THE AQUA TOOTER On the web at http://www.aquatutus.com March 2015 Since 1958... a publication from the Aqua Tutus Diving Club, a non-profit organization established to promote Water Safety and to further the sport of SCUBA Diving. March Meeting Entertainment Please join us at the April 2 General Meeting to meet Reef Check California’s Dan Abbott. He will introduce us to the Reef Check California program and talk about what makes it a special organiztion. Dan Abbott, the Central Coast Regional Manager, has been involved with Reef Check California as a volunteer and parttime instructor since 2005, and started working for Reef Check full-time in September 2014. Dan received a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Economics and Policy from UC Berkeley, an interdisciplinary program focused on marine resource management from both scientific and economic aspects. While at Berkeley Dan became an AAUS scientific diver. Most recently, Dan worked as a biologist for Tenera Environmental where he oversaw a large number of monitoring projects in San Francisco Bay, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and along the California Coast. Additionally Dan spearheaded Tenera's successful application into AAUS and oversaw their dive program as their Diving Safety Officer. Dan is an active NAUI Instructor, a trained Outdoor Emergency Care Technician, and is a first aid and CPR instructor. Aqua Tutus Diving Club's next regular meeting: Thursday, April 2nd, 7:30 p.m. Location: Round Table Pizza 20920 Redwood Rd. Castro Valley UPCOMING CLUB ACTIVITY (LOCAL) • Mar 21 - Club dive Coral Street - Fritz Welss POC • April 11 - Club dive San Carlos - Elaine Berger POC • May 2 - Club Dive MacAbee to Breakwater snorkel – Jim POC BOD MEETING SCHEDULE 3rd Thursday Every month except December, • Thursday April 16 Round Table Pizza http://www.meetup.com/Aqua-Tutus-Dive-Club/ or http://www.my.calendars.net/atdc_events For the Latest on Club Activities AMAZON.COM CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS TO AQUA TUTUS DIVING CLUB!! Check it out on page 6 TOOTER PUBLISHING SCHEDULE Tooter INPUT by 20th of month Tooter will be published usually by end of month, THANK YOU PRESENTERS AND NEWSLETTER CONTRIBUTORS for making this month’s AQUATOOTER possible: Linda Muth, Bruce Watkins, Helga Mahlmann, Debbie Driggers, February 2015 What’s Inside March Entertainment Report March Gen Meeting Minutes March BOD Meeting Minutes Aqua Tooter Page 2-4 Page 4-5 Page 5-6 Pleasanton, California March Entertainment Report Reported by Linda Muth At the March 5 General Meeting, we enjoyed a great presentation by local photojournalist Bruce Watkins. Bruce is a regular contributor to California Diving News and has published several books, including his newest, “A Diver’s Guide to Monterey County, the Second Edition.” Bruce started his presentation with pictures from a trip to Socorro, Mexico. Socorro is a 24 hour boat ride from Cabo San Lucas. The islands are known for mantas, dolphins and whales. http://www.dive-the-world.com/ maps-mexico.php book which in detail shows many of the best dive sites in Monterey County. Monterey diving is three dimensional because of the kelp beds. They add depth to the dive sites. Monterey is home to many types of nudibranchs. The most numerous family are the dorids. Bruce showed nice examples of the variety of nudibranchs we may see while diving. If you take time to stay in one location for a while, you can be rewarded with some interesting behavior. Bruce was photographing a nice sculpin and spotted a nudibranch nearby. Much to his surprise, the nudibranch crawled under the chin of the sculpin and gave it a nice “hug”. Credit Bruce Watkins We are also lucky in Monterey to have the opportunity to dive with harbor seals and sea lions. Bruce told us the best way to have a harbor seal follow you around is to carry a speargun, not use it, but just bring it along because the seals will think they will get fed. Credit Bruce Watkins Aboard the Solmar V, Bruce visited several of the islands. One of these islands was no more than a large rock sticking out in the ocean but it held a very special experience for the divers. Three humpback whales quietly rested near the rock. A mother, her male escort and her very young calf gave Bruce the experience of a life time. These whales were known to be friendly and allowed the divers close contact both snorkeling and with scuba. The calf spent time visiting all the divers. Bruce captured amazing images of the mother and calf together. Sadly this beautiful and emotional experience ended in tragedy as two large male orcas ambushed the mother and calf. They managed to separate the calf and to the shock of the group, “bubbles” the calf was gone. Bruce managed to get a photo of the orca feeding on the calf. Bruce lightened the mood by talking about his new March 2015 page 2 Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California