Here's to a better and brighter year ahead . . .
LOOKING FORWARD - Yes, Omicron has got us right now but that will be short-term. Hopefully, this is the last big surge we'll have to endure and - if there's an upside to all of this - the transmissibility of Omicron may be what pushes us toward herd immunity or at least slows/stops the spread since there won't be anyone left to infect between the vaxxed and the unvaxxed who get infected. Fingers crossed but I personally think this is going to play out through the end of the month and then will drop off precipitously (in a good way).
UPDATE ON THE LIVEABOARD COVID OUTBREAK - Two more people tested positive but they've gotten them all off the boat now and into a house for quarantine. Local regulations require 10 days of isolation after the positive test and then they have to produce a negative test to be cleared to fly home. And it sounds like the passengers are covering the extra expenses for now out-of-pocket, but they all have COVID insurance so should get reimbursed through that. But it's a hassle to say the least and hopefully they don't also have to endure the flight cancellations that are currently plaguing air traffic when it's time for them to leave. The good news out of all of this is that it seems like no one has much of anything beyond a very bad cold and that they're all recovering fairly quickly. All were vaxxed as far as I know.
PASSPORT FEES HAVE GONE UP - Speaking of travel, the next time you need to renew your passport, it's going to cost you an extra $20 effective now. The renewal price has gone from $110 to $130 for the passport book. (If it's a new passport, there's an extra $35 "acceptance fee" on top of that.) As we've advised before, ask for the larger book when you apply. If you want to add a passport card are an extra $30 (good for land/sea ports-of-entry from Canada & Mexico and Caribbean countries, but it's not good for international air travel). And if you want expedited service, add another $60. Remember that most places won't let you in if your passport isn't good for at least six months beyond your departure date from that country, so check your expiration and give yourself plenty of time to renew.
HAS ANYONE SEEN MY HANDFISH? - They're very similar to Frogfish in that they walk on their "hands," aka their pectoral fins. And there's excitement around Tasmania (off of Australia) because they've seen a species of Pink Handfish that hasn't been spotted for 22 years. You can read about it here as well as see the little cutie:
PINK HANDFISH.
TWO SPOTS OPEN ON OUR MARCH SOCORRO TRIP - Two of the divers on our March 11-20 Socorro trip have asked to see if anyone is interested in buying their spots as they have a potential conflict so they're willing to give up the spots now if someone's interested. If you're interested, call me at 310/652-4990 and we'll go over the particulars and the parameters. I think it's really going to be a great trip and if our trip one year ago was any indication, your mind will be blown by some of the animal encounters.
FISH OF THE DEEP SEA - This is a pretty cool little video. It's some of the highlights of what was seen by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute during deep dives with their fleet of ROVs during 2021. Some of the animals are truly out-of-this-world. Take a peek:
MBARI BEST OF 2021 DEEP SEA FISH.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
