Ocean Explorers Society
Sponsored by Ocean Enterprises

Calendar
October 4 Club Meeting at OE October 6 Shore dive at Hospital Point
October 9
6:30PM		 SDCD Meeting at Rock Bottom Brewery with CA Fish and Game October 20 Open house at Scripps Institute of Oceanography
October 26  Night dive at Hospital Point October 27  U/W Pumpkin carving contest at The Shores
Various Diving history lectures at Stephen birch Aquarioum (see below)

Contents

Next Meeting
Our next meeting will be held 7PM, October 4th at Ocean Enterprises. No speaker this month. I know a few people have been travelling, why not bring your slides? We'll meet at Appleby's across the street at 5:30 for dinner.

From the President
Greetings friends! I attended the September meeting of the San Diego Council of Divers wher our club was the profiled club. I was very well received and pleased to see a good turnout. I bring this up because at one time several years ago I was an avid attendee of the SDCD meetings until they became a parliamentry procedure punching bag with disgruntled ex-officers creating havoc. The new president and new format are based on a casual, fun and informational social gathering. Needless to say, the importance of the Council is paramount as it is our political voice. I urge you all to attend a meeting when you can.

Mark your calendars for the annual Christmas party on Saturday December 8, 6:00PM. We'll have the details next month.

Shore Diving
Saturday October 6, 8:00am at Hospital Point , breakfast will follow.

Night Dive: Friday October 26….Meet at Hospital Point at 6:30pm for Lobster Dive

Saturday, October 27 -- Ocean Enterprises is again sponsoring the Underwater Pumpkin Carving Contest at La Jolla Shores. This event has been going for a long time now, and it's always been a hoot. Every one who enters, gets a prize. Registration is from 9-10AM. Diving starts at 10AM. Judging and lunch go from 12-1. OE will announce the winners at 1PM and hand out prizes. The cost is a modest $10/person if you register before October 26; $15/person at the event. Registration includes a BBQ lunch. The carving rules are very straightforward. Bring your own cleaned pumpkin. You must use a dive knife to carve it, and the carving has to be done in the water. There are separate categories for pumpkins with props, and those without props. Lifeguards stationed at La Jolla Shores will do the judging. Prizes include a Seaquest Balance BC, Scubapro Twinjet fins, 38 Spl spear gun, Sherwood Oasis reg, and tons of other stuff.

Boat Dives
We'll arrange a dive at the meeting.

Flotsam
The Birch Aquarium just finished their Wet Weekend event. We went to see what was there, and it felt a lot like a county fair for the underwater community. Most of the larger organizations had tables; SDCD, SDOF, Project Pacific, and the SDUPS. Turn-out was lighter than expected; most likely because of the WTC attack. One exhibit was a real hit with my son. A teacher from Mt. Carmel High School was there with student built ROV's. Looks James will be taking that class.

Congradulations to James Ambrose on completing his open water certification.

Excite@Home continues to excite us at home, but not in a good way. They declared bankruptcy, and sold their data network to AT&T. This might actually be good news in that there should be few changes from our present service except that maybe now our e-mail servers will work reliably. So, at least for the time being, I'm not expecting any service interruptions and we can stand down from yellow alert.

I've been wondering whether we should change the e-mail newsletter to a webserver based distribution. Instead of sending the entire newsletter, I would send you all a web address. You can then retrieve it from there. I would get a lot more freedom to include things like photographs and graphics. However, you would need web access to read the newsletter. Please let me know ASAP if you cannot access the web from your e-mail account.

I finally got the picnic pictures on the web site, click here for the full story.

 

San Diego Council of Divers
The October meeting will feature Eric Cord from Fish and Game to talk about DFG regulations, and update us on the local poaching problems. November will have Paul Riley of DFG talking about local marine life. The SDCD Meeting will provide an opportunity for local divers to tell the SDCD what it should be doing for the diving community. Several Fish and game hearings have been cancelled because of the WTC attack so if you really want to have some input, then you should attend this meeting.

