Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Fireworks, Masks, Clever Cormorant, and more
(please scroll down for details)
Not sure if it's weirder to think of Kayne as Prez or Kim as FLOTUS . . .
BOOM!!! BOOM!!! BOOM!!! - Yikes!!! I'm in Westwood and I don't think I've ever heard as many fireworks or continuing for as long as the did the night of July 4. We were getting sporadic ones leading up to the 4th but from around 8PM until 1AM they started going with 8:30-10PM probably being the peak. There was an interesting video I saw from a drone flying over L.A. and all your see are continuous and widespread fireworks bursts all over the city. As I said at the beginning . . . YIKES!!! Take a peek: BOOMING JULY 4.
NO BEACHES FOR YOU - Although the beaches throughout L.A. county were closed this past weekend, if it's any consolation, at least based on what I saw on the Vets live cam in Redondo, conditions looked anywhere from lousy to undiveable. I know that a number of boats had Catalina trips planned, but I haven't heard or seen anything as to how island conditions were. According to Dr. Bill's FB page, conditions in the Avalon UW Park were fairly lousy with 10-15' vis and significant surge down to 60 feet. Bill even aborted his second dive as conditions were getting worse. He does say water temp was 65º or better.
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE MASK-AVERSE - I've got three different kinds of masks: KN95s, ones that are cloth, and medical-style polypropylene ones that fan out. Some loop over the ears, some have straps for behind your head and neck. But each one of them feels different when worn and breathes differently as well. As I'm sure you know if you read TWARS regularly, I'm a bit distressed by the number of divers (let alone general everyday people) who don't wear masks when mingling because masks are REALLY effective at slowing/stopping the COVID spread the more people that wear them. And I get it that people don't LIKE having to wear them all the time. But the point of this week's rant is: Try a few different ones to see if you can find one you can live with. A couple of times each week, there's a 1.75-mile walk I do. I wear a mask the entire time so I've been experimenting. The KN95 feels (and breathes) differently than the cloth ones do. The earloop version sits and feel differently than the behind-the-head ones do. We're all better off when everyone is masked so if you're not too nuts about wearing them and are trying to avoid it when you can, at least experiment with some different styles because while you may never LIKE it, you may at least find one that's tolerable, which will encourage you to wear it more often, and that will help us collective tame this stupid virus.
WHAT DID THE NARWHAL SAY? - I know it sounds like the setup for a joke but it's actually got scientists excited as they were able to record various clicks and other sounds made by Narwhals in a Greenland fjord. They're hoping this will help them to better understand how these shy and elusive animals live. If you'd like to read more, click here: NARWHAL VOCALIZATIONS.
MAYBE KEEP JULY 18 IN MIND - I'm almost - the key word is "almost" - ready to resume some of our beach &/or Avalon outings. (Besides, my gills are shriveling up.) Our sked has a July 18 day-trip over to Avalon so let's see what the next 10 days or so brings as to whether we'll be ready to do that or not. The L.A. avoid-indoors restrictions are in place through July 24 so that may affect things as time evolves - and we wouldn't go in the conditions are like Dr. Bill described them this week - but I'm moving in the of giving it a shot. Let me know if you might be interested. Keep an eye on TWARS and our website for further developments.
CLEVER BIRD - How smart is this? I've seen Cormorants hunting underwater. (It's actually quite interesting and comical to see.) But I've never seen one go after a Whale Shark before. But it wasn't the Whale Shark the bird was hunting. It was the tasty Remoras that are always traveling with and attaching themselves to Whale Sharks. I don't know who shot this (it's on a National geographic FB page and is from somewhere in Baja California) but it's amazing watching the bird dive down, find a Remora (watch the others scatter), and then pluck it off, having to work for it at times. Bad day for the Remora but a feast for the Cormorant: CLEVER CORMORANT.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's SAFELY go diving soon one of these days . . . maybe even July 18!!!
- Ken
(please scroll down for details)
Not sure if it's weirder to think of Kayne as Prez or Kim as FLOTUS . . .
BOOM!!! BOOM!!! BOOM!!! - Yikes!!! I'm in Westwood and I don't think I've ever heard as many fireworks or continuing for as long as the did the night of July 4. We were getting sporadic ones leading up to the 4th but from around 8PM until 1AM they started going with 8:30-10PM probably being the peak. There was an interesting video I saw from a drone flying over L.A. and all your see are continuous and widespread fireworks bursts all over the city. As I said at the beginning . . . YIKES!!! Take a peek: BOOMING JULY 4.
NO BEACHES FOR YOU - Although the beaches throughout L.A. county were closed this past weekend, if it's any consolation, at least based on what I saw on the Vets live cam in Redondo, conditions looked anywhere from lousy to undiveable. I know that a number of boats had Catalina trips planned, but I haven't heard or seen anything as to how island conditions were. According to Dr. Bill's FB page, conditions in the Avalon UW Park were fairly lousy with 10-15' vis and significant surge down to 60 feet. Bill even aborted his second dive as conditions were getting worse. He does say water temp was 65º or better.
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE MASK-AVERSE - I've got three different kinds of masks: KN95s, ones that are cloth, and medical-style polypropylene ones that fan out. Some loop over the ears, some have straps for behind your head and neck. But each one of them feels different when worn and breathes differently as well. As I'm sure you know if you read TWARS regularly, I'm a bit distressed by the number of divers (let alone general everyday people) who don't wear masks when mingling because masks are REALLY effective at slowing/stopping the COVID spread the more people that wear them. And I get it that people don't LIKE having to wear them all the time. But the point of this week's rant is: Try a few different ones to see if you can find one you can live with. A couple of times each week, there's a 1.75-mile walk I do. I wear a mask the entire time so I've been experimenting. The KN95 feels (and breathes) differently than the cloth ones do. The earloop version sits and feel differently than the behind-the-head ones do. We're all better off when everyone is masked so if you're not too nuts about wearing them and are trying to avoid it when you can, at least experiment with some different styles because while you may never LIKE it, you may at least find one that's tolerable, which will encourage you to wear it more often, and that will help us collective tame this stupid virus.
WHAT DID THE NARWHAL SAY? - I know it sounds like the setup for a joke but it's actually got scientists excited as they were able to record various clicks and other sounds made by Narwhals in a Greenland fjord. They're hoping this will help them to better understand how these shy and elusive animals live. If you'd like to read more, click here: NARWHAL VOCALIZATIONS.
MAYBE KEEP JULY 18 IN MIND - I'm almost - the key word is "almost" - ready to resume some of our beach &/or Avalon outings. (Besides, my gills are shriveling up.) Our sked has a July 18 day-trip over to Avalon so let's see what the next 10 days or so brings as to whether we'll be ready to do that or not. The L.A. avoid-indoors restrictions are in place through July 24 so that may affect things as time evolves - and we wouldn't go in the conditions are like Dr. Bill described them this week - but I'm moving in the of giving it a shot. Let me know if you might be interested. Keep an eye on TWARS and our website for further developments.
CLEVER BIRD - How smart is this? I've seen Cormorants hunting underwater. (It's actually quite interesting and comical to see.) But I've never seen one go after a Whale Shark before. But it wasn't the Whale Shark the bird was hunting. It was the tasty Remoras that are always traveling with and attaching themselves to Whale Sharks. I don't know who shot this (it's on a National geographic FB page and is from somewhere in Baja California) but it's amazing watching the bird dive down, find a Remora (watch the others scatter), and then pluck it off, having to work for it at times. Bad day for the Remora but a feast for the Cormorant: CLEVER CORMORANT.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's SAFELY go diving soon one of these days . . . maybe even July 18!!!
- Ken
