AKSCUBA.COM NEWS

July 31, 2010

SITE MAINTENANCE Our old server was limiting and slow. In order to accommodate our changing needs, we have decided to move to a new address. Welcome to it! Unfortunately, the move has interfered with certain of the site's features, including the most popular feature (the forums). Please bear with us for the next few days as we work out some kinks and reenable these features.

With dry suits and all the gear used to get the most out of diving in Alaska, trim and buoyancy control become critical. You need to think about where to put all that weight so that you keep perfect horizontal trim in the water. Also, make sure not to over or under weight. The secret is to do a weight check whenever you change conditions or equipment, and then do another at the beginning and ending of every dive. It's quick - just deflate your BC and dry suit and hold a normal breath; you should have no trouble getting down, because you should be negative (because of the air in your tank). At the end of the dive, do a safety stop and watch your buoyancy while you do. If all goes well, then do a final check just before getting out of the water. You should be perfectly neutral (since you've used the tank air).

Mammals

Whales, dolphin, seals, sea lion

Fish

Fin fish

Salmon, rockfish, halibut, lingcod

Other fish

Sharks, wolf fish, true eels

Arthropods

Crabs, sea spiders

Mollusks

Scallops, oysters, clams, sea slugs, sea snails, nudibranchs

Echnoderms

Stars of various ilk are very common in Alaska's waters. In fact, Alaska is rich with echinoderms including brittle stars, various sea stars Leather stars (dermasterias imbricata) and vermilion stars (mediaster aequalias) , and urchins.

Cnidaria

Jellys, anemone's , and, yes, corals. Alaskan corals are mostly the soft kind, although some brilliant corals have been discovered in the Aleutian chain.

Metridia (especially metridia pacifica) are very common.

Algae

Alaska has a rich population of algaes, including some amazing seaweeds. For instance, I am told that Alaska is home to feather boa kelps (Egregia menziesii) (please let me know if you have a picture to donate). We used to pop bull kelp in Juneau. Seward is home to massive turkish towels (chondracanthus exasperatus), some three feet long or longer. A little trivia - turkish towels can be used as exfoliating sponges when bathing, and the slime inside is full of carrageenan (that's the emulsifier used in chocolate bars).

Worms

...?...

True Plants