Ken Kurtis
Contributor
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Upcoming local dives (call 310/652-4990 for more info and to register):
• Saturday, September 19 - Avalon Underwater Park
• Wednesday, September 23 - Vets Park night dive
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Want to travel??? Upcoming 2015 vacation trips:
• October 21-26 - Great White Sharks at Guadalupe Island trip #2 aboard the Nautilus Explorer [SOLD OUT]
• December 1-13 - Red Sea Aggressor (southern route - includes snorkeling with dolphins) plus 2 days in Cairo [SOLD OUT]
• Working on 2016 dates and destinations
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: www.reefseekers.com/foreign_trips.html
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The heat wave may - temporarily - be behind us . .
SHOULD COOL DOWN - It's supposed to be over 15º cooler starting Monday. But the rain they predicted for Tuesday and Wednesday, which at one point was looking like 3/4", seems to have fizzled as now they're predicting two HUNDREDTHS of an inch. Barely enough to wet your whistle. C'mon El Nino!!! The weather has had an interesting effect on dive conditions. Malibu is reporting 2-4' breakers and relatively undiveable and low-to-no vis. Redondo, on the other hand, looks to be flat calm. Go figure. But like I said last week, a lot has to do with which way the beaches face.
AVALON THIS SATURDAY - We've got a good-sized group going to Avalon this Saturday to dive the Park. It'll be a nice low-key day with some people doing refresher training, some doing weight checks for new equipment, some trying out photo gear. We're leaving out of San Pedro (I have a group reservation) at 8AM and leave the island at 5:15PM. So we should have ample time for three dives AND a leisurely lunch. We can still add people, so if you want to go, give me a call at 310/652-4990 so I can get you on my list, have tanks ready for you at the Park, and adjust our Catalina Express reservation.
SPEAKING OF THE PARK - There's also a really nice ID sign at the top of the stairs that show the layout of everything and some underwater landmarks. I might quibble with a the placement of a few things (like Octopus Rock which I've always said is in front of and slightly right of the stairs, not left) but overall really nice and especially useful for first-time visitors. Here's a picture that Sharon Wallin took last week when she was there:
BEACH ENTRY YOU WOULDN'T WANT TO DO - The waves were HUUUUUGE at The Wedge in Newport a week or so ago. Really impressive and this is a surf entry you DON'T want to do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL2jmPFCCtw .
UNDERWATER ART - As many of you know, I'm a huge fan of Jason deCaires Taylor who did all the underwater sculptures for the Cancun Underwater Museum (MUSA). He's got an exhibition going on in London through the end of this month as part of the "Totally Thames Festival" and the catch is that you can only see the artwork twice a day - at low tide. As the tide of the Thames rises, the sculptures slowly get covered by the water until they're no longer visible. It's called "Rising Tides" and the theme is that by not paying attention to climate change and rising sea levels, it will gobble up those who refuse to act. I think it's a really clever piece and if you're not going to London in the next two weeks, you can click on this link to not only read about the pieces, but also to see a short time-lapse movie of the tides coming in and going out: Amazing before-and-after photos of a sculpture you can only see in full at low tide. .
MORE ON MUSA - There was an article in Sunday's L.A. Times that they're adding some more pieces to MUSA (which hopefully we'll see next year when we go back for our Whale Shark trip again). These aren't Jason's works (he's already done 500 pieces that are submerged there) but are from a couple of other artists. One work was already sunk in August and nine other statues will be added in September and October. MUSA's been around since 2009 and you can learn more about them at www.musacancun.org/english/.
PINK DOLPHINS ANYONE? - It doesn't mean you've had too much to drink. Pink Dolphins are normally found in the Amazon but in 2007, one was spotted in Louisiana waters. And everyone down there is getting excited because the dolphin was spotted again and they think she may be pregnant. Really cool for an area that's been battered by hurricanes and a major oil spill. (Probably says a lot for the resilience of the dolphin, too.) Anyhow, there's an article with pictures to be found here: Rare pink dolphin spotted in Louisiana 8 years after first appearance .
