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I’m still having trouble realizing this is
Memorial Day weekend. Just feels too early . . .
LOOKING AT THE BEACH CAM -
A quick check of the late afternoon Redondo
Beach live cam shows what looks like a pretty
steady and strong on-shore wind. Water looks
rather choppy as well. I didn't dive this
weekend, so I'm not sure if that's the way it
was this morning or how it will be tomorrow
morning. The mid-channel buoy doesn't seem to
show much so Catalina likely was good today. The
Saturday report from the Underwater Park was 67º
water temps, 30-35' viz, slight chop, and a mild
current. So hopefully you had a chance to get
out on this holiday weekend or at least had a
good time doing something else fun.
ALLEGED START OF THE SUMMER DIVING SEASON -
I say "alleged" since we can dive SoCal
year-round, but a lot of people think of the
diving season as only existing between Memorial
Day and Labor Day. So be it. Regardless, if you
haven't used your gear in a while, remember that
Reef Seekers repair guru Robert Stark can do a
quick bench check for you - often while you want
- and let you know if you're good-to-go or if
you should service stuff before using it in the
ocean. (And if we've serviced your gear within
the past 18 months, the bench check is free!!!)
You can contact Robert at the e-mail or phone in
the upper right corner of this page.
SCUBA SHOW IS THIS WEEKEND -
This coming weekend (May 30 & 31) marks the
annual Scuba Show at the Long Beach Convention
Center. The show is under new
ownership/management this year so you'll notice
some changes. First off is that the price has
increased to $33/day or $60 for the weekend.
However, that price now includes all of the
various seminars and speakers that are being
offered. There are two speaker stages inside the
exhibit hall and others in traditional seminar
rooms. The show is also in a different and
bigger exhibt hall from previous so that will
mark a change as well. And in case you're
wondering . . .
"WHY DIVERS DIE" PANEL IS SATURDAY @ 3:30PM -
We will be doing our annual "Why Divers Die"
panel where we examine scuba deaths from L.A.
County in the previous calendar year with the
L.A. County Coroner, the Chamber, and a diving
instructor forensic consultant (me). It's
usually the #1-attended seminar and perhaps even
more so this year, given what happened in the
Maldives. As we only had one L.A. County
fatality in 2025, this will give us time to
revisit a couple of previous cases. And YES,
even though we're not involved in the
investigation, we WILL also devote time to
examining the Maldives cave diving multi-person
fatality from the standpoint of what are the
questions that should be answered and what
evidence would we want to see to determine what
happened. The seminar overall goes until 5PM
(we'll do the Maldives as the last case starting
around 4:30PM or so) and we'll stay to answer
questions afterwards as well. Hope to see you
there.
HOW ABOUT SOME JELLYFISH? -
This weekend marked the opening of "Jelly
Dreamscapes" at the Aquarium of the Pacific.
This is a major new exhibit that takes up a good
portion of the second floor, adjacent to the
Tropical Reef area. There are a number of
different species of jellies on display, a
really cool jelly "pond" in the middle of
everything, and a couple of other nice features
that you'll need to see rather than having me
describe therm. "Jelly Dreamscapes" doesn't
require a special ticket nor cost extra. It's
all part of the regular Aquarium admission.
Check it out next time you're in Long Beach.
LAST-MINUTE OPENINGS ON OUR JULY INDONESIA TRIP -
We know this is short notice but . . . We had
two last-minute medical-reason cancellations on
our July 1-13 trip to Manado, Indonesia, diving
with our good friends at Murex Diving Resorts.
If you're interested, we can accommodate a
single female &/or a single male, or if a couple
is interested, we can likely make a full room
available. If this is something you'd be
interested in, give us a call at 310/652-4990
for the details and to see if this would fit
your sked and budget. We always have a fabulous
time at Murex plus they've undergone some major
renovations at their Manado resort, so we're
really excited to not only do the diving and see
old friends, but also to see all the new rooms
and common areas.
MORE BAD NEWS FROM THE MALDIVES -
I love diving there but they're snake-bit
lately. A week or so before the cave fatalities,
we got word that the Maldives
Emperor dive
boat caught fire and burned inside the Male
Harbor. It seems that a clothes dryer on the
back deck caught fire and then the flames spread
quickly and out of control. All passengers were
safely evacuated and no one was injured but the
boat is a total loss. You
can read more about it here: MALDIVES
EMPEROR BURNS.
ENDING ON A HIGH NOTE -
There's a new species of hairy pipefish that's
been recently discovered on the Great Barrier
Reef, and everyone says he looks like Mr.
Snuffleupagus from "Sesame Street." Judge for
yourself: PIPEFISH
SNUFFLEUPAGUS.
And that'll do it for now. have a great week and
let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken |
