CONCEPTION FIRE TRIAL GOES TO THE JURY - The trial portion of this, where
Conception captain Jerry Boylan is accused of "neglect by a ship's officer" that resulted in the death of 33 passengers and 1 crew member will go to the jury on Monday. The prosecution rested last Wednesday and it seems the defense only took one day to present their side of things. Closing arguments were Friday. Just from what I've read in some chat rooms as well as a story in the Sunday L.A. Times, it will not be surprising if the jury comes back fairly quickly with a verdict.
SPY IN THE OCEAN - No, it's not a CIA invasion. It's a great series, part of Nature, that's running on PBS stations nationwide. It's airs in SoCal on Wednesdays at 8PM on KOCE-TV. (Previous episodes run at 7PM.) What's amazing about this series - which has already aired two or three episodes - is that the producers have built these amazingly life-like animated robots that are outfitted with hidden cameras. They're able to take these robots - one is a life-size juvy whale, there's an octopus, a cuttlefish, and more - and have them infiltrate the habitats of the actual animals they're studying and the robots are seemingly accepted as just another animal. So it allows for some amazing observations and some incredibly close camera work.You can find out more about the episodes and the schedule here:
SPY IN THE OCEAN.
2024 TRAVEL UPDATE - One of the tricks in booking group travel, even with a small group, is getting to that magic number where as a trip organizer, I can say, "We've got enough and we're good-to-go." And because I'm leaving with our Maldives group on November 15, I'm hoping to reach minimum numbers for each trip before I go. So here's where we are:
• San Ignacio Lagoon in March - Definite go. 9 already confirmed. Can add more.
• Roatan in May - Close. 5 confirmed, wouldn't mind confirming a couple more.
• Indonesia in July - Definite go. 13 confirmed. Capping it at 17.
• Yap in September - 99% a definite go. Still working out some logistics.
• Palau in November - Close. 5 confirmed. Would like to get a couple more before I leave.
If any of these are on your radar, make sure I know about your interest by either calling us at 310/652-4990 or simply by replying to this e-mail.
MISSING CRAB MYSTERY SOLVED - If you watch Deadliest Catch, you may be somewhat familiar with this. The Snow Crab season was cancelled for the second year in a row because there are billions of the animals that simply aren't there. Although some have attributed this to over-fishing, scientists now have a different answer: Climate change. It seems even the frigid waters of Alaska can get too warm and it affected the crabs to the point that many of them simply starved to death due to a reduction in their food sources. If you read the article here, it's interesting to note the cascading effect that the temperature change had, making them also more vulnerable to predation. Here's the article from CNN:
SNOW CRAB MYSTERY SOLVED.
AVALON THIS WEDNESDAY - It's on our sked but at this point we don't have anyone signed up. (And there's no sense in me going over by myself.) If you're interested in diving the Underwater Park, give us a call and let's see if we can make this happen.
ZOOM SEEKERS - I'll give you more details next week in TWARS but make a note that our next Zoom Seekers session is Tuesday, November 14, and will feature Steven Wertz, who is the CADF&W regional manager for MPAs. He'll be talking about what's going on and how things can evolve trough the adaptive management process.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week, and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
