Flotsam & Jetsam

Scuba Instructor Charged with Sex Abuse. A Sandy (UT) man, David L. Butt, 40, was charged on September 17 with sexually abusing a young female scuba student. The 10-year-old says Butt would repeatedly place his hand inside her bathing suit, and she would try to swim away, according to court documents. This is said to have happened each week that she had scuba lessons. There have been similar charges against Butt, prosecutors say.

Don't Give Yourself a Lung Infection. The old chestnut of breathing down your BC before making a negative entry, say in a strong current to avoid missing the dive site, has arisen again on social media such as Facebook and other diving forums. Don't do it. A BC can be loaded with pathogens (especially in a tropical climate), and inhaling it can cause a lung infection. The best way to make a negative entry is to duck dive down, kicking hard, while dumping any air in your BC, pulling open the lower dump valve. It works.

Vandalism on Coral Reefs. Underwater vandals have been engraving their names on live coral in many parts the Philippines, and visiting scuba divers have been appalled to see graffiti on hard corals. The damage can be profound. The impact on the local tourism economy can be huge if corals die.

Carolina Sharks. Dozens of small sharks washed onto the North Carolina shore - all bleeding from their mouths. The N.C. Coastal Management Division workers found 51 dead Atlantic sharpnose sharks at the tideline ranging 14 to 21 inches long. The cause has yet to be discovered. (Miami Herald)

Not Another Surely? While you're still digesting our booklet, A Decade of Liveaboard Losses, liveaboards continue to catch fire and burn more frequently than we would like. This time, it was the phinisi-rigged Naraya (not to be confused with RoRo ferry with a similar name) in Indonesia's Labuan Bajo, Flores, on September 23. All aboard were rescued safely from the wooden-hulled vessel. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. It's another reminder to be fire-aware when on a liveaboard and carry a personal smoke detector in your luggage to put in your cabin.

Great White Encounter Off Catalina. Southern California divers had a close encounter with a 15-foot great white shark on September 29 while diving from Sundiver International. Seamus Callaghan (known for his work with Oceanic and Huish Outdoors) described the shark swimming peacefully past him a mere six feet away. The Shark Lab at Cal State Long Beach has tagged several white sharks in the area, but on initial examination of the video, this was not one of them. www.youtube.com/watch?v=gK7BpVs1Kjg

Hurricane Helene Strands Manatees. Florida Wildlife officials rescued four stranded manatees and tended to seven others after Helene struck Higher water levels allow the manatees to move beyond their usual range, but some become stranded once the water recedes One got stranded in a roadside puddle, another on a grass bank "All these manatees are still in really good health," one official said "So, it's mostly just get-ting them out of the traffic and back in the water " As air breathers, the manatee can survive a long wait.

Underwater Australasia Awards. The winners of the Underwater Awards Australasia (run jointly with the Dive Travel Guide, UW Images and Underwater Australia, have been announced in Sydney at the Go Diving Show ANZ on September 28 Gabriel Guzman, a Chilean who lives in Cairns, won the "Best of Show" - with executed sunburst images A total of A$50,000 was awarded to entrants You can see the winning photos here: www.underwatercompetition.com/uwaa