Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Want to travel??? Upcoming 2015-2016 vacation trips:
• March 11-19 - Yap (leaving this Friday morning)
• March 20-27 - Palau on the Palau Aggressor II [ SOLD OUT ]
• July 16-23 - Bonaire at Buddy Dive
• August 1-6 - Isla Guadalupe & Great White Sharks [ ONLY 5 SPOTS AVAILABLE ]
• August 13-20 (WEEK 1) - Isla Mujeres & Whale Sharks, cenotes, and statues [ SOME AVAILABILITY ]
• August 20-27 (WEEK 2) - Isla Mujeres & Whale Sharks, cenotes, and statues [ SOME AVAILABILITY ]
• November 3-16 - Maldives on the Manthiri [ FILLING - ONLY 6 STILL AVAILABLE ]
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: www.reefseekers.com/foreign_trips.html
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Rain, rain on the way . . .
BEACHES ARE GETTING HAMMERED - I took a peek at the Redondo live cam today and all I can say is OUCH!!!! Definitely not the day to practice your beach diving skills. The swell is also up in the channel and as of this writing (7PM Sunday night) at around 8 feet with a 7-second period. Also not fun nor conducive to a pleasant crossing. They say the next storm is going to be bigger than the drizzle we got overnight and should arrive in the morning and stay through most of Monday. We definitely need the rain and March is probably our last chance to get it in any significant amount. But a geologist I know was explaining to me how many times during El Ninos, March really is when the heavy downpours occur, so keep your umbrella and your BC (in case of flooding) handy.
CHAMBER DAY 2016 IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS - As many of you know, this is an event that's near and dear to our hearts. Reef Seekers has served as Chamber Day HQ since the early 90s and this year is no exception. We're also active sponsors as we officially sponsor the Cee Ray and have a table at Chamber Evening at the Aquarium of the pacific. All the monies raised go to help fund the USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber so you know it's for a good cause. You may never in your lifetime need their services, but on the off-chance that you do, you'll be glad this event helped keep the doors of our Chamber open. To find out more and to sign up or simply to make a donation to the Chamber Challenge, go to www.chamberday.org and read all about it.
GREAT WHITE SHARKS IN AUGUST - I'm going to send out a separate e-mail abut this trip is a day or two (HTML format with some links from Nautilus Belle Amie) but wanted to remind you of our trip to Isla Guadalupe scheduled for August 1-6. We're running this trip with our friends at Ocean Adventures (we each have six spots) and are really looking forward to it. We did two trips to Guadalupe last year and each one was special and memorable. I realize that shark diving, let alone shark diving from inside a cage, is not everyone's cup of tea. But if it IS something that intrigues you, you should really think about joining us for this trip. You will literally be inches away from nature's top predator. And it's truly amazing and mesmerizing as you look in their eyes and they look into yours. You will come away with a very different perspective on Great Whites, and in a good way, than what you have now. So keep an eye out for the special e-mail in a day or so. And if you'd like to watch a short video from our first trip (the graphic at the end refers to our second trip last year, not the one this year) here's the link: .
DIVERS DAY NEXT SATURDAY AT THE AQUARIUM - Wanna get in to the Aquarium of the Pacific for free next Saturday? Just show up with your c-card and in you'll go!!! It's the annual Divers Day from 9AM-5PM and in addition to all the exhibits and the 12,000+ animals you can see (including sharks - but not Great Whites), there will be numerous display tables in the Great Hall from various groups (including the Chamber and Chamber Day), as well as the normal diver presentations roughly every 45 minutes, a couple of special presentations on top of that, and a few diver-related videos as well (one of which WILL be on Great White Sharks). It's a really fun day and I hope you'll take time to go. Also, remember to have your parking ticket validated for discount parking BEFORE you leave the Aquarium.
JACQUES WAS WRONG - Cousteau referred to the ocean as "the silent world" and we all know that's not exactly true. And now we know it not to be true for the deepest part of the ocean as well. A hydrophone was planted for 23 days at Challenger Deep in the Marinas Trench at a depth of 36,000 feet. It's been brought up and some of what it recorded has been released to the public. Pretty interesting stuff that includes whale calls and an earthquake. Here's a link to the article and the sound clips: http://gizmodo.com/first-audio-recordings-from-the-bottom-of-the-mariana-t-1762480466.
