2007 - HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!! - 2007

LAUPS Annual Awards Banquet

I hope everyone has enjoyed a wonderful
holiday season! So now it's time for our
annual banquet where we'll once again honor
our top winners from the 2006 mini competitions
and the Intra-club contests, both in still & video.

WHEN: Saturday, January 20th
WHERE: Ports 'o Call Restaurant, San Pedro
TIME: 6:30 PM

Please RSVP to Bobbi Flusser and she will provide you
with cost and menu selection.

Come join us for a fun evening and see who came
out with top honors, it might even be YOU!!
See you there!!!

Kelly--

It's with great sadness that we report that Ike Brigham, founder and chief curmudgeon of Ikelite, passed away on December 20th. According to his daughter Jean, he had been fighting lung cancer.

Since 1962, Ikelite has been providing divers with equipment including housings, strobes, strobe controllers, arms, trays, flashlights, and compasses. In addition, Ikelite has provided legendary service, and Ike himself supported his gear directly to the public. He was active on several underwater photo forums, including DigitalDiver and Wetpixel. There were probably many days when all Ike did was read customer email.

Personally, I'll miss Ike a lot. I never met him, but always expected to.

I began corresponding with Ike several years ago. It was the first dive, of the first day, of a two week vacation in Cozumel, and Judy's strobe flooded. It was a brand new DS50 that I hadn't bothered to test at home. I got on the net, looking for advice, parts, rentals, anything to get a working strobe. Ike himself responded. He overnighted a new strobe to us, at his expense. It might have been my error with the battery door, and it was certainly foolish to have not tested the strobe at home, but Ike said that even if the battery compartment flood was our fault, the flood in the rest of the strobe was his fault.

There are many stories of this kind of service from Ikelite, and many more of strobes getting internal upgrades when sent in for basic service. I'm sure all the fine qualities of Ikelite products and service will continue, but it won't be the same without Ike.

I kept in touch with Ike after that emergency strobe replacement. It was always a treat to get an email from him. Ike's were short, just a few words, but they usually managed to pack in some self deprecating humor and a working, simple solution. Recently, I was swapping batteries on my DS125 strobes, on the center console of the Peace, in wind and spray, and I was using various things to keep my strobes out of the weather while they were open. I suggested to Ike that he make a splash cover, some kind of press-on sealing lid. Ike's reply was "ziplock bags."

The next few years will bring some interesting cameras, and longer lasting batteries, and more efficient lights. I wish Ike could be around to see it all, and get it underwater for us.

Thanks for everything, Ike. We'll miss you.

http://wetpixel.com/i.php/full/ike-brigham-founder-of-ikelite-passes-away/

DigitalDiver - Ike passes away

Ike - Wetpixel

Reef Seekers has lost their lease and will be closing their Wilshire location Dec 23. They're looking for a new facility and will have no storefront indefinitely, though they will continue to do trips and classes.

Details in their December newsletter.

Assemble now your best underwater video film footage for the SCUBA Show 2007 underwater film festival.

The 20th SCUBA Show is the largest dive expo of its type in the Western U.S.A. and this year takes place June 2-3 at the Long Beach Convention Center.

One of the most popular portions of the annual Southern California SCUBA Show has been the unique continuous film festival. Films will be screened digitally on a massive screen with state-of-the-art equipment and viewed by thousands of attendees. Featured at past film festivals have been footage and films from some of the world's greatest underwater cinematographers. Even so, some of the most well received films have been from non-professional and semi-professional underwater camera operators.

For this year's show, the film festival will be wide open to this talented group. The management of the popular annual dive convention is conducting an aggressive all-out search for the best in underwater video films. They are also opening up the category to include digital still presentations set to music or narration. Submissions for consideration should be new material, never before shown in a film festival setting or on television. Films and digital slide shows of 3 to 30 minutes in length are preferred, but shorter is usually better. Footage can be from anywhere in the world, but the video should contain at least 50 percent underwater footage. Those films accepted for screening will be paid an honorarium.

Deadline for DVD submission is February 20, 2007. For a complete guideline sheet on submissions, call (310) 792-2333, e-mail mail@scubashow.com or view the guidelines web page at www.scubashow.com/filmguide.htm

Scott joined the club recently and I just added his bio to the Members' Page.

