Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Just when we thought it couldn't get any better . . .
NOTHING LIKE LOOKING FOR A BLUE-RINGED OCTOPUS AND FINDING A WHALE SHARK INSTEAD - We're having a blast in Indonesia and that's the way we ended the dives today. We were at a Manado bay muck site, Malalajung, and were hoping to spot a Blue-Ringed Octopus (they're the size of your thumbnail) which we'd found a few days before. No luck. But at the end of the dive, as we were doing our safety stop and drifting back to the boat, what should swim past us but a 20-foot Whale Shark at a depth of about 20 feet. Wow!!! It not only underscores the diversity of diving this area in general, but also affirms what I've said for years: Diving is the greatest scavenger hunt in the world and you never know what you're going to find. (For the record, I was set up to shoot macro so no, there are no pictures. You'll have to take my word for it.)
HAVING A FINE TIME IN INDO - We've generally been doing three dives per day. Conditions have been very good, although we had some wind and chop the first two days but nothing that prevented us from diving. Visibility's been anywhere from 60-100+ feet (less at the much sites, obviously) and the water temp has been hovering around 84 degrees (if you want to believe my brand new Proplus3 computer with a defective temp gauge, it's been 68 which is quite obviously wrong). Lembeh was about 4 degrees colder yesterday but that's to be expected. We have one more full day of diving tomorrow (Tuesday) and then it's back to Singapore Wednesday, overnight there at the Transit Hotel in the airport, and depart Singapore Thursday morning for the 20-hour travel home, arriving back in LA at 1PM Thursday afternoon thanks to picking up a day when we cross the Dateline.
KOCE WEDNESDAY NIGHT - There's a new program on PBS (KOCE - channel 50 in the LA area) called "Life on the Reef" that deals with the Great Barrier Reef and which was shot over a one year period. Looks interesting. Part 1 of 3 airs this Wednesday at 8PM. Here's a link for more info about each episode: Life on the Reef | PBS Programs | PBS.
SHARKNADO 3 - On the same night at 9PM (set your DVRs), "Sharknado 3 - Oh Hell No" airs on SyFy. Figure that if/when you watch this, you can then watch "Life on the Reef" and balance things out so your brain doesn't rot. The first Sharknado was loads of fun, the second one was so-so, but this one's getting some good preview press as campy fun. This time the sharks go after Washington, D.C., so you can only hope your least favorite politico is in their sights. Here's the official info on SyFy: Sharknado 3 .
And that'll do it for now from Indo. There are pictures from today to review and edit and a sunset to watch. Chat with you soon.
- Ken
NOTHING LIKE LOOKING FOR A BLUE-RINGED OCTOPUS AND FINDING A WHALE SHARK INSTEAD - We're having a blast in Indonesia and that's the way we ended the dives today. We were at a Manado bay muck site, Malalajung, and were hoping to spot a Blue-Ringed Octopus (they're the size of your thumbnail) which we'd found a few days before. No luck. But at the end of the dive, as we were doing our safety stop and drifting back to the boat, what should swim past us but a 20-foot Whale Shark at a depth of about 20 feet. Wow!!! It not only underscores the diversity of diving this area in general, but also affirms what I've said for years: Diving is the greatest scavenger hunt in the world and you never know what you're going to find. (For the record, I was set up to shoot macro so no, there are no pictures. You'll have to take my word for it.)
HAVING A FINE TIME IN INDO - We've generally been doing three dives per day. Conditions have been very good, although we had some wind and chop the first two days but nothing that prevented us from diving. Visibility's been anywhere from 60-100+ feet (less at the much sites, obviously) and the water temp has been hovering around 84 degrees (if you want to believe my brand new Proplus3 computer with a defective temp gauge, it's been 68 which is quite obviously wrong). Lembeh was about 4 degrees colder yesterday but that's to be expected. We have one more full day of diving tomorrow (Tuesday) and then it's back to Singapore Wednesday, overnight there at the Transit Hotel in the airport, and depart Singapore Thursday morning for the 20-hour travel home, arriving back in LA at 1PM Thursday afternoon thanks to picking up a day when we cross the Dateline.
KOCE WEDNESDAY NIGHT - There's a new program on PBS (KOCE - channel 50 in the LA area) called "Life on the Reef" that deals with the Great Barrier Reef and which was shot over a one year period. Looks interesting. Part 1 of 3 airs this Wednesday at 8PM. Here's a link for more info about each episode: Life on the Reef | PBS Programs | PBS.
SHARKNADO 3 - On the same night at 9PM (set your DVRs), "Sharknado 3 - Oh Hell No" airs on SyFy. Figure that if/when you watch this, you can then watch "Life on the Reef" and balance things out so your brain doesn't rot. The first Sharknado was loads of fun, the second one was so-so, but this one's getting some good preview press as campy fun. This time the sharks go after Washington, D.C., so you can only hope your least favorite politico is in their sights. Here's the official info on SyFy: Sharknado 3 .
And that'll do it for now from Indo. There are pictures from today to review and edit and a sunset to watch. Chat with you soon.
- Ken
