"Missing" Scuba Diver Faces $50,000 Fine, Investigated for Unrelated Incident

In a follow-up to a story we posted on Sunday, the same diver who faked his own disappearance is reportedly being investigated over another unrelated incident, not to mention facing a $50,000 fine for the intense two-day land and sea search initiated by his stunt.

Mr Smithies, a Commerce Commission economist who was a publican at Tapanui before studying at Otago University, was yesterday charged with wasting police time after an estimated $50,000 was spent looking for him.

But the Dominion Post today reported that it understood that Mr Smithies was being investigated over another unrelated incident.

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Meanwhile, Smithies' loved ones remain in the dark about his bizarre disappearance.

He had earlier texted his partner, Jackie, to say he had found a good diving spot at Titahi Bay, near Porirua.

But he was not seen again until he handed himself in at the Clive police station, in Hawke's Bay, two days later.

He has since being charged with wasting police time and is now in fulltime mental health care.

His 74-year-old father, Gary, said his son was refusing to shed any light on his actions to police, his partner or his concerned family.

"It has come right out of left-field. We don't know what has gone on," Gary Smithies told the Sunday Star-Times. "He hasn't told me anything, he hasn't spoken to me. Colin [told police he] didn't want to talk to his family.

"Jackie has been with him and she is standing by him. She knows nothing, he hasn't told her anything. He is keeping everything to himself, that is the problem."

When asked what he would like to ask his son, Gary Smithies said: "What the hell happened? That is what I would say to him. I want to know what caused it all. But he is not telling anyone anything. We have no idea, that is the bloody annoying thing."

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Bizarre.

Scuba Divers Discover 230-Year Old Champagne in Baltic Wreck

Now that's some vintage bubbly!

Divers have found bottles of champagne some 230 years old on the bottom of the Baltic which a wine expert described Saturday as tasting "fabulous".

Thought to be premium brand Veuve Clicquot, the 30 bottles discovered perfectly preserved at a depth of 55 metres (180 feet) could have been in a consignment sent by France's King Louis XVI to the Russian Imperial Court.

If confirmed, it would be by far the oldest champagne still drinkable in the world, thanks to the ideal conditions of cold and darkness.

"We have contacted (makers) Moet & Chandon and they are 98 percent certain it is Veuve Clicquot," Christian Ekstroem, the head of the diving team, told AFP.

"There is an anchor on the cork and they told me they are the only ones to have used this sign," he said, adding that a sample of the champagne has been sent to Moet & Chandon for their analysis.

The group of seven Swedish divers made their find on July 6 off the Finnish Aaland island, mid-way between Sweden and Finland, near the remains of a sailing vessel.

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Environmentalist Serenades Great White Underwater

Hey, whatever gets the word out, right?

Environmentalist Andy Brandy Casagrande wrote the ditty to raise awareness of great white shark conservation.

He decided the best way to promote it would be to sing it directly to one of the fearsome underwater beasts — without using a cage.

Now a video of Andy serenading the shark has been screened at film festivals around the world and gained a cult following.

Brave Andy donned his scuba gear and grabbed his acoustic guitar before diving into shark-infested waters to play his tune, aptly named The Great White Shark Song.

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The footage was recorded off Guadeloupe Island, Mexico, an area infested by great white sharks.

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Katie Price Warned About Personal Risk Involved in Scuba Diving

And if you know one (okay, maybe two) things about the British model and businesswoman, you know why she was warned.

Katie Price has been warned that her surgically-enhanced breasts could explode or drown her if she goes ahead with a diving course, according to a report.

The glamour girl is currently enjoying a holiday in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh with husband Alex Reid and her eldest child Harvey, 7.

Earlier this week, insiders claimed that Price wanted to go diving in the Red Sea as part of the break.

However, a source told the Daily Star: "There have been scare stories about implants exploding underwater.

"Research has shown this is unlikely but they do fill with air bubbles as the pressure increases and can change size underwater. Implants also affect buoyancy so she'd have to make extra efforts to stay afloat.

"Given the risks, and how long she has spent perfecting her boobs, it is unlikely Kate will go ahead."

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Deep Sea Oddities

From the Census of Marine Life.

Baby Octopus?

