It's Labor Day Weekend but we've still got plenty of summer ahead of us . . .
HERE COMES THE VIZ, HERE COMES THE VIZ - I say this every year at this time, but we are just now coming into the best months for diving in SoCal. September and October, and even most of November, gives you some of the warmest and clearest water that we get each year. The "warmest" part is because the ocean warms up and cools down more slowly than the land, so the ocean keeps retaining and holding heat absorbed from stretches of warmer days for a while. As for the "clearest" part. I can't offer a specific explanation, except to say that this is the time of the year when we tend to get either no wind, which can help improve viz, or we get Santa Anas blowing which then literally blows dirty top-layer water out to sea and leaves clearer water behind. September-October is when you'll hear people talk of 100-foot visibility, especially if they can get out to San Clemente or Santa Barbara Islands. The point of this is . . . GO DIVE!!! This is a great time of the year to do it.
NEWSLETTER CORRECTION - I made a big boo-boo on page 2 of the September newsletter. I have the dates correctly listed as March 18-22 but the destination should be San Ignacio Lagoon for whale-hugging, NOT Bonaire. In fact, the way things stand now, I don't have plans to do Bonaire in 2024. (Maybe 2025.) And the San Ignacio trip is filling up so if that's something that would interest you - it's a non-diving trip so great for a spouse or S.O. who's interested in marine creatures but who doesn't dive - give me a call or shoot me an e-mail so I can have you on the "interested" list.
NEW CONCEPTION THEORY - On the 4th anniversary of the
Conception fire/tragedy (September 2), the
L.A. Times got hold of and ran a front page story about a confidential ATF report from their fire experts that concludes that the fire that killed 34 people started in a trash can, and not by an exploding rechargeable battery. However, they stop short of saying what actually ignited the fire saying it could be "an event unknown to investigators." The official NTSB report concluded, using different fire experts, that the blaze was likely caused by an electrical problem - very possibly batteries exploding - but they also hedge the bet by saying "or another undetermined ignition source."
As you may know, I was deeply involved in looking at the aftermath of the
Conception fire. I was interviewed about it many times on network and local TV, tried to offer some perspective and info to the various investigative agencies looking at what happened, and have lectured about the lessons we can learn from all of this.
Since the
Times sometimes puts their articles behind a paywall, I made a PDF copy of the story and have attached that below my comments here. The
Times has presented this as significant new information that may have an effect on the impending litigation, both civil and criminal.
IMHO, the ATF report doesn't really plow new ground. The ATF fire experts say it started in a trash can. The NTSB fire experts say the origin can't be determined. It's a good example of how two groups of experts can look at similar info and reach different conclusions. What this study DOES confirm is that this fire, regardless of origin, spread very fast.
They reference in the article some cell phone video from one of the phones of someone who died that was recovered many months ago and was recorded in the bunkroom as the fire burned above. What the cell phone video revealed was that the smoke alarms were going off and working. (It had been alleged that they weren't working because if they were, so the theory goes, then everyone would have gotten out since they'd have been awakened by the alarms.) So that again begs the question: Why didn't anyone get out?
I think what the ATF study shows is that IF the fire started in the trash can, this is what would have happened. But to say it's THE sole definitive answer I think is rather speculative. Because if that's the route they choose to go, then they also need to provide an explanation as to how the fire in the trash can started in the first place. Nothing happens in a vacuum. If A happened, it caused B to happen, which caused C, which caused D. If you don't have B/C/D you don't have A or at least not a cause-and-effect relationship..
There is mention in the report of a crew member at 2:35AM dumping two other trash cans into the big one that ATF says was the source at of fire. That crew person makes no mention of any fire anywhere at 2:35AM, let alone in the trash cans. The rest of the crew, including the captain, were in the wheelhouse. No one else was up, at least not at 2:35AM. So if ATF says the fire started in the trash can, they also need some evidence as to who and how. Did someone wake up at 2:45AM to pee and also had a smoke and tossed a butt in the trash can to start the fire? Was it arson (which I have been told privately was quickly ruled out)? The ATF freely admits they don't have this answer which, to me, puts their report back in the realm of well-documented speculation.
But I also think it's important for those of you who were affected by or are following this story to have this information. My opinion is certainly not the only one and mine could be wrong too. But I try to look at the evidence somewhat dispassionately (although I'm friends with the Conception owner and one of my former students died in the blaze) so I'm certainly not going to claim to be totally 100% unbiased. If you've got questions or want to discuss alternate theories, please feel free to contact me directly.
ENDING ON A BETTER NOTE - We certainly can't leave it at that. So I'm delighted to sign off with this video of the unexpected pleasures that were discovered a little over 6,000 feet deep at Kingman Reef which is a VERY isolated reef located between Hawaii and Tahiti. (
You can see where it is by clicking here.) The full video is 11 minutes long. They also discover a cool little Frogfish at the 6:47 mark. Enjoy!!!
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
