EDITORIAL, JULY 2010: SPILL, BABY, SPILL

By Cathryn Castle Whitman

By the time you read this, we may be in the midst of what could become the biggest environmental disaster in US history. Then again, if we can turn off the spigot, maybe not. Of course, what I’m referring to is the oil spill—or what Florida Governor Christ Crist has more aptly termed the “oil volcano”—off the Louisiana coast.

EDITORIAL, JUNE 2010: WHERE THE BUCK STOPS

By Alex Brylske

I dive off charter boats frequently, so I have lots of opportunities to observe divers. I see good divers and bad, experienced pros and neophytes, and locals as well as tourists. With such variety, it’s tough to draw any uniform conclusions. But there does seem to be a trend and, from my vantage point, it’s not a good one: My admittedly unscientific assessment tells me that divers are assuming less and less responsibility for their own well-being. In fairness, it’s not really restricted to divers; it’s been a societal trend for some time.


When something goes wrong the answer is to blame anyone but ourselves. Abandoning responsibility even happens when nothing goes wrong, as I saw on a recent dive.

EDITORIAL, MAY 2010: ISN'T IT TIME?

By Alex Brylske
Photo by Joseph C. Dovala
(Readers, please comment at bottom of editorial)

Unless you were on some other planet recently, you no doubt heard about the recent event at Orlando’s SeaWorld in which a trainer was killed by an orca. Clearly, it was a tragic situation made worse in that it was apparently a very public spectacle. And unlike what was initially reported by authorities, the victim did not fall into the pool, but was grabbed and dragged into the water by the whale. Some were surprised that the animal wasn’t put down, as would have been the case with a dog; and many even expressed alarm when it was made public that this was the third fatality involving the whale, Tilikum. (Although, in fairness, it’s far from certain that he was the cause of one of those deaths.) Personally, I was heartened to learn that Tilikum wasn’t euthanized. It also made me question the purpose and true cost of turning marine mammals into circus performers.