BAD NEWS June 2025
Upcoming International Trips:
- Belize: June 7 - 14, 2025
- Egypt Sharm and Dahab: August 1-20, 2025
- Thailand: October 10 - 24, 2025
- Bonaire: October 11-19, 2025
- Australia: October 12 - 29, 2026
Seven Dive Boats Lost in the First Quarter. On the night of April 27, the MY Golden Dolphin caught fire at the Sun Beach hotel jetty in Safaga, Egypt. Operated by Safari World, it was once a popular liveaboard relegated to day boat duties. No passengers were onboard. Other liveaboards that have been lost this year include MY Emperor Seven Seas, and an unnamed vessel yet to be commissioned in Egypt, MY Putri Papua, MY Maluku Explorer, and MY Ocean Pure I in Indonesia, and MY DiveRACE and MY Davy Jones Locker in Thailand. MY Sea Story capsized in Egypt at the end of last year, with 11 lives lost.
TSA Bans Lithium Power Banks in Checked Bags. If you pack a power bank in your checked luggage, the TSA will confiscate it and may fine you up to $17,000. However, you can still travel with them, but only in your carry-on, which can be monitored if they heat up (they are a fire risk). It’s the same with any item with a Li-ion battery. But board your plane early. If the bins are full and your carry-on has to be gate-checked, you'll need to put them in what you carry to your seat or leave them behind.
Every Dive is a Deco Dive. So Why Not Read a Book? Well, some divers like to entertain themselves during pauses during deco-stop dives. Extending a dive past the No-Stop time requires deco stops at depth. (Be sure to have adequate gas supplies.) These stops can be tedious, but essential to your health. Here's an Undercurrent writer reading a book to while away the time during one such stop after an extended dive on the fabulous wreck of the San Francisco Maru in Truk Lagoon. The deco bar is courtesy of the liveaboard MY Odyssey. Ocean -- the Latest Attenborough Film: Arriving in time for his 99th birthday, a new documentary narrated by Sir David is presented in the context of his remarkable life and career, studying and thinking about the oceans as the only part of the world yet to be fully explored and understood -- and despoiled. A visual marvel, like all his work, it is absorbing and compelling, and governed by his matchless authority as it strikes a balance between warning and hope. It will be released in theatres in June to celebrate the UN's World Oceans Day. Lost to a Vortex? Emily Sherwin, a 20-year-old diver who went missing last year off the south coast of England, was caught in a "vortex," according to a Coroner's report delivered at the inquest into her disappearance. But, unless somebody pulled a plug, there was no "vortex." Like Cozumel, it might have been a down current caused by the topography. In the UK, at the edge of Europe's continental shelf, a down current could be easily enhanced with a strong tidal flow from the Atlantic that can move an object many miles. Tragically, her body has never been found. What Happens in Sydney May Not Stay in Sydney. The MHAS Adelaide, a former warship sunk off Avoca Beach, Australia, in 2011 as an artificial reef, has been closed to divers because the effects of recent storms may make it dangerous for divers. Local dive operators are concerned because they are losing business. Could the effects of hurricanes mean a similar fate for Florida's many wrecks sunk as artificial reefs?
Every Dive is a Deco Dive. So Why Not Read a Book? Well, some divers like to entertain themselves during pauses during deco-stop dives. Extending a dive past the No-Stop time requires deco stops at depth. (Be sure to have adequate gas supplies.) These stops can be tedious, but essential to your health. Here's an Undercurrent writer reading a book to while away the time during one such stop after an extended dive on the fabulous wreck of the San Francisco Maru in Truk Lagoon. The deco bar is courtesy of the liveaboard MY Odyssey. Ocean -- the Latest Attenborough Film: Arriving in time for his 99th birthday, a new documentary narrated by Sir David is presented in the context of his remarkable life and career, studying and thinking about the oceans as the only part of the world yet to be fully explored and understood -- and despoiled. A visual marvel, like all his work, it is absorbing and compelling, and governed by his matchless authority as it strikes a balance between warning and hope. It will be released in theatres in June to celebrate the UN's World Oceans Day. Lost to a Vortex? Emily Sherwin, a 20-year-old diver who went missing last year off the south coast of England, was caught in a "vortex," according to a Coroner's report delivered at the inquest into her disappearance. But, unless somebody pulled a plug, there was no "vortex." Like Cozumel, it might have been a down current caused by the topography. In the UK, at the edge of Europe's continental shelf, a down current could be easily enhanced with a strong tidal flow from the Atlantic that can move an object many miles. Tragically, her body has never been found. What Happens in Sydney May Not Stay in Sydney. The MHAS Adelaide, a former warship sunk off Avoca Beach, Australia, in 2011 as an artificial reef, has been closed to divers because the effects of recent storms may make it dangerous for divers. Local dive operators are concerned because they are losing business. Could the effects of hurricanes mean a similar fate for Florida's many wrecks sunk as artificial reefs?