Ocean Explorers Society
Sponsored by Ocean Enterprises

Calendar
 Sept 6 Meeting at Ocean Enterprises  Sept 8 3Rs at South Casa Cove
Sept 8 Club dive at Boomer's Sept 29 Opening day of lobster season!
 Oct 20 Open house at Scripps Institute of Oceanography    

Contents

Next Meeting
Our next meeting will be held 7PM, September 6th at Ocean Enterprises. Dr. Ed Parnell from Scripps Institute will be speaking about marine life protective areas and the La Jolla Reserve study. We'll meet at Appleby's across the street at 5:30 for dinner.

From the President
A small group of rag tag divers and revellers met at the Shores for the club picnic. Weather was nice, conditions were poor, food was plentiful, everything was in place for a great barbeque. We were just shy about 15 people or so. Nevertheless those of us who were there had a good time, and the odds were great for the raffle.

Sharks, sharks everywhere. 2 people have now been bit in Freeport where the club vacationed earlier this year. I expect the anti shark feeding folks will be out in force over the continued attacks. As those of you who participated in the shark dive know, we were about ¾ mile offshore, but there have actually been snorkelers feeding sharks in less than 10 feet of water. This must be stopped. I actually believe that all shark feeding should be stopped. The association between humans, sharks and food should not be encouraged, we have seen it's results with animals like bears and zoo animals. We'll keep you posted. – Mark Clausen

Shore Diving
Saturday September 8, 8:00am at La Jolla Cove to dive boomers, breakfast will follow.

Anyone interested in doing opening day madness? Let's get together at the meeting.

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

Flotsam
Those of you who actively watch internet stocks know that Excite@Home is melting down. Unless something miraculous happens, @Home will run out of cash by the end of the year. Unfortunately, I'm using Cox@Home, and our web site is connected via Cox@Home. Cox has assured us that they will maintain our internet connections without interruption. However, I do expect email addresses to change. Since email is such a vital part of our communications, I'm making some alternate arrangements and will switch over to them if it becomes necessary.

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.

Yesterday was the last day of the big shark festival at the Stephen Birch Aquarium. However, they still have a tank set up on the south side which contains a few small black tip and white tip sharks. It's well worth the visit to see these graceful creatures in the water. For you phylum molusca fans, the octopus is huge.

Rocks, Rips, and Reefs
Rocks, Rips, and Reefs (affectionately known as the 3R's) is jointly sponsored by the SDCD, San Diego Lifeguards, and local dive clubs. 3R's are an in the water orientation to the local shore diving in San Diego. We've been on two of these this season. They are fun and well worth the time.

Taking advantage of this program is easy. Show up at the rendezvous point with your wetsuit, snorkeling gear, and a weight belt containing no more than half of your usual diving weight.

The lifeguards request a $5 donation to cover expenses. Refreshments are provided at your exit point. Call the dive and surf report at 619/221-8824 on the morning of the 3Rs to discover the final location, or whether the session has been canceled due to poor conditions.

We have one remaining event:

San Diego Council of Divers
The next SDCD meeting is 6:30 PM on September 11th at Rock Bottom Brewery and Restaurant in La Jolla at 8980 Via La Jolla Drive. Will feature Bert Kobiashi. Bert is a UCSD Research Scientist, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) Aquanaut, Lecturer on topics of marine biology. He gifted the club many years ago with a witty and interesting talk. Ed Harris of the SD Lifeguards will also be there to talk about recent diving accidents. I recommend this meeting.

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.

Diving the Internet

I think gelatinous critters are fascinating. Thanks to divebums, I visited http://jellieszone.com. This site has a wealth of information about the local marine jellies. Be forewarned, the site only works well with MS Internet Explorer. It's nicely designed, and you will enjoy your visit.

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.

Call for Volunteers
Project Pacific is monitoring the beaches during the next 3 grunion runs for spawning activity. They will then compile the observations and direct Park and Recreation where they should or should not rake the beaches, according to where spawning activity was observed. It seems that they have been raking up the grunion eggs.

Project Pacific needs volunteers to help monitor. The next runs will occur July 22-25, August 5-8 and August 20-23. See www.projectpacific.org if you are interested (click on "Grunion" under "Issues & Concerns").

Yukon Monitoring Project Training Course

The San Diego Oceans Foundation will be hosting their Fall Artificial Reef Research Training Program on September 22, 2001! This free class will train certified SCUBA divers in the methods of underwater data collection, primarily on artificial reefs. Fish Identification will be taught by the Curator of Fish at the Birch Aquarium, Bob Burhans. Research monitoring methods will be taught by Dr. Ed Parnell of Scripps Institute of Oceanography. Yukon Diving Safety and Wreck Procedures will be taught by PADI Instructor, Quincy Morris. Underwater Sign Language specific to Yukon Research will be taught by Laurieanne Askinazy of Seasigns. Visit www.sdoceans.org to learn more!

Divers who complete the Artificial Reef Research Diver Training Course on Saturday, September 22nd will have the opportunity to enroll in a PADI Specialty Course entitled "Yukon Research Diver,"

The specialty class will consist of one pool session and two open water dives on the Yukon. The cost of the class is $110 which includes the pool session, two dives, course material, and your certification card. There is limited space, so sign up NOW if you are interested.

You can sign up for the Research Training Course by emailing Noelle Barger: sdoceans@sdoceans.org or if you have questions, please call the SDOF office: 619-523-1903.

 

Dive Travel

Channel Islands
I'm looking at Channel Islands or Catalina sometime in early fall. 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.

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.

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: