Oil Spill in the Solomon Islands. The Hong
Kong-flagged MV Solomon Trader, carrying 700 tons
of oil, ran aground on Kongobainiu Reef in early
February. The villages of Matanga, Vangu Lavangu
and Kangavu on the eastern side of Rennell Island
have been devastated, and ocean swimming and
fishing have been banned for the foreseeable future.
Naturally, liveaboard dive boats are avoiding the
area for now.
We Forgot Charlie Brown. Saint Eustatius diving
enthusiasts Mark and Cynthia Carron (Tampa,
FL) observed that our undercover writer failed to mention the iconic wreck of the Charles L. Brown in
last month's travel feature on Statia diving. They
said dives on the intentionally-sunk cable-laying
ship that's 320 feet long and rests at 100 feet are
easy. "You have not experienced diving in Statia
unless you have experienced the exhilarating dive
on this wonderful and very accessible wreck."
Are Vaquita Dolphins Doomed to Extinction? Jorge Urban, a biology professor at the Autonomous
University of Baja California Sur, says only 22
vaquitas remain in the Gulf of California, the only
home for the world's smallest and most endangered
porpoise. Fishermen use hidden gill nets to catch
prized but protected totoaba fish, because its swim
bladders are a delicacy in China and can bring thousands of dollars apiece, but those nets drown
vaquitas. Let's see how many of them remain after
May -- that's peak season to catch totoaba.
Red Sea Brothers Open Once More. After they
were closed to divers as a result of multiple shark
attacks, the Brother Islands are open to divers again
but subject to new government rules: No boat can
moor overnight; the daily maximum number of
boats is limited to 12 at Big Brother and six at Little
Brothers, and government permission must be
received beforehand. And now it is forbidden to
dump any organic waste within five miles of the
area -- crews must wait to flush the sewage tanks
when the boats are underway.
Is There Gold at That Wreck Dive? An English
fishing boat has recovered the anchor of what may
be the wreck of the Merchant Royal, a 17th-century
English galleon known as "the El Dorado of the
Seas," that traded with Spanish colonies from 1637
to 1640. She was carrying 100,000 pounds of gold
and 400 bars of Mexican silver when she sank 20
miles from England' Cornwall coast. Could it be
as big a bounty as the Atocha wreck in the Florida
Keys that carried $450 million? This discovery might
spark a gold rush of wannabe Mel Fisher divers,
because, at 300 feet deep, the Merchant Royal is
within reach of technical divers.
Deadly to Coral, But Still Selling on Amazon. Don Folsom (Ignacio, CO) told us it is still possible
to buy Reef Safe, the sunscreen heavily promoted
to divers as being coral-safe even though it's totally
not, from Amazon and other online retailers. We
wrote recently about the manufacturer's shady
marketing methods and the sunscreen's coralkilling
ingredients that are now being banned in
dive destinations like Palau, Hawaii and Key West,
but that info apparently hasn't gotten through to
the retailers selling it online. Folsom says, "I have
written to many of them about false and misleading advertising and have been ignored. I've sent in
reviews and flagged the products, but no dice."
Son Gets to Sue over Dad's Diving Death. A
six-year-old boy has won the right to sue a company
over his father's death on a diving trip. Lex Warner,
of Sutton Coldfield, England, died on a deep-diving
expedition off Northern Scotland's Cape Wrath in
August 2012. His wife wanted to sue Scapa Flow
Charters, the operator Warner dived with, but
found she had run out of time to take action under
maritime rules. However, the British Supreme Court
ruled there was no time limit preventing her from
suing as the guardian of her son, Vincent.
A Titanic Adventure. Fancy a visit to the Titanic?
It's 12,500 feet down, but an exploratory submarine,
aptly called Titan, is taking paying passengers.
Starting in June, week-long expeditions are set to
depart to from St. John's in Newfoundland in the
first manned surveys of the decaying vessel since
2005. A ride on the Titan costs just over $168,000.
Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, the
U.S. company running the show, says the price tag
is more than worthwhile for an experience more
rare than space travel. The six expeditions scheduled
for this year looked fully booked already, but there
is still some availability for 2020 for those who have
the desire and the dough.
Biting Back at a Shark Diving Ban. In February,
we reported on how cage diving with white sharks
had been banned by a New Zealand court, stating
it was an offense against the nation's wildlife act.
But one cage diving company is taking a bite at
that ruling. Shark Experience Limited still takes
customers cage diving and is fighting in court to
overturn that court decision. Something they have
on their side: The New Zealand Court of Appeals
has acknowledged cage diving companies have
been put in a difficult position through no fault of
their own.