Diving Exhibit Opens at Stephen Birch Aquarium
A new exhibit, "San Diego's Underwater Pioneers," will explore the fascinating history of diving in San Diego. Historic SCUBA diving artifacts and equipment will also be on display, contrasting today's highly advanced SCUBA gear. "San Diego's Underwater Pioneers" is curated by esteemed author and underwater photographer Eric Hanauer...." Here's their website showing a few items on display:
http://aquarium.ucsd.edu/whats_new/wetweekend/pioneers.html

Dive Exhibit Lecture Series
Commemorating the opening of their newest exhibit, San Diego's Underwater Pioneers, The Stephen birch Aquarium will host an exciting lineup of speakers who will share their experiences, triumphs, and accomlishments in the fascinating world of underwater exploration.

The fee for each lecture is $8.00 ($6.00 for members)
RSVP 858/534-7336

Tuesday, October 2nd, 7:30-9:00PM "Journey to the Abyss", by Andreas Rechnitzer     CANCELLED!
Wednesday, October 3rd, 7:30-9:00PM, "Underwater Pioneers", Eric Hanauer - Exhibit Curator
Wednesday, October 10th, 7:30-9:00PM, "Sharks in the Wild", Marty Snyderman
Wednesday, October 17th, 7:30-9:00PM, "Adventures of an Underwater Legend", Jim Stewart
Thursday, November 1st, 7:30-9:00PM, "Wreck Diving", Bob Willey

Here's the Birch Aquarium at Scripps website for additional info
http://aquarium.ucsd.edu/

Scripps Institute of Oceanography Open House

Scripps Institute of Oceanography (SIO) is having an open house next month. This is the first one they've had in 10 years or so and they're gonna do it in style. Roving musicians, Irish Dancing, and sea shanties are all on the agenda. Both of the original buildings where the institute was born will be open too. Mark off your calendar for Saturday, October 20th, 10 AM til 2PM. We're going so we'll see you there.

Lobster Poacher Update
September 19, 2001 -- The San Diego City Attorney's office has filed a 56 count complaint against Marc Sosnowski (Case No. M835664CF) related to poaching in the Children's Pool area of La Jolla, California. Sosnowski was arrested on June 27, 2001, for poaching 75 to 100 short lobster. The charges are unlawful possession of spiny lobster for commercial purposes; unlawful possession of abalone; taking lobster out of season; exceeding the possession limit for lobster; possession of lobster whose size cannot be determined (i.e., tails only); and using a device to take lobster.

The significant thing about the charges is the reference to taking or possessing for commercial purposes. The normal maximum for a Fish & Game Code violation is $1,000 fine and/or 6 months in jail. When it is for commercial purposes (poaching with the intent to sell rather than poaching for personal consumption), the maximum jumps to $30,000 fine and/or 1 year in jail. Still a misdemeanor, though.

Sosnowski pleaded no contest to poaching almost 100 lobster from the La Jolla Ecological Reserve a little less than 2 years ago. (Case No. M790758CF) He received a $715 fine, 100 hours of community service, and summary probation. A condition of his probation was that he violate no laws for 3 years. The City Attorney is seeking to have probation revoked based on the recent incidents.

The case is set for a trial readiness conference on Wednesday, October 3, 2001 at 9:30 a.m. in Dept. 2 of the Superior Court (downtown San Diego, first floor of the old courthouse). If there is a plea bargain in the next two weeks, then Sosnowski would presumably change his plea to guilty plea on October 3 and be sentenced. If there is no plea bargain, then at the October 3 hearing the case would be assigned a specific date for trial in October or November.

Although nothing is set in stone, indications are that any plea bargain would probably involve some jail time for Sosnowski.

you may encourage the City Attorney's Office in its efforts. You can send letters to (1) the City Attorney or (2) the head of the Criminal Division.
They set overall policy -- how seriously poaching cases get pursued and when to insist on jail time and serious fines as part of any plea bargain.

(1)
Casey Gwynn, City Attorney
City Attorney's Office
1200 Third Ave. #1200
San Diego, CA 92101

(2)
Susan M. Heath, Assistant City Attorney
City Attorney's Office, Criminal Division
1200 Third Ave. #700
San Diego, CA 92101

Letters directed to the actual prosecuting attorney (3) will probably be noticed by her superiors.

(3)
Kathryn Lang, Deputy City Attorney
City Attorney's Office, Criminal Division
1200 Third Ave. #700
San Diego, CA 92101

Be sure your letter references Marc Sosnowski, Case No. M835664CF. Be polite. If you have already sent a letter, thank you. Please do not send another. Have your dive buddy send one if he or she has not done so.