Entertainment Report continued Octopus are another creature we are lucky to have. The best place to see them is at Breakwater at night. Bruce had a fantastic image of an octopus on a kelp stalk. cles and large numbers of fish are some of the other highlights at this boat only dive site. Horseshoe. This is an outer pinnacle with lots of topography. Hydro coral is common as well as chestnut cowries. A nice variety of fish and good visibility make this site great for photographers. Garrapata State Park. Located south of Point Lobos in the Big Sur area. Park by the trees on Highway 1 and follow the trail down to the rocks. Take a giant stride off the rocks to start your dive. Lingcods and cabazon are common here. If the males are on the nest guarding eggs, try not to disturb them. Cabezon eggs are toxic but lingcod eggs make great snacks for other fish. http://www.redwoodhikes.com/BigSur/Garrapata1.jpg Credit Bruce Watkins Bruce also covered some of the dive sites that are in his new book. He has nice maps showing location and topography as well as images of some of the marine life found at each location. All sites in his book have GPS coordinates as well. Following are several of the sites he highlighted for us. Del Monte Beach - Shale Island This site is better dove from a boat. There is too much boat traffic to make it safe to swim to from shore. There are anchors and chains to look at and a nice variety of fish and invertebrates. Fringeheads are common here as are swell shark eggs. Bruce had a very nice image of a sea star wrapped around the hole where a fringehead was. Ball Buster. This is a boat only dive site. There can be a strong current running making for a challenging dive, but it is definitely worth the effort. The site is 70 -110 feet. The rocks are covered with life including strawberry anemones and sea stars. Ball Buster also has red gorgonian which is not commonly seen at other dive sites. With luck, you could see wolf eels or even a giant pacific octopus. Bruce showed us that at 100 feet, the strawberry anemones fluoresce. He placed a blue plexiglass filter over his strobes to show the red the anemones are emitting. Black Dog Ridge. This site was found by the late Chuck Tribolet. The site is located off of Cypress Point. There is a lot of current so there is a healthy growth of hydrocoral. Small sea stars, crabs, barna- Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California Partington Cove. This is at the northern part of Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. You will need an event permit and sign a release. You will be given a key to a gate to gain access to the road that leads to the dive site. This can be a dangerous dive site due to a sea cave and tunnel that can suck in the unaware diver. Entry and exit is on the rocks and can be difficult. McWay Falls When accessiCredit Bruce ble, there http: Watkins March 2015 page 3 Entertainment Report continued General Meeting Minutes are orange sponges with orange dorid nudibranchs and a variety of rock fish. Date: March 5, 2015 Reported by Helga Mahlmann Meeting called to order by President Mike Barrett at Round Table Pizza in Castro Valley, CA at 7:30pm. Guests: Logan Bell, Frank Collires, Larry B, John R. http://vagabonders-supreme.net/PartingtonCove.htm Bruce finished off the evening talking about the Farallon Islands off of San Francisco. This is a great place to see dolphins, humpback and grey whales, sea lions and elephant seals. Bruce had a great close up of an elephant seal. The elephant seals start arriving in July and August and peak in December. This in turn brings in the great white sharks. The average length Entertainment (Linda Muth) April – Reef Check – Dan Abbott May – Jason Bradley (tentative) June – Seacology July – Members night Aug – Oliver and Neil – Cozumel and the Yucatan Sep – Paula Butler – Wakatobi Oct – Craig and Susan Davis Nov – Mike Boom – Tiger Sharks of the Bahamas Treasurer’s Report (Helga Mahlmann) $3129.73 Membership 17 Regular 2 Associate 10 Life Training (Dennis Hocker) • Advanced class planned for the fall, cost $75 vs $250 at most dive shops. • Enriched air For more information on training contact Dennis Hocker (510) 792-5606 [email protected] or Neil Benjamin (510) 673-0073 [email protected] Credit Bruce Watkins Newsletter (Don Kelsey) Input due around the 20th. Web Goddess (Patti Shannon) Life is adjusting so she can work on the new web site and get it up and running soon. for the great whites at the Farallons is 16 to 18 feet. These sharks feed primarily on the yearling elephant seals. Cage diving is allowed here but the topside action can be just as good. Bruce shared great images of great whites. Some had their heads out of the water and another was snapping at a bird. In an attempt to get a close up of the mouth, he put his camera on a pole and dropped it in the water. The result, a great mouth and tooth shot but a camera chewed and spit out