2019 board of directors nomina ons are now open · 09/10/2018 · thanks to steele’s discount...

1 | The Aqua Tooter September, 2018

Aquatutus.org Our 63rd year of diving safety & fun !! September 2018

Since 1958... a publica�on from the Aqua

Tutus Diving Club, a non-profit organiza�on

established to promote Water Safety and to

further the sport of SCUBA Diving.

MEETING SCHEDULE General Club Meeting: First Thursday of Every Month at 7:30 p.m. (except December) Board of Directors Meeting: Third Thursday of Every Month at 7:00 p.m. (except December) Location: Ricky’s Sports Theatre & Grill 15028 Hesperian Blvd. San Leandro, CA 94578

UPCOMING CLUB HIGHLIGHTS Oct 4: General Club Meeting Oct 18: BOD Meeting Oct 27: Club dive: Lover’s & Chamber tour; Ghost tour on your own. See dives & MANY more activities in “Upcoming Activities” in club minutes below and on Meetup !!

For a complete listing of club activities visit Meetup or ATDC Event Calendar.

IN THIS ISSUE

Entertainment Report ......................... 2 Upcoming Events............………….. 3-4 General Meeting Minutes …………..…. 5 BOD Meeting Minutes ………………… 6 Special articles …………….…….. ... 7-12 Club contacts & useful links ...…….…13

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you presenters and newsletter con-

tributors for making this Aqua Tooter possi-

ble: Lola Johnson, Alan Throop, Helga

Mahlmann, Gayle Hudson, Jono Dove, Lin-

da Hunter (WOP).

Thanks to Steele’s Discount Scuba for

sending member candidates to Aqua Tutus

Diving Club. Steele’s is located at:

5987 Telegraph Avenue Oakland, CA 94609 (510) 655-4344

OCTOBER MEETING ENTERTAINMENT

At our October 4 mee ng, Paulina Salinas-Ruiz will speak about an in-

teres ng project, for which she is solici ng help and photographs from

local divers. Paulina is a graduate student in the Applied Marine and Wa-

tershed Science Master’s program at California State University, Monte-

rey Bay and a Graduate Research Assistant at CSUMB’s Ins tute for Ap-

plied Marine Ecology. She has worked as a research technician using SCU-

BA to study the effects of invasive algae on the marine ecosystems along

the coast of California and she is currently working with the California Un-

dersea Imagery Archive on a long-term project that uses imagery to

be.er understand the changing distribu on of fishes and invertebrates

along the coastline. “Strange Fish in Weird Places” is one part of that larg-

er project, focused on engaging the public in the collec on of images to

support our understanding of how climate change is impac ng seafloor

communi es.

STRANGE FISH IN WEIRD PLACES !!

2019 Board of Directors nomina�ons are now open !!

We Need YOU to help make the club be9er & con�nue to grow !!

We open & seek nomina�ons at our October 4 mee�ng.

We open & elect nomina�ons at our November 1 mee�ng.

For more on officer du�es see link: h9ps://aquatutus.org/wp-content/

uploads/2017/08/ATDC-Officer-Du�es-1_16_17.pdf

Learn about our club, how it works, and MAKE A DIFFERENCE !!

Open Posi�ons

• President

• Vice-President

• Membership

• Secretary

• Treasurer


ENTERTAINMENT REPORT (all photo credits: Linda Phillips, except as noted)

By Gayle Hudson

At our September 6 meeting, Linda Hunter from the Wild Oyster Project (WOP) explained the mission of the project is to restore native oysters in the San Francisco Bay and why bringing back native oysters can clean the Bay waters and help prevent damage from rising sea levels.

Linda passed around samples of the native oyster shell, a variety called Olympia, which is a very small

oyster; it takes five years to get to just a few inches in length. She explained the rich history of this oyster, which has been found in Native American midden sites, and

said Mark Twain was a big fan of oysters in his day. At that time, oysters were more of a working man’s food than a gour-met delica-cy. Oysters went into decline with hydraulic mining during the Gold Rush era and other factors and eventually larger oysters were farmed.

Oysters are a keystone spe-cies. Restoring them to the Bay will provide a habitat for other creatures, filter bay water (a slide showed a dirty tank of wa-

ter cleaned in just 20 minutes), and offer a food source for other marine inhabitants (the reef oyster is low on the food chain). A very important benefit of established oys-ter reefs is they attenuate the effect of rising seas since they can stop damaging wave action.

The Wild Oyster Project in-volves four programs: wild oys-ter restoration, oyster shell recy-cling, urban planning and policy, and sustainable oyster farming. 100 reef balls have been in-stalled at Pt. Pinole, which are made of concrete and crushed oyster shells and weigh 300 lbs. each. They are now covered with oysters and can be viewed from the fishing pier at low tide; the East Bay Regional Park District has made a sign identifying the site.

