Flotsam & Jetsam

Fish Bombing Puts Divers in Danger. Sipadan, Mabul, Kapalai, and other popular scuba locations close to Semporna, among others off Borneo's Malaysian coast, have been subject to more than 80 fish bombing incidents in the last seven months. A diving instructor and two tourists were killed by fish bombs near Kalapuan island last July. A group of visiting divers was stunned by a shockwave while diving near Gaya island on the last day of January. Be warned.

Florida's Coast is Swarming with Great White Sharks. The research organization Ocearch has recently tagged five great white sharks swimming around the Keys and the Gulf Coast. They seem to enjoy the Gulf's warmer waters, but they don't normally travel so far north. It is possible more of these sharks are sharing the Florida coastlines in search of their next fishy meal. On February 10, a group of divers with Walker's Dive Charters encountered a 20-foot specimen at Breaker's Reef off Riviera Beach. Other Florida divers should keep an eye out.

Join this Bahamas Reef Fish Survey Expedition. You can explore beautiful underwater sites with New England Aquarium divers on this tax-deductible expedition to the Bahamas aboard the R/V Coral Reef II, April 11-19. Using techniques that you will learn from Aquarium staff, participants will gather data on fish populations and their habitats while gaining experience with scientific diving methods. It's a way to increase your knowledge of reef fish identification and behavior while helping to ensure diverse and healthy animal populations. Be prepared to spend a lot of time diving with a great group of people! For information, Chris Bauernfeind at cbauernfeind@neaq.org or 617.973.5248.

Clive Cussler Passes. The prolific and popular author of adventure novels featuring the recurring hero Dirk Pitt, has passed at the age of 88. Dirk Pitt was a marine engineer with a government agency, an ocean-going version of James Bond and Cussler's third novel, Raise the Titanic! established the popularity of his genre of writing. His books are easy reading for those on dive trips.

Stop the new Grand Cayman Cruise Ship Port. A judge has ruled in favor of conducting a judicial review of the Cayman government's planned referendum on a proposed $200 million cruise liner port and berthing facility that threatens to destroy large areas of coral reef. The government tried to proceed before an updated environmental impact assessment was completed. Meanwhile, single-use plastic will be banned on the island from next year.

"GBR is Down to the Wire." Australia's Great Barrier Reef could be heading for a third major coral bleaching outbreak in the space of five years if high ocean temperatures in the region do not drop in the next few weeks, says Prof. Terry Hughes, director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University. Heat stress is already building across the world's biggest reef system, with reports of patchy bleaching already occurring. But a major widespread event is yet to take place.

Herding Mermaids. The waters off Qatar have been discovered to be home to the world's second-largest population of seagrass-eating dugongs, sea mammals not unlike manatees and said to have caused the ancient myth of mermaids. At the moment, hundreds of these animals, normally secretive and solitary, are herding, but scientists do not yet know the reason for this.

Underwater Photographer of the Year. Greg Lecoeur (see "Two Shark Attacks on Divers" in this issue) has been awarded Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020 by the most prestigious UPY underwater photography organization led by Alex Mustard. This picture was taken on our Antarctica Expedition with record-breaking free-diver Guillaume Néry.

Deco Guru Dies. Dr Bruce Wienke, one of the most highly regarded scientists in the world of scuba diving and decompression theory has died. He was responsible for the Reduced Gradient Bubble Model (RGBM) algorithm used in many diving computers including Suunto, Cressi, Atomic, and others.

DAN Dive Accident Insurance. In last month's article, "The Ins and Outs of Trip Insurance," we erroneously confused dive trip insurance with dive accident insurance. DAN's dive trip insurance does indeed cover those 70 and older. Rachelle Deal of DAN now tells us it "offers dive accident insurance coverage options for divers of over 70 years-of-age in all states (with the exceptions of Vermont and Washington). Plus, the Guardian Plan is still available for those of 70 years and older in 39 states."