SLEEPING SPERM WHALES - Also in the "Waaay Cool" category is a video just released of sleeping Sperm Whales. Then tend to sleep vertically suspended in the water (would that you all had such excellent buoyancy control) and basically "nap" while turning off half their brain. Click on the video link and be amazed, especially when you realize that these adult whales are about 40 feet long:
Cultura Inquieta - Amazing Footage of Sperm Whales Sleeping Vertically (VIDEO).
HELLO CUTIE - In our Cute Creature Quest this week, how about a new species of octopus, discovered a week ago off of Hawaii during an ROV dive from the Okeanos Explorer. He's a ghostly white and was found at a depth of 14,000 feet so even though the picture is well-lit, he normally lives in total darkness. Read more about it here: Okeanos Explorer | Expeditions | NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer: 2016 Hohonu Moana: Exploring Deep Waters off Hawai’i: Mission Logs: March 2.
HOAX OF THE WEEK - I've gotten a number of e-mails from people wanting to share with me the story of the Nazi sub that was just found in the Great Lakes, 70 years after the end of WW2. It's an amazing find and you begin to wonder how it could have been there undiscovered for all of this time, let alone trying to figure out how the Nazis would have gotten a submarine there in the first place. The answer is easy: IT'S NOT TRUE. Hate to burst your bubble, but here's the straight scoop from Snopes: FALSE: Nazi Submarine Unearthed in Great Lakes.
NEXT WEEK FROM YAP - We leave Friday for Yap so hopefully next week, you'll be getting TWARS "Live From Yap". Since I'll have Internet access the whole time we're in Yap (March 12-19), I'll try to post daily pix on our Facebook page of what we're seeing. Then we're off to Palau (March 20-26) where we'll have sporadic access (we're on the Palau Aggressor 2) so we'll see what's what. But we'll try to share as much with you vicariously as we can, and hopefully this year I'll actually get some pictures of Blue Hole without (again) flooding my camera. Nothing like returning to the scene of the crime . . .
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
• March 11-19 - Yap (leaving this Friday morning)
• March 20-27 - Palau on the Palau Aggressor II [ SOLD OUT ]
• July 16-23 - Bonaire at Buddy Dive
• August 1-6 - Isla Guadalupe & Great White Sharks [ ONLY 5 SPOTS AVAILABLE ]
• August 13-20 (WEEK 1) - Isla Mujeres & Whale Sharks, cenotes, and statues [ SOME AVAILABILITY ]
• August 20-27 (WEEK 2) - Isla Mujeres & Whale Sharks, cenotes, and statues [ SOME AVAILABILITY ]
• November 3-16 - Maldives on the Manthiri [ FILLING - ONLY 6 STILL AVAILABLE ]
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: www.reefseekers.com/foreign_trips.html
———————————————————————————————————————————
Rain, rain on the way . . .
BEACHES ARE GETTING HAMMERED - I took a peek at the Redondo live cam today and all I can say is OUCH!!!! Definitely not the day to practice your beach diving skills. The swell is also up in the channel and as of this writing (7PM Sunday night) at around 8 feet with a 7-second period. Also not fun nor conducive to a pleasant crossing. They say the next storm is going to be bigger than the drizzle we got overnight and should arrive in the morning and stay through most of Monday. We definitely need the rain and March is probably our last chance to get it in any significant amount. But a geologist I know was explaining to me how many times during El Ninos, March really is when the heavy downpours occur, so keep your umbrella and your BC (in case of flooding) handy.
CHAMBER DAY 2016 IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS - As many of you know, this is an event that's near and dear to our hearts. Reef Seekers has served as Chamber Day HQ since the early 90s and this year is no exception. We're also active sponsors as we officially sponsor the Cee Ray and have a table at Chamber Evening at the Aquarium of the pacific. All the monies raised go to help fund the USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber so you know it's for a good cause. You may never in your lifetime need their services, but on the off-chance that you do, you'll be glad this event helped keep the doors of our Chamber open. To find out more and to sign up or simply to make a donation to the Chamber Challenge, go to www.chamberday.org and read all about it.