Most cephalopods (like octopus and squid) go through a paralarval stage that can look very different from the adult, although both share arms with suckers and large eyes for visual hunting. Paralarvae are generally semi-transparent, but have some photophores that allow them to change appearance very rapidly.

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Swiss Freediver Holds Breath Underwater for... 19 Minutes and 21 Seconds!

It's been aptly labeled extreme breath-holding. Emphasis on the extreme.

Folks, do not attempt this craziness at home.

A Swiss freediver held his breath underwater for 19 minutes and 21 seconds, according to news reports this week. The gasp-inducing feat beat the previous world record by 19 seconds, and blew away the record of 17 minutes and four seconds that magician David Blaine set on Oprah Winfrey's talk show in 2008.

For most ordinary humans, all that breath-holding can be hard to fathom. The feat might also bring up some basic questions about biology. For example: Is it really possible to survive without inhaling for that long? And is it healthy?

"It is, as a matter of fact, possible -- with certain tricks," explained Claes Lundgren, a physiologist at the University of Buffalo School of Medicine in New York.

It is probably not, however, good for you, and consequences can be deadly.

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London Scuba Instructor Develops Underwater Training Cycle

Interesting exercise, or a waste of perfectly good bottled air?

You be the judge.

The London School of Diving's Nick Mobley pulled together technology to create what he believes is the world's first "underwater turbo training cycle." It's a cycle that has been specially designed for operation in their diving pool.

The school has now opened a challenge to all divers to see who can cycle a mile underwater. Divers have to pay an entry fee, but proceeds go to a charity. One diver who tried the challenge said it was awkward at first, but it's a great workout.

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Flying Scuba Tank Smashes Into Transfer Station

Whoa. Luckily, no employees were injured.

A scuba tank went flying into the air and smashed into a wall at a recycling and transfer station in Needham.

A man discarded the aluminum diver's tank at the transfer station last week, according to WickedLocal Needham. An employee removed the tank from the discard pile and put it in the main office building because it required special handling.

The tank's top valve was knocked off after it fell over in the office, WickedLocal reported. The tank, which was under pressure, few into the building through a sheet of drywall and struck a chair.

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Be careful, folks. A tank under pressure is still alive.

Zippo Lighter Travels from Vietnam to... Wisconsin?

Odd.

It's been missing for more than 40 years, but on Wednesday, Don Sunstrom got back a piece of his history.

A Zippo lighter engraved with his name had been lost somewhere in Vietnam while Sunstrom was serving in the Vietnam War. He didn't think he'd see the keepsake again, until two months ago, when he got a call from a treasure hunter who claimed to have found it — in a Wisconsin lake.

Though it's a mystery how Sunstrom's cigarette lighter got from Vietnam to Wisconsin — he thinks another soldier must have found it and taken it home — the Blaine resident is thrilled to be reunited with what he calls "a memento of all the guys I served with."

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Arizona Man Uses Scuba Gear to Escape Burning Home

Whoa! Yet another reason to keep your scuba gear readily available.

A Phoenix man is lucky to be alive after using scuba gear to escape his burning multi-million dollar home.

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The homeowner, Michael Marin, told firefighters he threw on his scuba gear so he could breathe and used a collapsible safety ladder to climb out the window of his second-story bedroom.

"In all my years on the job, this is the first time I've seen somebody use scuba diving equipment to get out of a fire," said Phoenix Fire Department Capt. Dorian Jackson.

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Hat tip: Clint

"You have to know what is not a ghost before you can find one"

Here's a bizarre scuba story from NBC2 News.

What lurks beneath the waters off Florida's beautiful coasts?

People come from all over to dive famous ship wrecks, and while hundreds of feet below they experience weird phenomenon.

Now a team of divers is searching for proof of paranormal activity.

Lee Ehrlich is the team leader of some of the nation's most renowned deep water penetration divers.

His company Ghost Pros has developed advanced cross over submersibles, including high powered sonar listening devices.

He's teaming up with Tampa's Sea Viewers, a company that makes high def studio cameras which will be used to develop under water rovers.

Why invest hundreds of thousands of dollars for such a camera?

Ehrlich says it's because you have to know what is not a ghost before you can find one.

Whoa.

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Luckily, these folks don't appear to be quitting their day job.

Ghost hunting is just a cool side bar to their business of search and rescue and developing some of the most advanced submersibles in the industry.