The Union Tribune is running an article today highlighting a proposal to start charging for beachfront parking in La Jolla. And just in case you were thinking of being crafty and parking on surfance streets, the proposal also something you should watch for if you live in the San Diego area.

This will effect divers at La Jolla Shores, Cove, and Children’s Pool, among other places. The full text of the article can be found here.

On a personal level, I’m opposed to the increase since I grew up in the area. However, La Jolla certainly isn’t the first area in southern California to take such a measure. In Los Angeles, where I currently reside, they charge about $7/car for every single beach front parking lot. While it sucks to pay, it does have the added effect of keeping the crowds down and ensuring that if you really want to go to the beach, you can probably find parking.

Fellow diver Tom Kendrick wrote me a note about his new book Bluewater Gold Rush, the Odyssey of a California Sea Urchin Diver. Kendrick has decades of experience with the urchin industry and it should make for an interesting read. If you’re interested, you can check out his web site here.

Welcome! What a ride. I’ve been working on the code for DiveTrail for the past few months and it’s finally ready. I’m not sure where we’ll end up but my goal is to create a general map of all the dive sites in southern California by the end of 2008. Right now, as you can see, I only have a few of the more popular sites in the database but with the help of the online diving community, I think we can all come together and create something really unique.

In addition to mapping, I’ll also be covering ocean-related news in this main column on the front page. If you find any bugs, or have any suggestions PLEASE SEND THEM ALONG! I would really appreciate your feedback.

Thank you for visiting, and happy diving.

I just thought I’d pass this along. I wouldn’t necessarily call this an animal attack, but rather, a realistic look at what happens when you mess around with moray eels, fish sticks, and bear fingers. Fast forward about 3:20 seconds into the video to see the action.

Click here for the video

A scientific trip to an otherwise previously unexplored section of Antarctic sea floor has revealed a wealth of useful information and a few undiscovered species. Check out this link to view the photos.