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 |