It's nice to be home . . .
BACK FROM DUMAGUETE, PHILIPPINES - This was an interesting trip for many reasons. It started with our tropical-storm-delayed time in Yap. But when we were done there, I bid farewell to everyone in Guam as I was heading to the Philippines and specifically to Atlantis Resort Dumaguete as part of a group of photographers known as Atlantis ImageMakers 2024 put together by Marty Snyderman.
WHAT DUMAGUETE HAS TO OFFER - I call it "muck-ish." So it's somewhat similar to the Lembeh Straits in Indonesia in terms of the critters you might find: frogfish, snake eels, various sorts of cuttlefish, Wonderpus, Mimic Octopus, and more. But one big difference is that it isn't mainly dark sand like much of Lembeh is. There are scattered reefs as well so you've got a combo of sand and reef. So if you're not finding stuff in the sand that you're hoping for, there's usually some reef nearby to continue your visual hunt and just in general see what's what. It also means that if you're not a photog or simply not into critter-hunting, there's stuff to see. I'm working on a trip report and pix which hopefully will be ready by the end of the week.
YAP PIX - Although the trip report was the body of the October newsletter, you should have gotten a separate e-mail Saturday that was the trip report on the photo collage from SmugMug. In case you missed the pix, here's the link again:
YAP 2024 PIX.
EXCITEMENT AT CATALINA - Who needs Guadalupe Island? Guadalupe is well-known as a haven for Great White Sharks. There have also been over the years a number of scattered reports of a Great White (or whites) along Catalina's West End, spotted between Arrow Point and Land's End. This time the great fish was not only sighted but also memorialized on video. Seamus Callaghan and Mike Huish were on a 3-day trip looking for lobsters but also wanted to test out a new Oceanic housing for iPhones. They waited for the right moment on the third day when they jumped in at the same time that the Great White was meandering by. You can see the video as well as hear comments from Seamus (who's the rep for Huish Outdoors, who owns Oceanic) in this story from Fox11. (The Fox reporter, Christina Gonzalez, is also a certified diver.) Here's the link:
GREAT WHITE AT CATALINA.
GOOD JOB WITH LOBSTERS (SO FAR) - I'm not talking about how many lobsters have been caught in the first few week of the season but that we've made it through the initial first few days with no fatalities. In fact, we've yet to have a fatality in 2024 in Los Angeles County this year. Can we make it all the way through December 31 with zero? Again a reminder that a lot of accidents start because a diver runs out of air. And it's easy to get caught up in the excitement of a lobster hunt and forget to check your gauge. The basic rule of thumb is that if you've used more than 500psi since the last time you looked, you're not looking often enough.
CLIMATE CHANGE ON DISPLAY - There's yet another hurricane aiming for Florida this week, as if they haven't suffered enough already. It's in the western Gulf of Mexico just north of the Yucatan right now (Sunday evening) and will track NE, projected to come ashore around Tampa Wednesday afternoon or evening as a Category 3 (major) hurricane. This will be the third hurricane to hit Florida this year. (Debby in July and Helene two weeks ago were the other two.) Forecasters say that hurricanes are getting stronger because of warmer water temps in the areas where they form which makes them more intense. And climatologists attribute the warmer waters to the effects of climate change over time. So there seems to be a connection between the two. Hopefully it's not too late to turn this stuff around.
ANOTHER CLIMATE CHANGE STORY - Climate change doesn't just affect warm water areas. It seems like there are issues in the Arctic too, where billions of crabs have vanished from the Bering Sea. Scientists now attribute that to Arctic waters being shockingly warm (relatively speaking) causing the demise of the crabs. You can read more about it here:
WHERE HAVE ALL THE CRABS GONE?
THE GRUMPY FISH - How can I resist not ending with a story like this? There's been a new species of dwarfgoby discovered in the Red Sea who seems perpetually pissed off. So scientists have given it the common name of "Grumpy Dwarfgoby." You can read more about it here (and see a picture too):
GRUMPY DWARFGOBY.
That'll do it for now. Have a great week and hopefully we can take YOU diving sometime soon!!!
- Ken
