Ocean Explorers Society
October 2002
Sponsored by Ocean Enterprises

 

Contents

Monthly Meeting
Thursday October 3rd 2002 6:50PM-- at Ocean Enterprises. . . , Presentation by Brad Lally of Deep Outdoors, a new dive/sports retailer headquartered in Poway. Meet at Appleby's for dinner at 5:30.

From the Editor
We mustered a healthy OES contingent for the DUI demo days at La Jolla Shores. Mark, Tony Huff, Chris Rink, Dawn Tosta, Mary Henderson, and I partook of both DUI's products and their hospitality. Divers selected the DUI stuff they wanted to try, filled out some paperwork, and were expertly fitted by DUI staff. The staff briefed any new drysuit divers on the basics, then sent them to the water. Once at the water, Divemasters provided more instruction and accompanied all the divers. Dives were long enough to get a good feel for the any new gear, but fairly short to conserve the DM's air and no-deco limits. After diving, the divers could refuel with complimentary burgers, dogs, and beverages.

You couldn't hardly ask for better conditions. The overcast kept kept predive roasting to managable levels. The Pacific Ocean also lived up to its name. There were no waves to speak of. Vis was 20 feet in-shore and even better in the canyon. We were treated to some interesting moluscs, a midshipman fish, and a feisty crab on our first dive. On my second dive we ventured further down the down the canyon to find bunches of fish and a lobster.

I decided to try the Ocean Reef full face mask for my second dive. This Ocean Reef mask is a very well engineered piece of equipment. Donning and doffing the mask are straighforward tasks. It breaths very easily, and clearing your ears isn't a problem. There are two plugs inside the mask that block your nostrils when you press on the mask. A special valve on the side of the mask opens to admit air while you're on the surface.

Our demo masks were equipped with diver communication devices. The communicators work well over short distances. Pushing a button on the mask lets you talk. They needed to be a little louder, but when the audio was loud enough, Quincy, the factory representative, was very understandable.

In the water, the mask was pretty comfortable. My hood was a problem though. You need a larger face opening for this mask. Fogging was generally not in evidence. If any mist appeard on the faceplate, a deep breath pulled it right off. Strap adjustment is critical to proper functioning and comfort. I had to fiddle a lot with mine before the mask sealed properly. I'm confident that with some additional practice, this mask will be very comfortable.

The mask and communicator is an interesting piece of gear. I can see a lot of value for them in situations where you need to do complicated tasks underwater. They're a little too cumbersome for normal recreational diving. A pair of these would be extremely useful for dive teams maintaining mooring lines and bouys.

Thanks to all who joined in the fun. It was good for me to hit the water with friends again. All the proceeds from the DUI demo are going to the San Diego Oceans Foundation. Many thanks to the good people at DUI for putting on such a fine event, and for giving back to the community. -- Dave Ambrose

Club Diving
Shore dive -- We'll arrange a shore dive and maybe a boat dive at the meeting. I'll send out an email with time and location after the meeting.

Boat Dive -- see above

After work -- We're planning to do some after work shore diving, or maybe some cheap single tank boat trips. We'll discuss those plans at the meeting, or you can email Mark or I with your desires and preferences.

As always, if you want to go dive, send me the date, and I'll send out an e-mail to the rest of the club.

Flotsam
Upcoming Sale -- Eagle Creek Travel Products annual Sale- November 15, 16. This company makes excellent luggage

Underwater Film Festival -- The Diving Locker is very pleased to announce the 3rd Annual San Diego Undersea Film Exhibition scheduled for Friday and Saturday evening, October 18 & 19, 2002 at the new state-of-the-art, large-format theater at the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park! Last year's Film Exhibition at the San Diego Natural History Museum, was an overwhelming success and we hope this year's will be even better!

Each evening's program will consist of fourteen to fifteen short films of the undersea world, submitted by both accomplished professional and aspiring amateur underwater filmmakers and videographers.

Tickets are now available, but roughly half of them have already been sold. You can get them at the Diving Locker, and they're almost certainly available as SDCD meetings.

Free Lecture -- 3rd Annual Jordan Dale Covin Lecture by Dr. Tom Lovejoy "Teaming with Life: Biodiversity and Sustainability"

The SDSU Field Station Programs are pleased to present Dr. Tom Lovejoy, scientist, author, advocate, conservation strategist, and President of The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment. He will discuss the immediate problems of the loss of the world's biodiversity and both short and long-term solutions in the 3rd Annual Jordan Dale Covin Memorial Lecture Series.

