On the third day of Fred Turoff's January Bonaire trip, as he exited from a beach dive at the Plaza Beach Resort, he was knocked over by a wave, and the fall snapped his left Achilles tendon.

"With the help of my dive partner and a gentleman on the beach, I was able to get out of my gear and the water. I was helped to a beach lounge, and we called the resort staff to transport me to my room. Our group leader took me to the hospital, and after an evaluation, I was put in a cast and told to see an orthopod once I returned home. I couldn't arrange earlier flights, so I stayed at the resort for the next three days. Being a former gymnast, using crutches to get around was like swinging on parallel bars, so it wasn't a problem for me."

But, just three months before, Fred, a long-time Undercurrent correspondent from Philadelphia, was aboard the Bahamas Master to dive with tiger sharks.

"That trip ended abruptly when, after two days of prep diving with nurse sharks (no others showed up), our dive boat was struck by a cargo ship during an overnight crossing to Tiger Beach. None was seriously injured, as the cargo ship struck our rear right corner, but that required us to return to port.

"My two dive trips three months apart were certainly disappointing."

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