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Date: 7/5/2023
Subject: The Aqua Tooter (July 2023)
From: Oliver Edwards



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The Aqua Tooter

July 2023


 
Announcements and Club News
 
 
 
Greetings from the President
 
 
Jim Driggers has written to us here

August General Meeting
postponed to August 10th

Since a large number of the board is traveling the first Thursday in August, our General Meeting will be held August 10'th. please register.
 
 
 

July 6 General meeting features a over/under water travel log to Bonaire
 

Oliver Edwards will be presenting a show about diving, touring, eating and “drinking” Bonaire. Club members have visited Bonaire several times in the past year, so Oliver assembled a show from contributions of Aqua Tutus members. Everyone, divers and non-divers, seasoned Bonaire travelers and those who’ve never gone, should find something to enjoy. Register here


Board of Directors Meeting 
Thursday July 20
 
 
Interested in how the club is run? Want to contribute to club activities? Come attend the Board of Directors meeting via zoom. All current members are welcome to attend. See the event calendar for details. 

Club Dive at South Monastery
Saturday July 22
 
A recent ad-hoc dive here featured schools of rockfish, brittle stars, verdant carpets of corynactis anemone, and even an underwater canyon! Find our July club dive details in the event and Please make sure to register on the website.
 

August 10 General meeting entertainment is "Indonesia 54321"
 

Paul Rosenblum, a respected northern Ca underwater photographer, will be presenting a show titled "Indonesia 54321". "5 places on 4 trips done in 3 ways shot in 2 modes in 1 great country for diving." Paul talks about (and shows us) the joys of macro and wide angle diving in the coral triangle. Please register to attend.


August club dive needs a volunteer!
 
We are looking for a volunteer to act as "Point of Contact" for an August club dive. The job isn't difficult - in fact its quite fun! Experienced POC's are happy to provide guidance. Contact the board@aquatutus.org.
 

Dive Trip to Truk Lagoon
 
Here’s your chance to dive the famous World War II Japanese wrecks of Truk Lagoon for two weeks - July 22nd through August 5th onboard the Odyssey. 2 weeks including Enriched Air $5,800. Don’t put off diving Truk as time is taking it’s toll on the wrecks.

Contrary to the misconception that the wrecks of Truk Lagoon are deep, the majority of them rest in less than 130 ft. of water making it possible to reach the deck without exceeding a depth of 100 ft. The superstructures are as shallow as 30 ft. with some of the King Posts, which are completely overgrown with marine life, coming within 7 ft. of the surface. To dive deeper wreaks a
 minimum certification level of Advanced Enriched Air or equal is needed. 

A typical day of diving is 2 morning dives, 2 afternoon dives and a night dive (a dawn dive can sometimes be done).
 
Contact Dennis at 510 RxSCUBA (797-2822) or email dennis@rxscuba.com.
Dennis reminds us that this is a private, not Aqua Tutus sponsored trip. As of 7-3 openings are still available.

Seasoned divers panel shared their experience at our June meeting 
 
Entertainment for our June General Meeting was "Experience to Dive By". A panel of seasoned Aqua Tutus club members shared their experience and tips for safe and more enjoyable diving. Details in the news article.
 
 
 

 
Dive Reports
 
 
"Third times a charm" - June club dive report 
 

Conditions were ideal as we arrived at Pebble Beach, aside from our Coastal Access parking being temporarily commandeered by the Yoga on the 17th Hole crowd.


Water was flat and kelp in abundance. 10 divers headed out to on the surface swim to the far side of Pescadero Rocks, a little over a third of a mile. Very scenic with a lot of 

Pelican activity.


We dropped down and took a heading of 210 to explore a rock wall which runs parallel with the surface rock line. Visibility was around 15', enough to take in the complicated structures and rock gardens. Even though it was a bit overcast on the surface, I was still surprised at the darkness of the kelp forest we passed through, very lush top growth.


Plenty of Nudis, Cabazon and Lingcod present. Our crew of Dan, Nicole, Jane and myself surfaced a bit early and got to enjoy a brief kelp crawl on the way home. Max depth on my computer was 38' and a dive time of 54 minutes. I neglected to get a water temperature reading.

 
-Derek
 
Here is the photo album from the dive: Stillwater cove 6-10-23 

Exploring Carmel River with a DPV
 

Oliver Edwards dove Carmel River state beach using his DPV. His dive report is in the news.

 
If you're interested in joining dives throughout the month, subscribe to email notifications from the Ad-Hoc dive forum. This and other dives like it are often announced there. 

Perfect Day at Breakwater
 
Our intrepid crew of Ad Hoc Divers met at Breakwater as early as possible 7-1-23. Earliest to arrive was at 7:30am, last just before 8am and we all managed to secure parking on a holiday weekend during a heatwave. Topside conditions were spectacular, full sun, warm and flat. Visibility was a bit compromised and snotty until 20' depth, at which point it opened up to a bit more than 15'. 
 
First dive was along the wall. David Sheh and I clocked in a little over an hour at max depth 34' with a temperature of 55 degrees. Plenty of blues, a large lingcod, solitary but playful seal and plenty of nudibranchs - including many ribbon eggs formations.
 
Four our second dive all six of us, Oliver, Dave, David, Gian, Walter and myself headed out as a group along the Pipeline to the Metridium Fields. Our navigation was spot on - dropping straight down onto the Pipe when we were trying to circumvent a Kelp Crawl through the lush growth. Oliver kindly let me borrow his DPV and I found it very user friendly with a gentle learning curve. Only drawback I can think of is it removes any sense of diver bouyancy, so you either need to calculate for a change in depth, or be quick to vent when you cut the electric motor and stop.

 
Diving Related News
 
 
Open house on sea otter recovery efforts
 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service invites the public to community open houses on potential sea otter recovery efforts in Northern California and Oregon. Read an article from FWS in our news. Carol Rose of Cencal provides some explanation here
 
 
 
 

New Study: Sharks are vanishing and risk extinction
 
See the article from David McGuire in Shark Stewards latest publication
 
 
 

$9 million and algae covered bricks?
 
San Francisco Chronical describes a plan to restore California's underwater forests. Read in apple news.
 
 
 

Killer whales in Monterey Bay
 

CBS News has a video about killer whales spotted in Monterey Bay. And we thought we needed to be concerned about Great Whites! 

 
 
 

 
Club Minutes
 
 
The June General Meeting minutes are here.
The June Board of Directors Meeting are here.
 
 Aqua Tutus' minutes are stored as news articles (under the category "officer reports") on our website, aquatutus.org.