/g/ba-diving

Whalefest 2025 this weekend

matt@... (Matt Harrington) — Wed, 09 Apr 2025 09:12:47 -0700

https://whalefest.org/

Saturday, Apr 12 and Sunday, Apr 13

10 AM - 5 PM

Custom House Plaza and Old Fisherman鈥檚 Wharf

Free.

Symposium:

Sammy Andrzejaczek ,聽 Ph.D., Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University 鈥淭he science of sharks: meeting the predator next door鈥�
Ted Cheeseman, Ph.D., Co-founder, Happy Whale: "Surprising stories about our humpback whales: where do Monterey Bay whales go when they wander onward?"
Andrew DeVogelaere, Ph.D., MBNMS, Lindsey Peavey Reeves Ph.D, NOAA/NMS (co-author): "Listening to learn about and protect whales in national marine sanctuaries
Joelle De Weerdt, Ph.D., UCSC/Association ELI-S Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB): 鈥淔rom Nicaragua to Monterey: understand humpback whales' migratory patterns and feeding behaviours鈥�
James Fahlbusch, Ph.D., Cascadia Research Collective, Hopkins Marine Station: "A day in the life of a whale biologist"
Aliya Khan, Graduate Student, Paytan Biogeochemistry Lab, University of California, Santa Cruz: 鈥淲etlands as Nature Based Carbon Solution鈥�
Jane King Silberstein, Cabrillo College Associate faculty/CSUMB, Associate Faculty: "The five most important reasons why Plankton are critical to our planet and to the incredibly rich, diverse wildlife we enjoy here in Monterey Bay!"
Peggy Stap, Executive Director, Marine Life Studies: 鈥淭he Trials and Tribulations of Whale Disentanglement Response鈥�
Jonathan Warrick, Ph.D., Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, USGS: 鈥淥ur Ever-changing Shores鈥�
Lisa Wooninck, Ph.D., Superintendent, MBNMS "The Value of National Marine Sanctuaries"

Exhibitors:聽American Cetacean Society 鈥� California Coastal Commission 鈥� California Marine Sanctuary Foundation 鈥� California State Parks 鈥� Camp SEA Lab 鈥� Citizens鈥� Climate Lobby 鈥� CSUMB Ocean Predator Ecology Lab 鈥� Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve 鈥� Hi'Ilani O Ke Kei OCC聽鈥� Marine Life Studies 鈥� MEarth鈥� Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) 鈥� Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS) 鈥� Mission Science Workshop 鈥� Monterey Peninsula Yacht Club 鈥� Monterey SEA 鈥� Monterey Waterkeeper鈥� Moss Landing Marine Lab (MLML) 鈥⒙� O鈥橬eill Sea Odyssey鈥� Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History 鈥� Paul Watson Foundation聽鈥lankton Monitoring Network聽鈥� Santa Catalina Middle School 鈥� Save Our Shores 鈥� Save the Whales 鈥� Sea Otter Savvy 鈥� Seafloor Science ROV 鈥⒙� Sprout Up 鈥� Surfrider Foundation 鈥� United States Coast Guard Auxiliary Monterey 鈥� Ventana Wildlife Society

More:聽https://whalefest.org/

Fun scientific abstract newsletter -- ends with sea stars recovering in fjords

davidstorydavid@... (Dave Story) — Sat, 05 Apr 2025 08:06:46 -0700

Finally, a tiny bit of good news about seastar wasting disease鈥SWD.

Dave

Begin forwarded message:

From: Becky from 404 Media <404-media@...>
Subject: This Device Translates Thoughts into Real-Time Speech
Date: April 5, 2025 at 7:01:21鈥疨M GMT+6
To: story@...
Reply-To: emanuel@...

聽
This Device Translates Thoughts into Real-Time Speech
By Becky Ferreira 鈥�聽5 Apr 2025聽
View in browser
Welcome back to the Abstract!聽
This week has been a lot. This year has been a lot. THIS MILLENIUM HAS BEEN A LOT. That鈥檚 why there鈥檚 only good news in the column this week. We deserve it.聽
[snipped 鈥� but please subscribe if this is your kind of science reporting! 鈥� Dave]
You Can Afjord to Miss This
Gehman, Alyssa-Lois Madden et al. 鈥淔jord oceanographic dynamics provide refuge for critically endangered Pycnopodia helianthoides.鈥� Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Time to end on a moment of zen. And what better place to find serenity than the fjords of coastal British Columbia?聽
You don鈥檛 have to take my word for it; just ask the sunflower sea star (Pycnopodia helianthoides), a species that has been so stressed in recent years that it has literally been tearing itself to pieces. This grotesque affliction, known as sea star wasting disease, has devastated many sea star populations around the world, but聽P.聽helianthoides聽is among the hardest hit, losing more than 90 percent of its Pacific Coast population.聽
I know, I know, I promised some zen! There may be some light at the end of the tunnel for this species, as scientists have observed populations recovering in fjord refuges along the BC coast. Sea stars in these havens are not necessarily less exposed to the disease, but the conditions in fjords, which are regularly fed with freshwater flows, may give the animals a better chance to recover from infection.
鈥�P. helianthoides聽in fjord habitats appear to be responding differently to SSWD than those in other habitats and regions,鈥� said researchers led by Alyssa-Lois Madden Gehman of the Hakai Institute. 鈥淭he contrast between the interaction between salinity and temperature on biomass density within the fjords and outer islands suggests that these habitats could be a refuge from disease.鈥澛�
鈥淲e suggest that the unique oceanographic conditions within the fjords, specifically through the increase in freshwater input during snowmelt, known as the freshet, could be keeping聽P. helianthoides聽in conditions that optimize host health and/or limit disease progression and transmission,鈥� the team said.
Honestly, the compulsion to tear one鈥檚 own body limb-from-limb due to environmental stress seems dangerously relatable. But if sea stars can find some sanctuary from their hellish plight, maybe there鈥檚 hope for the rest of us.聽
Thanks for reading! See you next week.聽
聽

Re: Thousands of strange sea creatures are blanketing Bay Area beaches

jyasaki@... (John Yasaki) — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 10:32:21 -0700

Funny; I don't remember ever seeing them in Monterey. I did see a ton of them on a shark trip to Isla Guadalupe though. Plus a few Glaucuses, which were even more impressive.

jky

Re: Thousands of strange sea creatures are blanketing Bay Area beaches

davidstorydavid@... (Dave Story) — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 07:08:22 -0700

Velella Vellela! I have many fond memories of diving with these in Monterey and Carmel!

Cheers,
Dave

Snt frm phn, pls xqs brvty

Thousands of strange sea creatures are blanketing Bay Area beaches

bob@... (Robert Halem) — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 11:53:01 -0700

Thousands of strange sea creatures are blanketing Bay Area beaches

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/thousands-sea-creatures-blanketing-bay-area-20252459.php?utm_campaign=CMS%20Sharing%20Tools%20(Premium)&utm_source=share-by-email&utm_medium=email

The marine organisms appeared Sunday along Bolinas Beach.

I plan to live forever.聽 So far, so good.

Bob Halem

bob@...

San Jose, CA

Re: Critically ill and dying marine mammals- Posting the text; no paywall

MELANIEMORENO@... (Melanie Moreno) — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 08:04:52 -0700

Pseudo-nitzschia, a marine diatom, creates domoic acid You can see weekly Monterey Bay phytoplankton counts here:聽MONTEREY BAY WEEKLY PHYTOPLANKTON SAMPLING 鈥� What's in the water this week?

MONTEREY BAY WEEKLY PHYTOPLANKTON SAMPLING 鈥� What's in the water this week?

https://hab.whoi.edu/species/species-by-name/pseudo-nitzschia/

"Alfred Hitchcock鈥檚 iconic movie, 鈥淭he Birds鈥� was inspired by a real-life event in California 1961, when hundreds of strangely behaving and dying seabirds were observed in coastal communities of Monterey Bay. At the time the cause was unknown, but it was later discovered that toxic strains of聽Pseudo-nitzschia聽were abundant in the anchovies that the seabirds were feeding on."

Melanie Moreno

Re: Critically ill and dying marine mammals- Posting the text; no paywall

montereydivingwoman@... (Barbara J Dwyer) — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 10:27:54 -0700

Adam Fox grabbed the nets and the cage from the back of his pickup truck. Something in the sand was disturbing the iconic Southern California scenery at the Santa Monica Pier on Friday morning.

A sea lion washed up on the beach just north of the Ferris wheel. It was alive but gravely ill and in a disoriented, near-comatose state. On the other side of the pier, another sea lion聽 lay in the sand, a little more alert but still sick.

Mr. Fox, who works for a sea-mammal rescue group, rushed to help save the animals and transport them to get treated. Both sea lions were given ID numbers, which told a story.

They were tagged as 25-193 and 25-195 鈥� the group鈥檚 193rd and 195th patients of the year.

All along the Southern California coastline from San Diego to Santa Barbara, hundreds of animals 鈥� sea lions, dolphins, seabirds 鈥� are washing up on the sand either dead or seriously ill. Coastal researchers and officials say it鈥檚 become a marine-life crisis that has overwhelmed rescue organizations, distressed beachgoers and hurt California鈥檚 ocean habitat.

The cause is a neurotoxin produced by an algae bloom. The toxin, known as domoic acid, is harmless to fish but can be deadly to sea mammals. Fish carry the toxin, but if mammals and birds eat the fish, the toxin can poison them, causing seizures, making them behave erratically or putting them in a coma. The only treatment is to flush out the toxin and medicate the symptoms.

