TWARS (This Week at Reef Seekers) - December 10-17

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Ken Kurtis

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Messages
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Location
Beverly Hills, CA
# of dives
5000 - ∞
Dive boat fire, Zoom Seekers, & more
(please scroll down for details)
Who says I don't have Christmas spirit . . . ?????

GOT MY TREE UP AND EVERYTHING - Had to find the perfect spot for it. Took ages to finish the surrounding decor.​
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ZOOM SEEKERS THIS TUESDAY - Slight change in the speaker (it's a secret for now) but we'll keep the same topic: How to take good photos and then make them even better with some post-processing. It doesn't matter if you're using your cell phone in a housing, a professional-level DSLR, or anything in-between, the same principles apply to all. And we'll even show how you can take a "bad" photo and save it. (And believe me, even when you shoot a lot, you'll have plenty of bad photos.) So join us if you can for this year-end finale:


2024 TRAVEL UPDATE - We're filling up our trips for next year. (All of our 2023 trips sold out so perhaps next year will be the same.) Here's where things stand as of 12/10/23:

SAN IGNACIO LAGOON (Mar. 18-22) - 6 spots still available
ROATAN (May 17-25) - 8 spots available, easy to do single supplement (+$250)
INDONESIA (July 8-19) - Only 3 spots left, one has to be male-share
PALAU (November 3-10 - trip dates) - 6 spots left


I realize some of these, like Indo and Palau (plus Yap - I haven't firmed up the exact dates yet) seem a ways off but that's a good thing because it means you can spread the payments out &/or pay some of it in 2023 if that provides you with a tax advantage. If you read our trip reports, you know that we always have a good time and usually get some "special" attention from the places we visit. If you're interested in joining us on one - or more - of these, get in touch before they fill.

ANOTHER DIVE BOAT BURNS AND SINKS - Fortunately no loss of life this time. But on the morning of November 30, the Indo Siren, a 132-foot liveabaord sailing/motor vessel owned by Master Liveaboards, caught fire and sank while on a dive trip in Raja Ampat. All passengers and crew were safely evacuated. The ship was almost entirely made of wood, which is probably what caused the vessel to burn so completely. But it again underscores the need for everyone, passengers and crew, to be vigilant about safety and make sure that, if the worst should happen, regardless of time of day (or night), there are emergency procedures in place and everyone knows how to quickly and safely get off the boat, even if that just means diving into the water. You can read a very short article here and see a couple of pictures: INDO SIREN BURNS IN RAJA.

SEA STARS ARE ALL HEAD - Surely, over the course of your diving career whether it's long or short, you've come across sea stars underwater. They come is all shapes, sizes and configurations. But have you ever tried to figure out where their head was? Since they move in almost any direction and don't seem to have any sort of eyeballs or visual detection system, scientists have long assumed they were headless. But new research now says exactly the opposite, that they're most likely ALL head. You can read more about it here: SEA STARS ARE NOT PHYSICALLY WHAT WE THOUGHT THEY WERE.

And that'll do it for now. Have a great week, happy Hanukkah to those observing, and let's go diving soon!!!

- Ken​
 

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