Scott moved from New York City to Los Angeles in 2003, got certified, as has done 2-3 dives a week ever since. His favorite places to dive are Bali, La Bufadora and Malibu. He will be getting married in Singapore in 2007 to his favorite dive buddy Penny. He shoots with a Fuji F-10 and a Fantasea Strobe, and works for a hedge fund when he's not underwater. Scott also runs the web site www.ladiving.org.

Check out Scott's site and email list! Scott posts pictures of the week and even managed to talk me into a beach dive.

February      Pairs
March          Patterns in nature
April            A face only a mother could love
July            Wrecks
August        Schools of fish
October      You can't see me
November    Wide Angle

Mantas Guaranteed or your Money Back!

April is the Manta Mating Season and mantas are everywhere! Just in case you miss one, owner Bill Acker is offering a Manta Money Back Guarantee. If a diver purchases an April 2007 7-night/10-dive package (or more) and does not see a single manta during his 10 dives, Manta Ray Bay resort will refund the diver's money. How could someone spend 10 dives in Yap's water and not see a single manta, especially during April, one of the most active times for mantas? Although it is unlikely, it is possible that divers could miss a manta sighting because he is distracted by Yap's many other underwater attractions: sharks, turtles, pipefish, frogfish, nudibranches and of course, Mandarin fish. We offer guests over 50 dive sites. So this April, take Bill up on his offer. He guarantees that a week in Yap will be one of your greatest diving adventures, ever!

A study team on the Yangtze river has failed to find any Baiji, or Chinese river dolphin. It has been declared functionally extinct.

Baiji - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scuba divers helped recover nearly 10 tons of lost and abandoned fishing gear from the waters around the California Channel Islands, in the first year of a unique project based at UC Davis. The clean-up included nearly 250 commercial lobster traps, many fishing rods and sport traps, and a huge fishing net covering 5,000 square feet of the seafloor.

A 4,000-pound seine net is offloaded after being found in the waters around the California Channel Islands (Jennifer Renzullo/UC Davis photo)

A Japanese research team has succeeded in filming a giant squid live -- possibly for the first time -- and says the elusive creatures may be more plentiful than previously believed.
Researchers catch giant squid - CNN.com

From the Los Angeles Times:

Not enough fish in the sea
As ocean seafood populations plummet, catching is mostly unhindered -- only Alaska is willing to self-police. Big business is starting to lend a hand.

Fish counters in green rain slickers patrol a narrow channel of glacier-fed river, keeping close tabs on the thousands of salmon that migrate upstream to spawn.

Elsewhere along the coast, observation teams slosh through waterways in waders, carrying rifles to ward off aggressive bears. Still others monitor the migration from low-flying planes, or take inventory at fish weirs and atop counting towers placed strategically throughout the wilds of Alaska as part of an elaborate surveillance of returning fish.

At the first hint of a decline in salmon numbers, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is quick to shut down coastal fishing grounds and order fishermen to pull in their nets and lines.

State officials do this without protest from fishermen. Rather, they work together, to protect not just a prized fish, but an economic bonanza and a leading source of private-sector jobs in the state.

"We don't want to catch fish this year, but in future years too," said Juneau fisherman Jev Shelton, who remembers when the collapse of Alaska's salmon fisheries from overfishing was declared a national disaster about 50 years ago.

Read more:

Not enough fish in the sea - Los Angeles Times

North Sulawesi, including areas of outstanding natural beauty above and below sea level such as Bunaken National Park, Lembeh Strait and Bangka Island, has been spared an environmental tragedy.

The Indonesian Ministry of Environment recently announced that a gold mine operation, which was threatening to dump millions of tons of waste into the sea in North Sulawesi, will not be allowed to do so. British-registered “Archipelago Holdings” gold mine (operating locally as “MSM&rdquo, threatened to dump up to 1,500,000 tons of ground up mining waste into the sea, between the award-winning Bunaken National Park and the famous Lembeh Strait.

Read more:

FiNS Blog » Blog Archive » Spared from Environmental Tragedy

Well, It has been quite some time since our last enius, and we apologize for that. The good news is the reason; we had a very busy 2006 showing divers the best the Solomon Islands has to offer!

Spirit of Solomons in 2006 and 2007

2006 finally saw the return of Spirit of Solomons on a full time basis for the 2006 season, and she is scheduled for the 2007 season as well. She is being managed by Sam Leeson and Kellie Oldfield, who bring with them their expertise, love of diving, and exuberant personalities. Sam and Kellie have previously worked in Vanuatu, Galapagos, Honduras, and Australia, and will be returning to join us in 2007 on Spirit of Solomons.