The Wild Oyster Project col-lects oyster shells for the reefs with a program called Safe Your Shucks. Restau-rants participate in the pro-gram and local businesses like Ploughshares Nursery in Alameda offer a collection

site for residents to drop off shells.

New York City has planted 23 million oysters in the wa-ters surrounding the city. Once established, oysters reefs help to change a polluted site to a healthy environment with cleaner water, and rec-reation for kayakers, fishing and other activities. And one day, maybe divers.

We thank Linda Hunter for bringing information about her timely and valuable pro-ject to Aqua Tutus. You can read more about the Wild Oys- ter Project1 at www.wildoysters.org and find them on Face-book.

Links in article: 1 www.wildoysters.org

WOP literature

Installing Reefballs

Sustainable Oyster Farming

Oysters cleaned water in 20 minutes!!

Oyster shells are a valuable resource

WOP literature

WOP literature

WOP literature

WOP literature

WOP literature


HELP !! We still need someone to take photos at the party and someone to write a

short report for the newsletter. If you can help, please contact Alan Throop at

[email protected] or C: 925-577-7876.


Near-Term Upcoming Club Events !! … See Meetup or call POC for CURRENT information ...

October 27: Club Dive and Hyperbaric Chamber Tour, Monte-rey, CA. POC: Helga Mahlmann. − 9:00am: Lover’s Cove. − 2:45pm: 600 Pine Ave, Pacific Grove (RSVP w/ Helga, only

20 slots available). November 10-12: Club Dive weekend. Location POC: Kat Smith − Sat, Nov 10: night dive at San Carlos − Sunday, Nov 11: mid-morning, Butterfly (alt, McAbee) − Monday, Nov 12, Pt. Lobos (you need to make reservations) December 8: Club Holiday Party. 6:30-11:00pm. La Cabana Restaurant, 7163 Rich Ave, Newark. (No club meetings in Dec). Sign-up on our website! December 20, 2018 to January 5, 2019: Annual Club Pilgrim-age to Cozumel – come for all, part, or even more of the trip. POC: Patti Shannon.

Training & Growth Opportunities !!

• If interested in training agenda (First Aid, DPR, DAN O2 Provider, other specialty), please Contact Director of Training, Dennis Hocker at [email protected]

• For more information on training, contact Dennis Hocker at (510)792-5606 [email protected] or Neil Benjamin at (510)673-0073 [email protected] .

Advanced Open Water (AOW) class

The Advanced Open Water class was completed and

the students received their certifications at the Septem-

ber 4 General Meeting. Congratulations to them all !!

Upcoming 2018 Diver Training

Rescue Diver class

Class will be held this Fall. Prerequisites are First Aid,

CPR, O2 administrator. For interest, contact Dennis

Hocker at (510)792-5606 [email protected] .

AOW class, Fall 2018, (L-R): Dennis Hocker (Instructor),

Assem Mohanty, Linda Phillips, Ma9 Warren (dive assistant),

David Schooley, Marianne Garcia, Neil Benjamin (Instructor)

DIVE INDONESIA in 2020 !!

May 8-18, 2020

Maumere-Domodo-Bima … and visit the Dragons of Komodo …

On board the Explorer Ventures Blue Manta...see https://www.explorerventures.com/indonesia-liveaboard-

diving/blue-manta-explorer-komodo-itinerary/

Package price $4,700 (based on payment by check)

• 10 nights twin share accommodations • 9 ½ days of diving • meals & snacks, Park Fees, • Port & Hotel taxes and transfers. Airfare to Maumere (MOP) or from Bima (BMU) is extra. Space is limited to 12. Booking deposit $1,000. As always will be filled on an as-deposit-received basis. There will be an option to add some pre trip / post trip extra days of Land Based Diving. For more information contact Dennis via email [email protected] or 510-RxSCUBA (797-2822 ).

DIVE CHUUK LAGOON in 2019 !! June 21—July 6, 2019

Aboard the Odyssey, per Rodales’s “the best live-aboard in the World”. 2018 is the 75th anniversary of Operation Hailstorm that sunk the famous WWII fleet.

This trip has been sold out, but Dennis has a waiting list.

For more information contact Dennis via email [email protected] or 510-RxSCUBA (797-2822 ).


