My feeling is that this is going to be a big El Nino year (see all
the crazy weather in Texas, England, etc), and I would bet that that
water temps there in CA have been a bit higher than normal.

So the Blue-Banded Gobies (which are typical of warmer water, like
those found around Catalina, Baja), are making their way up north
following the warmer currents coming up form MX and souther
California....

Can anyone confirm warmer waters in CA this year?

Otherwise, my wild guess could just be a bunch of BS..... ("Nice try,
Nick" .... :-) )

Other than that, things are going well here in the Philippines.

My child psych. practice is going very well (I'll soon have to have a
waiting list!), and the uw gigs have finally kicked in, from several
production companies.

I'm also shooting for The Window Channel
(http://thewindowchannel.com), who specializes in panoramic High Def.
short documentaries to be viewed on thos big 50+ inch plasma TVs...
They hired me recently to shoot several uw reef scenes, as well as
several topside shots (e.g.,waterfalls, beaches, palmtrees, etc.)
here in the tropics!

Then I was also recently hired to film whales and whalesharks next
Feb/ March in Mindanao, one of the southern islands in the PI, for a
project co-sponsored by the Phil. Dept of Tourism and the Marine Bio
Dept of one of the universities there.

Then also working on a DVD "Philippines Diving" that will soon be
promoted in the US through a media company I've hooked up here in the
PI.

Last, there's also good chances to produce a similar DVD that will
be a "companion DVD" for the best book on diving in the PI, called
"The Ultimate Guide to Diving the Philippines" by Ronald Van Vooren.
Fabuous book, with tons of very detailed 3D maps for all sites, GCS
cordinates, the works!
I recently met the author of this book, he's working on the new
editition and was very interested in having me shoot and produce the
companion DVD. I should know in a few weeks after his publisher gives
him the ok.

And now it's almost time to start the usual yearly submissions to
several international competitions...!

Needless to say... I barerly have the time to stop and take a
breath... Oh well :-)

Well, can'twait to see some of you here in PI in October! (Steve,
Gretchen, Will, Robin, etc).

Hugs to you all, and talk to you soon.

Nick

PS: Spent a few HOURS filming pygmy sea horses last weekend 3 hours
south of where I live... man they're a challenge! I could barely see
the little fellas! :-)

===============



At 12:36 PM -0700 7/31/07, Carl Gwinn wrote:
>....I was a _little_ bit surprised to see Bluebanded Gobies (a.k.a.
>Catalina Gobies) as far West as Cuevo Valdez or Fry's Harbor. I
>looked at the database at www.reef.org .
>
>At Cuevo Valdez and Fry's:
>In fish counts before 2000, 22% saw Bluebanded Gobies.
>In 2001-04, 8% did.
>In 20045-07, 6% did.
>We must have gotten close to 100% on our dives there. They've shown
>up as far North as Vancouver: a couple of times long ago.
>
>


--
======================================
Nick Martorano, Ph.D.
Underwater Filmmmaker
http://www.oceanwonders.org