After our focus on some of the more remote Channel Islands in 2007 it looks like wreck diving could be our aim for this year. Shawn and I were joined by new club member Robert Krinke on a trip with Reef Seekers to dive wrecks off Palos Verdes.

The trip out from San Pedro included close encounters with whales which were surprisingly close to the shore. We also got the chance to view the development at Old Marineland which is very extensive but has also closed off much of the beach access.

The first dive was on the Palawan at around 120’ with a water temperature of 51° and vis around 15’. Did I mention it was cold! Fortunately, the anchor was hooked right on the wreck so it made the dive relatively easy. The Palawan is a steel-hulled ship sunk in 1977 and still intact. The superstructure has been removed and what remains is the hull divided into a number of open compartments.

The next dive was on the Avalon. The anchor was fairly close to the wreck and provided you looked in the right direction it was fairly easy to find. The Avalon sunk in 1964 and has been reduced to a fairly low profile with just a few sections remaining intact including the bow section. There is also an interesting rocky reef nearby. This wreck is at about 70’, vis was slightly better at 25’ and it was cold!

The final dive was to have been on the Dominator which ran aground in 1961. However, the swell was too large to attempt this dive so we did a non-wreck dive on Hawthorne Reef which had plenty of life but the vis was less than 10’. The current switched around and led to a good workout to get back to the boat.

It was an interesting but enjoyable trip to the wrecks. Reef Seekers are organizing another wreck outing on May 31 which will include the Star of Scotland in Santa Monica Bay.

1. Further information on these wrecks can be found at the California Wreck Divers site at http://www.cawreckdivers.org/ and some photos have been posted on the Sole Searchers photo gallery.

Bromley

I can’t say that this is a dive report because we lolligagged under a tree all weekend relaxing. Well that’s not entirely true either because the kids wanted to do nothing else but run in the water. The water was dead calm and ice cold. My feet hurt just walking in it. A good wetsuit and some scuba equipment was what I should have brought. Instead I brought bicycles so we could all go riding. Instead of riding them, we hurled the wheels from them at Dave Gaines’ truck on the freeway. We had bad aim and didn’t hit him. None the less this made riding them more difficult after that and we passed on further  adventure with the missing wheels. Dave brought his bike too but must have soured on the riding idea after that.

Instead we relaxed. I’m good at that. Saturday afternoon we became antsy for some adventure and decided to take a motoring tour of the canyon that is Refugio. Consulting the gps, I discovered that Refugio Rd. goes an awfully long way inland. We drove it for a bit as it wound through the valley past ranches and farms. It climbed high to a pass (Refugio Pass of course) which had the most idyllic view of the ocean. From here we had been warned by numerous signs that the end of the road was near. We found that it simply became a non maintained dirt road. It descended back down the other side of the pass and we gamely followed despite promising to be home for dinner. Below we found several stream crossings with spacious fields of grass and happy cows munching on them. I had no idea the area was so nice and this year’s rain must have really added color.

We proceeded on and before we knew it, had ended up in Santa Ynez. We tanked up Shumach’s finest Indian gasoline and decided that west was the quickest way back to the 101 and Refugio. Five minutes later we landed in Solvang, a place I’d often heard about but never been. What an amazing little town. I felt like I was back in Germany. We only took a short driving tour of it as time was running out. As we left town I realized we hadn’t taken any photos. Buelton came up five minutes later and so did the 101. Fifteen minutes later we were back in camp telling our story to everyone else.

With five camp sites reserved for October 3-5, 2008 we should organize an excursion back to Solvang to get a complete tour of the quaint little town. I hope you can join me.

Lars

Warm weather is rapidly approaching which means THE Diving Event of the Year! is close at hand! SCUBA Show 2008. We will once again be returning to the Long Beach Convention Center. The weekend for this year’s show is June 21-22. We hope you will be attending this exciting event. More importantly, we hope your entire club will be attending.  SCUBA Show 2008 will be an excellent place to become educated, inspired, plan your next dive trip, meet old friends and make new acquaintances.

Attached you will find “camera-ready” art of a discount coupon for the show. Feel free to print this coupon in your next club newsletter. Be sure to drop in the name of your group on the coupon.

If you receive issues from us, we will soon be sending you a book of preprinted discount coupons for distribution at your club meetings as well as a promotional poster.

You will find full details on the show in the May and June issues of California Diving News, by contacting us directly, or visiting our web site at www.scubashow.com.

Thank you and I’ll see you at the SCUBA Show!

Christopher D. Sheckler

Marketing Director

St. Brendan Corp.

California Diving News
Scuba Show 2008
PO Box 11231
Torrance, CA 90510

310-792-2333
fax 310-792-2336

As of about a week ago, our table for 10 at Chamber Eve is filled. In addition, Shelly, Stacy and two of their guests will be at the Reef Seeker’s table, so we can all go over and raz them a bit. If you are still interested in going, you can probably get a seat at another table, but the event is close to sold out.