DATE: September 6, 2018 45 members and guests present Meeting called to order by President Kari Klaboe at Rickys Sports Bar and Grill in San Leandro, CA at 7:33 pm Speaker: Linda Hunter “The Wild Oyster Project” Guests: Harris Miller; Rich & Matthew; Vita, Dylan, & Lindsey; Brenden & Kara; Blake; Jenn Entertainment (Gayle Hudson) 2018 • October: “Strange Fish in Weird Places”, Paulina Saninas

Ruiz • November: Members Night #2; please submit photos on flash

drive to Gayle Hudson at least a week in advance. Please check Meetup and the Aqua Tooter for entertainment updates. If you have any requests or suggestions for future en-tertainment, let us know at [email protected]! Treasurer’s Report (Helga Mahlmann) Club Account: $4,663 $1,892.12 for classes $3,208.43 for general account Membership (Elizabeth Gilroy) No new report (Aug: 75 paid: 8 lifetime members) Training (Dennis Hocker) • Advanced Open Water class was completed; certificates were

awarded to Linda Phillips, Asim, Maianna, David Shoney. • Rescue Diver class this Fall (CPR and O2 provider required) • If any interest in training agenda: First Aid, CPR, DAN O2 pro-

vider- please contact Dennis at: [email protected] . • For more information on training, contact Dennis Hocker at

(510)792-5606 [email protected] or Neil Benjamin at (510)673-0073 [email protected] .

Newsletter (Alan Throop) Contact Alan Throop at [email protected] if you are not receiving the newsletter. Input due by the 20th of the month. Web Goddess (Lola Johnston) Content can be sent to [email protected]. Social Media (Gayle Hudson) • Facebook: No new report (Aug: 128 Members). Participation

is open to the public. • Meetup: 73 Members. Participation is limited to club mem-

bers. Meetup instructions are available on our website. Cencal: no report Special Committees: • Liability Insurance: the club will be purchasing non-water-

based liability insurances at $150/yr.

GENERAL MEETING MINUTES, August, 2018

By Jono Dove

• Holiday Party: Need volunteers. Contact Alan Throop. Tick-ets available at www.aquatutus.org

Old Business

• September 29/30: Urchin removal event at Ocean Cove. Contact DL Popplewell about participating in a cabin rental over the weekend. You will need a fishing license for the event per California Fish & Game rules.

New Business

• Linda Phillips has volunteered as the club photographer fat general meetings.

• Recurring fees for PO Box, Web Hosting – motion to spend $700 on recurring fees, motion by Oliver Edwards, seconded by Neil Benjamin. Club voted affirmatively

• Helga moved to cover speakers expenses, up to $25 for those coming from within 25 miles, and $50 for 50 miles or more. Seconded by DL Popplewell. Club voted affirmative.

Past Dives

• Larry Dimitri went diving in Hawaii – tethered off boat above 3,000 foot canyon. Larry got inked by a squid and had fun.

• Matt, Linda, and DL went diving at North Monastery. They found friendly fish and were impressed.

• Dave Chervin went to the North Coast, Gerstle Cove. Abalo-ne were devastated. So was Dave.

Bone & Good Buddy awards

• None Upcoming Activity and Dives 2018 •September 15: San Carlos Beach Cleanup Day, 8:30 am with

Monterey Bay Sea Otter Dive Club - A memorial for Joe Timmons will be held after the club dive

in Monterey on September 15th. • September 9-11: Northern Channel Islands: Vaqueros Del

Mar Dive - $600 for three days on the Conception liveaboard. • October 27: Club Dive, plus Hyperbaric Chamber tour. Loca-

tion: TBD. POC: Helga Mahlmann. Must RSVP for chamber tour.

• November 10: Club dive. Location: TBD. POC: Kat Smith. • Annual Pilgrimage to Cozumel: Before Christmas, 2018 to

Friday after New Years 2019 Years2019. Contact Patti at [email protected] if you’re interested and want to know more.

2019 • Chuuk Lagoon 2019 - The waiting list is now open - all spots

are sold out Meetings • Next BOD meeting: September 20, 2018 • Next General Membership meeting: October 4, 2018 Meeting Adjourned: 9:14pm


Date: September 20, 2018

Present: 10 members present.

Meeting called to order by Vice President Patti Shannon-Hocker at Rickys Sports Bar and Grill in San Leandro, CA at 7:03 pm

Entertainment (Gayle Hudson) • October: Paulina Salinas Ruiz, “Fish is Strange Places” • November: Member;s Night #2 • December: No meeting. Holiday Party at La Cabana • January 10 (NOTE alternate meeting time): presenter TBD • February 7: David McGuire, Shark Stewards Treasurer’s Report (Helga Mahlmann) Club Assets: $4,628.64 Classes: $1,278.21 General Fund: $3,250.43 $150.00 paid towards liability insurance $464.91 paid towards Advanced Open Water Class material fees $2.92 Square credit card processing fees Membership (Elizabeth Gilroy) 82 regular members, 6 associate, 8 lifetime members Training (Dennis Hocker) • Advanced Open Water class in completed. • Rescue Diver class will be offered in 2019 (CPR and O2 pro-

vider required) If any interest in training agenda: First Aid, CPR, DAN O2 pro-vider- please contact Dennis at: [email protected] . For more information on training contact Dennis Hocker at (510) 792-5606 [email protected] or Neil Benjamin at (510) 673-0073 [email protected].