GREAT WHITE SHARKS IN AUGUST - I'm going to send out a separate e-mail abut this trip is a day or two (HTML format with some links from Nautilus Belle Amie) but wanted to remind you of our trip to Isla Guadalupe scheduled for August 1-6. We're running this trip with our friends at Ocean Adventures (we each have six spots) and are really looking forward to it. We did two trips to Guadalupe last year and each one was special and memorable. I realize that shark diving, let alone shark diving from inside a cage, is not everyone's cup of tea. But if it IS something that intrigues you, you should really think about joining us for this trip. You will literally be inches away from nature's top predator. And it's truly amazing and mesmerizing as you look in their eyes and they look into yours. You will come away with a very different perspective on Great Whites, and in a good way, than what you have now. So keep an eye out for the special e-mail in a day or so. And if you'd like to watch a short video from our first trip (the graphic at the end refers to our second trip last year, not the one this year) here's the link: .
DIVERS DAY NEXT SATURDAY AT THE AQUARIUM - Wanna get in to the Aquarium of the Pacific for free next Saturday? Just show up with your c-card and in you'll go!!! It's the annual Divers Day from 9AM-5PM and in addition to all the exhibits and the 12,000+ animals you can see (including sharks - but not Great Whites), there will be numerous display tables in the Great Hall from various groups (including the Chamber and Chamber Day), as well as the normal diver presentations roughly every 45 minutes, a couple of special presentations on top of that, and a few diver-related videos as well (one of which WILL be on Great White Sharks). It's a really fun day and I hope you'll take time to go. Also, remember to have your parking ticket validated for discount parking BEFORE you leave the Aquarium.
JACQUES WAS WRONG - Cousteau referred to the ocean as "the silent world" and we all know that's not exactly true. And now we know it not to be true for the deepest part of the ocean as well. A hydrophone was planted for 23 days at Challenger Deep in the Marinas Trench at a depth of 36,000 feet. It's been brought up and some of what it recorded has been released to the public. Pretty interesting stuff that includes whale calls and an earthquake. Here's a link to the article and the sound clips: http://gizmodo.com/first-audio-recordings-from-the-bottom-of-the-mariana-t-1762480466.
SLEEPING SPERM WHALES - Also in the "Waaay Cool" category is a video just released of sleeping Sperm Whales. Then tend to sleep vertically suspended in the water (would that you all had such excellent buoyancy control) and basically "nap" while turning off half their brain. Click on the video link and be amazed, especially when you realize that these adult whales are about 40 feet long:
Cultura Inquieta - Amazing Footage of Sperm Whales Sleeping Vertically (VIDEO).
HELLO CUTIE - In our Cute Creature Quest this week, how about a new species of octopus, discovered a week ago off of Hawaii during an ROV dive from the Okeanos Explorer. He's a ghostly white and was found at a depth of 14,000 feet so even though the picture is well-lit, he normally lives in total darkness. Read more about it here: Okeanos Explorer | Expeditions | NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer: 2016 Hohonu Moana: Exploring Deep Waters off Hawai’i: Mission Logs: March 2.
HOAX OF THE WEEK - I've gotten a number of e-mails from people wanting to share with me the story of the Nazi sub that was just found in the Great Lakes, 70 years after the end of WW2. It's an amazing find and you begin to wonder how it could have been there undiscovered for all of this time, let alone trying to figure out how the Nazis would have gotten a submarine there in the first place. The answer is easy: IT'S NOT TRUE. Hate to burst your bubble, but here's the straight scoop from Snopes: FALSE: Nazi Submarine Unearthed in Great Lakes.
NEXT WEEK FROM YAP - We leave Friday for Yap so hopefully next week, you'll be getting TWARS "Live From Yap". Since I'll have Internet access the whole time we're in Yap (March 12-19), I'll try to post daily pix on our Facebook page of what we're seeing. Then we're off to Palau (March 20-26) where we'll have sporadic access (we're on the Palau Aggressor 2) so we'll see what's what. But we'll try to share as much with you vicariously as we can, and hopefully this year I'll actually get some pictures of Blue Hole without (again) flooding my camera. Nothing like returning to the scene of the crime . . .
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
