Memorial Day looms . . .
READY TO DIVE? - Even though you can dive California year-round, many people still think of Memorial Day to Labor Day as the diving season. Therefore, many of you may just now be starting to think about getting back in the water. And if that's the case, there are two things you want to be sure are in functioning order. The most obvious one is your gear. If it's been sitting around for a while, it may need a full service but do yourself a favor and at least get a bench check to make sure your reg is within specs. We can do that for you when you get hold of repair guru Robert Stark. We've got a separate number for him which is 310/947-8523. Bench checks are quick, inexpensive, and will give you peace of mind.
THE OTHER THING KEEP IN FUNCTIONING ORDER - That would be you. While you want your gear in a ready-to-dive state, we want you in that state as well. Maybe that means just jumping in your pool and going through some basic skills. Maybe it means joining us for one of our Avalon day-trips and doing some supervised diving. Or maybe it means taking a refresher class with your local dive shop. One thing we know is that diver error factors in to an alarmingly high percentage of dive accidents and a lot of times it's due to lack of awareness or lack of training. Making sure you're tuned up along with your gear being tuned up can go a long way to making sure you don't become a statistic.
RESTORING REEFS - Scientists generally agree that many of the world's coral reefs are in trouble due to climate change and other factors. Rather than sit around and watching the process play out, some people are trying to do something about that. One of those folks is Mike Goldberg who lives down in Florida. He's created a non-profit organization to try to help restore some of the Florida Keys reefs. Because of that, he's been named a "CNN Hero." You can read more about him and what he does here:
MIKE GOLDBERG, CNN HERO.
CORAL DISEASE SPREADS IN BONAIRE - As we've been telling you, the news coming out of Bonaire regarding Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) isn't good. Despite efforts of STINAPA and local operators, it's spread further and some more sites have been closed. On top of that, they're restricting diving on Klein Bonaire to 7AM-2PM Monday-Saturday, and 7AM-7PM Sundays. If you're thinking of heading to Bonaire in the near future, make sure you check on the restrictions ahead of time so you're not surprised once you get there.
SOME GOOD NEWS FROM BONAIRE TOO - It seems like they've found doctors to run their recompression chamber so it will re-open sometime soon. They've actually been able to hire three hyperbaric docs, including one who already owns a home in Bonaire. No word yet on exactly when the chamber will re-open and be operational again but this is welcome news given the number of divers who travel to Bonaire each year.
SCUBA SHOW IS IN TWO WEEKS - The annual Scuba Show at the Long Beach Convention Center will be June 3 & 4 this year. It's the largest consumer-oriented dive show west of the Mississippi. There will be all kinds of exhibitors from manufacturers to travel destinations to dive shops. There are also two days of seminars as well. I'll be joining Coroner Capt. John Kades and (remotely) Chamber Director Karl Huggins for our annual "Why Divers Die" presentation at 4PM on Saturday where we review the actual fatalities from 2022 (there were 2) plus we're going to update two cases from 2017. On Sunday, I'll be speaking again at 2PM with "The Keys to Fish ID" and then again at 4PM with "Understanding Tables & Computers." Hope to see you there at some point.
REDONDO PIER LIVE CAM - It gives us a great view of the condition at Vets Park and they've just upgraded the platform so there's a new link. This is it:
https://youtu.be/2kbj3LqB_20 .
NEW IMAX FILM AT CALIFORNIA SCIENCE CENTER - It's "Blue Whales: Return of the Giants" (in 3-D) and it has its world premiere this coming Thursday. Like most IMAX films, the running time is 45 minutes. You can find out more and get tickets here:
BLUE WHALE IMAX FILM AT CALIFORNIA SCIENCE CENTER.
TITANIC AS NEVER SEEN BEFORE - You may recall our Zoom Seekers speaker in January was Brett Eldridge who talked about photogrammetry which involves taking an enormous amount of digital images of a wreck from every conceivable angle and then using a computer to create a 3-D model. Researchers have now done that for the wreck of the
Titantic and the results are stunning. The scans were done last summer and include both the bow & midship area (probably the most well-known), as well as the stern, which lies almost half a mile away from the rest of the wreck. They took more than 700,000 images to create the 3-D model. You can read about their endeavor and see some of the pictures here in an article from the BBC:
WRECK OF THE TITANIC BY 3-D PHOTOGRAMMETRY.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