For more information on training contact Dennis Hocker at (510) 792-5606 [email protected] or [email protected] .

Newsletter (Alan Throop - Lola Johnston) • We’re looking for content; see below ... Contact Alan at [email protected] if you are not re-ceiving the newsletter or to provide reports, photos, etc. Input is due by the 20th of the month.

Web Goddess (Lola Johnston) • We’re looking for content; see below ... Content can be sent to mailto:[email protected]

Social Media (Gayle Hudson) • Facebook: 165 Members. Participation is open to the public.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES, September, 2018

By Jono Dove

• Meetup: 65 Members. Participation is limited to club mem-bers. Meetup instructions are available on our website.

Cencal no report

Special Committees

• Holiday Party: (Alan) The club is soliciting interested individuals wanting to partici-pate in helping with the annual holiday party. We are looking for donation of raffle items, a disc jockey, and volunteers to help out at the party. Old Business - None New Business

• Board Retreat: The retreat is scheduled for November 18, 9am.

• The Board discussed general meeting timing and schedul-ing; comments have been received about the meetings being rushed.

• Kari brought a sample laptop. Upcoming Activities

2018 October 27: Club Dive and tours, Monterey, CA. Location: Lover’s Point. Afternoon tour to Pacific Grove Hyperbaric chamber. POC Helga Mahlmann. November 10, 11, 12—Veteran’s Day weekend: Club Dive. POC Kat Smith;

Saturday, November 10th : Night Club dive San Carlos Beach; Sunday, November 11th Night: Brunch Dive - 9 am Coral Street. Monday, November 12th : Point Lobos; need to get reserva-tions..

December 8: Holiday Party. See box on page 4. Flyer & info at the next meeting. No club dive or General or Board Meeting in December. December 20, 2018 to January 5, 2019: Annual Club Pilgrim-age to Cozumel – come for all, part, or even more of the trip. 2019 June 22 – July 6: Chuuk Lagoon 2019: The waiting list is now open – all spots are sold out.

Next Meetings

Next General Membership meeting: October 4, 2018

Next Board Meeting: October 18, 2018

Meeting adjourned: 8:35 pm


Minutes from Cen Cal mee�ng, July 25, 2018

by Larry Ankuda, Secretary

Call to Order– at 7:39 PM by Jim Kaller, Also present was Carol Rose and Larry Ankuda. Membership–Carol CenCal membership is at 156 as of this month. More than half are from the Aqua-Tutus dive club, thanks for their requirement to belong to CenCal. USOA membership in our region is at 74, with 95% from hockey & rugby clubs Financial Report—Carol Income so far this year is $2820 in dues, $1900 for insurance, and $200 in dona ons for a total of $4920. USOA owes CenCal $600, and this will be paid later in the year. Expenses so far are $180 in USOA dues, $174 office, $400 RAAC, $1000 for scholarship, and $2000 for insurance for a total of $3753. Balance in the accounts are $7162 overall, with $1993 reserved for legal defense, leaving $5169 to work with. There are s ll 2 major U/W hockey events where more dues may come in. Website—Larry A link to the MBNMS 2018 Diver Survey has been installed. Let our diver reps to the sanctuary know your preferences so they can vote accordingly. DFW tab now has CA diving records and submis-sion procedures. Spearfishing tab now has CenCal records and the submission form. Scholarship—Jim Casey Sheridan, this year’s CenCal scholarship recipient. Carol sent check to Jim, which was received,but it hasn’t yet cleared the bank. Casey sent a photo to Jim, and Jim will put a bio together for the website. UW Hockey—Carol Pacific Coast Championship meet will be hosted by LA in Santa Clarita, CA. The dates are November 10-11. The Old-Timers tournament date has changed to Oct. 13-14, but is s ll in Denver. It is a biennial fun event to raise funds for the 2019 Age World Championships. Teams are under 19 and/or under 23 men and women. USOA will likely send U19 men/women. Juniors may now be in the under 19 and under 23 age brackets. may now be in the under 19 and under 23 age brackets. Photography—Jim The Monterey Shootout was held August 9-11. There were about 259 entrants—a record number for this event. Divers from out of the area, including Washington state and south of CenCal compet-ed. The water was greenish but very calm. Lots of jellyfish were present, so lots of cnidaria pictures were entered. Backsca.er did a very good hos ng job the event.

