks we’ll give you a free download of our 232 books to bizarre dive stories, There’s a Cockroach in My Regulator.

What You Missed in the Last Issue of Undercurrent  March 16, 2016

Does diving give you brain damage? . . . The trials and tribulations of choosing a wetsuit. . . Why Windows 10 is a nightmare for dive computer data downloading . . . The Galapagos of the Caribbean – does it live up to its name?. . . The truth about liveaboard fuel surcharges. . . Flimsy dive bags . . . A British diver finally escapes extradition . . . The risks of rental gear . . . and much more.

Do Marine Reserves do the Job?  March 16, 2016

Ascension Island, plumb in the center of the equatorial water of the South Atlantic, plans to establish a vast marine reserve so that all fishing is to be banned. Policing will be carried out by combined satellite technology and patrol boats, with shark finning activities a top priority, while a monitored amount of tuna fishing will be allowed in the rest of the island’s seas. Good news? Maybe not as good as it could be. A new study has found that these protected areas are typically failing to protect the evolutionary diversity of the world’s coral and fish. Scientists from the James Cook University of Queensland working together with those from Université de Montpellier (France) found that the network of marine protected areas covered less than two percent of the total known evolutionary of corals and less than 18 percent than that of fish.

A Spate of Dive Accidents in Thailand  March 16, 2016

The first two weeks of February was bad for scuba diving accidents at Phi Phi Island in Thailand. First, two Russian divers sustained serious and life-changing injuries when they each were struck by the propeller of a speedboat while scuba diving near Nopparat beach after which authorities reacted by setting up markers for eighteen designated dive zones including areas at Phi Phi, Samui, Krabi and Pattaya. However, the tragedy was just the first of a spate of diving accidents.

Snorkels. Do you love them or hate them?  March 16, 2016

PADI insists its trainees have a snorkel attached to their masks. It’s useful if you need to make a long surface swim before or after diving. Other divers say it’s better to swim on your back in such circumstances, with your BC inflated. A snorkel only serves to vibrate in a current while diving, causing your mask to leak or, worse, it can become entangled in granny lines or the line of a marker buoy. What do you say? Write and tell us at BenDDavison@undercurrent.org

www.Undercurrent.org  March 16, 2016

Visit us to read or download thousands of great stories from back issues. And check out Undercurrent on Facebook for all sorts of unusual and useful information for divers.

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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