TWARS (This Week at Reef Seekers) - July 24-31

[Ken Kurtis]

​ Avalon report, Shark Week, rare fish, and more (please scroll down for details)​

​ At least the tide wasn't a problem . . . AVALON REPORT - Overall, we had a lovely time in Avalon at the Underwater Park last Wednesday. The ride over was nice (with dolphins to boot), it was a beautiful day, we had a nice bunch of people, and we arrived at low tide so the water level on the steps was coming up all day. But the water conditions weren't anything to write home about (even though technically, that's what I'm doing here). Water temp was (my gauge) 71º on the surface and in the shallower depths, but then dropped to a bone-chilling 61º when you got through the thermocline around 40 feet. On top of that, although there were small pockets of semi-clarity, the viz was pretty bad. I'd estimate it at 20 feet or so with LOTS of particulate in the water. We ended up diving in three separate groups and my group got skunked on Giant Sea Bass. But the other two groups each had nice encounters on a couple of their dives. I also got a chance to do a little cleaning and maintenance on the Jacques Cousteau plaque. The lettering is holding up really well but Jacques' picture is unfortunately showing wear. My group had a nice second dive in the Pinnacles area (right/south third of the Park) with sightings of many lobster, abalone, and even a moray eel. So a nice time was had by all but it wasn't one of those days that we would tend to rave about. To put it in perspective, I had my GoPro with me and didn't shoot a single frame. But Susy Horowitz and Curtis Majers did shoot stuff. Curtis put together a short video of the dive: CURTIS MAJERS AVALON VIDEO. And a couple of Susy's pix are immediately below (Giant Sea Bass left and a Large-Mouth Blenny right).​

​ SHARK WEEK STARTS ON THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL - I have mixed feelings about it. When it started years ago, it was all sensationalist sharks-are-dangerous stuff. Then they mellowed out and went into sharks-are-misunderstood mode. But the pendulum seems to have swung back to sensationalism as evidenced by these titles this week: "Dawn of the Monster Mako," "Rise of the Monster Hammerheads,"Great White Serial Killer," and others. At least it's only one week. That all being said . . . SHARK BLIMP - I did get a kick out of seeing the Shark Week blimp while waiting for the Dodger Stadium gates to open for the All-Star Game last Tuesday. I got the shot on the left, but Layne Ballard got the prized shot from inside the stadium as he got both the blimp AND the All-Star Game logo:​

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​ SPEAKING OF THE ALL-STAR GAME - My sister and I had a great time and if you'd like to see some of the pre-game sights you don't see on TV, I've uploaded some of the pix to my SmugMug page: 2022 BASEBALL ALL-STAR GAME. FISH ID THIS WEDNESDAY (VIA ZOOM) - The Greenling pictured above, unusual for the Underwater Park, is a good reason to consider taking our Fish ID class which will be offered this Wednesday evening starting at 7PM via Zoom ($30/person). Paul Humann said it best: You took time to learn how to dive, now shouldn't you take time to learn what it is you're seeing? We'll teach some basic ID skills that are applicable in all parts of the world as well as go through some specifics. Call us at 310/652-4990 to sign up. SPEAKING OF ID-ING FISH - Here's a real-world example of putting those skills to work. A fish biologist and her cohorts spotted a very rare see-through fish known as a Blotched Snailfish recently in Alaskan waters. But if you're not up on your fish ID, how would you know that what you're seeing is a rare find? You can see a pix of the almost-transparent fish and read about the discovery here: TRANSPARENT FISH SPOTTED. And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!! - Ken​