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JOIN US VIA ZOOM FOR SOME INTERESTING
CONVERSATIONS . . .
When we had a physical store location, we'd occasionally try
to get a Reef Seeker Dive Club going. But it always seemed hit or
miss.
Lots of work for little return. But Zoom has changed all of that.
(Perhaps this is the one good thing to come out of the pandemic.)
What we do now is host a monthly "Zoom Seekers" meeting with notable
speakers from around the country. Each meeting starts
at 7:30PM Pacific time on the second Tuesday of the month (except
for February and April this year) and goes for about an hour
with a moderated Q&A session at the end.
Scroll down to see who we've got scheduled and what they'll
talk about. We hope you can join us for some of these.
IF YOU MISSED A PREVIOUS
TALK, CLICK HERE
TO ACCESS OUR ARCHIVES AND WATCH WHAT YOU MISSED |
JUNE 13 • VICTOR DOUIEB • "CREATING SCULPTURES OF UNDERWATER
CREATURES" |
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Victor
was 18 when he received his scuba diving certification. During
the following decades, the adventurer would travel extensively
to dive the exotic locales of Fiji, the Bahamas, the coast of
Egypt, and elsewhere. “I’d seen my first shark when I was diving
in Egypt,” Victor remembers, “and as I kid I was always crazy
about sharks for some reason. To get that close to one of the
world’s greatest apex predators, knowing that they are
tolerating your presence in their world, is a humbling
experience.” A subsequent shark encounter with hammerheads in
the Sea ofd Cortez further inspired him. “I couldn’t find
anything that I would have wanted to display on my living room
table, so I decided that when I got back to LA, I’d sculpt my
own.” Despite having never sculpted before, Victor’s first
edition of Hammerhead sold quickly, as did the second and third.
Before long, inspiration would strike and he would soon be at
work creating another sculpture, a ritual he would come to
repeat again and again. “I didn’t set out to become a sculptor
or to have a sculpture business, but like many things in my
life, my journey leads me,” Victor says. “In the same way, my
sculptures choose me, I don’t choose them.”
CREATING SCULPTURES OF UNDERWATER CREATURES
When Victor sees a beautiful animal in its natural
surroundings, he experiences something impossible to describe
with words alone and is compelled to re-create the encounter in
artistic form. Through this process, he closes the circle — from
natural beautiful form to artistically beautiful form. Victor
cites the crossroad of his elemental love of all animals and the
sense of adventure he derives from the pursuit of getting as
close to them as he can. Whether it’s scuba diving with sharks
or getting into an enclosure with a tiger, witnessing these
beings in their world with such deep respect for them is key to
this distinctive rendering of immersion therapy. And he'll share
that passion with you in this talk.
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JULY 11 • STEVE WERTZ • "MARINE PROTECTED AREAS UPDATE" |
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Steve Wertz is a Senior
Environmental Scientist with the California Department of Fish
and Wildlife (CDFW). Since 1991, he has served CDFW on variety
of marine research and management projects. In 2008, Steve
became involved in the design and implementation of California’s
globally recognized network of marine protected areas (MPAs).
Designed using a scientifically guided, stakeholder-driven
approach, the MPA Network consists of 124 individual MPAs and 14
special closures that encompass approximately 16% of
California’s jurisdictional waters, with 9% in no-take MPAs. As
California approaches the 10-year anniversary of network
completion, Steve and his amazing crew are preparing the first
comprehensive review of the MPA Management Program and progress
of the MPA Network towards meeting the ecosystem-focused goals
of the Marine Life Protection Act.
MARNE PROTECTED AREAS UPDATE
One of the requirements in creating the network of MPAs was that
they be adaptively managed. This means that periodically, CDFW
and the various stakeholders would review the individual MPAs to
see if they're working as intended and makes decisions about how
to change that one way or the other to better fulfill the
requirements of the Marine Life Protection Act. The first review
was completed at the end of 2022 and Steve will update you on
what changes and adaptations were deemed necessary moving
forward.
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AUGUST 8 • RACHEL CUSHMAN • "VOLUNTEER DIVING AT THE AQUARIUM OF THE
PACIFIC" |
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Rachel hails from Long Beach, California, and completed her
education at Los Alamitos High and later studied Marine biology
at California State University Long Beach. Rachel was previously
an Assistant Dive Safety Officer at Aquarium of the Pacific
before being promoted to her current position of Diving Safety
Officer (Aquarium Operations). She's also a NAUI Instructor and
teaches through Ocean Gear SCUBA Center. Rachel tries to
encourage women across the country to get involved with the
sport of SCUBA and to share her passion for protecting the
ocean.
