Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Want to travel??? Upcoming 2018 vacation trips:
• October 27 - November 3 - Roatan at Anthony's Key (SOLD OUT!!!)
--- STARTING TO PLAN FOR 2019 ---
• Anyone up for Easter Island??? - Perhaps January or February
• Perhaps a combo Yap & Truk???? - Mid-March
• Maldives for the huge Manta Ray congregation - looking at sometime in Aug/Sept/Oct
• Where else would you like to go?
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: Foreign Trips
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Upcoming local dives & classes:
• Thu., Sept. 6 - Redondo - Night Dive (FREE!!)
• Sat., Sept. 15 - Catalina Express - Avalon Underwater Park ($150 - early departure, early return)
• Thu., Sept. 20 - CLASS - PHOTO WORKSHOP @ Reef Seekers Westwood ($25)
To sign up for any of these dives, either call us at 310/652-4990 or e-mail us at kenkurtis@aol.com
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The perfect weekend: Diving Saturday and Dodgers Sunday (and they even won!!!) . . .
AVALON UNDERWATER PARK REPORT - We had a lovely day (at least weatherwise) on Saturday in Avalon, diving the Underwater Park. Unfortunately, the underwater conditions were not as nice as the topside ones. It was a bit surgy on entry (more so in the morning than in the afternoon) and the conditions were less than stellar: LOTS of particulate in the water, viz about 20-30 feet, and a thermocline at about 35-40 feet where the temp dropped from mid-70s to mid-60s. The warmer upper water also means that a lot of the kelp, which has really come back thick in the past few months, looks rather sickly and dying. Kelp, as you likely know, has a fairly narrow temperature range in which it lives and once you get temps above 70, the kelp doesn't do so well. But that didn't deter our group (Anthony & Griffin Nex, Andy Sydney, Henry Gittler, Dave Cooley, and me) from getting in our dives. It also didn't deter a bunch of other folks as the Park was about as busy/crowded as I've seen it lately. One of the reasons we like taking a later-morning boat (we left San Pedro at 8:45AM) is that by the time we arrive, get over to the Park, get settled and geared up, it's 11-ish. A lot of classes come early and only plan to do two dives anyhow, so they're either wrapping up or starting their second/final dive and the place starts emptying out. But this past Saturday, it seemed like there almost always was a group on the stairs. Many times this was due to the many Discover Diving experiences going on (uncertified divers led by an instructor) and there were a number of guided snorkel groups as well (also led by a local guide - at one point, I counted 28 snorkellers in the water). But you watch the other groups, time things out right, and you generally don't have to spend too much time waiting. And, despite the limited viz, there was plenty of stuff to see. There were Giant Kelpfish and Blue-Banded Gobies all over the place, and some very brave and curious Juvy Garibaldi at the safety stop near the bottom of the stairs. Plus . . .
GIANT SEA BASS TOO - I was gently scolded by a researcher friend of mine last week for saying "Black Sea Bass" as it's also the common name for an East Coast species, so I will try to use "Giant" instead in the future. That being said, we found two of the GSBs on Saturday. In the past, we've seen anywhere from 5-10 but only the pair (presumably male and female) on Saturday. They were out in their "usual" spot, which is 60-70 feet deep more or less straight out from the stairs and a skosh to the right. We got a fleeting glimpse on dive 1, a good 10 minutes or so with them on dive 2, and another 10-15 with them on dive 3, although they were a bit more skittish on the final dive. But that could have been because we were seeing a little GSB porn, or mating behavior, where they tend to swim around in a tight circle, one behind the other. It's the right time of the season (the pair at the Aquarium of the Pacific are also showing mating behaviors) so you never know. As I mentioned, photo conditions were less than ideal (LOTS of backscatter in the shots) but that didn't stop me from firing. If you'd like to see the shots, you can go to my SmugMug page and view them with this link: https://kenkurtis.smugmug.com/…/201…/Avalon-UW-Park-8-25-18/ .
