Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Clever Sheephead, Kelp crisis, and more
(please scroll down for details)
Spring has sprung . . .
NICE DAY IN AVALON FRIDAY - There was a little bit of a nip in the air but overall we had a really nice day of diving on Friday. One of the benefits of going to the Park during the week (instead of the weekend) is that the Park is not only uncrowded but this past Friday it even got to the point that after 2PM, our little group were the only people left. Water temp was a brisk 59º on my Proplus4 (Andrea Horwatt read 55º on her computer) and viz was nothing to write home about, with about 15-20' for most of the Park, but somewhat better at maybe 30' as you went to the right and got into the Pinnacles and got around the Sujack. But we did have a couple of brief but nice Giant Sea bass encounters, and you can see one of them here: CHILLIN' WITH THE GIANT SEA BASS.
ANOTHER UNUSUAL SIGHTING - Use of tools, once thought solely reserved for humans, is considered a sign of intelligence. Well, maybe Sheephead are a lot smarter than we thought because this one certainly was using rocks as tools. I've never seen this kind of behavior before and have sent the video off to a couple of ichthyology folks for comments. And while this guy didn't want me too close, he was determined to crack open the shell: SHEEPHEAD USING ROCKS.
NO SQUID DIVE THURSDAY - There's some predicted wind for Tuesday and Wednesday that will likely muck things up, but there are two more important reasons not to go: (1) My BC has a non-repairable hole in it and the replacement will not arrive in time for the dive, and perhaps more importantly (2) There haven't been any squid eggs spotted. This may be a year the squid skip the mating party. We'll give some thought to looking for stragglers in April.
CHAMBER DAY IS PERKING ALONG - One thing all of you Reef Seekers divers have been good at over the years is signing up for the Flying Dutchman. But we've got a couple of other groups beating us in the tally this year, so I hope you'll come through and sign up between now and May 5. Remember, our Chamber can use all the help it can get and your donations go a long way in keeping the place running smoothly. Just go to www.chamberday.org and when you get to the Dutchman page, make sure you type in REEF SEEKERS as your affiliation. And keep an eye out in the next few days for the finalized Dutchman logo for this year. It REALLY looks great.
WORD FROM BONAIRE - I mentioned the other week that Bonaire has gone back on a modified lockdown due to a COVID outbreak and I've now gotten that confirmed with Augusto at Buddy Dive. All they can do (and I assume other resorts are the same) is fill tanks. No boat dives. It sounds like other businesses and restaurants are also either closed or offering extremely limited services. On the ScubaBoard Bonaire forum, there's also mention of a curfew from 9PM-4AM through at least the end of the month.
VISION AND TRUTH HAVE BEEN SOLD - The two remaining boats in the Truth Aquatics fleet have been sold to new owners, although former owner Glen Fritzler will still maintain ownership of the landing. From the looks of the intended schedule of the new owners (channel islands eXpeditions), it seems that the Vision will be the primary dive boat and the Truth will mainly serve snorkelers and kayakers. The first Vision trip is scheduled for May 8. Although their site says Santa Barbara Island, based on the run time it will likely be Anacapa or Santa Cruz. Price for the single-day 3-dive trip (includes food - 8AM departure, 7PM return) is listed at $249 + a "landing fee" and a booking fee for a total of $263.45. While it sounds pricey, they also say they'll run with a minimum of 6 divers. I'm not sure if they're using their own crews or if some of the former Truth Aquatics crew have been hired back. We shall see how this all plays out.
NORCAL KELP CRISIS - In simplest terms, the vast kelp beds of Northern California have basically disappeared over the last dozen years, reduced to only 5% of their previous acreage off of Mendocino and Sonoma counties. One of the primary causes seems to be purple urchins, who have eaten their way through and left behind urchin barrens that may never recover. A study by UC Santa Cruz documents all of this and you can read the report and outlook here: KELP COLLAPSE IN NORCAL.
CAN'T END OF THAT NOTE - That's waaaay too depressing to end with so I thought you'd enjoy this video I found on line from Momentum Watch Company, that details how they pressure-test their watches. And they do it in air, not water: PRESSURE-TESTING MOMENTUM WATCHES.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week, wear your mask, keep looking for a vaccine appointment, and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
(please scroll down for details)
Spring has sprung . . .