UW Fin Swimming--Carol No news—it appears that there is li.le interest in the U.S..

UW Rugby—Carol The Junior (under 21) World Championships will be in Germany, November 14-18. It will be a four day tournament, but the USOA will not be sending anyone because a change in age limits inter-fered with recruitment. One or 2 new clubs are ac va ng in California—San Diego Sea Devils and possibly one in Los Angeles. Giant Sea Bass, a CenCal club, is seriously considering hos ng the 2019 Na onal Meet in May. A possible loca on is Gunderson High School in San Jose. Our U/W rugby rep is Cyrus Katrak available at [email protected]. Skin Spearfishing—Brandi The CMAS World Meet was held in Portugal September 8-9. The Mens team USA placed 12 th . Individually, Ryan Myers was 21 st , Jus n Lee was 24 th , and Paul Young came in 57 th . The Womens World Cup was in Portugal September 8th. It was the first womens CMAS sanc oned world meet. Seven countries and 17 women par cipated. OUR WOMENS TEAM USA WON THE MEET!!! Individually Rosibel Molina was 2 nd , Kelsey Albert came in 3 rd , and Sam Mase was 10 th . The 2018 PCC meet is apparently not going to happen as no word has been received. World freshwater meet in New Zealand’s Lake Taupo will be held on March 9-10, 2019. This is the 2 nd WFSC (The 1 st was held in the USA at Lake Mead, 2017.). eight 2-person teams will be repre-sen ng the USA: 2 mens, 2 womens, 2 mixed, and 2 masters. Online dona ons to support the teams will be available soon. GLACD will NOT be hos ng the 2019 Na onal Meet so the fate of this meet remains uncertain. The bank balance in the Spear account is $16,436.20. The $1000 deposit to USOA for the 2017 Na onal meet has been received. As of 1/1/2019 Brandi will cede this treasury posi on. Who will step up? Old Business

Another purple sea urchin collec on event is scheduled for this weekend, September 29-30 at Ocean Cove. New Business

Abalone closure: the Fish & Game Commission at their August 22-23 mee ng went on no ce to extend the sunset re-opening of the abalone season. Adop on may occur at their December mee ng in Oceanside. RAAC mee ng: none scheduled. It’s purpose is to direct the mon-ey that comes from abalone license fees and there are none with the closure. Our new U/W Rugby rep is Cyrus Katrak from the Giant Sea Bass club. Next mee�ng

Cen-Cal’s next mee ng will be held Wednesday, November 28th and Larry will set it up.

Adjourn at 8:16 PM.


On Saturday, September 15, a

group of about 25 Tooters met

to say goodbye to club Life me

Member “Aloha’ Joe Timmons,

who had passed away in a traffic

accident on July 14. Some good

friends whom we had not seen in

a number of years were able

to a.end; Jean Williams, for

example, came all the way

from Kentucky.

Following a club clean-up

dive that morning, we met at

San Carlos Beach, aka

“Breakwater” – a favorite

divesite of Joe’s - and one where he had trained many divers,

had regularly met to help new divers or those wan ng some

special advice or assistance, and had enjoyed many fun dives

himself just exploring the many and varied areas and a.rac-

ons available at this one loca on.

The day was beau ful and it

was a wonderful seVng that Joe

would have appreciated. There

was a nice mixture of newer and

“more tenured” club members,

and we enjoyed some me just

gree ng friends that we had not

seen in a while and, for some,

mee ng and geVng to

know some people who

were previously just names.

Eventually, we moved to a

secluded sec on of the

beach from which Joe and most of

us have made our entries into the

bay over the years to dive the Pipe-

Goodbye to Joe (Photos by Jennifer Hayes and Alan Throop)

By Alan Throop

line on the west side of San Carlos.

Each person took a few moments to introduce him or herself

to everyone, some men oning some special connec on

with ,or memory, of Joe. Anecdotes and stories of Joe then

began to flow, rela ng the diversity of experiences that we

had with him, with folks chiming in to further add

‘color’ to the story. We can’t … and probably shouldn’t

…. go into the stories here, but they all added to and con-

firmed the depth and breadth

of who Joe was and how he

had touched so many of us.

PaV had graciously brought

a nice bouquet of flowers and

our final goodbye was for

each of us to place these into

the water that had been such

a large part of Joe’s life (this is allowed by Sanctuary rules, but

the way!). As the flowers dispersed across the surface of the

water, it reminded us just how flee ng and tenuous our lives

really are, and that what

really ma.ers are the

friends that we have made

and the incremental good

that we each have hopefully

brought to the world during

our short stay.

