Visit Santa Underwater Benefit — December 2, 9
Various dive clubs affiliated with Sport Chalet are hosting submerged visits with Santa Claus at Sport Chalet pool locations throughout Southern California to benefit underprivileged children.
Those wishing to make the Santa Dive donate an unwrapped toy (suggested value $10 to 20) and dive in the pool and have your photo taken on Santa’s lap.
Santa Dives will take place at December 2 at the Point Loma Sport Chalet (619-224-6777) benefiting the St. Vincent De Paul homeless center; December 2 at Irvine Sport Chalet (949-476-9555) co-sponsored by ABC - 7 and the Orange County Fire Authority for the Spark of Love Toy Drive For Underprivileged Children; and on December 9 at the Rancho Cucamonga Sport Chalet (909-987-4321) co-sponsored by ABC - 7, the CA Dept. of Forestry and Firefighters, benefiting the Spark of Love Toy Drive For Underprivileged Children.
All dive equipment will be provided but participants need to bring a swimsuit, towel and toy. Bring your Certification Card. If you’re not certified, professional dive instructors from Sport Chalet will guide you through your underwater experience. Minimum age for scuba is 10. Santa will snorkel with kids younger than 10.
Monterey Sanctuary Photo Contest – deadline Dec. 15
The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the largest marine sanctuary in the United States, and members of the Sanctuary’s Diver Partnership Program are designing a new brochure to welcome divers to explore the Sanctuary. The dive brochure will focus on the ways that divers can enjoy the Sanctuary’s world-class dive sites and protect the Sanctuary’s marine resources.
Top quality photographs are needed for the new brochure, which will be a not for profit, educational publication for divers. The Sanctuary is sponsoring a photo contest through December 15, 2000 to find the best diving photographs for the brochure. The Sanctuary is interested in amateur photographs of diving techniques, diving activities, marine life in kelp forests, and other marine habitats in the Sanctuary. Winning images will be selected for their content and appropriateness to the new brochure. Prizes will be distributed by the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Foundation, and the photo contest winners will be announced at the next Monterey Dive Clean-Up in January 2001.
A complete listing of the photo contest rules and a photo contest entry form can be obtained from www.mbnms.nos.noaa.gov/Educate/divered.html or by contacting Patrick Cotter at mbnms_dpp@lobos.mbnms.nos.noaa.gov or (831) 647-4252.
Discovery Lab at Cabrillo Aquarium — Wed. Afternoons
Cabrillo Marine Aquarium’s Education staff and volunteers will be on hand to answer questions and involve students of all ages in exploring local marine life in the hands-on Discovery Lab. The marine lab is open every Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., with a different theme each week. Planned activities include using microscopes, examining specimens, creating an art project, delving into books, playing games, exploring the coastal habitats and much more. Live invertebrates, shark teeth, baleen, birds, bones and shells are among the specimens available for examination.
This afternoon program is free to participants. Groups are requested to call ahead.
Cabrillo Marine Aquarium has free admission, is located at 3720 Stephen White Drive, San Pedro, and is a facility of the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. For additional information, please call (310) 548-7562.
CA Fish and Game Photo Contest — deadline Dec. 29
The California Department of Fish and Game’s (DFG) Outdoor California magazine reminds all photographers that the deadline for the 2000 photo contest is approaching fast. All entries must be received at the Conservation Education and Information Program Office, Department of Fish and Game, 1416 9th Street, Room 1240, Sacramento, CA 95814, by noon December 29, 2000.
Professional, semi-professional and amateurs are invited to enter. The only requirements participants should keep in mind when submitting an entry are:
—Only photographs of live fish, wildlife and plant species in their native habitat will be considered. All photographs must be of native California species.
—Photographers should avoid artificial structures in their submissions.
—All submissions must be 35 mm slide duplicates. No digital or prints.
A panel of outside photographers and wildlife biologists will judge the contest. In addition to “Photograph of the Year,” awards will also be given for excellence and honorable mention. Award winning entries from the nine categories (birds, mammals, fish, aquatic invertebrates, terrestrial invertebrates, plants, natural environment, wildlife in action, and the newly added “open”) will be featured in the March-April 2001 issue of the magazine. The open category was created in response to the growing use of computer technology to enhance, alter and blend images.
For an official entry form, photographers may call DFG at (916) 653-7664, or write Conservation Education at the above address, email aretalla@dfg.ca.gov, or visit www.dfg.ca.gov/coned/outdoor.html on the web.
L.A. County Underwater Instructor Certification Course
The Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation and the Los Angeles County Underwater Instructors Association invite all experienced and advanced divers to participate in their 48th Underwater Instructor Certification Course. The course runs from January 6, 2001 to April 7, 2001. Candidates will have thorough training on how to teach Scuba in confined water and in open water with emphasis on beach diving. Upon successful completion of this course, the recipient will be a certified diving instructor in the oldest diving instruction agency in the country. For further information, contact Tyrone Brown of the Los Angeles County Underwater Instructors Association at (310) 965-8258. Interested parties can also email lascuba@lascuba.com or visit www.lascuba.com on the web.
Marx to Speak at CA Wreck Divers Banquet - Jan. 20
Legendary underwater explorer Robert Marx will be the guest speaker at the California Wreck Divers Annual Banquet held in Marina del Rey, California in January.
Marx is best known for his remarkable exploits in the fields of underwater archaeology and maritime history. His adventures have taken him throughout the world and led to the discovery of Spanish and Manila galleons, Civil War ironclads, French, English and Dutch shipwrecks, as well as Mayan temple sites in the remote jungles of British Honduras. In addition to countless salvage endeavors, he was the Director of Archaeological Excavation of the sunken city of Port Royal, Jamaica, which sank in 1692 during an earthquake, and was knighted by the Spanish government for being co-leader and navigator on the voyage of the Nina II, an endeavor to sail a replica of Columbus’ caravel from Palos, Spain to San Salvador.
A prolific writer, Marx has authored over 500 scientific and popular articles and over 45 books dealing with shipwrecks, sunken treasure and undersea exploration. He brings to the banquet a lifetime of first-hand experiences and stories in his slide presentation.
The banquet will be held at the Harbor House Restaurant in Marina del Rey, California at 6:00 p.m., January 20, 2001. The evening’s entertainment will also include dinner and the California Wreck Divers’ famous “Giant Raffle.”
For more information, call Steve Lawson at (949) 215-2380, or on the web at www.cawreckdivers.org.
