Thank you to everyone who joined in and supported the chamber, keeping it funded and available for anyone who may need it. This year was more fun and successful than ever. The proceeds from Chamber Day & Chamber Night have been tallied and $115,000 was raised to help fund the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber. That's only $5,000 less than last year's totals, which says a lot about the generosity of this dive community in these economic times. Ocean Adventures crewed the Sundiver and the Sundiver II during Chamber Day and filled two tables on Chamber night.

For those who were lucky enough to play hookey on Wednesday, May 6, the diving was great and the weather wonderful! Chamber Night saw our divers dressed up and sitting down for a lovely evening of good food and great raffle prizes, Tom Hinerfeld won the Silent Auction to be the Aquarium Diver for a day!

Ocean Adventures Dive Co. is a big sponsor of this annual event on all levels, and you can be a part of it next year. Look for the newsletter and sign up for a seat at the Chamber Night OADC tables or get your gear and get on a Chamber Day boat. It's great fun for an even greater cause.

A new species of Zoanthid (a type of coral) has been named in honor of Robert R. Given, Ph.D., a lifetime Benefactor Member of the Catalina Island Conservancy who passed away in February 2008, following a lengthy battle with cancer.

Epizoanthus giveni - a hexacoral commonly known as Yellow Zoanthid, was collected in December 2006 by Adam Daw, attached to a rock wall at the west end of Ship Rock off of Two Harbors. Corals are marine organisms related to sea anemones and jellyfish. Hexacorals have six or multiples of six tentacles, with hard bodies usually made up of calcium carbonate. Like many other biologists and collectors, Dr. Given had pointed out the need for this new species to be named.

Dr. Given served as director of the University of Southern California Wrigley Marine Science Center from 1975 to 1984. He worked closely with Philip Knight Wrigley, president of the Santa Catalina Island Company on the formation of the Catalina Island Conservancy. He also created the scientific training program for the Catalina Conservancy Divers, a member support group for the Conservancy. In August 2007, Dr. Given was honored by the Conservancy with the creation of the Robert Given Fund for Ocean Conservation that is funding the Conservancy's educational and research activities related to the ocean.

Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO) is a large-scale marine research program that focuses on understanding the nearshore ecosystems of the U.S. West Coast. An interdisciplinary collaboration of scientists from four universities, PISCO integrates long-term monitoring of ecological and oceanographic processes at dozens of coastal sites with experimental work in the lab and field.

PISCO scientists explore how individual organisms, populations, and ecological communities vary over space and time. PISCO's findings are applied to issues of ocean conservation and management, and are shared through our public outreach and student training programs.

This year, Ocean Adventures hopes to have PISCO scientist speak at a dive club meeting and become involved with protecting our beautiful underwater coast.

Spring in LA sure feels like Summer this year! Recent boats have filled up quickly and we have more local boats than ever in the coming months, where recent divers have experienced Winter-like visibility with Summer-like weather!

May 17, the Sundiver explores Catalina Island and May 31, the Spectre motors to Anacapa Island. Call the shop (310.578.9391), reserve your spot, get your gear and get on a boat.