The lecture takes place October 10, 2002 at 4:00pm, Don Powell Theater, San Diego State University. This event is free and open to the public.

Dr. Lovejoy is best known as the founder of the popular PBS series Nature. This program is the most popular long-term series on public television. Dr. Lovejoy is also the originator of the innovative concept of debt-for-nature swaps. Over a billion dollars in conservation funds have already been made available with this mechanism in countries, including Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, the Philippines, Madagascar, Jamaica and Zambia.

For more information: Email: fsinfo@sciences.sdsu.edu http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/bfs/main/whatsnew.html

SDSU Field Station Programs support research, education, and teaching of Southern California ecosystems by collecting, sharing, and understanding environmental data.

Volunteers needed for Water Quality Study -- Volunteers are needed for Water Quality Research at San Dieguito Lagoon
San Dieguito Lagoon is scheduled to be breached on 4 October 2002. Research teams lead by faculty from UC, Irvine (Dr. Grant and Dr. Sanders), Scripps Institute of Oceanography (Dr. Levin and Dr. Winant), UC, Los Angeles (Dr. Ambrose) and UC, Santa Barbara (Dr. Schoeter) will investigate how
infrequent opening of tidal outlets affects both wetland ecology and coastal water quality.

This is an excellent opportunity to help with environmental research and learn about studies on coastal water quality.

Schedule

October 3rd - October 7th 2002
4 shifts per day
0:00 - 6:00
6:00 - 12:00
12:00 - 18:00
18:00 - 0:00

Please contact Harmony Gates (714-962-4067 harm1212@aol.com)
or Ryan Reeves (949-824-4034 reevesr@uci.edu)
for details and to join to the research team by Monday, September 30, 2002

San Diego Council of Divers
The next SDCD meeting is Tuesday, October 8th, at 6:30 pm at Rock Bottom Brewery. I don't have their speaker yet, but you can check their events calendar, or subscribe to the SDCD mailing list.

MLPA Update
John Moore, one of two diver representatives to the Los Angeles to San Diego Regional Working Group for the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA RWG) sent out the following report.

Our MLPA RWG met for the second time last Friday, Sept. 20th. The first meeting was back in July, and truly was just a meet 'n' greet, with some overview of the MLPA thrown in. This past meeting got us a little closer to the substance, though was also very much a getting to know each other meeting.

At the meeting last Friday we

It's an interesting group. The DFG listing of members does not show affiliations, so I'll put that together at some point and send it out.

SIDE NOTE: One of the members is Vice Chair of the Pacific Fisheries Management Council -- a federal body which advises NOAA on fisheries management for Washington, Oregon and California in federal waters. Ten days ago they finalized their groundfish closure plans; which involves dissallowing fishing for certain types of groundfish (e.g., rockfish) and fishing with certain types of gear from 120 feet deep on out. This closure is forcing a lot of fishing pressure (both commercial and recreational) into the zone we as divers care most about, 130 feet and shallower. This WILL affect us, and likely sooner than any marine protected areas in the nurture will help, so it's something you should learn about. See the Pacific Fisheries Management Council link below.

The next meeting will start us into substance. In early December we will start to review our geography and what is known about habitat, fisheries, etc for specific regions or sites within our geography (Point Dume to the Mexican Border).

Here's what I need from you all in preparation for the December meeting:

Dive Travel

Curaçao - We've set the date: May 4-11, 2003, and we already have a big group going. This will be the same itinerary as this year's Curaçao trip. We'll stay at Captain Don's Habitat. They offer lodging, unlimited diving and buffet breakfast. We're hoping to get better flight arrangements though. Cost will be in the neighborhood of $611 plus communal car rental (~$75), airfare, lunch, and dinner. Last year people spent ~$100/person for the week's lunches and dinners. Contact Mark Clausen if you want to sign up or get more information.

Fiji -- Steve Goldstrom just hooked up with a dive club from the Midwest. They are going to Cousteau's resort in Fiji October 17-26. Approx cost $2500. Anyone interested may contact Steve at austrom@adelphia.net

Other trips - We're also in the planning stage for Palau for 2003.

Membership
Renewal rates are $20 single; $30 for a family. If you can't make it to a meeting, send your renewal to Mark Clausen; 1862 Willow Way; Vista, CA 92083.

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.

For more information: