It’s been a while! Did you miss me? I’ve had some real-life business to attend to, but I’m back, and ready to kick off the new year in style! Let’s start with a backlog of links.

Scuba Diving magazine named North Carolina the best place in North America to dive with big critters and also the top shipwreck destination. I’m guessing the competition for diving in North America is low, but I’m surprised NC bested Florida. Something to consider if you’re ever near the Outer Banks.

We’ve talked before about eating Lionfish, but did you know there’s a new Lionfish cookbook? Tough time to be a Lionfish.

Sort of old news now, but the Shark Conservation Act made it to the U.S. President’s desk. Who knows for sure what kind of impact this will have, but hopefully it will exert some influence on those who practice shark finning.

Check out this Frommer’s Favorite Travel Moment photo contest winner. Let’s just say it involves a sperm whale.

A man was injured when a scuba tank fell and exploded in his garage. Make sure to lay your tanks on their sides, kids!

Scientists have discovered new coral reefs off Puerto Rico. They’re not really good for diving, unless you’re a tec diver, but they’re good for supplying fish and other nutrients to the ecosystem.

It’s great to be back! Expect a regular posting schedule from now on.

Things are slow around here as work picks up for my day job. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t want you to go without your weekly links! Which reminds me, I’m thinking about giving the Weekly Links a more interesting name. Let me know if you have any suggestions (either in the comments are through the contact page).

Do you love the water? How about being surrounded by it all day? Check out these 5 impressive water bound homes. I’ve always wanted to be king of my own island.

Do you always complain about lack of mobility while wearing a wetsuit? New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady wears a wetsuit under his uniform for the extremely cold games! Next time you feel restricted by your suit, imagine winning a Super Bowl while wearing it.

One of the risks involved with scuba diving is if something goes wrong, options are limited. There’s still reason for hope, however. A 66 year old diver in the Cayman Islands was undergoing scuba certification when he had a heart attack. The instructor realized he was having difficulty breathing and successfully brought him to the surface, where CPR was administered. I think this is pretty amazing (and lucky). Definitely a worst-case scenario for an instructor.

America’s first underwater park in the Florida Keys turned 50 years old last week. To celebrate, they had free admission for the day. Happy birthday!

Have you heard about the bizarre shark attacks in the Red Sea yet? 4 swimmers have been injured and one woman killed, 3 of the injuries happened in the same day. This bizarre behavior has scientists puzzled. They suspect when a cargo ship dumped a load of animal carcasses nearby, it made sharks believe the area was a feeding ground. Yay for irresponsible ocean dumpage.

If that didn’t get you, and you’re still in a particularly good mood today, then maybe this article will bring you down a few notches. Scientists spell out the doom and gloom from coral bleaching—a side effect of changing water temperatures.

California loves its artificial reefs, and they’re about to create another one. The USS Kawishiwi has been requested to be sunk two miles off Dana Point, about 45 minutes south of Long Beach.

Scientists have learned that teenage white sharks don’t have jaws strong enough to eat large mammals, like, I dunno, humans, for example. Unsurprisingly, the teenage white shark’s parents just don’t understand.

A diver from my hometown of Charleston, SC, is determined to kill lionfish. In 2009, his yearlong “tournament” brought in 1000 dead lionfish! By the way, he recommends eating them fried.

Tomorrow is Diversnight, when around 3,000 divers from across the globe will be underwater at 8:10. Started in Australia, Diversnight is meant “to promote the sport of scuba diving, to bring together scuba diving communities from all over the world, and to show how exciting and adventurous the sport is.” Um, ok. Just sounds like a good excuse to go night diving, to me.

Is it just me, or are Scuba Santas popular this year? We’ve got them at Sport Chalets, Blue Planet Aquarium, Vancouver Aquarium, Adventure Aquarium, and who knows where else. Maybe aquariums are replacing malls as the place to have your picture taken with Santa.

This soccer / football player uses a hyperbaric chamber to speed up recovery on his torn thigh muscle, reducing healing time from 6 down to 3 or 4 weeks. I’ve heard of this before, it’s probably something to do with the increased amount of oxygen making blood cells go into overdrive. Let’s hope there’s never a diver with Decompression Sickness waiting in line for the chamber behind this guy.

Read about SNUBA, the scuba / snorkeling hybrid. While hardly the technological revolution this article suggests (the equipment behind SNUBA predates even scuba), it is a nifty way to get people in the water quickly.

I hope everyone is having a good holiday week (at least for the Americans reading this). Weeks like Thanksgiving are weird. Technically you only get two days off, but the rest of the days feel kinda “blah”. So if you’re wasting time at work, here’s a few articles to help out.

Ladies, get your own stylish, stainless steel shark suit. Designed for none other than Jessica Alba, the suit is guaranteed to “flatter any female form.” It will only set you back about $6,500.

A U.S. researcher has developed an improved method of warding off would-be underwater spies. His method detects a diver’s breathing and reflects back an amplified version to scare them off. The new technique is an improvement over the previous method, which had the side effect of causing panic, disorientation, and disrupting breathing so much that it would kill you. Be careful where you go swimming.

A U.S. inventor believes he has come up with a way for humans to dive seriously deep without the usual scuba gear. His solution: get us to breathe liquid. It sounds like science fiction, but is worth a read. They still have a long ways to go before they have something useable.

These are some awesome batman gloves to give your stroke some serious power.

As winter approaches quickly, we need the internet more than ever to keep our sanity. It’s nice to be reminded that there are places out there that are still warm, sunny, and perfect for diving.

Huffington Post offers their list of 10 breathtaking dive spots. If nothing else, visit for some pretty pictures.

Thinking about getting dad a tie for Christmas? Check out Tropic Ties. They’re ties designed after fish. I’m not really a tie-wearer, but I like the clownfish one.

Who has the rights to lost treasure underwater? Apparently it’s a tricky issue, as a law student is finding out. The student’s father found the RMS Republic ocean liner, the second largest ship ever to sink (after Titanic), off the coast of Massachusetts in 1981. Why the court battle? There is somewhere between 200 million and 2.4 billion dollars in gold on the ship.

It’s not exactly scuba, but it may be worth your while to learn how to exit a submerged vehicle. I never thought about it, but it looks like there’s more to it than you might initially think.

Watch these sardines dance with a scuba diver:

Hello readers! I’m still here, despite the lack of updates recently. If you want updates to come directly to you, consider subscribing (for free) via RSS or email. Look at the options on the subscribe page. In the meantime, here are some links around the web to help you procrastinate.

Winter may be upon us, but the Caribbean is always warm! Frugal Traveler has written a guide to the Caribbean on a budget. Check it out if you like the Caribbean and you like budget travel.

Enter a contest to win free instructor training in Indonesia. Good luck!

Flix66 has a review of Disney’s Oceans on blu-ray. I’m sure you’ve already read my review, right? Right?!

I love stories of lost treasure found again. A Florida man lost his high school class ring 31 years ago. A scuba diver found it 3 years later, and it was just recently returned to its owner. I’m still waiting on that G.I. Joe I left at the park 20 years ago to find its way home. I’ll never give up on you, Cobra Commander!