No Diving Due to Bacteria

[scubacalifornia]

Food for thought.....
For me, not being able to dive for any extended length of time is psychological hell. I find myself heavily weighing the potential risk of diving right now with my burning desire to be in the water. Common sense, and the information I'm hearing and reading, tell me to stay out of the water. The risk-taker in me says go for it; it'll probably be okay. I'll wear my vented earplugs and flush my ears after the dive, and even if I do get an ear infection, it's not the end of the world. What I really fear though are nastier problems like hepatitis. I don't know what the scientific probability is that one can contract hepatitis by swimming in polluted water, but just the word alone makes me think twice. So, is missing one more weekend of diving going to break me psychologically? Nope, I'll just go over to Sport Chalet and buy some knick-knack to make myself feel better, and think about the boat trip I'm taking next month, and get a little therapy by reading Scubaboard. I'll be mentally stronger when it's over (well, that sounds good anyway). The rainfall and related events of the last two weeks have been way out of the ordinary. So for me, playing it a little conservatively and staying dry this weekend carries no risk, and potentially a lot of reward. I have the whole year to go diving.
Kevin

 

[OCdiving Deb]

Food for thought.....
So for me, playing it a little conservatively and staying dry this weekend carries no risk, and potentially a lot of reward. I have the whole year to go diving.
Kevin

Makes perfect sense to me!

 

[simbrooks]

Let me just tell you as a guy who wanted to dive the springs of FL after the 4 hurricanes blew through that you can play roulette with this stuff. I got 3 different ear infections over the couple of months after that time (even using ear beer and meds from doc!). The runoff came from as far away as north GA, took a while to get through and the stuff flooded out and seemed to stick to the walls of the caves around here - which means its still being pumped out of the system now almost 6 months later. Runoff will take a few weeks to make its way down longer rivers and the bacteria seem to love sticking to particles that love sticking to whatever they come across (in your case kelp, the bottom etc, in mine the bottom, walls and ceiling of caves and rivers). Its not cut and dried - the rain has gone, this stuff will wash out in a day or two kind of event. Anyway just food for thought from my hydrology and hydrogeology days

 

[mccabejc]

I just drove past the San Gabriel river and also one of the Orange Cty. rivers (or washes or cement rivers or whatever they call them out here). They are both very wide, and very brown, and flowing very heavily, and I presume that's all going directly to the ocean. Which means that all that crap hasn't even reached the ocean yet.

 

[OCdiving Deb]

..... and I presume that's all going directly to the ocean. Which means that all that crap hasn't even reached the ocean yet.

You presume correctly....on both observations!

Debbie

 

[mccabejc]

Thanks for posting that satellite image. Hadn't seen that before. Pretty incredible.

By the way, the Laguna lifeguards' recording this morning didn't mention anything about the beaches being closed. They only said viz is only 0-4ft.

 

[OCdiving Deb]

By the way, the Laguna lifeguards' recording this morning didn't mention anything about he beaches being closed. They only said viz is only 0-4ft.

Yeah, that news has actually been stretched a little out of proportion. Many OC beaches ARE closed, but Laguna's beaches are not closed. Laguna isn't even posted as having elevated bacteria levels. This could remain or change... time will tell. For more info, go to the OC Beach info site.

Even if Laguna's beaches are open to diving this weekend, I'm going to wait a little longer to dive any local areas that could be impaired. The beaches will be incredibly crowded... and for what? The viz is terrible right now!

Now, if a dive boat to Catalina suddenly had a spot open, my arm could easily be twisted!!!

 

[pasley]

I notice that old marine land is pretty and blue on the photos from the 12th and should be fair diving this weekend.

The brown color in the water is mostly dirt in the water, with several sewage spills thrown in. The Los Angeles Harbor is brown with very good reason, and it ain't dirt. The Catalina express had a near grounding in the harbor and has moved to San Pedro untill some dredging can be done due to the sediment.

 

[drbill]

The Catalina Express situation in Long Beach occurs about once every 10 years in my experience. I'm glad I moved my car to the San Pedro lot a few years ago. Seems that the much better Long Beach schedule will run out of San Pedro for about a week!

Dr. Bill

 

[onfloat]

I just got back from a dive in Scripps Canyon. The vis was interesting to say the least. The water tasted alright :11: It was a good dive.