Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Upcoming local dives (call 310/652-4990 for more info and to register):
• Wednesday, August 12 - Redondo Beach Vets Park night dive
• Sunday, August 23 - Avalon Underwater Park
• Sunday, September 6 (note date change) - Redondo Beach Vets Park daytime dive
• Saturday, September 19 - Avalon Underwater Park
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Want to travel??? Upcoming 2015 vacation trips:
• July 31-August 5 - Great White Sharks at Guadalupe Island aboard the Belle Amie (WE'RE BACK!!!)
• October 21-26 - Great White Sharks at Guadalupe Island trip #2 aboard the Nautilus Explorer (three spots available on this trip)
• December 1-13 - Red Sea Aggressor (southern route - includes possibility of snorkeling with dolphins) plus 2 days in Cairo [SOLD OUT]
• Working on 2016 dates and destinations
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: www.reefseekers.com/foreign_trips.html
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And I thought the journey back from Indonesia was long . . .
BACK FROM GUADALUPE - We had a phenomenal time at Guadalupe Island diving with Great White Sharks aboard the Nautilus Belle Amie. I've got the trip report written and photos tweaked and am uploading video right now to YouTube so will send a separate e-mail later tonight or tomorrow morning with all of those links for you. But suffice it to say, it was an amazing experience. Not only were Great Whites literally within arms reach, but we were also surprised at the hundreds of large Yellowtails who hung around under the boat all the time, hoping to snatch a free meal. As you likely know, it's a long run to get out there (200 miles) and we had weather on the way back (choppy swell) which stretched our 20-hour ride home into a 29-hour one. Only one or two people (out of 26) got sick but it just made for a very long journey home and meant we didn't get back to LA until after 3AM rather than the 8PM as originally planned. But we came away with fabulous memories and good stories. Here's a taste of what we experienced:
WANNA DIVE LOCALLY? - How about a nice night dive Wednesday evening at Vets Park? I doubt we'll see any Great White Sharks but maybe we'll run into a Horn Shark or two. There's no charge for this but you do need to register with us (310/652-4990) so I'll know who's coming and how many to expect. We'll meet in the parking lot at 7:30 which should put us in the water certainly no later than 8:30. We're generally out of the parking lot around 10PM. Make sure you bring quarters for the parking meters. Doesn't seem to be much swell out there as of now and hopefully that holds.
GREAT WAY TO PAY FOR YOUR DIVING - A Florida family was out for a leisurely swim which they just happened to stumble across $1 million dollars in shipwreck treasure AND it was in 15 feet of water. Well, the actual story isn't quite that simple, but it's not too far off. It's actually a Florida family of treasure hunters and they work through a treasure-hunting conglomerate and they knew about this wreck and had been working it. But they really did find $1 million in gold and one single coin is thought to be worth around $500,000. And it really was in very shallow water. Pretty cool. You can hear more about it on CNN: Gold worth more than $1 million found off Florida coast - CNN Video .
SEEING BLACK SEA BASS? - Don't forget that the second Black Sea Bass Count is going on through next Sunday, August 16. The premise is pretty simple: If you see a Black Sea Bass, note the time and location and report it. And if you do a dive and DON'T see a BSB, they'd like to know that too as both pieces of information can help make for a more credible mapping of where they are and where they aren't. You can enter your info by going to http://www.seasketch.org . This is a great example of what we call "Citizen Science" at work and I hope you'll participate if you're diving locally during the survey period.
HARD AT WORK - And just so you know that I've always got you in mind on these trips, here's a picture snapped surreptitiously of me hard at work on the trip report:
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
—————————————————
Ken Kurtis
Owner, Reef Seekers Dive Co.
P.O. Box 634 (please note our revised/new box #)
Beverly Hills, CA 90213
(310) 652-4990
www.reefseekers.com
• Wednesday, August 12 - Redondo Beach Vets Park night dive
• Sunday, August 23 - Avalon Underwater Park
• Sunday, September 6 (note date change) - Redondo Beach Vets Park daytime dive
• Saturday, September 19 - Avalon Underwater Park
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Want to travel??? Upcoming 2015 vacation trips:
• July 31-August 5 - Great White Sharks at Guadalupe Island aboard the Belle Amie (WE'RE BACK!!!)
• October 21-26 - Great White Sharks at Guadalupe Island trip #2 aboard the Nautilus Explorer (three spots available on this trip)
• December 1-13 - Red Sea Aggressor (southern route - includes possibility of snorkeling with dolphins) plus 2 days in Cairo [SOLD OUT]
• Working on 2016 dates and destinations
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: www.reefseekers.com/foreign_trips.html
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
And I thought the journey back from Indonesia was long . . .
BACK FROM GUADALUPE - We had a phenomenal time at Guadalupe Island diving with Great White Sharks aboard the Nautilus Belle Amie. I've got the trip report written and photos tweaked and am uploading video right now to YouTube so will send a separate e-mail later tonight or tomorrow morning with all of those links for you. But suffice it to say, it was an amazing experience. Not only were Great Whites literally within arms reach, but we were also surprised at the hundreds of large Yellowtails who hung around under the boat all the time, hoping to snatch a free meal. As you likely know, it's a long run to get out there (200 miles) and we had weather on the way back (choppy swell) which stretched our 20-hour ride home into a 29-hour one. Only one or two people (out of 26) got sick but it just made for a very long journey home and meant we didn't get back to LA until after 3AM rather than the 8PM as originally planned. But we came away with fabulous memories and good stories. Here's a taste of what we experienced:
WANNA DIVE LOCALLY? - How about a nice night dive Wednesday evening at Vets Park? I doubt we'll see any Great White Sharks but maybe we'll run into a Horn Shark or two. There's no charge for this but you do need to register with us (310/652-4990) so I'll know who's coming and how many to expect. We'll meet in the parking lot at 7:30 which should put us in the water certainly no later than 8:30. We're generally out of the parking lot around 10PM. Make sure you bring quarters for the parking meters. Doesn't seem to be much swell out there as of now and hopefully that holds.
GREAT WAY TO PAY FOR YOUR DIVING - A Florida family was out for a leisurely swim which they just happened to stumble across $1 million dollars in shipwreck treasure AND it was in 15 feet of water. Well, the actual story isn't quite that simple, but it's not too far off. It's actually a Florida family of treasure hunters and they work through a treasure-hunting conglomerate and they knew about this wreck and had been working it. But they really did find $1 million in gold and one single coin is thought to be worth around $500,000. And it really was in very shallow water. Pretty cool. You can hear more about it on CNN: Gold worth more than $1 million found off Florida coast - CNN Video .
SEEING BLACK SEA BASS? - Don't forget that the second Black Sea Bass Count is going on through next Sunday, August 16. The premise is pretty simple: If you see a Black Sea Bass, note the time and location and report it. And if you do a dive and DON'T see a BSB, they'd like to know that too as both pieces of information can help make for a more credible mapping of where they are and where they aren't. You can enter your info by going to http://www.seasketch.org . This is a great example of what we call "Citizen Science" at work and I hope you'll participate if you're diving locally during the survey period.
HARD AT WORK - And just so you know that I've always got you in mind on these trips, here's a picture snapped surreptitiously of me hard at work on the trip report:
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
—————————————————
Ken Kurtis
Owner, Reef Seekers Dive Co.
P.O. Box 634 (please note our revised/new box #)
Beverly Hills, CA 90213
(310) 652-4990
www.reefseekers.com