by the shark. Thank you again to Bruce for a great presentation. March 2015 page 4 Meetup update: Sign up is for members only Old Business: New Business: Jono reported BOD is looking at economics of Holiday Party, unexpectedly big crowd last Dec so we did not break even. May adjust price and method of assessing attendance prior to party time. Special Committee: Party pricing and crowd planning (Jono and Debbie) Past Dives: • Mike B – did a bunch Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California General Meeting Minutes continued • • • • • • Dave – Feb 14 Lovers and Breakwater 30-40’vis Kari and Oliver – Pipeline and medridium field +1/2 track and barge Bo Peng +Mike B – 1Mar Breakwater , 8’ vis w/ Jim Steele’s class Mike + Oliver – Monastery Washrock, beautiful and clear! Mike + Baerbel – Butterfly House Fritz – Cabo, wreck and lands end. Yellow pregnant seahorse, octopus, sea lions etc. Bone Award Nominees: no nominations Upcoming Activity and Dives Sat Mar 7h Butterfly House POC Oliver 9:50am Next Membership meeting: April 2,2015 Next BOD meeting: March 19, 2015 Jono/Helga moved to adjourn at 9:15 pm. Aqua Tutus Diving Club Board Meeting Minutes Date: Mar. 19, 2015 Reported by Debbie Driggers Present: Jim, Debbie, Jono, Patti, Dennis, Michael, Fritz, Bernhard, Helga, Larry **corrected Meeting called to order at 7:01 pm by Jono Up-Coming Entertainment: April – Reef Check – Dan Abbott May – Jason Bradley (tentative) June – Seacology July – Members night Aug – Oliver and Neil – Cozumel and the Yucatan Sep – Paula Butler – Wakatobi Oct – Craig and Susan Davis Nov – Mike Boom – Tiger Sharks of the Bahamas Treasurer’s Report (Helga) Current balance is $3449.73. Membership (Bernhard) 10 life members 30 members 3 associates Director of Training (Dennis Hocker) • Interest in AOW is increasing, Dennis would like to use same plan as in the past, a weekend in Tahoe followed by the night dive in Monterey. • If we get good attendance for AOW a Rescue Class Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California might be in the works. If anyone has interest in other courses please email Dennis at [email protected] Newsletter (Don Kelsey) – not present Give input by the 20th, will get out within a week. Webgoddess (Patti Hocker) Our website is www.aquatutus.com Patti’s trying to get the new site up and running. She would like to make the name a .org and plans to run both sites simultaneous for a while. She’s looking into new hosting services, also looking into options that can accommodate mobile. Jono will help Patti with finding a good host. MeetUp Currently 55 members, 13 people are still pending. New Business • Jim will work with Bernhard to get him on MeetUp and set as an administrator. He also asked who wants to take ownership of the MeetUp. It should be assigned to a specific person to take lead. • Helga proposed we create a position Director of Social Media. Jono seconded that proposal and inquired if Jim were willing to take on the role. Jim has agreed to fill the role if it’s created. Jim will make a writeup to present at the next general meeting, also send to Don to publish in the Tooter and then will be voted on in the following meeting. • We will reinstate the old membership form to be filled out annually as members renew. Bernhard will update the form and begin having all new members complete when they renew. This will allow us to maintain an accurate and updated roster. Old Business • Possible future dues increase. Prior to discussing further, Helga will outline and advise member of what their dues buy. Helga will create a breakdown of club costs (entertainment, classes, general expenses….) • Per Helga: Dues pay Chamber donation, web, AV equip, misc expense, po box, MeetUp, and many of the costs of the holiday party. It was decided that this subject will be revisited after the Special Committee for the holiday party presents suggestions. • Helga inquired about the option of the club donating to the Marine Mammal Center. She will bring up at the next general meeting the option of a $100 donation to the center. Michael is opposed to the club making a donation and would prefer individual donations. Subject should be brought up to at General Membership meeting for club discussion and vote. March 2015 page 5 BOD meeting minutes continued After further discussion, this will be brought up to be discussed by the general membership. ATDC NON-PROFIT STATUS IS NOW OFFICIAL AND REGISTERED AT SMILE.AMAZON.COM Special Committee Holiday party planning. Jono and Debbie will come up with options and present to the BOD by July. Helga announces, in conjunction with our official IRS non-profit status, the club is now registered with smile.amazon.com. Upcoming Events 2015 • BOD meetings 3rd Thursday January thru November at Castro Valley Round Table Pizza. 