And then there were four . . .

RE-SCHEDULED AVALON CLEANUP IS NEXT SATURDAY - Just a reminder, and it's not an April Fools joke, that the Avalon Underwater Cleanup, postponed from February 25 because of rain, will be held this coming Saturday, April 1. Other than happening on a later date, the overall format stays the same. There will be a mandatory briefing at 9:00AM, the dive runs from 9:30-11:00AM, and the awards ceremony starts at 1:00PM. The tricky thing if you haven't already made a reservation will be getting over there. The early boats filled up so the Express added a 7:00AM departure out of Long Beach. The problem may be getting back from Avalon. The Express website shows the 2:15PM and the 9:45PM available, but the boats in-between are all sold out. (However, that doesn't always mean they can't squeeze you in or that you can't make a swap day-of.) The event's for a good cause because we'll not only have a cleaner harbor, but net proceeds go to benefit the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber and the Avalon Rotary Foundation (which is also involved in some U/W Park improvements as well). Hope to see you there.

SNAKE-BIT . . . TWICE!!! - Actually "blue-ring bit" would be a more appropriate way to say it. A woman in Australia is lucky to be alive as she was bitten not once, but TWICE by a Blue-ring octopus, one of the most deadly venomous creatures in the world. This isn't a story of her harassing the animal and then it simply defends itself but more like bad luck and wrong place, wrong time. She was swimming off a beach and noticed a pretty shell. When she picked the shell up, the octopus fell out from inside and somehow bit her twice on the stomach. She was quite lucky that paramedics were close by, immediately started treatment, and rushed her to a nearby hospital. But a close call to say the least.

CHAMBER DAY 2023 MARCHES ON - We're still in the midst of the fund-raising for our Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber. The big event is Chamber Day & Eve 2023 and the date is Wednesday, May 3. Reef Seekers serves as Chamber Day HQ plus we're a table sponsor at Chamber Evening as well. We have ONE seat left at our table of 10. We are also usually the leading recruiter for the Flying Dutchman (the fake boat of the event) but we're getting some competition this year. So if you want to grab the last seat at our table or join us on the Dutchman, don't wait. The direct link to sign up for all aspects of this fabulous event is https://usc.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dnemil47PUc8aGy

PHOTO WINNERS - It seems like there's eight gazillion photo contests nowadays and many of them have underwater categories plus there are those that are focused strictly on underwater images. The World Nature Photography Awards for 2022 were recently announced and we thought you'd like to see some of the winning images, which include some underwater ones: 2022 WORLD NATURE PHOTO WINNERS.

DDT STILL HANGING AROUND - Rosanna Xia is the environmental reporter for the Los Angeles Times and wrote a sobering article this week about DDT in our offshore waters. You may recall that last year there was the revelation (in an article she also wrote) that barrels of DDT had been sunk in the ocean in an underwater dumping ground and were leaking out. If that wasn't bad enough, scientists have now determined that the toxic chemical isn't breaking down over time. Much of this dumping occurred in the 40s and 50s. But the chemical has not only remained in its most potent form, but also has spread outside the dumping area. You can read more about it here: DDT REMAINS.

A BETTER FINALE - I can't end with "we're all gonna die while diving in DDT." So how about something that also involves the deep ocean - this time almost 4 miles deep - but is somewhat mesmerizing. It's video from a deep sea submerisble in the Indian Ocean that captures three Snailfish checking our the bait on the submersible. One thing to remember is that at this depth, there is NO natural light. The light you see in the video is all from the vessel. So what amazed me was how small the eyes of the Snailfish are. You'd think they'd have bigger eyes because of the darkness. Or go the other way and have no eyes because what's the point of having sight if you live in total blackness. Also notice how slowly the animals move, presumably to conserve energy since food at that depth is scarce. The video's less than a minute long but is fun to watch: SNAILFISH LURKING IN THE DEPTHS.

THE FINAL WORD - Don't forget what next Saturday is (besides the Cleanup). You've been forewarned.

And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!

- Ken