Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Fires, storms, NTSB, and more
(please scroll down for details)
First RBG on Friday, then an earthquake. Can locusts be far behind . . .
WILD WEEKEND - Aside form the political intrigue and machinations, the fires simply seem to find new ways to spread despite the best efforts of fire crews. The Bobcat Fire, which is the one east of Mt. Wilson, has once again spread over the weekend, prompting more evacuations and property concerns. It's burned around 100,000 acres so far and is only 15% contained. There are over 1,600 personnel assigned to the fire. The winds have cleared our air somewhat and that brownish-orange haze we had last week has been replaced by fairly blue skies. The smoke map looks very different this week than it did a week ago, with California only slightly smokey, but the Midwest having a huge plume hanging over it.
AND THEN THERE ARE THE TROPICAL STORMS - They keep forming in the Atlantic and drifting eastward towards the US. Texas will likely get hit Monday by TS Beta, which is then forecast to turn sharply to the right and drift through Louisiana and Alabama. Hurricane Teddy will skirt east of Bermuda and is taking aim at Nova Scotia. Wilfred is still only a tropical depression but is crawling towards Puerto Rico. And just for good measure, there's a new system developing south of Socorro in the Pacific that will drift westward and might eventually pose a threat to Hawaii. As if we don't already have enough things to keep our worries occupied.
AVALON ON MONDAY - Locally, I haven't gotten any condition reports from over the weekend but we are planning to head over to Avalon and dive the Park on Monday, so we'll give you a report next week about that. I did hear from someone there recently who spotted seven GSB hanging out. Last time we had a nice time with two of them so maybe the word went out and there will be a welcoming committee for us when we enter the water.
NTSB RELEASES CONCEPTION DOCUMENTS - On October 20, starting at 6:30AM Pacific time, the NTSB will hold a public hearing (it will be live-streamed - we'll give you the link when we're closer to that date) and issue a final report and recommendations from the Conception tragedy from last year. In preparation for that, and standard procedure for them, they have opened up what they call the Public Docket, which include their various factual findings, witness statements and interviews, and other information that they have used and collected in the last year, and which will help form the basis of their report. The reports are broken down into various areas and total 1,677 pages. Be aware that reading through some of it might be graphic and upsetting. But if you do choose to view the docs, also remember that the NTSB walks a fine line between simply stating the facts and presenting evidence and pointing the finger of blame. So you may see a statement like "all crew were asleep" but it won't be followed with "and that's why everyone died." The best advice is rather than reading each document, look for the ones that are labelled "Group Factual Report" for each working group 2-6. Those provide an overview and a summary of findings for that particular part of the investigation. You can then drill deeper if you like. You can view the files through this link: NTSB PUBLIC DOCKET.
BONAIRE AND COVID-19 - Bonaire has been priding itself on the fact that there were no active cases of COVID on the island. And they cautiously started re-opening to some countries about eight weeks ago. But it looks like COVID caught up with them as there are now three cases of the infection on the island. So they've reimposed some travel restrictions and only are allowing people from The Netherlands, France, and Germany to enter and even then, they must come with a negative COVID test no more than 72 hours old. Sadly, this thing is not going away any time soon. The vaccine will be nice, whenever it comes, but what will really help is if people religiously follow the mask-wearing, social distancing, and avoiding groups policies that many places have set, not just in Bonaire, but worldwide.
SOME GOOD NEWS - "Ghost net" is a term used to describe a fishing net that's been abandoned in the wild. The issue is that they keep trapping and killing fish and other marine animals. So kudos to a group of English divers who recovered a 656-foot long ghost net AND rescued 115 animals still trapped in it. Read about it here: GHOST NET SUCCESS STORY.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week, stay safe, wear your mask, wash your hands, and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
(please scroll down for details)
First RBG on Friday, then an earthquake. Can locusts be far behind . . .
WILD WEEKEND - Aside form the political intrigue and machinations, the fires simply seem to find new ways to spread despite the best efforts of fire crews. The Bobcat Fire, which is the one east of Mt. Wilson, has once again spread over the weekend, prompting more evacuations and property concerns. It's burned around 100,000 acres so far and is only 15% contained. There are over 1,600 personnel assigned to the fire. The winds have cleared our air somewhat and that brownish-orange haze we had last week has been replaced by fairly blue skies. The smoke map looks very different this week than it did a week ago, with California only slightly smokey, but the Midwest having a huge plume hanging over it.
AND THEN THERE ARE THE TROPICAL STORMS - They keep forming in the Atlantic and drifting eastward towards the US. Texas will likely get hit Monday by TS Beta, which is then forecast to turn sharply to the right and drift through Louisiana and Alabama. Hurricane Teddy will skirt east of Bermuda and is taking aim at Nova Scotia. Wilfred is still only a tropical depression but is crawling towards Puerto Rico. And just for good measure, there's a new system developing south of Socorro in the Pacific that will drift westward and might eventually pose a threat to Hawaii. As if we don't already have enough things to keep our worries occupied.
AVALON ON MONDAY - Locally, I haven't gotten any condition reports from over the weekend but we are planning to head over to Avalon and dive the Park on Monday, so we'll give you a report next week about that. I did hear from someone there recently who spotted seven GSB hanging out. Last time we had a nice time with two of them so maybe the word went out and there will be a welcoming committee for us when we enter the water.
NTSB RELEASES CONCEPTION DOCUMENTS - On October 20, starting at 6:30AM Pacific time, the NTSB will hold a public hearing (it will be live-streamed - we'll give you the link when we're closer to that date) and issue a final report and recommendations from the Conception tragedy from last year. In preparation for that, and standard procedure for them, they have opened up what they call the Public Docket, which include their various factual findings, witness statements and interviews, and other information that they have used and collected in the last year, and which will help form the basis of their report. The reports are broken down into various areas and total 1,677 pages. Be aware that reading through some of it might be graphic and upsetting. But if you do choose to view the docs, also remember that the NTSB walks a fine line between simply stating the facts and presenting evidence and pointing the finger of blame. So you may see a statement like "all crew were asleep" but it won't be followed with "and that's why everyone died." The best advice is rather than reading each document, look for the ones that are labelled "Group Factual Report" for each working group 2-6. Those provide an overview and a summary of findings for that particular part of the investigation. You can then drill deeper if you like. You can view the files through this link: NTSB PUBLIC DOCKET.
BONAIRE AND COVID-19 - Bonaire has been priding itself on the fact that there were no active cases of COVID on the island. And they cautiously started re-opening to some countries about eight weeks ago. But it looks like COVID caught up with them as there are now three cases of the infection on the island. So they've reimposed some travel restrictions and only are allowing people from The Netherlands, France, and Germany to enter and even then, they must come with a negative COVID test no more than 72 hours old. Sadly, this thing is not going away any time soon. The vaccine will be nice, whenever it comes, but what will really help is if people religiously follow the mask-wearing, social distancing, and avoiding groups policies that many places have set, not just in Bonaire, but worldwide.
SOME GOOD NEWS - "Ghost net" is a term used to describe a fishing net that's been abandoned in the wild. The issue is that they keep trapping and killing fish and other marine animals. So kudos to a group of English divers who recovered a 656-foot long ghost net AND rescued 115 animals still trapped in it. Read about it here: GHOST NET SUCCESS STORY.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week, stay safe, wear your mask, wash your hands, and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