We then all convened at

Gianni’s Pizza – our ol’ post-

dive watering trough – to

meet others who weren’t

able to a.end the beach

gathering and to con nue

the socializing. Jim Steele,

along with a number of his

student divers who were

doing their open-water work that weekend, joined us there.

We ended with about 35-40

people. Dennis brought the

club scrapbooks and several

people – especially newer di-

vers – enjoyed seeing some of

the photos and club history

going back to the late-50s.

There was a great diversity of

ages and backgrounds at the gatherings, reflec ng the variety

of friends he had and the ways in which we knew Joe. But we

all shared the camaraderie of our love of the ocean, the bind-

ing experiences of diving together, and resul ng good memo-

ries and con nued friendships. It was a fiVng goodbye to Joe

who, above all, valued rela onships and friends. Aloha,

Joe.

Tooters: (l-r) Jean Williams, Jane

Rodrigue, LaDonna Springer.


Dive Report: Coastal Cleanup Day with the

Monterey Bay Sea Otters Dive Club By Gayle Hudson (photos by Gayle Hudson)

Saturday, August 15: We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day to team with the Mon-terey Bay Sea Otters Dive Club (MBSO) to collect un-derwater de-bris at the Breakwater. The weather was clear and sunny and the sea offered only gentle waves of a few inches high. I counted 12 Tooters at the cleanup and there were more participating in Dennis’ Advanced EAN class at San Carlos Beach. MBSO warmly wel-comed our club with coffee and food and, after signing both a Save Our Shores and a MBDO club waiver, we lis-tened to the briefing and headed out to hunt for debris.

I dove with Baerbel Sterling at Breakwater and it was a very pretty dive. We had 25’ of visibility in places, interspersed with plankton. The temperature was 54 degrees and the sun filtered down through the kelp. We didn’t find too much at 40 feet but had no trouble finding fishing line, lures, and weights at 20 ft. deep. Baerbel had a talent for finding colorful lures and a large hook, along with fishing line, while I found fishing line and weights. With the sun streaming down in the shallow depths, the colors of Breakwater were on display and Coryn-actus californica, orange scallop mantles, and anemo-nes sparkled. On the swim back at a depth of 10’ a cormorant dove down right in front of us, hunting for food.

Back on shore, MBSO examined the debris for ma-rine life, which was returned to the sea, and every-thing collected was documented for reporting to Save Our Shores. In addition, an integrated weight pocket and a dive knife were also recovered. We can thank MBSO for keeping one of our favorite dive locations clean, as they have adopted San Carlos Beach as a

site they regularly clean with quarterly dives.

For the second dive, I headed out with Baerbel, Bo Peng, and Mike Barrett for a dive to the Metridium field. To get to some depth, we did some kelp crawling and I found my-self feeling grateful for the abundance of beautiful kelp at this location. We got a little sidetracked on this dive so decided to surface and get our bearings.

I was delighted to surface within a short distance from a raft of sea otters – I counted ten adults. They were enter-taining, keeping a watch on us while grooming and rest-ing. One was well wrapped in kelp, with his back legs sticking straight up into the air, no doubt enjoying the sun-ny day as much as we were.

We decided to surface swim for a bit to save on air and next encountered a flock of seagulls excitedly flying above the surface where a large sea lion was feeding on fish. The sea lion tossed his head back and forth, splashing and ripping the fish, while the seagulls dove for any bits they could grab. We noticed the sea lion drifting closer to us and, when he surfaced with another fish, we deciding it wasn’t a wise idea to remain that close to a feeding sea lion and descended to make our way to the large pipe. We explored the length and visibility here was less, around 15’. At 1,500psi we turned around, and swam in to shore until we could stand up in the shallow depths, arriving adjacent to the bottom of the stairs. Two beauti-ful dives on a beau-tiful day.

While we were enjoying these tdives, Dennis’ Advanced EAN class was also in the water, with a 60-minute dive to the Metridium field peppered with skills throughout the dive.

Following our dives, Alan Throop led a memorial at the south end of San Carlos Beach, for Joe Timmons, where his friends and ATDC members talked about a life full of adventure and a great friend to those who had the privi-lege to know him. We finished the memorial by tossing red and yellow flowers into the sea to say “Aloha” to Joe.

A large group of Tooters and friends then met at Gianni’s, where Alan had reserved a long table in the ban-quet room. It was a relaxing way to end a special day with Aqua Tutus and friends.


California bans giant ocean fishing nets

http://eastbaytimes.ca.newsmemory.com/publink.php?shareid=1449c502b Ending years of controversy and debate, Gov. Jerry Brown late Thursday, September 27, signed a new law phasing out the use of giant ocean-fishing nets used to catch swordfish, but blamed for accidentally killing sea turtles, dolphins and other sea creatures. The bill, SB 1017 by state Sen. Ben Allen, D-Redondo Beach, requires the state to set up a program to buy back nets and fishing permits from commer-cial fishermen who work in the state’s drift gill net fishery.