Charges have also been filed against Wayne Garrett arising out of the
incident. His case is pending.

Charges were filed against Fat Ho, a seafood buyer for a local restaurant, for purchasing spiny lobster from Sosnowski. He has entered a plea (guilty or no contest) and has been fined.

No charges have been filed against a restaurant yet. Word is that the City Attorney's office is still evaluating the matter.

 

SB1 Rigs to Reefs Bill

Senate Bill 1 has passed the Legislature and is now on the Governor's desk,
awaiting his decision.

This bill may not get signed unless hundreds of letters to get to the Governor ASAP. Please take some
time to write a quick letter of support. Samples are available at our website www.preservereefs.org

The Governor must sign all bills by October 14.

How to contact the Governor:

Governor Gray Davis
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-445-4633
governor@governor.ca.gov

San Diego Office
1350 Front Street
Suite 6054
San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: 619-525-4641
Fax: 619-525-4640

The governor's office requests: "To help us keep track of correspondence and to ensure that we are able to respond to California residents, please be sure to include your name and address when you communicate with the Governor's office. We do not accept e-mail attachments."

Dive Travel

Fiji

Frances San Clemente is organizing a trip to Fiji. The price will be about $1799, week of Mar 23-30. Looks like she has about 15 people interested so far. This includes airfare from LAX but not some of the transfer fees, etc. Once the "interest list" is compiled, she won't send out any more "general interest" emails, so if you think you might be interested at all, let her know so she can keep you posted on specific details. You may contact Frances at ppaquita@pacbell.net

Accomodations are at Marilin Bay. Check out www.marlinbay.com for details. Overall, this looks like a nice trip.

Channel Islands
I'm looking at Channel Islands or Catalina. 3 day trips on the Truth Aquatics boats are great trips; reasonably priced, and very relaxing. You can check out my trip report here. If you're interested, please let me know. I'll need some trip windows before I can really start looking.

Australia
Paul Lee and a few other members are planning an Australia trip for the middle two weeks of January, 2002. The trip would include a 4 or 5 day liveaboard out of Cairns, a two day white water rafting trip, and sightseeing in Sydney for a few days. The live aboard runs about $500, the rafting about $200, and Sydney depends largely upon accommodations. Airfare prices now are around $1350 from Los Angeles, (But Paul says he can find some for much less). Anyone interested should contact Paul Lee at PaulLeesd@earthlink.net for more information.

Mexico
Club Med, Sonora Bay, Mexico - We have an informal group going to Club Med the week of October 13 - 30. Contact Eileen Monzon at emonzon1@home.com for more information.

Laura Mankoff is organizing a trip to Chinchorro Banks in Mexico. Dates: Wednesday, December 26, 2001 through Wednesday, January 2, 2002 This is an all inclusive (except alcohol) resort. Very laid back. Beautiful accommodations with air conditioning, TV's (no phones), and pool. They have two great boats and Laura will make sure we get the bigger boat. Boats are camera friendly.

Price is $1245 + $100 transportation fee. Its a four hour drive from Cancun to Maya Ha. The resort van picks us up in Cancun. American from Miami is best route.

Price includes all meals, 5 days of diving or land tour (kayaking trip, day trip to one of the ruins). There is one day nothing is planed but a kayak trip would cost $75 per person and includes lunch and a tour of one of the local forts. Air Fare not included. Let Laura know if you want us to get your airfare. The more seats the better fare they can get. (bulk) vs. economy.

Water temp was 78-82 degrees and air was in upper 70's. Very pleasant. Did wear Chammyz on the boat, but was never uncomfortable. No gloves are allowed. Spaces may still be available. A nonrefundable deposit of $200 is required to hold your space.

For Sale

- Assorted small women's 3mm wetsuits $25/ea
- Brand new Palm VII never used, in box, $150
- Web TV Plus Internet Terminal, with wireless keyboard $75
Contact Jon and Eileen Parkhurst at 858-792-1077 or emonzon@home.com

Membership

OES Info
OES members can receive $30 off the regular OE price for specialty classes.

Subscriptions to Rodale's Scuba Diving Magazine are available through the club for only $10. See Mark Clausen for details.

Club T-shirts are still available for $13.00.

Renewal rates are $20 single; $30 for a family. Send your renewal to Mark Clausen; 1862 Willow Way; Vista, CA 92083.

For more information: