before this turns into another Padi bashing thread, I want to defend and also get my few kicks in at the same time.
I think that it is a great idea for developing beneficial courses which benefit local divers, or giving out a lot of background information on any said specialty topic. Underwater hunter is a great one, in my area we have an instructor who is very interested and knowledgeable about the subject and wants to pass on the proper techniques to students - as well as where to obtain proper documentation of fishery openings and closures. As there is an interest here, hopefully soon we will have this course offered. (In my opinion that uw cartographer could be a course which is really beneficial to some divers wanting to complement a university degree).
On the other hand, there are some specialties which must be given to a crackhead at PADI HQ (or any other agency HQ) as they are so far-fetched, I don't know how people would PAY to take it, never mind how it ever got approved - exs: This MBS s%^&, Bottle Collecting Diver, Underwater Wedding Diver, etc.
What really gets me, is that these can only result in two things (in my mind):
1) the customer has WAY too much money if he spends it on these courses
2) the instructor has WAY too much money if he makes this course without any significant customer base to warrant his expenditure of time and money into designing the course.
Last of all, this is not limited to PADI at all. Character diving is a NAUI specialty (originally), although now I'm sure PADI and other agency instructors have put in outlines to teach it also.