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LA County 50th UICC Graduation and Awards Banquet—April 5
The 50th UICC Graduation and Awards Banquet will be held on behalf of the Los Angeles County Underwater Instructors Association April 5, 2003. The event will welcome the newest underwater instructors and honor the members receiving awards. It will be held on Saturday evening from 6-11 p.m. This year it will be at the Los Angeles Athletics Club located at 431 West Seventh Street at the corner of Olive and Seventh in downtown Los Angeles. A mixer will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. followed by a dinner and the Graduation and Awards Presentation. The cost for dinner is $29 per person. Parking is $4.50. Contact Tim or Tammy Tarry at 805-584-0144.
Research Diver Training — begins April 12
Catalina Conservancy Divers Research Diver Training. CCD’s bi-annual training in subtidal species identification and monitoring is scheduled to begin for Spring 2003 on Saturday, April 12, at 1 p.m. in the auditorium of the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, San Pedro. There will be a slide presentation and lecture by Dr. Bob Given, professor at Marymount College and member of the CCD scientific advisory board, followed by a walk-through of the aquarium. There is no charge for attending the presentation, and the public is welcome. For those interested in obtaining a CCD Research Diver certification, a species identification check-out dive will take place at Casino Point, Avalon, on Sunday, April 27. That is followed by a data collection protocol and procedure check-out dive on Saturday, May 3 at White Point, Palos Verdes. Cost for the books and materials for a Research Diver certification is $50. Visit http://www.ccd.org under “Training” for more details, or email diver training team leader Mike Doran at mddesq@earthlink.net.
Earth Day at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium — April 26
In celebration of the 33rd anniversary of Earth Day, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium is sponsoring an Earth Day Fair on Saturday, April 26, 2003 from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. A full day of speakers, information and activities will be available to engage visitors in the beautiful oceanside setting of Cabrillo Marine Aquarium at Cabrillo Beach.
Volunteers and groups interested in participating in any or all of these events are welcome. Vendors will have food for sale, and there are many pleasant places to picnic at Cabrillo Beach for $7 per vehicle so carpooling or alternative transportation is recommended.
Cabrillo Marine Aquarium is located at 3720 Stephen White Drive in San Pedro and is a facility of the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. The aquarium exhibits the diversity of local marine life in 36 different aquaria.
For further information, or a calendar of events, please call 310-548-7562 or visit the website http://www.cabrilloaq.org.
Dive In To Earth Day — April 15-22
Need a great excuse to go for a dive? Why not play scientist for a day and do a fish survey? Clean trash from your favorite dive site? Introduce a kid to a snorkel? Install a mooring buoy to protect your local reef? Hold an U/W Easter Egg Hunt to raise money for a marine park?
Get ready for Dive In To Earth Day. You are invited to organize an event in your community. Every April, divers and ocean lovers from around the world organize and participate in a wide range of Dive In activities to help protect oceans and its reefs. Dive In To Earth Day ensures that the 72 percent of the planet covered by water is not forgotten during the annual Earth Day celebrations.
The Dive In To Earth Day events will come in all shapes and sizes (why not organize your own?) and will take place between April 15 - 22.
For more information, visit the website of the Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) at www.coral.org/divein.
Dive In To Earth Day was launched in 2000 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Earth Day (held annually on April 22).
Catalina Chamber Day/Evening — May 7
Wednesday, May 7, has been selected as the date for Catalina Chamber Day/Evening 2003, the 15th annual fund raiser to benefit the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber.
Hyperbaric chambers are the only means of treating embolism and bends, life-threatening maladies that can affect divers. Although diving is very safe, it is important these facilities be available in the event of a diving emergency. Because of the high amount of diving done in Southern California, the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber is quite active. Even though Los Angeles County funds a large portion of this chamber’s costs, a substantial amount of the budget must come from other sources.
Catalina Chamber Day was conceived as a way for recreational divers to have fun diving (and partying) while at the same time making a financial contribution to this important facility. With the day-time portion of the event, now in its 15th year, Southern California dive-charter boats graciously donate their time and services for the day, and divers pay to dive Catalina Island aboard one of the participating boats. Boats visiting Catalina will also take their passengers on a walking tour of the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber facilities. There will be thousands of dollars in prizes. More raffle tickets can be purchased. For those that want to participate in the daytime event, but cannot get away from work to go diving, book a trip on the phantom “Flying Dutchman” boat.
Those divers (and their loved ones) unable to get away mid-week for the diving, along with those that dived Catalina that day, can also participate in the Chamber Evening, hosted by the magnificent Aquarium of the Pacific. Participants will have the opportunity to tour the aquarium and have a sit-down dinner in the aquarium’s Great Hall.
Proceeds from the event go to support the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber.
To sign up for the event, call 310-652-4990. Also check out www.chamberday.org on the web. Major credit cards are accepted. Requests to be on a specific boat can be made at sign-up.