Volunteer Time:
2006 (total): 103 days, 169 hours
2007 (total): 238 days, 425.75 hours
2008 (total): 151 days, 281.70 hours
August
3rd, 2008:
Today was the 24th Annual SB Cruiser Ride
... featured on the blog bluelinepaddlesurf
which proclaims that " ...
you wont find any info about this ride ... it's the OUTLAW ride."I
can only guess that it is organized similar to the Rainbow
Tribe gatherings
held annually on National Forest Land
... that is to say completely without centralized leadership giving the
appearance of a spontaneous gathering.
Whatever, it was a fun and joy filled event
as hundreds of cyclists pedaled their beach cruisers from Stearns Wharf
to Isla Vista and back with a stopover at the beach. You could hear their
whooping and hollering from one end of the Park to the other as they made
their way up the bike path to Group Area 'A' where they assembled en masse.
August
6th, 2008:
A fairly rare appearance ... several of these were recently caught
by a local angler fishing from a kayak in west Goleta Bay. He correctly
identified it as being a member of the croaker family of inshore fishes
but was unsure which one it was. I spoke with Ken Jones, President of United
Pier and Shore Anglers of California (UPSAC),
who suggested it might be a Black Croaker:
"The Black
Croaker is found in all Mexican waters along the Pacific coast of Baja
California, throughout the Sea of Cortez, and along the coast of mainland
Mexico to Acapulco. It appears to be absent from around Mexico's oceanic
islands.
The Black Croaker grows to a length of 2 feet and is generally
found around inshore rocky reefs and in caves in the first 100 feet of
the water column. Care must be taken to distinguish the Black Croaker from
the Spotfin Croaker, Roncador stearnsi (second anal spine small). Due to
its rarity, the Black Croaker is of limited sportfishing or commercial
interest."
Interesting to note that it is now appearing so far north of
its home waters. Possibly because of the current water temperatures which
have been in the high 60's F.
August
11th, 2008:
Recently I installed some software
that allows me to see the location of visitors
to my site. Yesterday I noticed someone had logged on from Chiang
Mai, Thailand.
What a pleasant surprise! Since this was my most distant
visitor it sure would
be nice if we could learn a little more about our visitor ...
perhaps I will receive
a response at my email address at the bottom of the page.
August
17th, 2008:
Recent articles from the Santa Cruz area indicated that both the
Capitola and Seacliff piers were temporarily
closed by the California Department of Fish and Game due to the large
number of pelicans hooked accidentally by anglers. Both the anglers and
the birds were attracted to those piers by the presence of abundant bait
fish in the water.
That situation is entirely avoidable if anglers exercise proper
precautions such as using a covered bait board pictured here in use at
Goleta by an enlightened angler visiting from Ventura Pier. Leaving bait
uncovered serves only to entice the birds to hang around waiting for an
opportunity to snatch an easy meal.
For the past several years I have been working with the local
anglers to help them understand the necessity of covering their baits while
fishing and properly disposing of their baits when they are through fishing.
It is also important that they observe if any birds are watching them when
they cast out or retrieve as well as using heavy enough weights to sink
the baits quickly out of sight. As a result there has been a noticeable
reduction in the numbers of accidental hookings here.
Using a board to cut bait on rather than on the railings and
benches also eliminates the fish slime which attracts wasps and bees. A
daily clean up of leftover bait and slime, as is done here, is another
way of making the Pier a bit safer for all users.
August
17th, 2008:
After cleaning the Pier this morning I was doing some reports in
my RV when I got a call from local angler Roy Qi who was out on the Pier
helping a young man land his second only halibut ... did I have a net they
could use?
It gave me a chance to try out a large landing net recently donated
to the Marine Center by Mr. Shin owner of a local bait and tackle shop
Hook
Line and Sinker. Unfortunately the net was still in my RV!
Rushing out to the Pier with net in tow I found that Roy had
gently brought the halibut to the surface where it was floating quietly.
The fish was netted and eased up on the Pier where it measured out a disappointing
21 and 7/8 inches ... just short of being legal. The young man accepted
his fate with good grace and used the net to lower it back down to the
water. After several minutes we watched the fish revive and swim away.
As I was walking back I was asked for assistance with another
fish ... this time a 16" Calico Bass caught by another local angler. That
fish too was successfully retrieved and will serve as his dinner tonight.
After reviewing the above picture I realized that the young man
never got a chance to take a picture of his catch. I contacted Roy
and he will take copies of the picture as well as a link to this report
to the young man tonight.
August
26th, 2008:
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