Ocean Explorers Society
January 2007 

Next Meeting. Please note that we've pushed it back by a week. -  Our next meeting will be held Thursday January 11th @ 6:30 at Rock Bottom Restaurant, located at the corner of Villa La Jolla Drive, and La Jolla Village Drive. Please RSVP to Dave Ambrose so we can have enough seats. If you can't RSVP, come anyways, and we'll make room.  

From the President

Welcome to 2007. I hope you all had a safe and fun New Year Celebration.

I'd like to thank everyone who came to dive club events in 2006. We had some good fun, saw a few movies, and had a kicker of a trip to the Caribbean. 

Our 2007 Galapagos trip is already full. But, we have other stuff in the works. I'm still interested to hear from people about possible destinations.

We're also planning improvements to the club's activities. Our first step will be to move our meeting location south the the Mission Valley area. It's convenient to a lot of our active members, and there are plenty of good locations available. We're also planning more local activities, especially diving, but also a couple of Saturday lunches.

Right now, the conditions are more conducive to surfing rather than diving. Divers, taking advantage of lulls in the waves, are reporting a major collapse along the La Jolla Submarine Canyon. Much of the wall between 40 and 60 feet has peeled off the cliff face, and gone down into the canyon. The Cabezon Cruiser is either buried or somewhere further down the canyon. So far, nobody's identified the cause. We'll keep you posted.

A map of the canyon and popular dive sites will be installed at the Vallecitos Street bathrooms sometime this summer. I guess we can remove the Cruiser.

As if we didn't have enough surreality from Washington, the Children's Pool controversy continues to rage with Fox News airing a reportedly deceptive video of lifeguards harrassing the seals. Preliminary reports are that the footage was taped across multiple days and spliced together, leaving one with the impression that the harassment is severe.

Just to reiterate -- the Children's Pool is open. Please enter on the east side, and avoid the seals. If there are a lot of seals on the beach, go dive somewhere else. The rope has no legal status. The seal docents have no enforcement powers. There are surveilance cameras in the lifeguard station, and they will record any harassment by either beach goers, seal advocates, or divers. Please be polite regardless of the provocation. 

I wish we could put this issue to bed in a sane fashion, but that outcome seems unlikely. In the meantime, sit back and wonder at the circus.

I wish you all a great 2007, and boatloads of excellent diving.

 

— Dave 


Flotsam

Farewell - We say goodbye to our long time friends and fellow club members, Mark & Elaine Clausen, who have moved to the greener pastures of Nashville TN, and to Kevin Douglass, who is relocating to the exotic paradise of Kauai, HI.  While we will miss our friends, however we wish them luck and happiness in their new homes and careers.

Flatulent Turtle Sets Off Alarms  - The Daily Record and Sunday Mail Ltd -  Glasgow Scotland 27 December 2006, as reported in the Aquarium of the Pacific newsletter:

A flatulent turtle set off an aquarium's fire alarm after being fed a Christmas treat of Brussels sprouts. It broke wind and the bubble it created was so strong, it set off an emergency sensor inside its tank at the Sea Life Centre in Weymouth, Dorset, yesterday.

It indicated the water was at a dangerously high level, so marine biologist Sarah Leaney rushed to the aquarium. Last night, she said: "When  I got there, all seemed fine. I looked at the tube containing the sensor and saw a turtle beneath it. As I watched, a few large bubbles emerged from beneath him and rose to the surface next to the tube. Straight away, I realised what must have happened. We like to give all our animals a treat at Christmas and sprouts are a
really healthy choice for sea turtles. But they do produce similar side-effects to those experienced by humans               who eat too many sprouts."

2007 Divebums Tidal Calendars for Sale:

To place an order, go to  http://divebums.com/calendar2007.html


Whale Watching Season - is upon us and there are a couple of options to view these magnificent creatures as they migrate through our coastal waters as they make their way south to the lagoons of Baja California. 

The most common way to view the migrating whales is on a whale watching boat. Beginning December 26 through March 31, The Birch Aquarium at Scripps offers twice daily naturalist guided cruises through the San Diego Harbor Excursion (619) 234-4111.  The naturalists will share gray whale biofacts and hands-on activities. Whale watchers will also receive a "whale-of-a-savings" coupon with discounts to local restaurants and attractions. RSVP recommended.
Another alternative is via kayak - San Diego Kayaking Tours offers kayak tours from La Jolla Shores to watch magnificent Grey Whales as they migrate from Alask to the birthing grounds in Baja, Mexico. The kayak tours are held daily between 9:00 am - 12:00 noon between December 17 - March 5.  
The cost is $65 for single kayaks or $55 per person tandem kayaks. If there is enough interest, perhaps we could organize a whale watching kayak tour.