There may still be openings on some of the boats for Chamber Day. If you can’t dive, you can go on the famous Flying Dutchman (i.e. all the fare and none of the ride). You get lots of raffle tickets and a great t-shirt and are giving to a good cause. You can also just contribute. Remember, the Chamber is a great “safety net” if you need it…..we all hope not to need it, but want it there anyway.

Posted by your official Chamber Eve nudge, Wendy Mitchell 4/4/08 

Full Calendar Here!

April 11-13 Refugio
April 14 Sole Searchers Meeting at El Torito
April 19 Sea Bass
May 7 Chamber Day/Eve
May 18 Wreck Dives on the Lois Ann
May 24-25 King’s River Rafting (Snorkel optional)
June 21-22 Scuba Show
October 3-5 Refugio the main event

Tom Reynolds loves scuba diving Bonaire’s beautiful reefs, and he wants to keep doing it. But he couldn’t help but notice that in recent years they didn’t seem as healthy as they once were. The retired Pasadena California resident wondered what he could do to reverse the trend. The answer became clear after he invited his best friend, Dr. Burt Jones and his family to join him, diving in Bonaire.

Burt Jones is a towering figure in oceanographic research, specializing in near coastal conditions. A Research Associate Professor in the Marine Environmental Biology section of the Biology Department at the University of Southern California, his research interests include bio-optical oceanography, physical-biological interactions, coastal processes, and coastal ocean observing systems. He has been involved in studying the dynamics of physical/bio-optical interactions in a variety of environments that include coastal California, the Arabian Sea, Japan/East Sea, and the Adriatic Sea. Recently, he’s done research in harmful algal bloom monitoring. Dr. Jones has been involved in implementing a coastal observing system that includes both fixed sites and autonomous vehicles.

These projects usually have million dollar budgets. The money is well spent because it provides the scientific evidence in deciding how to correct problems affecting ocean water quality.

Tom Reynolds and Dr. Jones reasoned that if they could supply Bonaire with similar scientific data addressing the potential decline of Bonaire reefs it would influence the Bonairean government to take appropriate action.

One thing stood in their way. Lack of money. The big money that paid for the expensive monitoring equipment and staff just wasn’t available on our island. However, together with their local diving buddy, Albert Bianculli an idea took shape. If they could find a substitute for the expensive monitors and enough staff to run the project on Bonaire and some money, then the science measurements could be done.

The Bonaire National Marine Park was enthusiastic about the plan and agreed to not only cooperate, but to post the results on the STINAPA website.

The secret to cutting the cost of the project is a microchip sensor originally developed to track fish. With the addition of color filters it could be adapted to monitor light and temperature. The light data the sensor records, following extensive data reduction and analysis, could be used to measure the clarity and the amount of organic material in the water.

Following a successful pilot test of a sensor array at jerry’s Reef at Klein Bonaire in August 2007 the Light and Motion Sensor (LMSP) program was launched.

The sensors, in sets of three, set at three different depth cost about $55 each. Commercial units performing the same function cost as much as 300 times more. Bonaire’s LMSP sensors lack the automated cleaning and remote data readout of the expensive units. As a result the LMSP sensors get visited at least once a week by volunteer divers who do those tasks. These so called “Rainbow Arrays” were deployed in 13 locations from WEB to the White Slave huts and through this February recorded water conditions every eight minutes. Millions of bits of data were recorded.

Ito ensure that the LMSP sensors were accurately calibrated in February Tom Reynolds traveled to Bonaire with the “expensive gear” on loan from USC. We can report they passed the test and the first results were published in the last issue of The Reporter.

Currently, LMSP sensors are being reprogrammed to record data at one minute intervals, multiplying the data and the task of analyzing it, but making it easier to calibrate LMSP sensors with the “expensive gear.”

Tom says, “Global conditions notwithstanding, the land is a significant source of the reef’s problems. When we report the results of our work we give the population and government the ability to determine the quality of their water. The LMSP will localize where the situations (affecting the water quality) may exist. Once located, other instruments will be able to pinpoint the source of the problem. Even now we can compare the clarity of the water between the Andreas and White Slave. As we process the data, we will know which locations have the clearest water.”

It is up to STINAPA to publish results on their website and to take remedial action if necessary.

Up until now everyone working on the project have been volunteers. However, with the plans to increase the number of sensors, set more around Klein Bonaire, add fluorometer instruments and increase the sampling interval by eight times, the flow of data will become a torrent.

This is very ambitious project without a doubt, unique on the planet. More data will be gathered in a single day by Bonaire’s LMSP sensors than for NASA’s entire moon mission. Further, there is global interest in this project. Dr. Jones and Mr. Reynolds have received inquires from all around the world and will present the program at the Coral Reef Symposium in July.

Additional funds from private, corporate and government donors will be need to run the project for its 10-year life through the installation of the waterfront wastewater system.

