Flotsam & Jetsam

Cozumel Iberostar: If you've got plans to stay at the Iberostar resort, you might face difficulty having the operation of your choice pick you up at the hotel dock. They have recently set up onerous requirements for dive operators coming to their dock, which not only requires boat and captain registration information, but "copies of income tax statements for the last six months." Looks like they want to force people to use the onsite Dressel Divers.

Scuba Diving Magazine sold: Rodale has sold Scuba Diving to F+W Publications of Cincinnati. Dane Farnum, the publisher of Scuba Diving, told Undercurrent that the magazine is a good fit with the new publisher, which will keep the magazine's offices in Savannah, Ga., and retain all employees. Rodale founded Scuba Diving in 1992.

Safety v. Money: An experienced Aussie dive boat skipper who risked the lives of 12 people in dangerous seas pleaded guilty to negligence and was fined $450 for being at the helm of a boat full of tourists when it capsized in rough seas in January. The Magistrate, Jeff Linden, concluded money was a motivating factor in deciding to go to sea in the conditions. "This is a case where commercial interests exceeded safety issues and that is a real concern ... a clear case of negligence" The skipper, 29-year-old Tristan Amey, was working for the Brisbane-based Aqua Sports and Dive when his dive boat was swamped, throwing all on board into treacherous seas. A rescue operation involving helicopters, police boats, recreational surfers, surf lifesavers, and volunteers pulled all 12 to safety. Several divers received minor injuries and one was admitted to a hospital.

Lend Undercurrent a hand: Undercurrent attracts subscribers by mailing subscription information to lists of divers which we obtain in a variety of ways. If you are a member of a dive club and you're the first to mail or e-mail me your club's roster with names and addresses of club members, I'll extend your subscription to Undercurrent for six months as my thanks. We will mail our standard subscription package and, of course, not identify where we got the list, nor share the list with any commercial mailers. Thanks for your help. E-mail to BenDavison@aol.com or mail to Undercurrent, 125 E. Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Larkspur, CA 94939

Kids Sea Camp: Curacao's Royal Resorts with Ocean Encounters will host several week-long Kid Sea Camps in June and July, 2004; Grand Cayman's Cobalt Coast and Dive Tech host the camp in late July and August. 4 to 8 year olds will learn to snorkel/SASY, and 8 to 11 year olds will become PADI Seal Team members. Parents can join Jr. Open water divers ages 10 and up on their graduation dives, and teens will have their own private boat. Parents can enjoy daily 2-tank dives and a night dive on their own private boats. Kids Sea Camp is going into its 4th year. Margo Chornlesky, Scuba Mom, hosts weeks with her own children, combining her skills as a mother and a travel specialist. Call 1-800-934-3483, log onto www.kidseacamp.com. If you sign up, tell Margo that Undercurrent sent you and you'll get a free backpack.

Does diving affect hearing? In a recent study sixty sport divers with an average of 650 dives each were compared with 63 nondivers. The participants were divided into three age groups. There were no statistically significant differences in the hearing thresholds between sport divers and nondivers. The reduced hearing levels of professional divers found in other studies are probably due to the high noise levels that they have to deal with or may be a result of inner ear accidents. (Klingmann C, Knauth M, Ries S, Tasman AJ. University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. PMID: 14967755).