HURRICANE LANE UPDATE - The short version is that it seems to have somewhat fizzled out thanks to both a downgrade and a sharp turn to the west away from Hawaii. Hilo (on the east side) seems to have been hit pretty good by wind and rain but the rest of the Big Island seems to have been largely spared. This was especially of concern for Vick Thomas & Elisabeth Sykes as they are booked to be on the Kona Aggressor this week and were set to fly to Hawaii on Friday past. They've been talking to both me and Aggressor about all of this and, even though Aggressor assured them it looked like they would get in at least three days of diving (and get a credit towards a future trip for whatever was missed), they live in New Mexico and the idea of flying all that way to sit on the boat for a couple of days or even in a hotel didn't seem too appealing. But, as the weather forecasts improved, they decided to give it a go after all. Vick sent me a note Friday saying they had a smooth flight and arrived to no wind, close to 100% humidity, and a light drizzle. He sent a note Saturday saying it was sunny and they were boarding the Aggressor that afternoon. I had hoped to get a dive conditions report from him Sunday but that hasn't materialized as of this writing. Hopefully that's due to no time due to good diving rather than an internet or other weather-related calamity befalling them. So hopefully things go well (I'm going to be curious to hear how the visibility is) and I'll be able to share their experiences with you next week. But the lesson is . . .
GIVE TRAVEL INSURANCE SOME SERIOUS THOUGHT - Vick & Elisabeth didn't have it for this trip so their choices were going in questionable conditions or lose their money. But this is where travel insurance comes in. Usually it runs about 5-10% of the trip cost but it's an expense you'll be glad you made if you have to cancel on short notice. Sometimes insurance comes when you make a purchase with your credit card but you need to check with your bank about that. But if you ever have to use it, you'll be glad you had it available.
HOW DO YOU DISPOSE OF YOUR CONTACTS? - I'm guilty of this and will change my habits. But for those of us who wear disposable contact lenses, what do you do when you're done with them? Many people either toss them in the toilet and flush and throw them in the sink and wash them down the drain. Not a good plan. It's easy to forget these are pieces of plastic and, even after waste treatment, could end up in the ocean. A better thing to do with them is throw them into your trash or - even better - into a recycle can or bin. I think some fish are considered to be myopic, but I don't think our old contacts are going to help them see any better, so make sure you dispose of them properly.
GOLDFISH SANCTUARY - Speaking of not getting flushed . . . Hats off to the Paris Aquarium as they have opened up a sanctuary for unwanted goldfish. Instead of the little fishies getting flushed down the toilet and having to ride to their demise through the Paris sewer system, the Aquarium (which I visited last year) will take in unwanted goldfish, make sure they're healthy, and then plop them in a special exhibit where they'll be fed and can live out the rest of their lives. Nice touch. Read all about it here: https://www.travelandleisure.com/…/unwanted-goldfish-paris-… .
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
• October 27 - November 3 - Roatan at Anthony's Key (SOLD OUT!!!)
--- STARTING TO PLAN FOR 2019 ---
• Anyone up for Easter Island??? - Perhaps January or February
• Perhaps a combo Yap & Truk???? - Mid-March
• Maldives for the huge Manta Ray congregation - looking at sometime in Aug/Sept/Oct
• Where else would you like to go?
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: Foreign Trips
———————————————————————
Upcoming local dives & classes:
• Thu., Sept. 6 - Redondo - Night Dive (FREE!!)
• Sat., Sept. 15 - Catalina Express - Avalon Underwater Park ($150 - early departure, early return)
• Thu., Sept. 20 - CLASS - PHOTO WORKSHOP @ Reef Seekers Westwood ($25)
To sign up for any of these dives, either call us at 310/652-4990 or e-mail us at kenkurtis@aol.com
———————————————————————
The perfect weekend: Diving Saturday and Dodgers Sunday (and they even won!!!) . . .
AVALON UNDERWATER PARK REPORT - We had a lovely day (at least weatherwise) on Saturday in Avalon, diving the Underwater Park. Unfortunately, the underwater conditions were not as nice as the topside ones. It was a bit surgy on entry (more so in the morning than in the afternoon) and the conditions were less than stellar: LOTS of particulate in the water, viz about 20-30 feet, and a thermocline at about 35-40 feet where the temp dropped from mid-70s to mid-60s. The warmer upper water also means that a lot of the kelp, which has really come back thick in the past few months, looks rather sickly and dying. Kelp, as you likely know, has a fairly narrow temperature range in which it lives and once you get temps above 70, the kelp doesn't do so well. But that didn't deter our group (Anthony & Griffin Nex, Andy Sydney, Henry Gittler, Dave Cooley, and me) from getting in our dives. It also didn't deter a bunch of other folks as the Park was about as busy/crowded as I've seen it lately. One of the reasons we like taking a later-morning boat (we left San Pedro at 8:45AM) is that by the time we arrive, get over to the Park, get settled and geared up, it's 11-ish. A lot of classes come early and only plan to do two dives anyhow, so they're either wrapping up or starting their second/final dive and the place starts emptying out. But this past Saturday, it seemed like there almost always was a group on the stairs. Many times this was due to the many Discover Diving experiences going on (uncertified divers led by an instructor) and there were a number of guided snorkel groups as well (also led by a local guide - at one point, I counted 28 snorkellers in the water). But you watch the other groups, time things out right, and you generally don't have to spend too much time waiting. And, despite the limited viz, there was plenty of stuff to see. There were Giant Kelpfish and Blue-Banded Gobies all over the place, and some very brave and curious Juvy Garibaldi at the safety stop near the bottom of the stairs. Plus . . .
