Ken Kurtis
Contributor
TWARS (This Week at Reef Seekers) - Jan. 28 - Feb. 4
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Want to travel??? Upcoming 2018 vacation trips:
• April 14-21 - Bonaire (REDUCED PRICING - Buddy Dive - easy, reliable diving)
• June 8-20 - Yap Immersion (8 confirmed - room for 4 more)
• July 14-28 - Sulawesi, Indonesia with our friends at Murex (includes a day at Lembeh Straits)
• August 18-25 - Isla Mujeres (Whale Sharks, Cancun Underwater Museum, Cenotes)
• October 27 - November 3 - Roatan at Anthony's Key
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: Foreign Trips
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Upcoming local dives & classes:
• Sat., Feb 3 - Redondo - Beach dive [single tank] ($25)
• Thu, Feb. 8 - Redondo - Squid Dive (FREE!!!)
• Sat., Feb. 10 [PLEASE NOTE DATE CHANGE] - Catalina Express - Avalon Underwater Park ($150)
• Sat., Feb. 24 - Catalina Express - 37th Avalon Underwater Cleanup ($150)
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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It's cold, then it's hot. We think the weather is very confused . . .
THE AVALON CLEANUP IS COMING - We're roughly a month away from this wonderful annual event. It's on Saturday, February 24, but registration to dive closes February 15. (If you want to come as a non-diver, that's fine too.) We'll be going over on the 6:15AM boat out of Long Beach, will get settled at the Green Pier, and then go have breakfast. Diving and picking up trash is from 9:30-11:00AM and then you can either keep diving the Park or we'll have your gear stored for the rest of the day. The awards ceremony is generally 1-3PM, and then we go play miniature golf after that. Remember it's all for a very good cause (Catalina Conservation Divers and the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber) so we hope you'll either join us or sign up on your own. Here's a nice video of last year's event from Brett Kothheimer:
.
THE SQUID ARE BACK AT VETS - Just got a note and video from Jerry Vertigan who says they were out diving Vets Park in Redondo on Wednesday night and ran into masses and masses of squid egg clusters and also saw live squid that were mating. So perhaps this is the next run starting. You may recall we've opined that there's a correlation to the full moon, and that's happening this coming Wednesday. Jerry says they found their egg clusters around 70' which is pretty typical. From the Main Stairs, just go straight out (I usually veer a bit left - just like my politics) and find the slope that starts around 35 feet. Then go down into the canyon and turn right, keeping your depth in the 60-80' range. You should see plenty of eggs. When you're done (watch your air), come back up the slope (don't forget you're making about a 50-foot ascent so vent your BC or drysuit on the way up), and then head back in. Compare notes back up in the parking lot. And remember that if you've got some bright lights with you - Solas are REALLY good - the squid will be attracted to those and you'll be (hopefully) inundated.
WHEN IS CLEAR WATER NOT GOOD? - Interesting article in the Sunday L.A. Times about Lake Michigan and how clear water may not always good. I'll talk more about this in the February newsletter but the short version is that there was a mussel invasion twenty years ago and the mussels filter out a lot of the plankton. On the one hand, this clears up the water. But on the other hand, it reduces the food sources available for many fish and they've seen a noticeable decline in fish stocks. Interesting read:
Lake Michigan has become dramatically clearer in last 20 years — but at a steep cost.
BONAIRE PRICING IS REDUCED - Because we had a few more people sign up for Bonaire and we get a better deal from Buddy Dive, I'm able to reduce the price by $200. Now, instead of $2,495, it's $2,295. And that includes not only a 2-bd apartment, a truck, and unlimited shore diving, but also an upgrade to 11 boat dives (their standard is 6), crew tip, and a hotel overnight in Newark on the way back. We can add up to 4 more people but I'd like to cap the group at 12 max. If you're interested (dates are April 14-21, although we really leave late evening on 4/13, and get back at noon on 4/22), give us a call at 310/652-4990.
REDONDO BEACH DIVE - We've got a beach dive (single tank) scheduled for this coming Saturday. Although we normally go in the morning, I'm going to need to move this one to the afternoon, probably around 3PM-ish. If you're interested, let me know and we'll plan to go out and see the squid eggs. If you're really adventurous, bring a second tank and wait a bit after we're done, and then you can go out for dive #2 as a dusk/night dive and perhaps catch some of the mating in action. If you want to sign up, either e-mail me here or call 310/652-4990.
COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK - How about a Blue Whale calf nursing? This is from National Geographic and they think it's the first aerial footage of this ever recorded. Pretty impressive and just amazing how huge these animals are. Take a look:
.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
————————————————————————
Want to travel??? Upcoming 2018 vacation trips:
• April 14-21 - Bonaire (REDUCED PRICING - Buddy Dive - easy, reliable diving)
• June 8-20 - Yap Immersion (8 confirmed - room for 4 more)
• July 14-28 - Sulawesi, Indonesia with our friends at Murex (includes a day at Lembeh Straits)
• August 18-25 - Isla Mujeres (Whale Sharks, Cancun Underwater Museum, Cenotes)
• October 27 - November 3 - Roatan at Anthony's Key
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: Foreign Trips
————————————————————————
Upcoming local dives & classes:
• Sat., Feb 3 - Redondo - Beach dive [single tank] ($25)
• Thu, Feb. 8 - Redondo - Squid Dive (FREE!!!)
• Sat., Feb. 10 [PLEASE NOTE DATE CHANGE] - Catalina Express - Avalon Underwater Park ($150)
• Sat., Feb. 24 - Catalina Express - 37th Avalon Underwater Cleanup ($150)
To sign up for any of these dives, either call us at 310/652-4990 or e-mail us at kenkurtis@aol.com
————————————————————————
It's cold, then it's hot. We think the weather is very confused . . .
THE AVALON CLEANUP IS COMING - We're roughly a month away from this wonderful annual event. It's on Saturday, February 24, but registration to dive closes February 15. (If you want to come as a non-diver, that's fine too.) We'll be going over on the 6:15AM boat out of Long Beach, will get settled at the Green Pier, and then go have breakfast. Diving and picking up trash is from 9:30-11:00AM and then you can either keep diving the Park or we'll have your gear stored for the rest of the day. The awards ceremony is generally 1-3PM, and then we go play miniature golf after that. Remember it's all for a very good cause (Catalina Conservation Divers and the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber) so we hope you'll either join us or sign up on your own. Here's a nice video of last year's event from Brett Kothheimer:
.
THE SQUID ARE BACK AT VETS - Just got a note and video from Jerry Vertigan who says they were out diving Vets Park in Redondo on Wednesday night and ran into masses and masses of squid egg clusters and also saw live squid that were mating. So perhaps this is the next run starting. You may recall we've opined that there's a correlation to the full moon, and that's happening this coming Wednesday. Jerry says they found their egg clusters around 70' which is pretty typical. From the Main Stairs, just go straight out (I usually veer a bit left - just like my politics) and find the slope that starts around 35 feet. Then go down into the canyon and turn right, keeping your depth in the 60-80' range. You should see plenty of eggs. When you're done (watch your air), come back up the slope (don't forget you're making about a 50-foot ascent so vent your BC or drysuit on the way up), and then head back in. Compare notes back up in the parking lot. And remember that if you've got some bright lights with you - Solas are REALLY good - the squid will be attracted to those and you'll be (hopefully) inundated.
WHEN IS CLEAR WATER NOT GOOD? - Interesting article in the Sunday L.A. Times about Lake Michigan and how clear water may not always good. I'll talk more about this in the February newsletter but the short version is that there was a mussel invasion twenty years ago and the mussels filter out a lot of the plankton. On the one hand, this clears up the water. But on the other hand, it reduces the food sources available for many fish and they've seen a noticeable decline in fish stocks. Interesting read:
Lake Michigan has become dramatically clearer in last 20 years — but at a steep cost.
BONAIRE PRICING IS REDUCED - Because we had a few more people sign up for Bonaire and we get a better deal from Buddy Dive, I'm able to reduce the price by $200. Now, instead of $2,495, it's $2,295. And that includes not only a 2-bd apartment, a truck, and unlimited shore diving, but also an upgrade to 11 boat dives (their standard is 6), crew tip, and a hotel overnight in Newark on the way back. We can add up to 4 more people but I'd like to cap the group at 12 max. If you're interested (dates are April 14-21, although we really leave late evening on 4/13, and get back at noon on 4/22), give us a call at 310/652-4990.
REDONDO BEACH DIVE - We've got a beach dive (single tank) scheduled for this coming Saturday. Although we normally go in the morning, I'm going to need to move this one to the afternoon, probably around 3PM-ish. If you're interested, let me know and we'll plan to go out and see the squid eggs. If you're really adventurous, bring a second tank and wait a bit after we're done, and then you can go out for dive #2 as a dusk/night dive and perhaps catch some of the mating in action. If you want to sign up, either e-mail me here or call 310/652-4990.
COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK - How about a Blue Whale calf nursing? This is from National Geographic and they think it's the first aerial footage of this ever recorded. Pretty impressive and just amazing how huge these animals are. Take a look:
.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
