Undercurrent — Consumer Reporting for
the Scuba Diving Community since 1975
www.undercurrent.org
Dive News
March 10, 2009
Rebreather Dive Hose Recall: Silent Diving Systems (SDS) has recalled approximately 820 scuba diving hoses that may have been made without crimps, posing a potential drowning hazard. They can allow gas to leak or water to into the re-breather unit. The hoses were sold for Inspiration, Evolution and Evolution Plus rebreathers between January 2007 through August 2008. SDS president Mike Fowler tells Undercurrent that because the company carried a list of each buyer, it was able to contact each person within three days. If you do own one of these SDS models, check the dive hose. If it’s uncrimped, call SDS at 603-447-2600 or e-mail service@silentdiving.com. Fowler, by the way, recently played an underwater bad guy on CSI Miami, filling in for a stuntman who was too short for the director’s taste.
The Best of PNG Diving on The Star Dancer, Plus A $500 Airfare Credit: We like to keep you apprised of deals from dive operators our readers approve of, and here’s a good one. Peter Hughes e-mailed to say that he’s so pleased about the refurbishing of the Star Dancer that he’s personally directing in Papua New Guinea, he’ll rebate $500 of your airfare if you sign up for a trip — that applies even if you book the flight yourself or use frequent-flyer miles. “Tell Undercurrent subscribers and their friends to come diving on our beautifully updated and completely renovated Star Dancer for the best diving in the Coral Triangle. Amazing reefs and marine life at the Witu Islands and Father’s Reef, and luxury they won’t believe.” Anyone who signs up for a cruise and mentions Undercurrent will get a free safety sausage along with the $500 refund/credit. Call 1-800-9-DANCER or 305-669-9391. You must book before May 15, 2009 for travel done by Dec. 31, 2009. See Peter Hughes’ website (www.peterhughes.com )for more details.
Google Earth Now Has Amazing Ocean Satellite Data: Free Google Earth software now lets you explore ocean-floor topography. Famed oceanographer Sylvia Earle met Google Earth manager John Henke in 2006 and joked that the software should be called “Google Dirt” because it ignored the parts of the planet covered by water. Since then, the pair worked to add ocean data, like descriptions of aquatic ecosystems, changing ocean surface temperatures and migration patterns of the great white shark. Download Google Earth 5.0 for free at http://earth.google.com and get closeups of everything from the Florida Keys to Raja Ampat
What Happened To Innovations In The Dive Industry?: Bret Gilliam, who has had jobs of more impact than any five people in the dive industry, takes no prisoners as he challenges industry leaders in the current issue of Undercurrent. “I lament the days when manufacturing companies were run by real divers. What happened to the spirit of innovation? Where are the new products that should be emerging from this exciting technological period?” Read Bret’s outspoken opinion — and his pointed suggestions for improvement — online at Undercurrent. On the home page, go to “The March Issue” and click on “A Personal Perspective on Dive Innovation.”
Shark Shields In Australia: Police in New South Wales may make these shark-deterring devices mandatory for its divers after a spate of shark attacks in the territory (five so far this year, compared to eight for all of 2008). One of the most recent victims was Navy diver Paul de Gelder, who lost an arm and a leg after being attacked on February 11 by presumably a bull shark during a training exercise in Sydney Harbour. The makers of Shark Shield (http://www.sharkshield.com/Content/Home) say they have seen a massive rise in demand for the device, a small black box with an antenna emitting strong electrical impulses supposedly painful to sharks, with a 200 percent increase in inquiries from Australian dive and surf shops over the past two months.
