In the past I’ve written about the great diving on the Caribbean side of Mexico, the Mayan Riviera, Cenotes and Cozumel. Though the Pacific side of Mexico is generally thought to be much worse in terms of visibility and marine life, I found diving out of Cabo to be better than I expected. If you can get past the fact that you’re asked to buy a time share 4 times an hour in this town, you’ll likely also find some great fun to be had in CSL, including some pretty good boat diving. With steep walls that seem to go on forever, sand falls dropping perilously into underwater canyons and waters filled with hundreds of species of tropical reef fish and invertebrates - Cabo offers more than tequila and beaches.
Continue Reading May 26th, 2007
Last night on American Idol, the nation’s most watched show on television, a contestant was brought on stage and apologized to by Simon Cowell. During his audition, the contestant was likened to an animal called a ‘bush baby’ (a nickname for a Tarsier Monkey). It was later found out that he was extremely offended by the comparison and has a mild form of autism. In what turned out to be somewhat of a PR nightmare for Cowell, and a media circus about his typical treatment of contestants, American Idol had to do some damage control so they brought the contestant back and donated $1500 toward the care of a bush baby at the Milwaukee County Zoo in his honor. Why the heck am I writing about this?
Continue Reading May 24th, 2007
Reading a thread on Scubaboard, I came across these new Patagonia wetsuits. They look pretty good, though I’m not sure that the insulation they claim to provide is actually as good as advertised. I dive in the PNW regularly, and I can’t picture going diving here in a 3mm fullsuit and also staying warm. But, Patagonia does make very good alpine gear, usually of excellent quality for a premium price (which is why the company is sometimes referred to as “PataGucci” by climbers and hikers) - so I wouldn’t be surprised if these suits measured up against some of the best, when it comes to diving in warm water.
Continue Reading April 3rd, 2007
I finally was able to capture a stubby squid (rossia pacifica) changing color from reddish purple to iridescent. The small (3″) squid held its pose for just long enough for me to snap a couple shots. They typically change to the lighter-pale iridescent colors when they feel threatened. My dive light gave little squiddy just enough of a scare to change his color for a fraction of a second, but not enough to make him flee. These small molluscs are cute, ever-elusive and are actually more closely related to the cuttlefish than squid - despite the common name. They’re relatively abundant in the temperate waters of Puget Sound, but you have to look closely to find one.
Continue Reading March 29th, 2007
Based on feedback from my last Cozumel update, I figured it was about time to post an update about one of my favorite dive destinations. Around the same time, my friends down at Deep Blue sent me an email giving me the local scoop on the current state of recovery after Hurricane Wilma, as well as a heads up about their new Cozumel Dive Guide. I’ve also borrowed from a few divers from my local dive club who have recently traveled to Cozumel and offered their accounts of the diving down there. Cozumel still has plenty to offer, even if the effects of Wilma aren’t completely gone yet.
Continue Reading March 6th, 2007
Whether you’re on the Humane Society’s side or that of the Canadian government, who supports the activity of fur traders who now club more seals than ever before, this is a controversial subject. How much discretion should a sovereign nation have when it comes to killing young animals en masse? Some would say that if it’s Canada’s law, then outsiders shouldn’t interfere. Yet others defend the animals, who can’t vote and protest for themselves. I found some surprising feedback from members of the well-known diving forum, Scubaboard, on this topic.
Continue Reading February 8th, 2007
Today it is time to say goodbye to one of my favorite SCUBA sites on the web, Divester. The great crew over there is heading onto bluer pastures as a result of Weblogs, Inc. owner AOL deciding to shut down some of the less profitable sites in its network. I’m not sure what the economic effect will be on the 86 billion-dollar company, but fans of many specific interests will be sad this week as their favorite sites get sent off to the internet graveyard.
Continue Reading February 1st, 2007
A friend of mine from the Clinton Foundation just sent me an email, asking if I knew of anyone who was right for a job over there. Since I receive numerous job inquiries at Newsvine, from some great people, I thought I’d share.
The Clinton Climate Initiative will utilize the global influence of President Clinton, and the skills that the Foundation has developed in worldwide mobilization to confront crises such as AIDS, to help initiate programs that directly result in substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. In its first phase, CCI will work with members of a group of large cities to develop and implement a range of actions that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Specific actions will include provision of technical assistance and the formation of a purchasing consortium to accelerate the evolution of markets for alternative energy products.
Continue Reading January 28th, 2007
Last night a few dive buddies and I went diving at Seacrest (Alki) Cove 2. The dive started as a ho-hum dive, not much to see and one of our buddies didn’t have enough weight so he turned back and the rest of us descended. It was relatively poor visibility for this time of year, mostly due to the harbor seals that were zooming around and stirring things up. At around 100fsw or so I turned around and was shocked to see a 14-foot Sixgill shark, about a dozen feet in front of me. I fumbled for my trusty Casio EX-Z1000 and flipped it into video mode to catch a few minutes of the prehistoric looking shark swimming slowly and gracefully before sinking down to the bottom - apparently strange behavior for a shark of this type.
Continue Reading January 19th, 2007
It seems that Amazon.com is carrying shark fin soup and other products through three third-party vendors, Roland, Pacific Rim Gourmet, and VitaminLife. With the devastating effects of shark fin harvesting practices being suffered around the world, I hope that Amazon will move quickly to remove these and all future products of the sort from their offerings. I’ve always believed that Amazon is a terrific company, but how they choose to deal with this will influence my opinion of them. So far, this controversy has taken a few turns, as coverd by Divester.
Continue Reading January 7th, 2007
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