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Become a White Seabass Volunteer - Jan. 12
We have been hearing a lot about the wonderful recovery of the black sea bass but another success story has been the come back of the white sea bass. The white sea bass is actually a very different animal than the black sea bass. It is more elongated, silver in color and quite shy. It is also still legal to take white sea bass and is prize game fish among both spearfishers and rod fishers.
White sea bass populations were decimated in the 1970s and 80s largely due to the loss of wetland habitat for juvenile fish and overfishing by gill netting (now banned). With the ban, and a unique project for juvenile fish grow-out, the population has rebounded.
In protected bays up and down the coast, pens have been established by various groups to allow for the unhindered growth of juvenile white sea bass. When the fish reach proper size, they are released into the wild.
One of the pens is maintained by the San Diego Oceans Foundation (SDOF). Volunteers are needed to maintain the pens. They will be holding a volunteer orientation on Sat., January 12 at 4 p.m. at the SDOF office. For information call 619-523-1903.
22nd Annual Avalon Underwater Clean-up — Feb. 23
The 22nd Annual Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup takes place on Saturday, February 23. The trash found in the bay is collected over the 90- minute period in the morning and then sorted and recycled by volunteers. An awards presentation will follow that afternoon at Wrigley Plaza Stage in town. There will be a large number of prizes given away and awards given out for exemplary trash and stories.
The proceeds from the Underwater Clean-Up will benefit the non-profit Catalina Conservancy Divers and Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber. Advanced registration is required. Registration will not be allowed the day of the event. There is a registration fee that includes an air fill, door prize ticket, and a commemorative T-shirt. New for the 2002 clean-up is online registration at http://www.ccd.org.
For a further information, call (310) 510-2595 or visit www.ccd.org on the web.
James Cameron at CA Wreck Divers Banquet — Feb. 23
Academy Award winner James Cameron, screenwriter, director, and producer of the blockbuster movie Titanic, will be the guest speaker at the California Wreck Divers Annual Banquet to be held in February in Marina Del Rey, CA.
Cameron first became acquainted with the underwater realm as a teenager when certified as a diver at age 16.
Cameron’s breakthrough motion pictures The Terminator in 1984 and The Abyss in 1989 demonstrated his technical creativity with a plethora of visually-stunning effects.
Although multi-talented with a wide range of accomplishments, James Cameron will always be known for Titanic, the most successful film of all time. Cameron’s dozen dives to the actual wreck site of the Titanic, 2 1/2 miles beneath the North Atlantic, has fueled his interest in shipwrecks and shipwreck exploration, giving birth to stories and adventures he will share during the banquet.
The banquet will be held at the Harbor House Restaurant in Marina Del Rey, CA at 5:30 p.m., February 23. For More information, call Steve Lawson at 949-215-2380 or visit the California Wreck Divers’ website http://www.cawreckdivers.org.
