 To have your event posted here e-mail: mail@cadivingnews.com San Diego Underwater Film Festival April 5 The San Diego Underwater Photographic Society (SDUPS) will present their 39th Annual Film Festival, April 5th at Sumner Auditorium, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA. The event is free and showcases SDUPS member’s video and still images of marine life large and small, from such exotic locales as the tropical waters of the Indo Pacific and Caribbean to the temperate waters of North America. Tickets are now available by visiting www.sdups.com online. SDUPS is an organization whose members are dedicated to improving their skills and knowledge of all aspects of underwater photography. National Parks in the Sea: Opportunities for Fisheries Research Lecture April 11 This lecture will look at fisheries research conducted in and around areas that could be designated as national parks in the ocean. Presenter Gary Davis as Chief Scientist, Ocean Programs, National Parks Service (Retired) has spent his career diving and observing underwater habitats in Channel Islands National Park. He will share his ideas of what national parks have to offer to a healthy environment. There is a fee of $7 per person ($5 for aquarium “FRIENDS” members). For more information, visit www.cabrilloaq.org. Earth Day Celebration at Aquarium of the Pacific April 12-13 Learn what you can do to help our ocean planet at the Aquarium of the Pacific’s eighth annual Earth Day Celebration. Join the Aquarium for a weekend of family fun celebrating Earth Day while learning simple, everyday tips to protect our environment. Visit booths from various earth-friendly organizations and participate in hands-on learning demonstrations for people of all ages. General admission costs apply. Aquarium of the Pacific is located at 100 Aquarium Way in Long Beach, California. For more information, call 562-590-3100 or visit www.aquariumofpacific.org online. Historical Diving Society Conference April 18-20 The Historical Diving Society will hold its 2008 Conference in Monterey, California on April 18 - 20 at the Monterey Maritime and History Museum. Speakers include: • Tom Kendrick, presenting “Swimming with Sea Monsters: 22 Years as a California Sea Urchin Diver.” • Nyle C. Monday presenting “Dragons Under the Sea: the FUKURYU and the Underwater Defense of Japan, 1945.” • Chris Swan, presenting “The Development of Commercial Helium Diving.” • A. L. “Scrap” Lundy, presenting “The Divers Who Made Cannery Row the Sardine Capital of the World.” The weekend event will be held in conjunction with the Association of Diving Contractors International Western Chapter meeting. The Society will hold its Awards Banquet on the evening of Saturday, April 19. All weekend events are open to the public. Complete details of this unique national gathering including exhibits, additional speakers, banquet, guest speakers and full weekend program can be found at www.hds.org. Chamber Day 2008 May 7 Registration is now underway for the 20th annual Chamber Day, May 7. Chamber Day is a fund-raiser for the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber, and is the largest single-day scuba charity event in the United States. The Catalina Chamber is dedicated strictly to the treatment of diving accidents on a continual basis. Having the chamber available gives divers a vital safety net in the event something should go wrong with your dive. Although there is a grant from L.A. County, and the chamber gets income from some outside activities, Chamber Day provides a significant portion (close to 50 percent) of the chamber’s annual budget. All the monies raised goes to the chamber. No administrative fees are deducted from the proceeds, the local Southern California boats donate their time and services, the manufacturers donate gear for raffle prizes, the Aquarium of the Pacific donates their facility for the evening event and hundreds of volunteers donate their time. The event has many facets and there are multiple ways for you to get involved. The main event is Chamber Day, a full day of diving (two dives) at Catalina plus a walking tour of the chamber at the Isthmus. Cost for this is $90 (plus $30 for food & air fills) that gets you the diving, the tour, a t-shirt, and five raffle tickets. For those who can’t take a day off but would still like to participate, there is the Flying Dutchman, a mythical boat but a big part of Chamber Day, as it’s the perfect place for those who can’t do the event. Those who choose to “dive” the Dutchman get a special limited-edition t-shirt (available only to those who sign up for the Dutchman) as well as raffle tickets. There’s also the Chamber Challenge, where the diving community is “challenged” to raise extra funds for our chamber, through specific donations (usually $100, but also $500 and $1000), which then hopefully challenge your friends to match your generosity. Raffle tickets can be purchased for the daytime raffle (you need not be present to win) whether you’re going on a boat or just want a chance at winning some fabulous prizes. Chamber Evening (10th Annual) is the cap to everything and is co-sponsored by the Aquarium of the Pacific. It features full access to the Aquarium, a sit-down dinner in the Great Hall, a separate raffle, and the presentation of the final check to Karl Huggins, Director of the Chamber. Full information on this event can be found on the web at www.chamberday.org. You can even sign up via the web and a secure server, or by calling 310-652-4990. |