The data analysis was being done by Dr Jones and it was hoped that USC graduate students could take it over. However, it is turning out to be so formidable a task that specialists may have to be employed.

Published LMSP information can even help divers contemplating a trip to Bonaire. They will be able to see for themselves which resorts have the clearest water which implies the best reefs.

Tom Reynolds concludes, “Hard science must precede informed political action. Having the data protects us from doing the wrong thing. Critically, we must do the right thing. What the ocean could tolerate in the past is not true today. After all it’s not our father’s ocean anymore. “ G.D.

Sunday March 22, Brad, Kevin, Bobbi, Morgan and I headed down to La Jolla Cove for the San Diego Dive Clubs Annual Easter Egg hunt. Did I mention this was an UNDERWATER HUNT?? The parking lot was packed. We secured a parking spot and unloaded our gear. A free pancake breakfast was provided. My favorite part was the strawberries, mini M & M’s and the whip cream in the can…this was meant to be pancake toppings, but it became a meal in itself for me…Just a little sugar to get the day moving.

There was a quick little briefing that explained the rules and all the specifics. All I knew was that there were 135 eggs to be found and a gold one and a silver one. I went in early with Morgan, an openwater student, did his skills then immediately began the search. Brad, Kevin and Bobbi were a truddy team. 2 instructors and a rescue diver that is alot of experience in one place. They found ZERO EGGS, and they lost each other underwater and got ZERO, that’s right zero eggs.

Morgan and I did a structured search and found 8 eggs, and two of the eggs were already in a bag that some other diver had gathered and inadvertently lost. We turned our eggs in and were at that point in 3^rd place. Morgan and I went back in to do more certification stuff. We found another egg on that dive, now a total of 9 eggs.

What we didn’t know was that some guys was behind us with the mega Easter egg score, 32 frickin eggs. I talked to him afterwords to find out about his strategy so I could use it next year.

We had a great day, the sun was out and the water was sub tropical. At least that is how it felt after the pancake toppings I ate before the dive.

So next year watch out I’m gonna get alot of eggs and the gold one and wear my bunny ears…

This just proves even diving can be fun

Lisa Queen, OWSI

Coming up shortly, April 11-13, is an impromptu trip to Refugio State Beach north of Santa Barbara. We have very limited space left for campers on this trip and there are 8-10 people going as of this post. If you have an itch to go camping, you can email me though, lars@larsdennert.com and we will squeeze you in.

The good news is that for our October 3-5, 2008 trip we have five adjacent campsites reserved. That’s up to 15 tents and 40 people. We’ll have plenty of space to stretch everyone out. Put it on your calendar. Bring the dive gear, bring the bikes, bring the kayaks, bring the food, heck bring the wife and kids for a mini vacation at the water’s edge. Contact Lars to be put on the list.

MPAs:  Why they are being implemented, what they can do, and what we can do to get involved.

Tom Ford, Baykeeper (Executive Director)

Following four years of involvement with the Santa Monica Baykeeper as a volunteer diver and Beachkeeper volunteer, Tom became the Director of the Kelp Restoration and Monitoring Project in July 2002. Toms passion for the ocean and its inhabitants was hard won. Growing up in a farming community in Pennsylvania Tom first saw the ocean in high school.

During his undergraduate studies at the University of Rhode Island Tom took advantage of many opportunities to study and work on the water. These included the study of sea turtles on their nesting beaches in Georgia, working aboard channel dredges as a Biological Observer in Florida and the Carolinas, and SCUBA diving for clams as a commercial shell fisherman in Rhode Island.

Graduating with a B.A. in Biology Tom went to work as a First Mate, Aquarist and Educator at the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk Connecticut in 1994. Tom found his way to Los Angeles in 1998 when he became the Curator of the UCLA Ocean Discovery Center. Toms commitment to the preservation and study of the Santa Monica Bay landed him at UCLA where he earned his Masters Degree in Marine Ecology. When T oms not diving he can be found surfing, or hiking and biking in the mountains of California.

Brian Meux, Kelp Project Coordinator

Brian began working with and volunteering for the Baykeeper in 2005. Part of his masters thesis is an analysis of the Santa Monica Baykeeper Kelp Restoration and Monitoring Project. Brian became the Kelp Project Coordinator in June 2007.

Brians bachelors degree from UC Berkeley is in integrative biology. His studies had an emphasis in marine ecology and he also played for Cal Rugby. Brians research was filled with descriptions of the harmful effects of human activities on the ecosystems we all depend on. He feels that through the Kelp Project we have the opportunity to make a positive difference. Brians masters degree was awarded by a brand new program at Cal Poly Pomona called Regenerative Studies. This interdisciplinary program focuses on experiential learning relating to sustainable development and ecological restoration and design. His studies have him well prepared for his new responsibilities at the Santa Monica Baykeeper.

Brian aims to restore and monitor as much kelp forest as possible in Santa Monica Bay, with the help of all the dedicated SCUBA divers who volunteer their time to give back to our local reefs.