In Reply to: VETS PARK UPDATE & MEETING REPORT posted by Ken Kurtis on December 02, 2012 at 18:22:04:

Ken,
Thank you for all your efforts past, present and future...They are appreciated!

A few points:

A) what is a "Bushnell golf laser rangefinder" Is golf that game played in a horse pasture by really old people? Have you joined their ranks?

B) A history lesson:

1) Star mops-
In the 1950s the divers of So Cal under the banner of the of the Los Angeles Council of divers (LACD, Named changed in 1960 to "Greater LACD" and incorporated OC and parts of Ventura Co) conducted a series of Star Mops, which were events to rid the break waters of star fish. It was a big news worthy event and divers from all over SoCal participated with local news paper and TV coverage.

There was very little knowledge of marine life sixty years ago, so in good faith the star fish collected from the LA break water were chopped up and tossed right back into the ocean...a few years later there were five times as many star fish on the break water.

In the Long Beach break water Star mop and the second LA break water Star mop the offending star fish were placed on boats taken to mid channel and tossed over board

By the time OC cleaned the NP/CDM break water of star fish a certain amount of learning had taken place. The star fish were bagged and sold to a company in down town Orange who preserved them and marketed them to the local beach communities

2) PURP-Palos Verde Under Restoration Project
In the early 1960s LA Co UW Instructors Association, under the direction of Tom Ebro established PURP a huge event attended by untold numbers of divers, and covered by news papers and TV stations. The object of PURP was to rid White's Point of sea urchins..Divers took to the water with hammers in hand to crush all the sea urchins. A PA system was set up. a huge tally board keep a running track of the the number of sea urchins destroyed - once again marine science was just emerging and all PURP did was to produced more sea urchins at Whites point.

3) That was then--what about NOW?

A tree that falls in the woods does it? or does it not?-- make a noise?

It appears that it is time for you to place your well worn organization hat on and organize this clean up for maximum public exposure..Set a specific date, notify divers and dive clubs, contact the media, news papers, TV, CDN and make an event of it...one that will make a noise and be heard through out the land- and not in the dark of a week day night

I recall the very first Avalon clean up organized by Lil Lancaster, the wife of charter boat captain Arnie Lancaster (Arni's reef)I was a participant and a picture of me smiling coming off a boat toting my dive gear and a bag of bottles was the featured picture in Skin Diver Magazine, which was the only Magazine of that era. We pulled up so much trash, so many very rare antique bottles. I saved a few, which have all disappeared with the passage of time- when I head about the dredging and dumping and now clean ---I question how many antique bottles will be tossed into the dumpster- gone forever. May be the antique bottle collectors should also be invited to the party?

SDM
LA Co UW Instructor