7:00pm meeting, 6:30 social. • Mar 21 - Club dive Coral Street - Fritz Welss POC • April 11 - Club dive San Carlos - Elaine Berger POC • May 2 - Club Dive MacAbee to Breakwater snorkel – Jim POC • May16-30 - Turks & Caicos, POC Dennis. Filling up the remaining spots. If you have any interest, get your deposit in before it fills up. Sport Dive and Alert Diver both had good articles about this place. There is space available. Two weeks on a live-aboard 5 or more dives per day. Will venture places the boat doesn't normally go. • June TBA – Salt Point – Debbie POC • July – Mike TBA • Dec 12, 2015 - Club holiday party • Dec 19-Jan 2, 2015 Cozumel - Patti POC What is smile.amazon.com ?? Its Amazon.com’s website where a small portion (0.5%) of revenue is contributed by Amazon to charities selected by buyers. So, if you use amazon.smile.com instead of amazon.com, and select Aqua Tutus Diving Inc as your favorite smile.amazon.com charity, 0.5% of your purchase goes directly to the club. A painless way (no cost to you) to help out the club treasury, with contributions from Amazon. 2016 July 10 - 24 Chuuk. Dennis is going one more time! If you have any interest/desire to do wreck diving. No better place to do wreck diving. About 50 Japanese vessels are there. It doesn't get better. Meetings Next Membership meeting: Thursday April 2 at Round Table Pizza, 7:30 meeting starts Next BOD meeting: Thursday Apr 16 at Round Table Pizza, 7:00 meeting starts Meeting adjourned at 8:18pm Get the full story at http://smile.amazon.com/about/ ref=smi_se_ft_abt_saas HOW TO SIGN UP On your first visit to AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com), select Aqua Tutus Diving Inc to receive donations from eligible purchases before you begin shopping. Amazon will remember your selection, and then every eligible purchase you make at smile.amazon.com will result in a small donation, from Amazon.com, to Aqua Tutus Diving Inc. Its that easy. So sign up NOW!!!! Don’s timeshare is now available for 2016. Book now while it is still Available at a great low price. Big Island, Hawaii Kona Condo for Rent June 29- July 13, 2016 $450 per week,+$14 tax One-time $50 registry fee covers one or all weeks. Weeks run Weds to Weds Contact Don Kelsey 925-820-8362 [email protected] Resort details at thekonabillfisher.com March 2015 page 6 Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California Calendar of Events See the latest BOD meeting minutes, http://www.meetup.com/Aqua-Tutus-Dive-Club/ or http://www.my.calendars.net/atdc_events for the current schedule of ATDC Events ATDC Dive Training Check http://www.aquatutus.com/ activities.htm http://reefcheck.org/rcca/rcca_home.php • Dates are tentative, depend on participation, check the webpage • Classroom sessions held at Dennis’ house, 38962 Larkspur Street, Newark, CA • For more information contact • Neil Benjamin: (510) 673-0073 [email protected] • Dennis Hocker: (510) 792-5606 dennis@ rxscuba.com What is a “POC” The “POC” is a Point of Contact for a club dive. Any member is welcome to plan a dive and put in on our web site calendar. You don’t have to be a dive master, or the director of training, or a board member to do this. Any club dive is done with the expectation that there will be people there to help. ATTENTION , ASPIRING PHOTOGRAPHERS AND WRITERS WANTED—DIVE PICS AND STORIES FOR THE TOOTER. Send your input to Don at [email protected] Thank You Bernard Sterling , for volunteering as Membership chairperson Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California 2015 OFFICERS/BOD/Volunteers President Mike Barrett [email protected] Vice President Jono Dove [email protected] Secretary [email protected] Debbie Driggers Treasurer Helga Mahlmann [email protected] Membership Chair Bernhard Sterling [email protected] Training Director Dennis Hocker [email protected] Entertainment Chair Linda Muth [email protected] Newsletter Publisher [email protected] Don Kelsey Board Members @ Large: Greg Gleeson Larry Muth Fritz Welss [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Past President Oliver Edwards [email protected] Web “Goddess” Patti Shannon-Hocker [email protected] ATDC Web page: www.aquatutus.com FIND Oliver’s Tutorial BEGINNING PHOTOSHOP FOR UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHERS at http://www.aquatutus.com/tooter/ beginning_photoshop_for_underwater_photography.pdf March 2015 page 7 Aqua Tutus Diving Club P.O. Box 11952 Pleasanton, CA 94588 North Coast Diving since 1958 For quick access to Chuck Tribolet’s Internet Resources for the Bay Area Diver http://www.garlic.com/~triblet/swell/ News from the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Keep in touch by surfing over to: http://www.mbnms.nos.noaa.gov For updates on the Joint Management Plan surf over to: http://www.sanctuaries.nos.noaa.gov/jointplan/ Keep up with California Diving, read California Diving News http://www.cadivingnews.com/ March 2015 page 8 Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California
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