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The steamship SS Pacific went down in November of 1875 with the loss of at least 325 passengers.
The steamship SS Pacific went down in November of 1875 with the loss of at least 275 passengers and crew.

Steamship lost in 1875 off Washington coast located

The SS Pacific was on its way from Puget Sound and Victoria to San Francisco when it collided with a big sailing ship in the dark off Cape Flattery on November 4, 1875 and sank in less than an hour. The Pacific had an estimated 275 passengers and crew aboard of which only two survived, making the sinking the most deadly maritime disaster in Northwest history. 

Only a handful of details of what happened came to light afterwards because there were only two survivors—one who floated around on debris for 40 hours, and another for 80 hours.

Resort in Tulambe, Bali
Now what for dive resorts in Indonesia such as this one in Tulamben, Bali?

Indonesia bans cohabitation and sex outside marriage—also for tourists

If you are thinking about going on a romantic getaway to Indonesia with your significant other, you should probably reconsider your choice of destination if you are not married. Indonesia's parliament has approved a new criminal code that bans sex outside marriage with a punishment of up to one year in jail.

Was justice served or perverted?

Implications of Maltese Court Ruling on Diving Fatality

On Friday 25 November, diver Arthur Castillo, 60, was found guilty of the involuntary homicide of his long-time dive buddy Christine Gauci who died following a dive in Mgarr ix-Xini, a bay on the southern coast of Gozo in January 2020. Ms Gauci was an Armed Forces of Malta member, diving instructor and technical diver.

The court handed Mr. Castillo a two-year jail term suspended for four years, pronouncing itself convinced that this case did not merit effective imprisonment. Castillo told Times of Malta he will be appealing the judgment but declined further comment.

Sperm whales form clans with diverse cultures

After studying more than 23,000 sperm whale vocalisations recorded from 1978 to 2017 in the Pacific Ocean, researchers have concluded that sperm whales use distinctive vocalisations to identify themselves with specific whale clans.

Called “identity codas,” these vocalisations comprise sequences of clicking sounds that distinguish different social groups. They are different from non-identity vocalisations used across all the different whale clans.

Cave Diving: Everything you always wanted to know, by Stratis Kas

Cave Diving book cover
CAVE DIVING: Everything you always wanted to know

As the title says, this book covers all aspects of cave diving—everything you might wish to know it. Written by X-Ray contributor, diving instructor and adventure filmmaker Stratis Kas (with Matteo Ratto), this book includes information about diving physics and physiology that have been written in collaboration with scientists, doctors and specialists.

An adult green turtle from the Karpaz nesting beach
An adult green turtle from the Karpaz nesting beach

Egyptian lagoon is preferred foraging ground for Cyprus' green turtles

Researchers have discovered that Lake Bardawil in Egypt is the preferred foraging spot for female turtles that lay eggs at key rookeries in Cyprus.

Situated at the northern coast of the Sinai Peninsula, Lake Bardawil is a large, shallow lagoon with an artificial opening that connects to the sea. Initially created as a fishery in the 1950s, it became an ideal seagrass habitat for adult green turtles.

Cannon wreck seen from starboard bow
Cannon wreck seen from starboard bow

Nearly intact ancient shipwrecks found in the Baltic

The discoveries in the Baltic Sea are unprecedented and have revealed shipwrecks hundreds of years old. Two of them are with great certainty cargo vessels from the Netherlands, while the third and largest is supposed to be a Scandinavian vessel.

All three shipwrecks stand like ghost ships almost unscathed in total darkness on the seabed at a depth of approximately 150 meters and beyond the reach of modern fishing vessels.

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In order to obtain the best footage, two Swedish photogrammetry experts Ingemar Lundgren and Fredrik Skorg from the company Ocean Discovery took part in the expedition. An underwater robot equipped with an advanced camera brought thousands of images to the surface and reproduces with great precision a virtual image of the wrecks as they actually appear.

The pictures are so detailed that you get the feeling of being able to walk around a ship that sank hundreds of years ago.