Lots to cover this week and none of it relates to our national political firestorm . . .
ZOOM SEEKERS THIS TUESDAY @ 7:30PM - We continue our "artsy-fartsy" theme with a talk from marine sculptor Victor Douieb (who is also one of our divers). Victor was 18 when he got certified in France. “I’d seen my first shark when I was diving in Egypt,” Victor remembers, “and as I kid I was always crazy about sharks for some reason. To get that close to one of the world’s greatest apex predators, knowing that they are tolerating your presence in their world, is a humbling experience.” With respect to art, Victor’s only real interest in it was drawing. But it was in 2007 when he traveled to La Paz, Mexico to dive the Sea of Cortez hoping to glimpse the very shy and reclusive Scalloped Hammerhead that inspiration hit. On one dive, a trio of hammerheads made numerous passes by Victor and his dive buddy and he was enthralled. He wanted a piece of artwork to commemorate the experience but he said, “I couldn’t find anything that I would have wanted to display on my living room table, so I decided that when I got back to LA, I’d sculpt my own.” And Victor's passion for sculpting was ignited. His works are amazing - and heavy - and he'll be going through his process of both inspiration and creation. Here's the link:
ANOTHER RED SEA DIVE BOAT FIRE - This just happened Sunday morning so details are still sketchy but the short version is there was a fire aboard the dive boat Hurricane and three divers are still unaccounted for as of this writing (Sunday at 7PM). The fire started around 6:30AM and I've seen it mentioned as both an "electrical fire" (which could mean recharging batteries exploding) and I've seen it characterized as an engine room fire. The boat didn't sink and has apparently been towed to a nearby port but regardless of the cause, this is not good. You can read about it in an article from The Guardian here:
RED SEA DIVE BOAT FIRE.
CHEERIER SUNDAY NEWS - After staying 30' deep in an underwater habitat for 100 days at the Jules Verne Lodge in Key Largo, FL, Dr. Joseph Dituri surfaced today having set a new world record for continuous time spent living under the ocean's surface. You can read more about it here:
100 DAYS UNDER THE SEA.
AVALON ON JUNE 21 - We've got an Avalon day trip on the books for Wednesday, June 21, and we're committed to doing it. For one thing, I'm sure the Cousteau plaque needs some TLC and that's something I attend to every time we do a dive there. For another thing, I haven't been over in a while. And for a third thing, I'm sure the Giant Sea Bass that reside in the Underwater Park wonder where I've been. We'll leave out of San Pedro at 8:45AM and should be back by 7:30PM, getting in three dives in the interim. If you're interested in joining us, call us at 310/652-4990 for the details and to get signed up.
WHALE RESCUE IN AUSTRALIA - There's some pretty interesting video footage of a Humpback whale being rescued from a horrible net entanglement off of the eastern Australia coast south of Brisbane. Rescuers in some small boats were able to eventually cut the line and free the whale. You can see the video here:
FREEING A HUMPBACK.
GOING BACK TO SAN IGNACIO LAGOON - I'm in the process of securing dates to go hug some whales again in San Ignacio Lagoon in mid-March of next year. We had a great trip this year but it was rather windy which limited things. By pushing back into mid-March, we're hoping to get better weather conditions. Pricing will be very close to what it was this year. And this will set up as a Monday-Friday trip just like we did this year. We'll be limiting our group to about 8 people. It's a great trip for a non-diver as well. Details in the July newsletter. But you can also call us at 310/652-4990 to get advance info or sign up.
ARCTIC SEA ICE IN PERIL - Especially with an El Nino potentially shaping up, this story takes on added importance. Scientists are warning that the Arctic could be free of summer sea ice as early as the 2030s, which is about 20 years sooner than they've been predicting. This is a long-term of effect of climate change. It seems that previous computer models had under-estimated the rate of the change. You can read more about this here:
ARCTIC SEA ICE COULD DISAPPEAR.
KILAUEA ERUPTION LIVE-STREAM - This one's way cool (fully realizing that saying "cool" when referring to a hot volcano is an oxymoron). The Kilauea volcano on the Big Island has been erupting for a while now but has really become active in the last few weeks. There's a U.S. Geologic Survey webcam you can watch and see the whole thing live. If you hover over the image, you'll also see a red timeline below, so you can scroll back as much as 12 hours to see what's what. (The camera is programmed to give multiple views over time so the view changes every now and then.) But it's really fascinating, especially if you've ever visited when you were diving Hawaii. And there are definitely some lava fountains being caught on camera. Here's the URL to the cam:
https://youtu.be/Q5M-5XFplo0.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