Algal blooms are not rare in California, but the amount of toxic acid the blooms have been releasing and the scale of harm they have been causing to sea life have puzzled scientists.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been seeing more toxin both in the organism itself and then also in the animals that are acquiring it,鈥� said Clarissa Anderson, the director of the Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System, which monitors ocean conditions. 鈥淭hey seem to have more toxin in their tissues. So it may be that the naturally occurring plankton is starting to produce more toxin over time, and that might be why we see more impacts.鈥�

Re: Critically ill and dying marine mammals

jyasaki@... (John Yasaki) — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 08:33:20 -0700

Domoic acid poisoning again? I believe that was the cause of the surfer attacked by a sea lion in SoCal.聽

Disclaimer: I didn't read the article that Barbara posted; just guessing as to what it contained.

jky

Re: Critically ill and dying marine mammals

kelpdiver2001@... (regina roberts) — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 08:28:56 -0700

Unfortunately link won鈥檛 let you read article without subscribing.

Regina

Critically ill and dying marine mammals

montereydivingwoman@... (Barbara J Dwyer) — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 07:29:28 -0700

Why Are Dolphins and Sea Lions Washing Up Dead on Southern California Beaches?

nytimes.com

Re: Best diving shops/guides Maui

orennoah@... (Oren Noah) — Sun, 23 Mar 2025 21:29:19 -0700

Mala Warf and the area immediately adjacent to it, including the shower/toilets were spared by the fire.聽

It's back open.聽

Various shops, including Extended Horizons (my favorite, too!), have guided shore dives there.聽

- Oren Noah聽

Re: Best diving shops/guides Maui

rtavan@... (Rick Tavan) — Sun, 23 Mar 2025 20:15:12 -0700

+1 for Extended Horizons, a family operation. They were my favorite operator with a nice, all-metal boat that they trailered to the Mala Wharf, just north of downtown Lahaina, the town that no longer exists. They went to Lanai every morning (unless conditions were perfect and they went to Molokai). Somehow, the boat was destroyed in the fire. Then the husband got sick (cancer IIRC) and needed treatment off-island. I think he did OK. Their intent was to conduct shore dives for a while, hopefully getting back into a boat. I haven't dived with them in that configuration but hope to do so in May/June when I'm there next.聽

If you can get to Lanai, it's my favorite Maui trip. Cathedral I and II are a kick, involving a small grotto that you swim into, look around, then get shot out through a small hole in the wall under tidal thrust. Very cool. Fairly long boat ride but worth it.

Mala Wharf is the best shore dive I've found there. Get there early to find parking. You need a dive flag and it's a long walk out to the left of the ancient wrecked pier, then fun diving in and out of the concrete wreckage, all shallow. There's a bathroom and outdoor shower for rinsing off. I don't know what the fire next door did to this facility. Again, hoping to find out this summer.

Have fun!

/Rick

Re: Best diving shops/guides Maui

charlie.eng@... (Charlie Eng) — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 17:50:06 -0700

Shore diving.com

Pick your country聽

Pick Hawaii

Pick Maui

It鈥檚 available thru https://www.zentacle.com/loc/us/hi/

Or use their app

Charlie Eng (retiredman2006)

Re: Best diving shops/guides Maui

bob@... (Robert Halem) — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 09:22:08 -0700

I like Maui Dreams in Kihei

Re: Best diving shops/guides Maui

pete.ingenhutt@... (Pete) — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 09:13:46 -0700

Agreed, I used SCUBA Shack at 聽2349 S Kihei Rd, Kihei, HI 96753 in 2015....did a drift dive on the back side of Molokini and then a Turtle dive after...Charley was good and understood it was my last dive as I was turning 70 after 53 years of diving...well worth the efforts!

Pete Ingenhutt

209-617-1324

Re: Best diving shops/guides Maui

orennoah@... (Oren Noah) — Sun, 16 Mar 2025 21:46:06 -0700

I second Extended Horizons.聽 Great people.

聽

There is good shore diving just south of where you'll be staying, at Mala Warf, Black Rock and Kahekili/Airport Beach.

聽

- Oren Noah聽

Re: Best diving shops/guides Maui

jmarks@... (Jerry Marks) — Sun, 16 Mar 2025 20:37:43 -0700

The best dive sites are at Lanai Island. These days, the only dive boats going there from Maui are Dive Maui which leaves from Lahaina with a large inflatable or Maui Diamond which leaves from Maalea Harbor with a much larger boat. You might also want to consider doing some shore dives in West Maui with Extended Horizons. They lost their boat and shop in the fire, but are building their business back up.聽

Jerry Marks

Re: Best diving shops/guides Maui

sami.laine@... (Sami Laine) — Sun, 16 Mar 2025 19:57:24 -0700

Molokini can be great for CFWA and possible dolphin sightings. I wasn鈥檛 shooting photos, just casual video, but those two dives were the best of our trip to Maui a year ago December.聽

Sami

Re: Best diving shops/guides Maui

kelpdiver2001@... (regina roberts) — Sun, 16 Mar 2025 19:54:34 -0700

Why? I really loved diving at Molikini.

Re: Best diving shops/guides Maui

setims@... (scott tims) — Sun, 16 Mar 2025 18:43:06 -0700

I would not go to Molikini for pictures