The nets — giant nylon curtains that can stretch one mile long and extend 100 feet underwater — are used most-ly by fishermen between San Diego and Big Sur. Although they are intended to catch swordfish, thresher shark and opah, stud-ies have shown that they entangle dozens of other marine spe-cies, including whales, dolphins, sea lions and sea turtles, fish

and sharks. Those animals, known as by-catch, are often thrown back overboard, in-jured or dead. California is the last West Coast state to allow drift gill nets. Voters banned their use in state waters out to three miles offshore in 1990, but they remain legal beyond that in federal waters. Many other states already have banned them, including Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Hawaii. .. More at link…


More to the ‘White Shark Café’ than originally thought !!

By Alan Throop

A recent expedition to the mid-Pacific region dubbed the “White Shark Café” has revealed not an apparently-empty area, but one that was teaming with life. They found that sharks would dive down as deep at 3,000 feet, one of the largest vertical migrations of animals on Earth. In this article (see link1), Ma-rine biologists tagged and traced the horizontal open-ocean migration of GWS from the coasts of California and Mexico to this large ocean ar-ea located about half-way be-tween North America and Hawaii. They have been tagging GWS and knew of these area where they congregate at (time of year) for a number of years and they have been discovering hundreds of new species in these deep-water regions of the Pacific. But the recent expedition discovered that the water is abun-dant with squid, jellyfish, deepwater fish, and of course the tiny phytoplankton. They also learned of the vertical gender-specific migration, where females would only deep dive, between 1,400 feet and 3,000 feet during the

day, and 650 feet at night, while the males would dive down as many as 140 times a day. They are also learning more about the adaptations that animals are making to

the open-water regions. For example, cookiecutter sharks have evolved light-emitting organs called photophores, which disguise their shape to prey below making them 'invisible.' Scientists say that more research into this mid-water zone could lead to biomedical breakthroughs and give clues about how to tackle climate change. Also see link2 on this topic from Monterey Bay Aquari-um. Links: 1. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6178359/Mysterious-

great-white-shark-lair-discovered-Pacific-Ocean.html 2. https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/members/

shorelines/shorelines-fall-2018/white-shark-cafe

AB 1884 - Straws Upon Request Signed into Law by California Governor Jerry Brown

https://www.jroceanguardians.org/blog-1/ab-1884-straws-upon-request-signed-into-law-by-california-governor-jerry-brown September 20th: California became a greener state. Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 1884 bill, sponsored by California Majority Assembly Leader Ian Calderon, which reduces single-use plastic straws at dine-in restaurants beginning January 1, 2019, in California. “It is a very small step to make a customer who wants a plastic straw ask for it," Brown said in his signing mes-sage for AB 1884. "And it might make them pause and think again about an alter-native. But one thing is clear, we must find ways to reduce and eventually eliminate single-use plastic products." Governor Brown stated that the plastic waste problem is not limited to marine life as "microplastics were recently found in tap water around the world. Plastics, in all forms — straws, bottles, packaging, bags, etc. — are choking our planet." • California will ban sit-down restaurants from serv-

ing customers plastic straws without them asking, starting in 2019.

• The law doesn't apply to to-go cups and takeaway drinks.

• You can still sip your drink if you sit down, but you'll have to ask for the straw.

The International Oceans Film Festival

(IOOF) presents

16th Annual IOFF Seas the Night Fall Benefit Join us for a festive evening as we honor our Ocean Champion, Dr. Jeff Boehm, Executive Director of The Marine Mammal Center. Proceeds from the Fall Benefit directly support our Free Student Education Program designed to engage and in-spire the next generation of ocean filmmakers, marine scientists and ocean leaders .

For more information and tickets, see: http://intloceanfilmfest.org/fall-benefit/

Thursday, November 8, 2018 5:30 pm - 10:00 pm Gallery 308, Fort Mason Center San Francisco, CA


More about Coral-Safe Sunscreens !! by Alan Throop

In the July newsletter, we noted that Hawaii banned the use of sunscreen with chemicals that can damage Coral Reefs. As a follow-up, I’ve listed here some in-formation and links that discuss what chemicals are pollutants. From the Oceanic Society (link 1) :

