Flotsam & Jetsam

Indonesia's Maluku Divers Closes. Due to a long running legal dispute over land ownership, Maluku Divers in Ambon has closed its doors. The owners say all deposits for the 2018/19 bookings will be refunded. In their emails, they describe the injustice they felt after losing their investment in buildings, jetty construction and dive facilities since 2009 and are "devastated at how it has ended."

Don't Take a Powder, says TSA. Like to carry your own coffee with you on a dive trip? Bring home a bag or two of Indonesian spices? Maybe some beach sand? You must now pack them in your checked luggage, and not in your carry-on. New TSA regulations are in effect on flights into the U.S., and foreign airport agents will now scrutinize flyers with more than 12 ounces of any powder -- that includes cosmetics -- or powder-like substance in their carryon bags. If they have any doubts about the powder, it may be confiscated -- and so may you if make a smart-ass remark.

Oman Aggressor Poll. Once again the MV Oman Aggressor proved unreliable, and this time it was the Schindlers from Tuscon, AZ, who suffered disappointment, despite initial emails confirming that the departure would be going ahead. We asked if the Aggressor's offer of a $500 voucher plus flight and hotel cancellation fees was an adequate response for canceling this trip three months before departure? Approximately 66 percent of Undercurrent readers who voted thought the Schindlers were adequately compensated.

Interested in Algorithms? We touched on the operational practicalities of using different diving computer algorithms in last month's Undercurrent (June 18). If you want to read more about the subject, go to https://goo.gl/QnsVWg Note the comment: "Divers should make themselves aware of the operational implications of a dual-algorithm computer."

The USA's First Underwater Museum. The National Geographic reports on the Underwater Museum of Art, located off Grayton Beach, Walton County, FL, which features two-ton underwater sculptures of ecologically sound material for divers to admire. Doubling as artificial reefs, the museum spans an acre about three-quarters of a mile offshore at a depth of 60 feet (18m) and rivals statue collections at Cancun and Lanzarote. The creations, resting on the ocean floor, include an homage to Frenchman Jacques Cousteau, a hollow pineapple, a skull and an amorphous octopus, all designed to encourage coral growth, attract schools of fish and shellfish colonization, but it will take a few years for that to develop.

Wreck No Longer Off-Limits. The wreck of the MV Superior Producer, popular with divers visiting Curaçao, is open again after diving was banned for a year during the construction of the nearby Tula mega pier for cruise liners.

The Fog of War? A man was charged with attempted robbery in the heat of Mandurah, Western Australia, after he approached a shop worker while wearing a scuba hood and diving mask on June 5. We'd like to know how he kept the mask from fogging up -- or maybe that was the problem. He was in a newspaper and cigarette store. Not much of value there.