A recent guest had this to say: " Once again we had a fantastic, incredible trip on the Spirit of the Solomons. Sam and Kelly and the entire boat crew were the tops - they all went out of their way helping us find neat critters on the reef, managing our gear, preparing a great menu, and just making sure that we had no worries. The reefs in the Solomons remain the best in the world in my opinion and the Spirit of the Solomons is still the best way to see them."

Bilikiki in 2006 and 2007

For most of you Bilikiki needs no introduction, and neither do her managers, Craig " Monty"  Sheppard and Michelle Gaut. We are pleased to announce that Monty and Michelle will be returning once again for the 2007 season. To say that they know the dive sites and can find the critters would be somewhat of an understatement!

For complete and up to date departure schedules for both Bilikiki and Spirit of Solomons log on to http://www.bilikiki.com/departures07.php

Special guests in 2007

2007 will see the return of Stan Waterman, Sue and Jack Drafahl on MV Bilikiki, and Cathy Church on Spirit of Solomons.

Join Stan June 12 - 21, 2007 and experience his exclusive "Mini Bijou Nights".

Sue and Jack, the Digital Duo, will be doing two back to back trips: July 17 - 26, and July 26 - Aug 7, 2007. Enjoy evening slide shows, and instruction in digital photography and Photoshop.

Cathy Church will once again be returning, this time on Spirit of Solomons Aug 23 - Sept 4, 2007.

Here is what Stan had to say regarding his 2006 trip with us: " Hats off to you for running the finest live- aboard I have had the pleasure of being on in years. It is a happy ship with the superb direction of Monty and Michelle and a crew that function as a family. The diving was superlative. I don't recall such a fine repertoire of virgin reefs full of life"

Book now to ensure that you do not miss out on the years of experience, and above all the fun on these special departures.

Additional Flights to Solomon Islands

November will see the introduction of a greatly expanded air service to Solomon Islands. Solomon Airlines has increased it's Brisbane service to 5 days a week, as well as introducing a twice weekly service to Nadi, Fiji.

Our Airline ( formerly Air Nauru ) will commence twice weekly Brisbane service, and Air Pacific continues its weekly service to and from Nadi.

Good news all around for travellers to Solomon Islands!! You can download the latest schedule at http://www.bilikiki.com/Solomon_Airlines_Schedule.pdf

Paint it black!

AjaxNetPhoto.com site news & information: Digital solutions for film lovers - Flat bed scanner fustrations

As soon as you create a work, (and for us, that means "take a picture") you own the copyright. And you can register that copyright at the U.S. Copyright Office.

When it comes time to let someone else use your work, you need to license your work to them. Creative Commons is an interesting set of licenses that easily let you tell people how you are willing to license your work.

A Spectrum of Rights | Creative Commons

From Stephen Benavides:

First, I apologize for the long post. History is very important to this issue so here goes:

Ten Years Ago the diving community was in the forefront of marine management issues when a group of dive community representatives negotiated with the Department of Fish and Game (DFG), The F&G Commission, and the California Legislature. The result of those efforts resulted in the Emergency Closure of the recreational harvest of abalone south of San Francisco and the Farallon Islands. This action by the F&G Commission was unprecedented in history because it was the first time a user group had gone to Government and asked for curtailment of harvest rights.

At the same time, another group (mine) was tasked with finding a Legislative solution to a recurring problem with the fishery in decline. We were successful in having (then) Senator Michael Thompson carry a Bill which was ultimately passed as SB 463. The Bill codified the regional closures we have today, established a voluntary self-tax in the form of the Abalone Stamp which has raised over $5 Million for research, enforcement, DFG oversight and a lot of biology. In exchange, neither the recreational nor the commercial abalone fisheries were to reopen until there had been a demonstrated recovery of all species over the entire southern range to levels specified in a to-be-developed management and recovery plan or ARMP which you can read about at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mrd/abalone.html.

We knew the abalone were so far gone that it would be decades before they recover. The requirement in Sacramento is that if you ask for something with pain in it for someone then you had better suffer some pain yourself. "Share the Pain" is the mantra. Well it should be known that we suffered some pain. We voluntarily surrendered harvest rights for the betterment of the resource, provides Millions for research and enforcement and protection of the North Coast abalone resource and partially underwrote the management plan for the recovery efforts. On the other side, About 110 people involved in the commercial abalone industry suffered a loss in income from the abalone harvest.

