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Diving Instructor and Assistant Arrested
Cozumel
The Accident Waiting to Happen
A Last-Minute Christmas Gift?
Bitten By a Nurse Shark
When You're Richer Than Croesus
Rusting Barrels Hide Something Sinister
Coral Triangle Cameos -- Biodiversity and the Small Minority
Orcas Have Killed Whale Sharks
Record Fine Over Scuba Death
Take a Surface Marker and/or a PLB
Correction:

Diving Instructor and Assistant Arrested.   December 18, 2024

A 25-year-old unnamed British diver was accompanied by a 46-year-old instructor and his 37-year-old assistant when he died after losing consciousness while diving off the Greek Attica coast on November 24, 12 miles south of Athens. It is popular with locals and tourists for its beaches and clear waters. In an action you would never see in the U.S., both the instructor and his assistant were arrested and charged with manslaughter.

Cozumel:  December 18, 2024

During the first 11 days of December, 66 cruise ships arrived. We have nothing left to say.

The Accident Waiting to Happen.   December 18, 2024

A tiger shark bit a Chinese diver wearing a brightly colored novelty hood on the back of his head at a popular Maldives dive site. Undercurrent has chronicled past diving incidents at the heavily trafficked site near the Hulhumale airport (Undercurrent News May 2024). Called the Shark Tank, it's near the harbor entrance, where fishing boat crews gut their catches, attracting a permanent residence of sharks. Apparently, the dive guide used bait to attract the sharks. The diver required more than 40 stitches.

A Last-Minute Christmas Gift?   December 18, 2024

For fans of non-fiction, 64 fascinating tales from the dive deck are encapsulated in Amazing Diving Stories and retold in its third hardcover reprint or Kindle. There are stories of death and disaster as well as bravery and triumph. Undercurrent’s senior editor’s global tour takes you everywhere, from Indonesia to the Caribbean and from the chill waters of Northern Europe to the reefs of the Pacific. Available from Amazon for $10.99.

Bitten By a Nurse Shark.   December 18, 2024

A day before the Chinese diver was bitten by a tiger shark, Lilian Tagliari, a female Brazilian diver, was bitten on the leg by a nurse shark in the Maldives at Alimathaa Island, Vaavu Atoll. The sharks tend to mass near a dock used by fishing boats. Her injuries were superficial, and she posted a video of the incident on Instagram.

When You're Richer Than Croesus  December 18, 2024

... a rich person might have their dive kit couriered to their dive destination. But Mark Zuckerberg, who is more than rich, rushed his support vessel, Wingman, with 20 crew members onboard, on a 4,200-mile journey from California to Tahiti to assist the Meta CEO's $300 million superyacht Launchpad in scouting for the best surfing and diving spots. The world's fourth-richest man, worth $191 billion, now owns not one but two superyachts. We guess he still has to work his fins himself when underwater.

Rusting Barrels Hide Something Sinister.   December 18, 2024

Researchers using advanced underwater cameras have found radioactive waste dumped off the Los Angeles coast, according to Phys.org. In the 20th Century, it was common for toxic waste from hospitals, labs, and industrial manufacturers to be dumped at sea -- and, researchers speculate, the companies responsible for dumping it did so much closer to the coast than they were permitted. There is also DDT concentrated around the barrels. While researching old records, the EPA found several other Southern California dumping sites for military explosives, radioactive waste, and toxic refinery by-products. (Los Angeles Times)

Coral Triangle Cameos -- Biodiversity and the Small Minority.   December 18, 2024

This exceptional new book covers subjects photographed within the coral triangle formed by the Philippines, Eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. The photographer, Alan J. Powderham, with his scientific consultant, Dr. Sancia E.T. van der Meij, have provided 220 pages, packed with high-quality beautiful photographs that will make you want to discard your underwater camera and spend your evenings at home browsing this volume instead. Published by Dived Up, it's available from Amazon in hardback for $60. It's a grand holiday gift.

Orcas Have Killed Whale Sharks.  December 18, 2024

Researchers suggest that a group of orcas in the southern Gulf of California target sharks and rays for their prey, including whale sharks. The orcas have been spotted preying on whale sharks four times in the last six years. Videos and photographs shared by tourists allowed scientists to see the behaviors in more detail and identify the individual orcas by their scars and distinctive markings. Attacking the pelvic area causes the whale shark to bleed out, allowing orcas access to its lipid-rich liver.

Record Fine Over Scuba Death.  December 18, 2024

The death of an 18-year-old on his first scuba dive has led to the biggest workplace fine in the history of the state of Minnesota -- more than $730,000. Joe Anderson died on May 21 while diving to clean weeds from Lac Lavon, an angling lake in Apple Valley, for Your Lake Aquatic Plant Management, a company from Columbia Heights. Anderson had never dived with scuba equipment before and received less than 15 minutes of training from another employee, who also had not been scuba-certified.

Take a Surface Marker and/or a PLB.  December 18, 2024

On November 20, a 59-year-old Spanish diver missing at Protea Banks of Natal, South Africa, was rescued after more than three hours adrift, uninjured and in good spirits. She was recovered nine miles from where she disappeared. She initially surfaced out of sight of her dive boat and drifted away in the 4-5-foot swells. Two dive charter boats, the rescue craft Spirit of Dawn, two fishing boats, a helicopter, and at least three private fixed-wing aircraft joined in the search. The helicopter crew noticed the woman frantically waving her arms in 12-15-foot wave swells and strong North Easterly winds. A suitably tall SMB would have got her noticed sooner.

Correction:  December 18, 2024

In our Special Report on the tragic loss of MY. Sea Story, sent in early December, we incorrectly stated that its operator, Dive Pro, also operated MY. Scuba Scene, which sank after a fire in April 2022. This is incorrect. (MY. Scuba Scene was later replaced by an entirely new vessel, also called MY. Scuba Scene, which is now represented in the U.S. by All Star Liveaboards.) We apologize for any confusion we may have caused.

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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