GIANT SEA BASS TOO - I was gently scolded by a researcher friend of mine last week for saying "Black Sea Bass" as it's also the common name for an East Coast species, so I will try to use "Giant" instead in the future. That being said, we found two of the GSBs on Saturday. In the past, we've seen anywhere from 5-10 but only the pair (presumably male and female) on Saturday. They were out in their "usual" spot, which is 60-70 feet deep more or less straight out from the stairs and a skosh to the right. We got a fleeting glimpse on dive 1, a good 10 minutes or so with them on dive 2, and another 10-15 with them on dive 3, although they were a bit more skittish on the final dive. But that could have been because we were seeing a little GSB porn, or mating behavior, where they tend to swim around in a tight circle, one behind the other. It's the right time of the season (the pair at the Aquarium of the Pacific are also showing mating behaviors) so you never know. As I mentioned, photo conditions were less than ideal (LOTS of backscatter in the shots) but that didn't stop me from firing. If you'd like to see the shots, you can go to my SmugMug page and view them with this link: https://kenkurtis.smugmug.com/…/201…/Avalon-UW-Park-8-25-18/ .
HURRICANE LANE UPDATE - The short version is that it seems to have somewhat fizzled out thanks to both a downgrade and a sharp turn to the west away from Hawaii. Hilo (on the east side) seems to have been hit pretty good by wind and rain but the rest of the Big Island seems to have been largely spared. This was especially of concern for Vick Thomas & Elisabeth Sykes as they are booked to be on the Kona Aggressor this week and were set to fly to Hawaii on Friday past. They've been talking to both me and Aggressor about all of this and, even though Aggressor assured them it looked like they would get in at least three days of diving (and get a credit towards a future trip for whatever was missed), they live in New Mexico and the idea of flying all that way to sit on the boat for a couple of days or even in a hotel didn't seem too appealing. But, as the weather forecasts improved, they decided to give it a go after all. Vick sent me a note Friday saying they had a smooth flight and arrived to no wind, close to 100% humidity, and a light drizzle. He sent a note Saturday saying it was sunny and they were boarding the Aggressor that afternoon. I had hoped to get a dive conditions report from him Sunday but that hasn't materialized as of this writing. Hopefully that's due to no time due to good diving rather than an internet or other weather-related calamity befalling them. So hopefully things go well (I'm going to be curious to hear how the visibility is) and I'll be able to share their experiences with you next week. But the lesson is . . .
GIVE TRAVEL INSURANCE SOME SERIOUS THOUGHT - Vick & Elisabeth didn't have it for this trip so their choices were going in questionable conditions or lose their money. But this is where travel insurance comes in. Usually it runs about 5-10% of the trip cost but it's an expense you'll be glad you made if you have to cancel on short notice. Sometimes insurance comes when you make a purchase with your credit card but you need to check with your bank about that. But if you ever have to use it, you'll be glad you had it available.
HOW DO YOU DISPOSE OF YOUR CONTACTS? - I'm guilty of this and will change my habits. But for those of us who wear disposable contact lenses, what do you do when you're done with them? Many people either toss them in the toilet and flush and throw them in the sink and wash them down the drain. Not a good plan. It's easy to forget these are pieces of plastic and, even after waste treatment, could end up in the ocean. A better thing to do with them is throw them into your trash or - even better - into a recycle can or bin. I think some fish are considered to be myopic, but I don't think our old contacts are going to help them see any better, so make sure you dispose of them properly.
GOLDFISH SANCTUARY - Speaking of not getting flushed . . . Hats off to the Paris Aquarium as they have opened up a sanctuary for unwanted goldfish. Instead of the little fishies getting flushed down the toilet and having to ride to their demise through the Paris sewer system, the Aquarium (which I visited last year) will take in unwanted goldfish, make sure they're healthy, and then plop them in a special exhibit where they'll be fed and can live out the rest of their lives. Nice touch. Read all about it here: https://www.travelandleisure.com/…/unwanted-goldfish-paris-… .
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
