Ken Kurtis
Contributor
As a former disc jockey, one of the songs I used to play when I was starting out in 1972 was Albert Hammond's "It Never Rains in California" and lately I think of it and scream "LIAR!!!" . . .
GOT ANY PLANS FOR SATURDAY? - Hopefully you're planning to put in an appearance at the annual Divers Day at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. All certified divers get in for FREE just by showing your c-card. Doors open at 9AM and a number of non-profit and dive-related groups will have display tables in the Great Hall. (We'll also have a Chamber Day table so please come and say hello.) There will be regular dive shows and feeds throughout the day and be sure to watch out for the special short dive movies (four of them) that will be shown sat various times on the walls of the Great Hall. Two things you really need to see while you're there: (1) The baby Giant Sea Bass, born at the Aquarium, who's currently 2 years old and residing in the Amber Forest exhibit, and (2) The Eagle Ray feed at Noon in the main window of the Tropical Reef exhibit. Hope to see you there for the festivities. Here's a link: DIVERS DAY 2019.
DIVING THIS WEEKEND - For obvious weather-related reasons, I didn't hear about much going on. I did get a note from Kathryn Kempton today who was over at the Underwater Park with a class where she said it was cold and rainy with about 30-foot visibility. (Which is still much better viz than it was last week for the Cleanup.) But she and her group were rewarded for their sacrifice on their way home as they were able to observe fin-slapping, breaching humpbacks on the ride back to the mainland. Not too shabby a payoff for their 'sacrifice."
CHAMBER DAY IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS - We went live on Friday and are now happy to get you involved and signed up. As you may (or may not) know, this is the major fund-raising event for the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber. The funds from Chamber Day generally account for around 50% of the annual operating expenses for the Chamber. In addition to serving as Chamber Day HQ, Reef Seekers is proud to be a boat sponsor (Cee Ray) and also to host a table at Chamber Evening. Plus we will be donating to the Chamber Challenge (direct donations to the Chamber) and encourage you to do the same. If you haven't checked out the website, you can do so by clicking on the Chamber Day logo above. See what works for you and let's get you involved. Our Chamber is like insurance: You hope you (or a friend) never needs it but if you do, you'll be quite glad it's there.
UNUSUAL VISITOR - It's not uncommon for fish to die and then wash up on the beach. But what was unusual last week was that was was thought to be a Mola mola, fairly common for these waters, was actually a different species of mola, more specifically aMola tecta, a relatively newly-discovered species, and which was thought to live only in the Southern Hemisphere. This one washed up in Santa Barbara and has researchers both excited and agog. It really makes you wonder what else is out there that we don't know about simply because it lives underwater and we don't see it. Here's a link to the NPR website for more about this as well as some pictures: Beached Mola.
GETTING READY FOR YAP - We've got a shade over a week before we leave for our Yap Immersion trip, 10 days of diving in that fabulous place. After that, we've tentatively got Bonaire in May, and are committed to Indonesia in July. For that one, we'll be diving with our good friends at Murex Dive Resort and we might also point out that they are generously donating the Grand Prize for Chamber Eve this year, which is a 9-day "Passport to Paradise" trip with them. Get a feel for our trip and the Grand Prize here: Murex Dive - Chamber Eve Grand Prize.
DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME - Can you believe it begins next Sunday???? (Well, it does whether you believe me or not.) So after you're worn out from spending all day at the Aquarium on Divers Day, before you fall asleep, make sure you set your clocks AHEAD one hour.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week, and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
