Rain runoff pollution warning(s)

[neophyte]

I'm VERY new to California, and don't really understand what the appropriate response is to the sort of warnings that have been posted.

http://www.surfrider.org/socalwater.aspx


A few of us have (had?) a dive planned for tomorrow at Old Marineland. It's pretty late to still be trying to figure out whether or not I'm leaving the house at six tomorrow morning.

I can understand a closure, but a warning I'm just not sure how to handle. I'm a reasonably prudent sort, but not one who expects life to be sterile either. Do reasonable people disagree? Is there a way to get a feel for pollution levels ourselves when we get to where we're actually diving in the morning? Are there ways to mitigate any dangers involved (short of a drysuit and FFM, which I'm not about to run out and buy)?

Most of what I've learned about diving here in California has been from this forum. Anything anyone feels like saying would probably be news to me, and greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much,

Adam

 

[drbill]

Adam... a good reason to dive Catalina and the other offshore islands! Our run-off is largely natural in composition since we have little human development out here. Still bacteria and other pathogens, but not to the extent of mainland beaches as far as I know.

 

[archman]

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.:devil_2:

 

[MaxBottomtime]

The vis at Marineland yesterday waas pretty bad, especially in water shallower than 30feet. That was before the rain we had this afternoon/evening. I was planning to be there before 6:00 tomorrow morning but decided during a heavy downpour an hour ago to wait until Sunday. Marineland is a rocky shoreline, so there isn't as much runoff as some sites near the mouths of rivers. I've seen it go from terrible one day to 40'+ vis the next.

 

[Turbo][]

well either way I'll see you and Phil there tomorrow. Because I have to be at AB Sea Photo by 11am anyway.

 

[dpbishop]

I've been surfing and diving SoCal for 38 years. I don't think I have ever gotten sick from water contact. The pollution can definetly be a problem, but it usually has loclized points of entry; storm drain outlets, river mouths, coastal canyons. Multi-day storms, coupled with sewer spills, can put enough stuff on the water to expand the area of contamination, and currents can spread it around some, but a single day storm like yesterdays is not a big problem. Surfrider doesn't show any closings, so if you stay away from the warning areas you should be fine. IMO the most common danger to divers from bacteria is ear infections. Dose yourself with swimmers ear drops after diving and you should be OK.

 

[kelpmermaid]

You might want to look around here:

http://www.healthebay.org/brc/statemap.asp

In case you didn't know, our storm water is not treated; it flows directly to the sea, hence dpbishop's reference to creek and storm drain outflows.

 

[Empty V]

I've been surfing out here for 10+ years and always update my hepatitis shots, I think it's a good precaution for anyone diving or surfing in southern cali. I have yet to "contract" something from our coastline but, it can't hurt to be cautious.

 

[neophyte]

Thank you all for the replies, I'm always learning here.

We ended up meeting this morning and spending close to an hour going back and forth between diving or not. It wasn't just the runoff issue that kept us wondering, the vis looked pretty poor and it was too rough to make the entry TeqP (the only one amongst who'd dove there before) described as the better one.

A guy from sanitation was there with his plastic bottle at the end of a stick taking water samples, so I asked him for his best guess regarding the advisability of diving. His response included the phrases "totally safe", "the pinnacle acts as a watershed" and even that there would probably be "less silt" than anywhere nearby. So far as I know, he was right on all counts.

Turbo][ (Johnny) and I decided to give it a shot, while TeqP (Phil) waited to find out if it was worth joining us for our second. As we treked down to the entry point I warned him that his warm, dry, unburdened self would be hearing tales of the greatest dive ever no matter what, involving thousand foot vis and riding around on humpbacks.

To make a long story just a little longer, the vis was pretty bad initially and grew swiftly worse after we dropped to twenty feet and headed roughly east. I lost sight of my buddy, even with the 10 watt HID he was rocking, searched for a minute and surfaced to find him watching my bubbles. We were maybe seven feet apart. As we started heading back towards shore after the the briefest of discussions my computer indicated we'd been under for five minutes.

So there you go, in case anybody was wondering. We did get to see a few whales from the surface at least, including what we're pretty sure were a mother and calf. That's pretty hard to beat.

Thanks again for your insight (and reading all that if you did),

Adam

 

[neophyte]

IMO the most common danger to divers from bacteria is ear infections. Dose yourself with swimmers ear drops after diving and you should be OK.

I should've dosed myself with some ear drops, but didn't. My left ear has been feeling "off" since a day or two after the above described five minute dive.

It's turned into a pretty nasty feeling ear infection (I assume) that I decided to ignore until after today's Mo2vation dive. I woke up this morning though, and there was no more leeway to ignore it. I had so much planned for my day on the Sundiver, but it'd gotten so bad I was dizzy and hearing all sorts of odd squealy noises when I (even tentatively) attempted a gentle pinch and blow sort of ear clearing.

I've gotten a local ENT recommendation and, having left a voicemail, will hopefully soon be on the road to recovery. We'll see.

So now, rather than enjoying Mel's sendoff dinner with a large group of friends, recounting the day's diving exploits, I'm going to go back to laying down. This seemed to be the place to post the lesson I've learned.

I seem to get awfully good advice here on Scubaboard. I've got to learn to listen to it.

Thanks,

Adam