Step Zero: Getting Started on a Scuba Photo Trip: Seven days on an underwater photography trip to a resort or on a liveaboard requires twice as many days to plan and organize, so if you haven’t done it completely and correctly you can waste a bundle of time and money and shed buckets of tears over missed shots. Not only does this 80 page book by Dennis Adams and Cathy and Peter Swan provide a full 17 page checklist of everything you will need to travel and shoot, but it provides an orderly planning and procurement schedule and scores of insider’s tips. Its an essential book for anyone planning a first time photo safari, but just as useful for any of us who have spent a week kicking ourselves about leaving home that one crucial item and having to beg, borrow and jury rig while out of the water missing that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity below. You can buy it at Undercurrent at a low price offered by Amazon.com, and our profits for the sale — in fact, our profit from any purchase you make while there — will go directly to projects helping to save coral reefs. (88 pages)
Cannons Stolen From St. Kitts Dive Site: White House Bay is no longer such a memorable wreck site because its main attraction, five historical cannons, was apparently stolen overnight. The cannons were from a sunken 18th-century English troop ship lying in 10 feet of water, and were left behind when other artifacts were removed for preservation. Divers reported seeing them until late December, when they suddenly were no longer there. St. Kitts has other wreck sites, but White House Bay is the only one to have been surveyed and studied so far.
Photo Experts Recommend “Shooting Magic” DVD: The pros at Wetpixel.com recommend this 90-minute DVD for underwater photographers wanting to perfect their technique using filters. It follows photographer Alex Mustard during six dives in the Red Sea, three shooting with his digital single-lens reflex camera and three with his compact camera. Mustard demonstrates and describes the techniques needed to produce excellent light photographs, using special filters he co-designed. The DVD is for sale on his Magic Filters website (http://www.magic-filters.com/dvd.html) for $23, plus $4 shipping.
New ‘Psychedelic’ Frogfish Discovered: If you want to see the latest fish confirmed as a new species, go diving with Toby of Maluku Divers, the land-based dive shop in Ambon, Indonesia. He was the guy who discovered the Histiophryne psychedelica, a frogfish that hops rather than swims. Not seeing the fish in its ID books, Maluku Divers turned to Ted Pietsch, a fishery sciences expert at the University of Washington. Pietsch and team confirmed the new species and gave it the psychedelic name because of “the cockamamie way these fish swim, some with so little control they look intoxicated and should be cited for DUI”. Watch a video of this frogfish’s swimming style here: http://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/12517.php
Divers Find Intact Hotel 300 Feet Deep in Lake: The Attakulla Lodge stands at the bottom of Lake Jocassee, a manmade lake in upstate South Carolina. It was the last building standing in a neighborhood washed away in 1973 by a dam that flooded Jocassee Valley. The lodge’s owner fought the dam development and was able to keep his building from being demolished, but not from having it eventually flooded. CNN did a story on a woman who grew up in Attakulla Lodge and the technical divers who found her childhood home underwater. Watch the video here: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2009/02/23/ntm.lake.jocassee.cnn
Read The Current Issue Online: Did you know that any subscriber/member of Undercurrent can read the current issue online? You can use this link (http://www.undercurrent.org/members/UCnow/currentissue.pdf) about the first of each month to download the issue using your registered username and password (go to http://www.undercurrent.org/subscribers/UCnow/SubOMSignup.php if you’re a subscriber and haven’t yet registered). Not the November/December issue, however - that’s the Chapbook, which is available in the Travel section pages.
Coming Up In Undercurrent: Riding Rock Inn in San Salvador, Bahamas: worth the puddle-jumper ride from Miami? . . .Wananavu Beach Resort, Fiji: an updated report on this divers’ favorite . . .part two of ‘Why Divers Die’: overweighting and uninflated BCDs . . . pros and cons of organizing a group dive trip . . . the anatomy of free flow . . .does argon help with drysuit warmth? . . .Mike Ball explains his new device to recover lost divers . . . should you sauna before a dive? . . .how you can dive for free and for a good purpose . . . and much more
Ben Davison, editor/publisher
Contact Ben
Note: 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. Dive trips listed in our emails must be offered by a well-regarded operation that has been reviewed positively by our readers. The operator must include a special offer for Undercurrent subscribers and supporters. Undercurrent is a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit organization and in some cases the operator has made a donation.
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