Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Want to travel??? Upcoming 2018 vacation trips:
• April 14-21 - Bonaire (SOLD OUT)
• June 8-20 - Yap Immersion (7 going - room for a few more)
• August 18-25 - Isla Mujeres (Whale Sharks, Cancun Underwater Museum, Cenotes)
• October 27 - November 3 - Roatan at Anthony's Key (3 SPOTS LEFT)
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: Foreign Trips
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Upcoming local dives & classes:
• Sat., Apr. 7 - Redondo - Navigation class (single dive - $25)
• Tue., Apr. 10 - Redondo - Squid Dive (FREE!!!)
• Sat., Apr. 28 - Catalina Express - Underwater Park ($150)
To sign up for any of these dives, either call us at 310/652-4990 or e-mail us at kenkurtis@aol.com
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How can you not be rooting for the underdog Ramblers and their 98-year-old resident Chaplain, Sister Jean . . .
GOOD SAMARITAN FOLLOW-UP - You may recall the story from last week of Jeff Reimer, who found a phone underwater during the Avalon Underwater Cleanup, managed to get it to fire back up, and tracked down the owner. This past weekend he returned the phone to the owner (a veterinarian in Orange County) who told Jeff the phone was underwater for 20 days after falling out his wife's jacket while they were boarding a dinghy at the Green Pier (which is where Jeff found it). Pix (Jeff's on the right) of the happy reunion and the working phone is below.
OUR PLASTIC OCEAN - One the key messages we're always trying to convey is that trash in the ocean, and specifically plastic, is huge problem all over the world (including in he U.S.). For years we've know about a gyre in the middle of the Pacific been California and Hawaii known as the Pacific Garbage Patch. Last time they measured, it was about the size of the state of Texas. (That's not a misprint: Texas.) And granted, a lot of the plastics are microscopic-sized but that's still an issue and affects animals who eat plankton and the like. Researchers from the Netherlands have been studying the area and released a report last week which indicates that there's far more plastic there than was previously thought. They estimate the area now contains up to 1.8 TRILLION pieces of plastic. Again, a lot of them are really small but the problem is that this stuff simply doesn't decompose. In terms mass, a lot of it comes from larger items and specifically abandoned fishing nets, which continue to kill animals as well as trap other debris as they drift. The ocean is vast but it's not so big that we can't screw it up and hopefully his report, distressing as it is, will open some eyes amongst those in a position to do something about it. You can read the Yahoo News version of the report here: https://www.yahoo.com/…/pacific-plastic-dump-far-larger-fea….
CHAMBER DAY & EVE ARE CHUGGING ALONG - You can sign up through www.chamberday.org and please remember that every donation helps. The part of the event that ends up accounting for roughly 60% of the overall total is from the Camber Challenge. These are simply straight donations to the Chamber that come from the goodness of your heart. And fully 100% of these funds help run our Chamber. Last year, the Challenge raised close to $65,000 out of our $105,000 overall net. So whether you can give $100 or $1,000 or something in-between, it's significant. because when we combine whatever you can afford with whatever others can afford (including some companies that do matching grants), it really adds up. So whether or not you're doing any other aspect of the event (Ch-Day, Ch-Eve, the Fling Dutchman), I hope you'll give some thought to kicking in a little extra through the Chamber Challenge. It helps keep our Chamber strong in the hopefully unlikely event that you or one of your friends ever needs it.
ROATAN SPOTS HAVE OPENED UP - I have a couple of people who were confirmed for Roatan who had to unconfirm themselves and that means I've got some space on our October 27 - November 3 trip. Specifically, I have at least one full room available so if you're a couple, have I got a deal for you. We'll be at Anthony's Key staying in their best rooms overlooking the water, and all diving and food as well as crew tip is included in the $2,195 price. Airfare's running a shade under $800 at the moment so that becomes a really good deal, especially if you're budget conscious. It's hard to put together a decent trip for under $3K all in nowadays and this one will be dandy. If you're interested in going, give us a call at 310/652-4990.
