You Talkin' to Me? I Don't Think So. Scuba Diving magazine
sent an e-mail questionnaire to its subscribers in August,
allegedly asking about the way one travels, and offering a chance
to win one of five $50 credit cards. But it soom became a shill
for Mexican interests, probably the government, designed to get
opinions about Mexican travel, whether one thinks it's safe, and
where one might prefer to buy property. It ended wth the usual
"what is your income" questions, which these days typically ends
with "$250,000 and above," up from $100,000 not too many
years ago. Well, the folks at Scuba Diving added nine more categories,
concluding wiith "$3.4 million to $4 million," and the grand
finale, "over $4 million." Of course, they requested one's name,
address, phone and e-mail address, so the lucky winners could
receive their $50 credit cards.
You Should Be So Lucky. Russian prime minister
Vladimir Putin pulled on a wetsuit last month, his third time
ever, and went diving at an ancient Greek site in the Black Sea.
According to state news reports, Putin descended just seven feet
and "luckily" discovered two ancient urns - - in full presence of
the media - - because the water was so clear. Television footage
showed two moss-covered vases with ear-like handles sitting neatly
next to each other on top of the sandy bottom as Putin swam
into view. Novaya Gazeta wrote that Putin "immediately found two
amphorae that had been waiting for him since the 6th century
A.D. He was lucky. In the same place over the past two years,
archeologists managed to find only a few pottery shards."
Ouch. John Goldfich of Devon, England, was fishing for
mackerel on the beach with friends when he felt a big bite on his
line. Reeling in his catch, Goldfinch's delight turned to shock
when his hook surfaced 50 feet offshore and had a hapless scuba
diver on the end. To add injury to insult, the diver's wetsuit had
been hooked between his legs. Goldfinch, 61, said, "My mates were fallling about laughing. I said, 'Sorry, mate, I didn't
see you there.' The diver just said it was very murky down
there. His girlfriend then surfaced, helped him remove my
tackle from his 'tackle,' then nonchalantly handed the hook
back to me and apologized." But seriously, Goldfinch says
there's a lesson to be learned: "I didn't see the diver because
he didn't have a safety buoy, which they're supposed to
when underwater."
Snorkelling after Hurricanes. Undercurrent reader
Helaine Lerner of New York City had this question for us:
"How long after a hurricane does it usually take for the
water to completely clear for snorkelling? A month? Several
months?" Well, Helaine, it depends on runoff from the
island, but in some cases, it takes as little as a week to get
somewhat back to normal. The flatter the island, the better
off you are. And of course, the weaker the hit, the better
off you are. Unfortunately, there are no longer many places
left where the water will ever be completely clear, thanks to
overreaching development everywhere.
The S**t Hits the Keys. Researchers from Rollins
College and the University of Georgia have identified
human sewage as the source of the coral-killing pathogen
that causes white pox disease in Caribbean elkhorn coral
around the Florida Keys. Once the most common coral in
the Caribbean, elkhorn is now on the U.S.'s list of endangered
species. The research team collected human samples
from a Key West wastewater treatment plant, and samples
from other animals, like deer and seagulls. While white
pox-causing bacterium was found in all animals, only the
strain from human sewage matched that of diseased corals.
Says lead researcher Kathryn Sutherland, "It's definitive
evidence that humans are the source of pathogens that
cause this devestating disease of corals." The good news is
that the entire Florida Keys is in the process of upgrading
its wastewater treatment plants, and scientists believe that
action will eliminate the source of the killer bacterium.