Surface Interval #1 - Raja Ampat, Palau and the 2% Problem

Surface Interval is our new weekly round-up: five stories from the diving world, in ninety seconds. Scuba, freediving, dive travel and ocean advocacy, every Sunday.

This week:

• A freediving instructor trainer is held in Sorong after a video showed a diver spearing a critically endangered hawksbill inside a Raja Ampat no-take zone. Indonesian instructors traced his movements and immigration stopped him at the boarding gate. AIDA has suspended him and SSI has opened a case. He denies being the diver in the footage and no charges have been filed.
• New research from the University of Tasmania surveyed 552 marine protected zones and found under 2% of the ocean is effectively protected, against the 9.8% officially reported.
• Officials in Palau have called off the five-day search for two divers lost on the Peleliu Wall.
• A US federal court has blocked the sale of 361 Titanic artifacts, ruling the collection stays whole.
• And DAN has integrated its emergency hotline into Garmin's inReach satellite network.

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