News archive for January of 2009

• 7 Jan 2009: Boat air pocket a lifesaver

  TWO people have been rescued from under a capsized catamaran near the Port Phillip heads. Five scuba divers were aboard the catamaran when it was hit by a wave shortly after 11am yesterday. Three of the five people on board were thrown into the sea. A woman, Gwen Fisher, became trapped under the boat and another person, Rob Laurie, also became trapped when he went to her aid. They survived by floating in an air pocket and were trapped for at least 15 minutes. The three people thrown from the vessel escaped uninjured. … Source

• 6 Jan 2009: Legends of Diving Press Release

  FREEPORT/LUCAYA, GRAND BAHAMA ISLAND, Underwater Explorers Society (UNEXSO), the premiere dive destination and dolphin experience facility located in Lucaya, Grand Bahama Island, The Portage Quarry of Bowling Green, Ohio and The S. C. Public Safety Divers International is pleased to announce the first offshore event for the LEGENDS OF DIVING. Held annually in Bowling Green since 2006, Jeff Rice, Managing Director of the Portage Quarry has attracted notable American diving legends such as Zale Parry, Dr. Sam Miller and Sam LeCocq. … Source

• 6 Jan 2009: A man is dead after a diving accident in the Far North

  The Whangaroa Coastguard says it was alerted by a passing vessel to a diver who was in trouble. The Coastguard says an ambulance and doctor met the boat when it arrived back. The man was given oxygen and CPR, but could not be revived. … Source

• 6 Jan 2009: Sunken Lake George wreck has historic value for divers

  True, its the wrong time of year to talk about scuba-diving Lake George. But a sunken boat in one of New York’s clearest lakes has recently National Register of Historic Places. The Forward, one of the Adirondacks first gasoline-powered boats, lies in 40 feet of water near an island on the southern end of Lake George, according to reports in various newspapers. … Source

• 5 Jan 2009: Diver finds rare undersea basalt columns in Penghu

  Undersea columns of basalt have been found near an uninhabited islet off Penghu County and are believed by the finder to be the only such formations in the world. Jeng Ming-hsiou, a researcher from Academia Sinica, came across the formations in May when he was diving off Dayao Islet — north of the main Penghu island — to study the mass death of fish there early last year. … Source

• 4 Jan 2009: Case registered against scuba diver

  The state forest department on Monday registered case against a scuba diver for unlawful exploration of a sunken ship off Hukitola coast on the ground that the exploration was carried out without the mandatory departmental sanction. The exploration mission had sparked off a major controversy as nationally-acclaimed scuba diver Sabir Bux had trespassed into prohibited Gahirmatha marine sanctuary while undertaking the underwater sea voyage. … Source

• 2 Jan 2009: Divers trawl for relics where attack launched by U-boat

  AS DAWN broke more than 90 years ago over the North Sea a U-boat captain gleefully ordered the destruction of the Scarborough fishing fleet. Now divers from Scarborough Sub Aqua Club have discovered the resting places of at least six of the trawlers, recovering three bells, and this year they will be trying to find yet more. The trawlers lie more than 20 miles off the East Coast in water more than 230ft deep and they soon realised that diving to them safely would mean getting a new boat and using a different type of breathing gas to avoid narcosis. … Source

• 2 Jan 2009: OUCH! Diver spears himself in groin

  OUCH! Mooloolah carpenter Greg Robertson is recuperating in Nambour hospital after a sickening accident in which he speared himself in the groin area with a speargun at Coolum yesterday. The two metre long spear pierced his inside upper thigh, just millimetres from his genitals and femoral artery, and lodged several centimetres under the skin. … Source

• 1 Jan 2009: Police say diver faked his death in Laguna Beach

  John Sung Park, who went missing in Laguna Beach in September is believed to have faked his own death to evade felony charges, police said today. … Source

• 1 Jan 2009: Tour boat involved in snorkeling tragedy ‘stable, agile and fast’

  Police have released the name of the snorkeler who died in Shark Bay after being run over by a tour boat on Tuesday. He was Glenn Charles Coles, 25, of Kingsley. The tour company that operates the boat involved in a tragic diving accident at Steep Point today declined to comment on the incident. … Source

• 1 Jan 2009: SA Police divers menaced by great white shark off Grange

  ANOTHER shark has been spotted off Grange jetty this afternoon - as police divers told how they recently had a brush with a 4m great white in the same area. Senior Constable John Anderson said he and a diving partner were near the Grange tyre reef in about 21m of water about two weeks ago when a Great White came directly at them from the darkness. The creature circled the men for several minutes before disappearing into the darkness, then the nervous divers began their ascent. It was the first time Sen-Sgt Anderson had seen a Great White in 20 years of diving in Britain and Australia. … Source