Beautiful day on the water yesterday.... A little on Doc's Pro Plugs for ear problems...

No whale action, but we did catch a glimpse of a large manta on the surface at the end of the second dive. The water conditions were excellent, maybe a degree warmer than a couple days back actually, as Bob's temp gauge jumped up to 75 from 73 the other day.

I've been sitting up top for a while, a strange lower abdominal pull and such, and started diving again last week... only to come down with an ear infection. I guess it's time to invest in another pair of Doc's Pro Plugs to wear when the ears heal up in a couple days. Normally you'd never wear ear plugs when diving as there's a good chance you'll cause yourself lots of damage, but years back a surfer dude/doctor invented some plugs to help keep surfers from getting ear infections, when someone suggested diving he thought about it and realized they'd have to be perforated to allow pressure transfer. They don't keep your ears dry, just limit the amount of continuous water exchange. I've used them in the past and they seem to help, especially with equalizing rapidly. They're handy if you're prone to ear infections or if you have troubles equalizing. I use them when I teach a lot and am going to have to do a bunch of CESAs (controlled emergency swimming ascents) with students. I've lost my share of plugs, it generally only happens with I'm removing my mask for teaching skills and the plug string gets caught on my mask strap and I forget, under normal diving situations I've never lost them. You should be able to find them in your local dive or surf shop, if not I'm pretty sure they sell them direct on line.... just make sure you get the vented plugs for diving.

Here's a shot of a Peacock Flounder (Bothus mancus) on a rock from the other day. I had to take 6-7 shots just to get this - they're really tough to get a decent picture of because they have a knack for landing on light gray rocks and then blending in to match, it's tough to get the exposure right to where the patterns and color show up. This pic doesn't do them justice when it comes to color.

Later,

Steve