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Have You Had a Dive Canceled and Still had to Pay?
Free For You To Read
Checked Our Facebook Page Yet?
Captivating Tourists with Captive Dolphin?
Goodbye Neoprene. Hello Rubber?
No News is Good News
Some of the Other Things You Missed in the August Issue of Undercurrent

Have You Had a Dive Canceled and Still had to Pay?  August 18, 2016

A subscriber was at Cayman Brac resort for 4 days of diving in early August when a tropical depression started forming to the east of the island and the morning dives were canceled due to the weather. While he didn’t dispute the decision, the shop told him that there were no refunds for dives canceled by the shop and they were told to claim on their travel insurance. He – and Undercurrent thinks it is morally wrong to keep money for a service not provided. Have you ever had a dive canceled by a shop and they refused to refund you? We want to hear your story. Please email me at BenDDavision@undercurrent.org.

Free For You To Read  August 18, 2016

Scuba really is the sport of grandparents, the story of a diver who probably failed to understand his computer and paid the ultimate price and your travel agent and your frequent flyer miles. You can read these three stories free this month at www.undercurrent.org.

Checked Our Facebook Page Yet?  August 18, 2016

You’ll find a plethora of interesting items from racing cephalopods to electric disco clams to very different types of shark interaction and a particularly deep scuba dive. www.facebook.com/Undercurrent.org

Captivating Tourists with Captive Dolphin?  August 18, 2016

In Bali, Dewa Suardipa of, the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association has suggested that since hundreds of tourists visiting the island’s north coast pay local boatmen to take them out in search of dolphin, often without success, it would be better to capture the dolphins, hold them in cages and even train them to be summoned by whistles and pieces of fish. Give me a break! Stand by for protests for conservation groups or even a boycott of Bali.

Goodbye Neoprene. Hello Rubber?  August 18, 2016

Manufacturing neoprene is a dirty business, not only for the environment because it is made from non-renewable petro chemical by-products or limestone, products of either drilling or mining, but also it’s hazardous for those in the less developed countries of the Far East that produce it too. A new plant-based polymer called Yulex may revolutionize wetsuit production, or so wetsuit manufacturer Patagonia would have us believe. It’s derived from Hevea trees, grown on reclaimed land in Guatemala and Patagonia claims it reduces the amount of CO2 emitted in wetsuit manufacturing by around 80 per cent (though it still requires mixing with a small amount of synthetic rubber for improved durability and UV resistance). We’ll have to wait to see if wetsuits made from this material are useful for scuba divers. The amount the material compresses under the pressure of depth will be crucial.

No News is Good News  August 18, 2016

Recent medical research at the University of Medicine in Berlin should once and for all end any debate about nitrox for divers. A double-blind cross-over randomized trial has proved that breathing enriched air nitrox reduces venous gas bubbles after simulated scuba diving. The conclusion was that breathing EAN reduces venous gas bubble emboli and, avoiding oxygen toxicity limits, EAN increases safety when compared to breathing compressed air. No news there then, except for a few remaining nonusers! (source: http://journals.plos.org)

Some of the Other Things You Missed in the August Issue of Undercurrent  August 18, 2016

Aqua Cat in the Bahamas . . . The Good, the Bad and the Uncomfortable!. . . Sharks have personalities too . . . Are aliens taking over our oceans? . . . Calculating a healthy ascent . . . Six hours adrift alone . . . Mosquitoes and malaria . . . The Kosrae raffled resort . . . and much more. Subscribe to our monthly publication here and as our thanks, we’ll give you a free download of our 232-page book of bizarre dive stories, There’s a Cockroach in My Regulator. Visit us to read or download free thousands of great stories from back issues.

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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