This past weekend, Santa once again returned to the City of West University Place to pose for photographs underwater. This annual event benefits the West University Parks Department and showcases Santa’s love of diving. Santa posed with divers, snorkelers, swimmers who were adults and children.
The Oceanic Ventures Staff including, Travis Hershey, Zaide Scheib, Joel Hershey, Leia Zuczak, Coad Worden and photographer Eric Keibler, helped with the event by keeping things organized and flowing.
We had a great time and met a lot of fun people during the event. If you missed the event, we will all be back again the second weekend of November 2017.
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Charity Art Lecture and Sale
Ann and I were first introduced to Fr. Tham’s art at the Art with a Heart charity auction which benefits the San Jose’ Clinic here in Houston. In that art auction, there was a beautiful watercolor of a tiger and we just fell in love with it. So, we both kept going back and bidding, making sure we were the high bidder — a lot of work but it was worth it. It now hangs in our bedroom.Over the years we have had the opportunity to see some of his other work (and yes purchase it). Fr. Tham will be speaking at the University of St Thomas at a bio-ethics conference in November so we are very fortunate to have him speak about his artwork and the making of the watercolors. He studied traditional Chinese watercolor techniques and has produced some truly stunning pieces of art.
Art Sale and Auction
There will be an auction of some of Mark Austin’s glass art and some other artwork as well as the ability to purchase some of Fr Tham’s Artwork. You can preview some of the watercolors here.
The proceeds of the sale will benefit his order and the Oceanic Ventures Foundation’s work in Fiji.
WHEN: Sunday, November 13 3:00 – 6:00
WHERE: Black Labrador, 4100 Montrose Blvd
Scuba Diver's Garage Sale
We have new equipment that we is one-of-a kind, last year’s models as well as trade-ins, exchanges and demo equipment. There are books, travel guides and who knows what else (we are still looking through things). We will have a bin of FREE items and things that benefit the Oceanic Ventures Foundation.
Don’t Wait Come See What Shows Up!
Since we are already looking through the storage facilities, some of the items we have found are showing up in he store. Right now you will find a collection of wet suits on the veranda for $25.00 – $50.00 so come by and see what we’ve found. Dive Mom has two bins of equipment beneath her desk full of deals! You just need to come by and see what has shown up during our excavations.
- WHEN: Saturday, November 19 10:00 – 4:00
- Sunday, November 20, 2:00 – 5:00
- WHERE: Right here at 2715 Bissonnet, suite 302
Scuba Diving Adventure to Indonesia Comes to a Close
The Oceanic Ventures Adventure Trip to Indonesia’s Forgotten Islands is rapidly coming to a close. The group has left the boat and is currently in Bali or Jakarta (the group took different routes to get there) and are preparing for the journey home. The Bali group is lounging in Nusa Dua and will be starting home tomorrow.
Keep watching for more updates on this trip and I am sure we will see some of the photographs in the !
Investigation of East Flower Garden Bank coral die-off continues amid new coral bleaching event
Scientists continue to explore a broad spectrum of possible causes for July’s mass mortality event at East Flower Garden Bank within Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, including environmental conditions and human activities. Meanwhile, their efforts are now complicated by a new but unrelated coral bleaching event, which can happen this time of year when corals are stressed by warmer water temperatures.
A preliminary review of vessel traffic data revealed a lack of vessels in the vicinity just before the mortality event. This effectively rules out the possibility of an acute discharge of pollutants as the cause of the die-off. Earlier analyses indicated that no hydrocarbons were present in the area of the mortality, which further reduces the likelihood that the event was due to some sort of petroleum-based contamination.
Ongoing response efforts are now focused on additional analysis of oceanographic dynamics (see animation below) and water quality. NOAA research divers conducting additional response surveys earlier this month observed dead sponges in other locations around East Flower Garden Bank and on a nearby production platform just outside the boundary of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. The die-off and whatever caused it, therefore, may have been more widespread than initially thought. [READ MORE]
