Flotsam & Jetsam

Underwater Drug Smugglers Down Under. The body of a diver, equipped with a top-of-the-range closed-circuit rebreather - and more than 120 pounds of cocaine - was found on a beach near Newcastle, New South Wales. It was Bruno Borges, a Brazilian, perhaps left to die by cartel bosses after he failed to retrieve a $20 million cocaine shipment from the MV Areti, which had recently arrived from Argentina. Australia's largest coal port has been a beacon for drug smugglers since it is only a two-hour drive from Sydney. The police arrested a local veteran scuba diver and tour guide, Captain James Blee of Queensland Superyacht Marine & Tours, charging him with large-scale drug-smuggling.

Maldives Diving Instructor Goes Missing at "Tiger Zoo". Instructor Mahmood Saeed disappeared on May 5 after he and a colleague went spearfishing with scuba at a well-known but remote tiger shark dive site at Fuvahmulah island in the Maldives. Only a discarded weight belt and speargun have been found. His companion was airlifted to hyperbaric facilities more than 200 miles away in Dhaalu Atoll, suffering from decompression sickness.

In California, Great Whites Are Moving North. While adult great white sharks can make their way as far north as Washington State, juveniles don't venture far from the warm southern California waters. But global warming is changing that. Researchers have spotted tagged juveniles 50 miles south of San Francisco, indicating they have expanded their range about 370 miles northward since 2014, after a dramatic two-year heatwave in the north Pacific and California.

PLBs Can Really Work. When people aboard the liveaboard Vortex at Socorro found themselves in life rafts after the vessel ran aground on May 9, Peter Mesley, leading a trip with six divers, says he triggered his Personal Locator Beacon. The New Zealand Rescue Services picked up its signal. Within a short time, they contacted authorities and confirmed that an emergency plan was underway with the Mexican Navy. It's great to see that these really work when you need them.