MASS WHALE STRANDING IN AUSTRALIA THIS WEEK - I'm afraid I'm not the bearer of good news this week. I have to alert you to a mass whale stranding in western Australia, where upwards of 140 short-finned pilot whales have died. Mass strandings like this are very confusing because a lot of times, it's hard to pinpoint the cause. Some scientists think it's because a lead, older whale is sick or dying, and others simply follow the leader in and then get stuck. But no matter the cause, it's always heart-breaking to those of us who love the ocean and the inhabitants. Here's the story from AOL: https://www.aol.com/…/over-140-whales-found-dead-…/23394060/.
GOOD WEEKEND NOT TO HAVE BEEN BEACH DIVING - It was a bit kicked up at a lot of shore sites this weekend, following our storm moving through. Wind will do that to you. The good news is that the forecast for the next 10 days looks pretty good, so conditions should definitely be improving. The aforementioned Jeff Reimer said he dove down in Laguna over the weekend and it was a bit surgy with limited vis. However, he did manage to spot a Banded Guitarfish so that's pretty cool and worth getting tossed around for.
SPEAKING OF COOL FISH - How about a robotic one? Researchers from M.I.T. have create "SoFi" which stands for Soft Robotic Fish and the goal is to allow it to be piloted amongst other real, live fishes on the reef to learn more. They just finished some tests in Fiji and seem quite happy with their results. Although, as you'll see in the video, it looks like they have to have a diver fairly closely following the robot fish with a controller so you've got to wonder how that affects the behavior of the animals they're trying to observe. But it looks fairly realistic and it's interesting to watch it maneuver around the reef. Here's the article: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/…/sofi-robotic-fish-mi…/ .
NEXT SUNDAY - Don't forget that next Sunday is Easter Sunday. It's also April 1 but Easter on April Fools Day is no joke. Hmmm . . . April Fools Day. Why does that ring a bell?????
That'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
• April 14-21 - Bonaire (SOLD OUT)
• June 8-20 - Yap Immersion (7 going - room for a few more)
• August 18-25 - Isla Mujeres (Whale Sharks, Cancun Underwater Museum, Cenotes)
• October 27 - November 3 - Roatan at Anthony's Key (3 SPOTS LEFT)
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: Foreign Trips
—————————————————————————
Upcoming local dives & classes:
• Sat., Apr. 7 - Redondo - Navigation class (single dive - $25)
• Tue., Apr. 10 - Redondo - Squid Dive (FREE!!!)
• Sat., Apr. 28 - Catalina Express - Underwater Park ($150)
To sign up for any of these dives, either call us at 310/652-4990 or e-mail us at kenkurtis@aol.com
—————————————————————————
How can you not be rooting for the underdog Ramblers and their 98-year-old resident Chaplain, Sister Jean . . .
GOOD SAMARITAN FOLLOW-UP - You may recall the story from last week of Jeff Reimer, who found a phone underwater during the Avalon Underwater Cleanup, managed to get it to fire back up, and tracked down the owner. This past weekend he returned the phone to the owner (a veterinarian in Orange County) who told Jeff the phone was underwater for 20 days after falling out his wife's jacket while they were boarding a dinghy at the Green Pier (which is where Jeff found it). Pix (Jeff's on the right) of the happy reunion and the working phone is below.
