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The Latest Dive News   What's this?

A Tragic Diving Death
Do You Dive Alone?
Where is All That Microplastic?
A Diving King?
The Scuba Diving Lizard
Missing in a Yucatan Cenote
A Dodgy Dolphin?
It Can Happen to the Best of Dive Boats!
It's Still Not Too Late
Undercurrent Is More Than Its Newsletter

A Tragic Diving Death.   October 22, 2024

Colleen Monfore, 68, from Holland, Michigan, with more than one thousand dives logged, was exploring the waters around Indonesia's Pulau Reong island on September 26 when she was separated from her husband Mike and five other divers, possibly by the strong currents. Rescue teams searched for her for eight days but to no avail. On October 6, fishermen from neighboring country Timor-Leste, 70 miles from where she went missing, cut open the belly of a large shark that appeared to be distressed and found the partial remains of a white female diver with a black wetsuit. Sharks consume carrion, so Monfore might not have died from a shark attack. Her longtime friend, Kim Sass, believes she died from a medical issue. That her body was readily identifiable 11 days after she went missing indicates it had only recently been consumed.

Do You Dive Alone?:  October 22, 2024

We want to hear from you. Do you dive alone when no one else is in the water? Do you go down with others but go off on your own? Let us know about your confidence in your skills, the precautions you might take, and the limits you set for yourself. Do you let others know you going solo ahead of time? We're working on a story and we know many divers prefer to get away from the pack so would like to hear from you. And, if you're a diver who would never dive without having anyone in sight, we'd like to hear from you too. Write to BenDDavison@undercurrent.org

Where is All That Microplastic?   October 22, 2024

Researchers from Japanese and Thai universities have discovered microplastics in coral mucous tissue and skeletons, suggesting that coral may act like a sink for ocean-borne microplastic by absorbing it. This may explain why 70 percent of the plastic littering the oceans cannot be found. More than 12 million tons of plastic reach the ocean annually. The research is published in Science of the Total Environment.

A Diving King?   October 22, 2024

On a visit to a community pool in the North of England in October, Prince William, the future British monarch, revealed that his 11-year-old son loved the experience of scuba diving when his father took him underwater. Given his parents ' history with water sports, George's affinity for scuba should be no surprise.

The Scuba Diving Lizard.   October 22, 2024

A species of semi-aquatic lizard creates bubbles to breathe underwater and avoid predators. According to researchers at Binghamton State University of New York, it seems to be a vital respiratory function, possibly similar to insects' physical gills. If the water anole, found in the tropical forests of southern Costa Rica, is threatened by a land predator, they dive underwater and breathe from a bubble over their heads while submerged. (scitechdaily.com)

Missing in a Yucatan Cenote.  October 22, 2024

An unidentified 51-year-old man, described as a professional diver (and probably a local dive guide), disappeared on October 5 while exploring a freshwater cenote in Mexico's Yucatan. Diving alone, he disappeared in the Dzombakal cenote, a popular tourist site visited often by tourist divers. Given the complexity of the cenote caves, diving alone is extremely hazardous. (Yucatan Times)

A Dodgy Dolphin?   October 22, 2024

More than a dozen swimmers have been bitten by dolphins off Japan's Fukui Prefecture this past summer. Tadamichi Morisaka, a biology professor, suspects that a single dolphin is behind the attacks based on the dorsal fin similarities of the animal involved in each incident. Morisaka suggests it is a male Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin, which usually lives in pods. He thinks this odd fellow failed to fit in with others, and, rejected by his peers, he's simply looking for playmates.

It Can Happen to the Best of Dive Boats!  October 22, 2024

Our August report detailed more than a score of liveaboard boats that have caught fire or sunk in the last decade. Now, perhaps the biggest liveaboard of all could be added to our list, the HMNZS Manawanui, commissioned by the NZ Navy in 2019 as a multi-role diving and salvage vessel. On October 5, the ship ran aground off Samoa and caught fire. All 75 people aboard were rescued by Samoa's Fire and Emergency Services. Because of the extensive damage, the ship may not be salvageable.

It's Still Not Too Late.  October 22, 2024

It's still not too late to enter your favorite underwater photos in the annual World ShootOut Photography Awards 2024. Enter your stunning images, captured between November 2, 2023 and November 1, 2024, in nine challenging categories. And get the chance to win both big cash prizes and exotic dive trips. There were many American winners last year. www.worldshootout.org/Account/Register

Undercurrent Is More Than Its Newsletter.  October 22, 2024

Your independent Readers' Reports are the lifeblood of Undercurrent. They are essential reading for anyone booking a dive trip and are an opportunity to tell everyone about the trip you experienced. You can tell both the good and the bad and everything in between. Unedited and unmoderated, your reports will brief other subscribers about dive resorts you've visited and liveaboards you have 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. Your fellow divers will be thankful. File your report at www.undercurrent.org/SubRR, and we will also include it in this year's Chapbook, which will be sent to readers in early 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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