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOLD TO RUPERT MURDOCH - This isn't an April Fools joke. The same guy who owns Fox News - which routinely talks about climate change being a phony issue - now owns a 73% controlling interest in National Geographic - would routinely talks about the seriousness of global warming. Although they have promised no significant changes, it does leave one wondering. You can read more about it here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/life...9f034e-56f0-11e5-8bb1-b488d231bba2_story.html. Of course, the biggest fear some people have is that the next cover will look something like this:
And that's it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
Upcoming local dives (call 310/652-4990 for more info and to register):
• Saturday, September 19 - Avalon Underwater Park
• Wednesday, September 23 - Vets Park night dive
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Want to travel??? Upcoming 2015 vacation trips:
• October 21-26 - Great White Sharks at Guadalupe Island trip #2 aboard the Nautilus Explorer [SOLD OUT]
• December 1-13 - Red Sea Aggressor (southern route - includes snorkeling with dolphins) plus 2 days in Cairo [SOLD OUT]
• Working on 2016 dates and destinations
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: www.reefseekers.com/foreign_trips.html
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
The heat wave may - temporarily - be behind us . .
SHOULD COOL DOWN - It's supposed to be over 15º cooler starting Monday. But the rain they predicted for Tuesday and Wednesday, which at one point was looking like 3/4", seems to have fizzled as now they're predicting two HUNDREDTHS of an inch. Barely enough to wet your whistle. C'mon El Nino!!! The weather has had an interesting effect on dive conditions. Malibu is reporting 2-4' breakers and relatively undiveable and low-to-no vis. Redondo, on the other hand, looks to be flat calm. Go figure. But like I said last week, a lot has to do with which way the beaches face.
AVALON THIS SATURDAY - We've got a good-sized group going to Avalon this Saturday to dive the Park. It'll be a nice low-key day with some people doing refresher training, some doing weight checks for new equipment, some trying out photo gear. We're leaving out of San Pedro (I have a group reservation) at 8AM and leave the island at 5:15PM. So we should have ample time for three dives AND a leisurely lunch. We can still add people, so if you want to go, give me a call at 310/652-4990 so I can get you on my list, have tanks ready for you at the Park, and adjust our Catalina Express reservation.
SPEAKING OF THE PARK - There's also a really nice ID sign at the top of the stairs that show the layout of everything and some underwater landmarks. I might quibble with a the placement of a few things (like Octopus Rock which I've always said is in front of and slightly right of the stairs, not left) but overall really nice and especially useful for first-time visitors. Here's a picture that Sharon Wallin took last week when she was there:
BEACH ENTRY YOU WOULDN'T WANT TO DO - The waves were HUUUUUGE at The Wedge in Newport a week or so ago. Really impressive and this is a surf entry you DON'T want to do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL2jmPFCCtw .
UNDERWATER ART - As many of you know, I'm a huge fan of Jason deCaires Taylor who did all the underwater sculptures for the Cancun Underwater Museum (MUSA). He's got an exhibition going on in London through the end of this month as part of the "Totally Thames Festival" and the catch is that you can only see the artwork twice a day - at low tide. As the tide of the Thames rises, the sculptures slowly get covered by the water until they're no longer visible. It's called "Rising Tides" and the theme is that by not paying attention to climate change and rising sea levels, it will gobble up those who refuse to act. I think it's a really clever piece and if you're not going to London in the next two weeks, you can click on this link to not only read about the pieces, but also to see a short time-lapse movie of the tides coming in and going out: Amazing before-and-after photos of a sculpture you can only see in full at low tide. .
MORE ON MUSA - There was an article in Sunday's L.A. Times that they're adding some more pieces to MUSA (which hopefully we'll see next year when we go back for our Whale Shark trip again). These aren't Jason's works (he's already done 500 pieces that are submerged there) but are from a couple of other artists. One work was already sunk in August and nine other statues will be added in September and October. MUSA's been around since 2009 and you can learn more about them at www.musacancun.org/english/.
PINK DOLPHINS ANYONE? - It doesn't mean you've had too much to drink. Pink Dolphins are normally found in the Amazon but in 2007, one was spotted in Louisiana waters. And everyone down there is getting excited because the dolphin was spotted again and they think she may be pregnant. Really cool for an area that's been battered by hurricanes and a major oil spill. (Probably says a lot for the resilience of the dolphin, too.) Anyhow, there's an article with pictures to be found here: Rare pink dolphin spotted in Louisiana 8 years after first appearance .
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOLD TO RUPERT MURDOCH - This isn't an April Fools joke. The same guy who owns Fox News - which routinely talks about climate change being a phony issue - now owns a 73% controlling interest in National Geographic - would routinely talks about the seriousness of global warming. Although they have promised no significant changes, it does leave one wondering. You can read more about it here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/life...9f034e-56f0-11e5-8bb1-b488d231bba2_story.html. Of course, the biggest fear some people have is that the next cover will look something like this:
And that's it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
