September 2020 volume 31, number 9 t h e s t a g g e r i n g s t a r f i s h the official newsletter of the GSNDAMBAA Club 29621 232ND AVE SE, Black Diamond WA 98010 [email protected] 360.886.1679

eptember Club Meeting -GSNDAMBAA-at-a-Glance S Spanky decided to hold another virtual meeting 09/03/2020 6:00 PM since the COVID pandemic has not miraculously Virtual Club meeting disappeared, as someone once predicted. We will hold 09/11-13/2020 (Subject to Revision) our virtual club meeting at 6:00 PM on Thursday, Club Dive/Camp Weekend at September 3. Spanky will send an email invitation to 10/01/2020 6:00 PM the regular meeting attendees. If you do not attend Club Meeting at Edmonds regularly and would like to be invited, please email 10/10/2020 11:45 AM Spanky at [email protected] no later than noon Club Dive at Titlow on September 3. Our meeting agenda includes planning 11/05/2020 6:00 PM our December bonus club dive (which traditionally is at Club meeting at Edmonds Underwater Sports Redondo) and our January 2021 club dive. 11/08/2020 10:00 AM eptember Dive/Camp Weekend Club Dive at Saltwater State Park 11/27/2020 12:00 PM Our 2020 Dive/Camp weekend will be held the S Bonus club dive at Redondo weekend of September 11-13. Spanky will make 12/06/2020 8:30 AM sure everyone carefully follows the Phase 3 Club Dive at restrictions for social gatherings. ESSDBs Steve and 12/06/2020 3:00 PM Dee Ann have again graciously offered their Hood Canal Club Holiday Party at ESSDB Jim’s house in Edmonds vacation home for the club Dive/Camp Weekend. The plan is to travel to their place the afternoon/evening of were joined by a new diver to our group, Joe, and he Friday, September 11 so we are ready to do some dives would see the most interesting thing on the dive. We all on Saturday, when we hope to complete 2 dives off of entered at the same time and were encouraged by the ESSDB Richard’s boat. Preliminary plans anticipate two visibility as we swam out to the drop spot. We groups of divers. The divers will drive to the boat ramp submerged in about 30 feet of water, took a compass in Hoodsport and one group will board the boat for a bearing on a brand new compass and found the start of dive. The boat will then return to the dock and the dive the wall straight away. Visibility was pretty good along groups will exchange places. Potential dive sites include the wall as we headed south. There were a lot of and Octopus Hole. Sleeping arrangements sculpins of various flavors and they seem to be the include a limited number of beds in the cabin and floor laziest of fish. There was not a whole lot that they or deck space for sleeping bags. There is also room for thought was worth moving for. We could pretty much tents. Please remember to bring some cash to get in their face and they starred back at us blankly, reimburse our hosts (ESSDBs Dee Ann, Steve, and without a care in the world. There were some crabs Richard) for food, fuel, and launch fees. Directions to with impressive claws that made Spanky hungry. There our destination will be emailed to those who RSVP. was a grunt sculpin out for a Sunday walk that stopped Previous weekends at Steve & Dee Ann’s Hood Canal to pose nicely for Jim to film. We also saw a few home have been a lot of fun and the dive sites are gunnels, not juvenile wolf eels. The best find though excellent. In addition, Steve might be making his world was by Joe, a couple of five foot dogfish! He got some famous Swedish Pancakes for breakfast on Sunday. great shots of them (see the C-P-O-T-M section of this ugust Club Dive Report very newsletter). After the dive we sat on the beach and had sandwiches, courtesy of ESSDB Jim. Great It was a dark and stormy night. No actually it A day, great dive. was a spectacular, sunny Sunday morning when we arrived for the Fox Island West Wall dive. The water was glass smooth, no wind and barely a . We oliday Party Save-a-Date H In what seems like it is becoming a Club holiday standard, we will once again be holding the Club Holiday Party at the centrally located home of ESSDB Jim. This year we will be holding the Holiday party on Sunday, December 6, at 3:00 PM. Please mark your calendar now and plan on joining us! Cool-?-of-the-Month Section Cool-Web-Articles-of-the-Month: Spanky selected a web article that builds on the legacy of . His grandson is working on a project to launch a new undersea habitat to support research. His concept is based on a 4,000 sq. ft. /research station near Curacao that will allow researchers to be residents of the rather than short term visitors. The article is here. Spanky’s second cool article is about ecotourism and the effects it can have on the natural environment. Some operators seed and dive sites to enhance the diving or snorkeling experience (one could wonder why these operators would be called ecotourist operators). The effect of this method has been studied and you can read about it by clicking on ecotourism?. Cool-Classified-Ad-of-the-Month: Spanky accepted an ad for a very reasonably priced DUI drysuit offered by a club member. DUI FLX50/50, size medium. Includes the fleece undergarment and boots. All for $200. The DUI size chart is here.

Cool-Photos-Of-The-Month: Our cool photos for this month were taken by new club diver Joe at the Fox Island West Wall during the August club dive. Joe was fortunate to get to spend Got a C?OTM? Send it to Spanky at [email protected]. some time with a couple curious dog fish and he managed to get some great shots. Spiny Dog Fish are Visit Spanky at the only sharks commonly found in Puget Sound. They www.gsndambaa.org are reported to get up to 5.5 feet in length, which is Email Spanky at about what Joe estimated that his visitors were. Did [email protected] you know that they are called dog fish because fisherman have reported seeing these types of sharks The deadline for items to be included in the Octoboo 2020 Issue is hunting in dog-like packs? They are reported to Friday, September 18. sometimes have a few hundred in a hunting pack.