Concern about the impact of sunscreen on coral reefs has been growing since 2008 when the first study was published showing a direct link between coral mortality and ingredients found in sunscreens, especially in are-as with high levels of tourism. The scale of the prob-lem is significant. Scientists estimate that be-tween 6,000 and 14,000 tons of sunscreen—the equiv-alent of 25 to 60 million bottles—wash off of snorkelers and swimmers into coral reef environments each year. At the same time, ocean and coastal tourism is grow-ing, and it is estimated that more than a billion people worldwide will be visiting oceans for recreation and tourism by 2020. Since that initial study, many more studies have fol-lowed and have identified two chemicals found in sunscreens that cause direct harm to corals: ox-ybenzone and octinoxate. Beyond sunscreen, these ingredients are found in lipsticks, moisturizers, and oth-er cosmetics, and they are readily absorbed into the blood (and subsequently found in human urine). All products containing these chemicals, not just sun-screens, should be avoided when you are near ma-rine environments. In fact, some experts believe that the wash-off of these chemicals during showering and swimming plays a bigger role than climate change in damaging coral reefs. While oxybenzone and octinox-ate are the most well-studied culprits, new research is

finding that other chemicals in sunscreens may also be harmful to coral reefs, in particular octocrylene, 4MBC, and butylparaben. Here is a vetted list of all of the known pollutants (NOTE: see the summary below) that may be in your sunscreens and other skin/hair care prod-ucts that should be avoided. Look for the “Protect Land & Sea” Certification (link 2) : Products labeled with the “Protect Land + Sea” Certifica-tion Seal mean that the product has been laboratory test-ed using analytical forensic techniques to verify that the product is free of the chemicals that are on the “HEL LIST.” The HEL LIST is a list of chemicals that are known pollutants in many different environments (freshwater streams, river, beaches, and ocean systems) or wildlife (e.g., corals, fish, birds, marine mammals, sea turtles). All of them pose a threat to Ecosys-tem Health. Many of the chemicals on the HEL LIST are intentionally included into the formulation of a product, and are either listed or not2listed in the ingredient2labeling of the prod-uct. They may also contaminate a product by being add-ed to an ingredient before the product manufacturer ob-tains the ingredient (e.g., parabens used as preservatives in glycerol, camphors in fragrances). No matter how the chemicals on the HEL LIST can get into a product, CER-TIFIED products DO NOT CONTAIN any chemical on the HEL LIST. The HEL LIST includes: • Any form of microplastic sphere or beads. • Any nanoparticles like zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. • Oxybenzone • Octinoxate • 4-methylbenzylidene camphor • Octocrylene • Para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) • Methyl Paraben • Ethyl Paraben • Propyl Paraben • Butyl Paraben • Benzyl Paraben • Triclosan

Links: 1 www.oceanicsociety.org/blog/2140/reef-safe-sunscreen-our-guide

-to-ocean-friendly-sun-protection 2 http://www.haereticus-lab.org/protect-land-sea-certification/


BIG ISLAND, HAWAII

KONA CONDO FOR RENT

Book now at this low price!

June 15 - July 13, 2019

$475 per week + $14 tax One-time $50 registry fee covers one or all weeks. Weeks run Friday to Friday.

Contact Don Keley 925-820-8362

[email protected]

» Resort info can be found on The Kona Billfisher website.

Internet Resources for the Bay Area Diver http://www.garlic.com/~triblet/swell/

Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary https://montereybay.noaa.gov/ https://www.facebook.com/MBNMS

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute http://www.mbari.org/ https://www.facebook.com/MBARInews?fref=ts

California Marine Sanctuary Foundation http://californiamsf.org/index.html

Pacific Grove Hyperbaric Chamber https://www.facebook.com/PGHyperbaricChamber http://californiamsf.org/pages/donate-pgh.html

2018 OFFICERS / BOD / VOLUNTEERS

President

Kari Klaboe…………… ……………[email protected]

Vice_President

Patti-Shannon-Hocker…………[email protected]

Secretary

Jono Dove……… …………………[email protected]

Treasurer

Helga Mahlmann……………………[email protected]

Membership Coordinator

Elizabeth Gilroy……… ……… .. [email protected]

Director of Training

Dennis Hocker……………… …...…[email protected]

Entertainment Coordinator

Gayle Hudson…………………[email protected]

Newsletter Editor

Alan Throop ……………….…. .…[email protected]

Social Media Coordinator

Gayle Hudson……………… .…[email protected]

Board Members at Large (BML)

Myran Gist…………………… ……..…[email protected]

Kat Smith………………… ……… ……[email protected]

“DL” Debra Popplewell … …………...…[email protected]

Web “Goddess”

Lola Johnston………….……...…[email protected]

Past President

Jono Dove……………… ...…[email protected]

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mental, and all things diving- and marine-related are

needed for the website, the Tooter newsletter, YouTube,

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page, send to the club contacts listed above, OR send

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emailed/pdf-newsletters, are due by the 20th of each

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2019 board of directors nomina ons are now open · 09/10/2018 · thanks to steele’s discount...

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