VOLUNTEER DIVING AT THE AQUARIUM OF THE PACIFIC
AOP, as it's
called by the staff, has long been home to one of the largest
volunteer diver programs in the country, enlisting the aid of as
many as 165 divers on 18 different dive teams during all seven
days of a week and 52 weeks of a year. COVID required some
drastic realignment in terms of the number of divers and teams
that could work regulary, but now AOP is staffing back up to
full capacity. Rachel will explain not only what she does as
Diving Safety Officer overseeing the program, but also what the
divers do and how you can join this vibrant team if you're so
inclined.
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SEPTEMBER 12 • DR. CHARLOTTE SADLER • "DIVING AFTER BEING INFECTED
WITH COVID" |
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Charlotte Sadler, MD, is a board-certified physician who
specializes in emergency medicine, hyperbaric medicine and
diving medicine. She treats conditions such as air and gas
embolisms, decompression sickness and non-healing wounds. Dr.
Sadler greatly enjoys treating patients with hyperbaric medicine
for both acute and chronic illnesses, as well as serving the
diving community in San Diego. She has special interests in
diving medicine, physiology and pathophysiology. Dr. Sadler is a
member of the American College of Emergency Physicians and is on
the board of directors of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical
Society. She is board certified in emergency medicine and
undersea and hyperbaric medicine.
RETURN TO DIVING AFTER BEING INFECTED WITH COVID
Just because you - finally - tested negative after a bout with
COVID doesn't necessarily mean you're ready to go back in the
water. Charlotte has been at the forefront of medical research
and studies of divers post-COVID, has helped develop protocols
for when to return to diving that have been adopted by the
Undersea Hyperbaric Medical Society, D.A.N., and the major
training agencies. In this talk, she'll give an overview of what
you need to be aware of as well as emphasize some of the risks
of getting back underwater too soon, before your body is truly
ready.
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OCTOBER 10 • KARL HUGGINS • "DIVE COMPUTER DANGERS" |
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Karl Huggins has been the Director of the Catalina Hyperbaric
Chamber Facility at the USC Wrigley Marine Science Center since
1992. He is noted for his work in decompression theory and
models, which resulted in the Michigan Sea Grant (HUGI) tables
and his participation in the development of the EDGE dive
computer. Karl is the 1990 recipient of the Leonard Greenstone
Diving Safety Award, the DAN/Rolex Diver of the Year for 1993,
the 2004 Conrad Limbaugh Memorial Award for Scientific Diving
Leadership and the 2008 California Scuba Service Award. And he
puts up with Ken Kurtis for much of the year as they jointly
shepherd the annual Chamber Day fundraiser.
WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOUR DIVE COMPUTER CAN
KILL YOU
You've heard the saying, "What you don't know can't hurt you."
But that's NOT the case when it comes to dive computers. And few
people know the intricacies of these digital information devices
better than Karl Huggins. And it turns out that there ARE ways
in which you can use a computer that while you may feel you're
being safe, can actually put you in great danger. In this talk,
Karl will outline some of those issues as well as just give some
general advice about how to safely use a dive computer.
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NOVEMBER 14 • TO BE ANNOUNCED • "To Be Announced" |
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DECEMBER 13, 2022 • DOUG & LORENZA SLOSS • "TAKE BETTER PICTURES" |
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Doug and Lorenza Sloss
have worked in the tourism and hospitality business for several
years aboard the Aggressor liveaboards in Kona, Hawaii and
Palau, Micronesia. There, they have taught hundreds of people
how to dive and shoot photography. Their passion for teaching
translated into the creation of a successful series of video
tutorials that help photographers of all levels to effectively
and professionally post-process their images. Their
award-winning photography has appeared in Sport Diver, Scuba
Diving, Scuba Diver Australasia, Islands, Asia Diver and many
other magazines and books worldwide. Doug has been Field Editor
and regular columnist for Scuba Diver Australasia magazine.
They also lead photo
workshops teaching
photography and digital editing, both above and below the
waterline.
TAKE BETTER PICTURES - IF SAM CAN DO IT, WHY NOT YOU?
Everyone who has ever held a camera in their hand wants to take
better pictures than they currently do. And for those who are on
that quest to be the next underwater Ansel Adams, Doug & Lorenza
can help point you there. In this talk, they'll go through some
of the basics and will share with you how they got their son,
Sam, interested and involved in underwater photography.
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Seekers Dive Co. All Rights Reserved. |
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