Travel  - The Club is entertaining suggestions for 2007 travel destinations...

Current destinations under consideration:
Travel Websites - A couple of good websites to scroll through if you're planning a trip:
Got Passport?  A travel reminder that if you have plans to travel outside of the United States, it is a good idea to have your passport in hand. Beginning later this year, a passport will be required for all travel to or from the Caribbean, Bermuda, Central and South America. In December 2007, passports will be required for all air, sea and land border crossings. If your passport expires within the next six months, get it renewed now, as some countries will not let you in if you can't prove there's sufficient time left on your passport. For more information, visit www.travel.state.gov . (scuba diving.com)

Council of Divers - Board Meeting Minutes of December 19th 2006, Council of Divers

Meeting held at the Spice House Restaurant
Called to order at 7:00 by Scott Anderson

NEXT GENERAL MEETING:
The Jan 9th general meeting is scheduled at 7:00 pm at La Jolla Brew house
Nominations for Council Officer positions for 2007 will be accepted at the January meeting and elections held.

JANUARY SPEAKER:
  To be Determined

 MEMBERSHIP DATABASE:
The database up to date, and Derek will be keeping it current and keep the welcome and reminder letters going out, and advise any club if it is about to fall below 5 members, etc.     He also will be maintaining the website calendar and needs every club to send event announcements to him at events@sddivers.com

STATE OF THE COUNCIL:
It was decided we should start the year with a special extra meeting to decide the path of the Council in 2007.  This will feature board members and club delegates, but solicit input from any Council member who wants to let us know what he wants to see the Council do.   We assume a Sunday afternoon is best and will start looking for a site.   That does not replace the normal General meeting on 1/9.
      It was agreed that 2006 was a good year for the Council, and bringing in speakers on subjects around diving history, photography, safety, legislation, and biology had proven to be very popular.

CHILDREN’S POOL CHANGE – THE ROPE IS UP
When last we reported, the City Council had voted to re-install a rope barrier during pupping season, but extend the time 2 weeks more before and after.  At that time they found out nobody had thought of getting the permits.   An emergency temporary permit was granted by the California Coastal Commission to allow “the same barrier as last year” which includes an opening for public access to the water. That killed the amendment Councilperson Fry’s NR&C committee had approved to replace the rope with 2 strands of steel cable.  The only testimony NR&C had heard was from seal people reporting that 2 stillbirths at Children’s last year proved the seals were so stressed by humans on the beach that they had lost those pups.   That makes harbor seals the only animals on earth capable of being frightened into giving birth.    Parks and Recreation required hearings and the first one was scheduled for Jan 24.

Comes the City Attorney to the Rescue
Don Masters of NOAA immediately reissued his “strong recommendation” that the rope barrier be put up on schedule to protect seals and public and added his assessment that the situation was an emergency.   Aguirre’s office promoted a special circumstance memo declaring the emergency need overrode the legal need for the permits and the rope was up the next day.   Some people who feared the City cannot readily respond to an emergency should feel much better now.

The barrier is in place, but ends, as the Coastal Commission required, 3 feet short of the bottom of the stairway so going down the stairs leads one right to the opening.   Signs are in place on the rope supporting posts advising the public to watch seals from a distance, and that the water is fouled, and though the beach is open to the public and swimming is allowed, swimming is discouraged.    Fry’s NR&C committee had also attached an amendment to allow seal people to make signs explaining the situation, to be posted on the barrier, but that disappeared with the wire cable amendment when it came before the city on 12/5.  Expect it to reappear.

So is it so different?
There is a single rope across, but no city ordinance is in place to enforce it, and Children’s Pool remains a public beach.   NOAA carefully avoided saying it would enforce anything, and the last word we had from NOAA Special Agent for Law Enforcement in San Diego was divers have been careful and if they continue to show responsible behavior trying a avoid seals when they dive that there should be no problem.  The city has no authority to close the beach or to interpret or enforce the federal MMPA.

Submitted 12/20/2006                  John Leek,  Secretary


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