NICE DAY IN AVALON FRIDAY - There was a little bit of a nip in the air but overall we had a really nice day of diving on Friday. One of the benefits of going to the Park during the week (instead of the weekend) is that the Park is not only uncrowded but this past Friday it even got to the point that after 2PM, our little group were the only people left. Water temp was a brisk 59º on my Proplus4 (Andrea Horwatt read 55º on her computer) and viz was nothing to write home about, with about 15-20' for most of the Park, but somewhat better at maybe 30' as you went to the right and got into the Pinnacles and got around the Sujack. But we did have a couple of brief but nice Giant Sea bass encounters, and you can see one of them here: CHILLIN' WITH THE GIANT SEA BASS.
ANOTHER UNUSUAL SIGHTING - Use of tools, once thought solely reserved for humans, is considered a sign of intelligence. Well, maybe Sheephead are a lot smarter than we thought because this one certainly was using rocks as tools. I've never seen this kind of behavior before and have sent the video off to a couple of ichthyology folks for comments. And while this guy didn't want me too close, he was determined to crack open the shell: SHEEPHEAD USING ROCKS.
NO SQUID DIVE THURSDAY - There's some predicted wind for Tuesday and Wednesday that will likely muck things up, but there are two more important reasons not to go: (1) My BC has a non-repairable hole in it and the replacement will not arrive in time for the dive, and perhaps more importantly (2) There haven't been any squid eggs spotted. This may be a year the squid skip the mating party. We'll give some thought to looking for stragglers in April.
CHAMBER DAY IS PERKING ALONG - One thing all of you Reef Seekers divers have been good at over the years is signing up for the Flying Dutchman. But we've got a couple of other groups beating us in the tally this year, so I hope you'll come through and sign up between now and May 5. Remember, our Chamber can use all the help it can get and your donations go a long way in keeping the place running smoothly. Just go to www.chamberday.org and when you get to the Dutchman page, make sure you type in REEF SEEKERS as your affiliation. And keep an eye out in the next few days for the finalized Dutchman logo for this year. It REALLY looks great.
WORD FROM BONAIRE - I mentioned the other week that Bonaire has gone back on a modified lockdown due to a COVID outbreak and I've now gotten that confirmed with Augusto at Buddy Dive. All they can do (and I assume other resorts are the same) is fill tanks. No boat dives. It sounds like other businesses and restaurants are also either closed or offering extremely limited services. On the ScubaBoard Bonaire forum, there's also mention of a curfew from 9PM-4AM through at least the end of the month.
VISION AND TRUTH HAVE BEEN SOLD - The two remaining boats in the Truth Aquatics fleet have been sold to new owners, although former owner Glen Fritzler will still maintain ownership of the landing. From the looks of the intended schedule of the new owners (channel islands eXpeditions), it seems that the Vision will be the primary dive boat and the Truth will mainly serve snorkelers and kayakers. The first Vision trip is scheduled for May 8. Although their site says Santa Barbara Island, based on the run time it will likely be Anacapa or Santa Cruz. Price for the single-day 3-dive trip (includes food - 8AM departure, 7PM return) is listed at $249 + a "landing fee" and a booking fee for a total of $263.45. While it sounds pricey, they also say they'll run with a minimum of 6 divers. I'm not sure if they're using their own crews or if some of the former Truth Aquatics crew have been hired back. We shall see how this all plays out.
NORCAL KELP CRISIS - In simplest terms, the vast kelp beds of Northern California have basically disappeared over the last dozen years, reduced to only 5% of their previous acreage off of Mendocino and Sonoma counties. One of the primary causes seems to be purple urchins, who have eaten their way through and left behind urchin barrens that may never recover. A study by UC Santa Cruz documents all of this and you can read the report and outlook here: KELP COLLAPSE IN NORCAL.
CAN'T END OF THAT NOTE - That's waaaay too depressing to end with so I thought you'd enjoy this video I found on line from Momentum Watch Company, that details how they pressure-test their watches. And they do it in air, not water: PRESSURE-TESTING MOMENTUM WATCHES.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week, wear your mask, keep looking for a vaccine appointment, and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