OUR PLASTIC OCEAN - One the key messages we're always trying to convey is that trash in the ocean, and specifically plastic, is huge problem all over the world (including in he U.S.). For years we've know about a gyre in the middle of the Pacific been California and Hawaii known as the Pacific Garbage Patch. Last time they measured, it was about the size of the state of Texas. (That's not a misprint: Texas.) And granted, a lot of the plastics are microscopic-sized but that's still an issue and affects animals who eat plankton and the like. Researchers from the Netherlands have been studying the area and released a report last week which indicates that there's far more plastic there than was previously thought. They estimate the area now contains up to 1.8 TRILLION pieces of plastic. Again, a lot of them are really small but the problem is that this stuff simply doesn't decompose. In terms mass, a lot of it comes from larger items and specifically abandoned fishing nets, which continue to kill animals as well as trap other debris as they drift. The ocean is vast but it's not so big that we can't screw it up and hopefully his report, distressing as it is, will open some eyes amongst those in a position to do something about it. You can read the Yahoo News version of the report here: https://www.yahoo.com/…/pacific-plastic-dump-far-larger-fea….
CHAMBER DAY & EVE ARE CHUGGING ALONG - You can sign up through www.chamberday.org and please remember that every donation helps. The part of the event that ends up accounting for roughly 60% of the overall total is from the Camber Challenge. These are simply straight donations to the Chamber that come from the goodness of your heart. And fully 100% of these funds help run our Chamber. Last year, the Challenge raised close to $65,000 out of our $105,000 overall net. So whether you can give $100 or $1,000 or something in-between, it's significant. because when we combine whatever you can afford with whatever others can afford (including some companies that do matching grants), it really adds up. So whether or not you're doing any other aspect of the event (Ch-Day, Ch-Eve, the Fling Dutchman), I hope you'll give some thought to kicking in a little extra through the Chamber Challenge. It helps keep our Chamber strong in the hopefully unlikely event that you or one of your friends ever needs it.
ROATAN SPOTS HAVE OPENED UP - I have a couple of people who were confirmed for Roatan who had to unconfirm themselves and that means I've got some space on our October 27 - November 3 trip. Specifically, I have at least one full room available so if you're a couple, have I got a deal for you. We'll be at Anthony's Key staying in their best rooms overlooking the water, and all diving and food as well as crew tip is included in the $2,195 price. Airfare's running a shade under $800 at the moment so that becomes a really good deal, especially if you're budget conscious. It's hard to put together a decent trip for under $3K all in nowadays and this one will be dandy. If you're interested in going, give us a call at 310/652-4990.
MASS WHALE STRANDING IN AUSTRALIA THIS WEEK - I'm afraid I'm not the bearer of good news this week. I have to alert you to a mass whale stranding in western Australia, where upwards of 140 short-finned pilot whales have died. Mass strandings like this are very confusing because a lot of times, it's hard to pinpoint the cause. Some scientists think it's because a lead, older whale is sick or dying, and others simply follow the leader in and then get stuck. But no matter the cause, it's always heart-breaking to those of us who love the ocean and the inhabitants. Here's the story from AOL: https://www.aol.com/…/over-140-whales-found-dead-…/23394060/.
GOOD WEEKEND NOT TO HAVE BEEN BEACH DIVING - It was a bit kicked up at a lot of shore sites this weekend, following our storm moving through. Wind will do that to you. The good news is that the forecast for the next 10 days looks pretty good, so conditions should definitely be improving. The aforementioned Jeff Reimer said he dove down in Laguna over the weekend and it was a bit surgy with limited vis. However, he did manage to spot a Banded Guitarfish so that's pretty cool and worth getting tossed around for.
SPEAKING OF COOL FISH - How about a robotic one? Researchers from M.I.T. have create "SoFi" which stands for Soft Robotic Fish and the goal is to allow it to be piloted amongst other real, live fishes on the reef to learn more. They just finished some tests in Fiji and seem quite happy with their results. Although, as you'll see in the video, it looks like they have to have a diver fairly closely following the robot fish with a controller so you've got to wonder how that affects the behavior of the animals they're trying to observe. But it looks fairly realistic and it's interesting to watch it maneuver around the reef. Here's the article: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/…/sofi-robotic-fish-mi…/ .
NEXT SUNDAY - Don't forget that next Sunday is Easter Sunday. It's also April 1 but Easter on April Fools Day is no joke. Hmmm . . . April Fools Day. Why does that ring a bell?????
That'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
