Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Chamber Day results, Helping a shark , & more
(please scroll down for details)
(please scroll down for details)
Let's cut to the chase . . .
CHAMBER DAY 2025 RESULTS - The final number this year ($193,320) for our Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber was only a few hundred dollars lower than last year's record-setting amount. Amazing. Karl and I both initially thought, with both the aftermath of the fires and the state of the economy giving us somewhat of a double whammy, that we'd do OK but nothing like last year. Thank you for proving us wrong. Many of you know my humorous mantra about divers (which I'll not repeat at the moment) so we are quite grateful that you were still willing to chip in and provide the financial support that our Chamber needs each year. As we've said over and over, our Chamber relies on the diving public (and their friends) for a bit over 50% of the money needed to keep the place going 24/7/365. Your generosity this year helps us do and that even will help create a bit of a "rainy day" fund when unexpected expenses pop up. (Like buying a couple of generators that will run about $10,000 we hadn't counted on.) So thank you again very much.
FOR THOSE WHO PARTICIPATED - For each aspect of the event, you should have received an e-mail asking about your post-event thoughts. We really do read each one and share them (anonymously) with the Steering Committee. And we'd really like to know what you think about things good/bad/indifferent. That's how we make the overall experience better for you. If you didn't receive an e-mail but still would like to share your thoughts, just send them to chamberday@aol.com. And, if you're aware of the event but chose NOT to join in and contribute, I'd be curious to know why not as well.
BY THE NUMBERS - Karl and I believe very strongly about being transparent and accountable with this event. Here's how many people we had participating in the various aspects (plus a few hundred volunteers who worked the event):
Chamber Day divers - 75
Flying Dutchman divers - 125
People who bought t-shirts on-line - 70 (some bought multiple shirts)
Chamber Evening diners - 302
Of those, who also did the VGD - 79
Challenge donors - 159 ($140,580)
If anyone needs more detail, we're happy to provide you with our day-of actual tally sheet. Just shoot me an e-mail and I'll forward it to you.
And now for some not-Chamber-Day stuff (for once) . . .
REEF SEEKERS 2026 TRIPS - Now that the bulk of Chamber Day is behind us, I hope this week to start nailing down dates and pricing for the three major trips we have planned for next year. A number of you have already expressed interest and are on my list. But what I'm looking at - these are very tentative travel dates - is Yap with Manta Ray Bay & Yap Divers (March 9-22), Indonesia with Murex, Manado (June 29 - July 12 or July 6-19), and Dumaguete, Philippines with Atlantis Resort (September 3-20 - combo one week on land, one week on a liveaboard). I have not approached any of the resorts yet to lock these dates in and will follow-up with you once we're firmed up. But that's where the thinking is right now.
UNDEREATER VLCANO READY TO BLOW? - Scientist are watching with some concern an area of the Axial Seamount off of the Oregon coast where seismic activity has recently increased and there are concerns that this could all be a pre-cursor to an eruption. What effect this might have is unknown but another cause for concern is that the area being watched is along the Juan de Fuca Ridge where it intersects with the Pacific plate and the worry is that an eruption there might trigger other eruptions along the two plates. Whether this is imminent or down the road a bit - but maybe only a year or so - is anyone's guess. You can read more about this in an article from CNN: UNDERWATER ERUPTION?
HELPING A SHARK - Let's end on a feel-good note. I saw a video on FaceBook (not sure if you'll need to be on FB to see it) that I thought was amazing. It shows a diver not only removing a hook from the mouth of a very large shark, but the shark calmly sits there and doesn't move while the extraction is going on. Initially, from the shape of the head, I thought this was a Tiger Shark. But when the animal turns to leave, no stripes are visible on the side so I'm not so sure. But the really "cute" thing is that when the hook is removed, the shark flexes it's mouth as if to say, "Yeah, that's much better, thanks" and then leaves. The video's only about 10 seconds long but is memorable: HOOK EXTRACTION.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