Now, those same displaced abalone divers (virtually all of which fish multiple species and have not taken abs for 10 years) have convinced the Current group of F&G Commissioners (100% turnover from the 1997 Commission) that it would be a good idea to reopen the commercial abalone fishery at San Miguel Island (SMI) and allow the commercials to fish the SMI resource - and I can't even believe they use these words - DURING RECOVERY!

A series of meetings is being held throughout the state. The first was held in Northern California on 10-14-06, the second will be held in Central California on 11-03-06. A Third meeting will be held here in Southern California on November 18, a Saturday, more later.

There is a group known as the Recreational Abalone Advisory Group or RAAC, which was established under SB 463 to give advice to the DFG on Abalone Stamp spending issues and changes in regulations. We will be meeting on November 4th and will receive an update on the commercial fishery committee and results of a Red Abalone survey done at SMI recently.

Now to cut to the short...

Virtually every diving organization in the state and almost all the recreational fishing clubs and ORG's are against any fishing by any user group until there has been a recovery to a level supported by science and the DFG. To date there have been no material support for resumption of recreational harvest. These efforts stem solely from the efforts of a small group of commercial divers and the support of what appears to be a majority of the F&G Commission.

We need every diver to sign the petition at the following link and get involved in the political fight raging over the waters we enjoy. We need other dedicated, passionate people to step up and learn how to be effective in defending and protecting our coasts. This current fight is not just about abalone, virtually every item we see in the kelp forest is food or raw material for something, even the kelp. Right now they are attempting to open commercial fisheries for turban snails and chitons. The scientific term for this is Serial Depletion but I will let you look that up.

The link takes you to the RFA petition page. It is very easy to use and will only take a few minutes to complete. You will not even need postage, we will hand deliver the petitions to the Commission.

I hate to say but we are way behind the 8-ball here with the Commercials thinking they have this one in the bag. This is not about management. How can we "manage" commercial harvest of a depleted, recovering resource? Those abalone, even if deemed "surplus" should be used for a higher and better use than sale to China. How about using them to begin restoration projects throughout the southland waters where we once hadRed Abalone?

The proposed fishery is madness, and not good stewardship of ourresources.

Thanks for listening

The link:

Support Abalone Conservation!

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2
Noon - 6PM
$150 00

TOPICS COVERED (time permitting):
• Photo fundamentals
• Composition secrets
• JPEG & RAW files
• Lens choices
• Strobes
• Shooting reef creatures
• Photographing Mr. Big
• Creating silhouettes
• Shooting your buddy
• Photoshop techniques
• Archiving your images
. . . and more

From Marty: “The primary goal of the day is to have fun and make sure you appreciate and know more about underwater photopgraphy at the end of the day than you did at the beginning. Once you really ‘get it’ you can take the concepts you learn with you anywhere you dive and create compelling images. I hope to see you in class!”

Speaker: Sea Wolves Unlimited

This should be cool! Don't tell my wife that I want to go with them!

Comp: Mini Comp, Topic: Eels. Video, 5 minute edited.
Files should be named as usual:
0611_open-or-novice_title_your-name.jpeg
Don't email them to us! I can't make the meeting and I'm not sure who will be available to bring them. Watch for further updates...

From LAUPS member Dave Nesheim:

"I am getting serious about selling my film stuff and some dive gear.  Check it out on ebay. All the listings have no reserve and are ready to ship. Check back, many more items to be listed in the next few days."

eBay Seller: dandive: Scuba, Snorkeling, Projection Equipment items on eBay.com

We've also got a Canon Rebel Aquatica Housing up on the classifieds page, take a look.

Another day without much time, but here's some stuff I've found around the web for you.

Lots of product announcements at DEMA. Wetpixel and Divester had good coverage of it all:
DEMA 2006 Show Coverage :: Wetpixel.com
Divester

Creative Commons Copyright Licenses - some interesting reading:
A Spectrum of Rights | Creative Commons
How it Works | Creative Commons
Images: photos, illustrations, designs... | Creative Commons

More news from the Pacific Gyre
Plastic trash vortex menaces Pacific sealife: study - Yahoo! News

Can't remember if I posted this, some great images above and below water:
Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year - Natural History Museum

Video from a low oxygen event:
WDFW -- Hood Canal Low Oxygen Events

They can't compete with digital, so they're bringing back Velvia 50:
Fujifilm UK - Press centre