Welcome to the Antelope Valley Desert Divers website Check out our calendar for a complete list of meetings, activities, and events.

Meetings are on "Second Monday" of the Month General Meeting: Monday, February 8, 7:00pm                The Antelope Valley Desert Divers is pleased to announce that the speaker for the February 8th, 2010 meeting will be the Collections Manager of the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History Polychaetous Annelids Collection, Leslie H. Harris. Ms. Harris' topic will be "Lifestyles of the Wet and Spineless." Scuba divers often encounter members of the class Polychaeta ("poly-keet-a") when diving in the local area. These usually small and unimposing creatures often escape notice because of their camouflage and sedentary lifestyles. They are there. We just don't see them. Additionally, there are other obscure invertebrates that remain hidden from the view of most divers. Nudibranchs, molluscs, polycheate worms, and other invertebrates are the bellwethers for the health of the ecosystem beneath the sea. Ms. Harris' emphasis will be on species from the Southern California area and she will delve into their feeding and procreating habits.  Ms. Harris will be increasing our awareness of these fascinating creatures and showing us that just because a creature is individually small, it is not necessarily unimportant to the environment and far from uninteresting. All local divers are invited to join us and benefit from this marvelous opportunity to learn about our undersea world. The meeting will be at the Larry Chimbole Cultural Center, 38350 Sierra Highway, Palmdale, CA 93550, at 7:00 PM, February 8th, 2010. Leslie Harris has worked with the polychaete collection since 1988. Ms. Harris is an eminent authority on the marine flora and fauna of California, and has been instrumental in the acquisition of major private polychaete collections for the Museum. She is one of the founders of the Southern California Association of Marine Invertebrate Taxonomists. Here is the official description of the Polychaetous Annelids Collection from the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History website. The class Polychaeta ("poly-keet-a") consists of a very diverse group of segmented worms (unlike round worms or flatworms, which are not segmented) that live primarily in ocean habitats. The closest relatives of polychaetes are the earthworms and leeches, which comprise the class Clitellata, all of which are members of the phylum Annelida. Among the over 80 plus polychaete families and more than 10,000 described species there is an amazing array of body forms and sizes. Although polychaetes are largely unknown to most people that visit the seashore, our understanding of the impacts of human activities on the oceans can be monitored accurately only through the careful study of these denizens of the deep. The Polychaete Department, staffed by a Curator and Collections Manager, maintains active research programs ranging from basic polychaete systematics, to the study of evolutionary relationships within particular polychaete families, to investigations into philosophy of biology that impinge on how evolutionary biology operates within the scope of the nature of science. New collections are routinely acquired, such that the collection is a near-constantly expanding resource utilized by researchers from around the world.  In addition to the loan of specimens, the department provides space to accommodate short-term visitors, who provide valuable opportunities for collaboration. Jack Cook Dive Coordinator Antelope Valley Desert Divers       Directions

Hello Desert Divers, Spring is fast approaching. If you haven’t done so, its time to get your equipment checked out. The California “warm water” diving season is upon us. AVDD banquet is happening on March 6th, tickets will be available at our next meeting. Join us at Pars in Palmdale for “Persian Nights”. The cost will be $35.00 per person for a four course meal & entertainment. We are working hard to gather some great raffle prizes. We hope that you will be able to come out enjoy the evening with us and help support AVDD. As you might know, this is our primary fund raiser to help support other club activities. Come on out and have some fun with us. Our erstwhile program director Jack Cook has arranged a great speaker for this months meeting. Come out and hear about “Lifestyles of the wet and spineless”, a presentation about marine invertebrates. Here is just another good reason to come out to the meeting, besides the company of fellow divers. See you at the meeting! Your Prez

Catalina Harbor Cleanup Dive      The Catalina Harbor Cleanup Dive is scheduled for Feb. 20 this year.  This is a unique opportunity to get to dive the harbor, which we normally don't get to do, and to be a part in helping to clean up our ocean which we at AVDD enjoy so much.      This is a lot of fun and prizes and give-aways are always part of the day. (CHUMMING!!)     So if you can, come on out and enjoy the diving fun.     Catalina Express is filling up fast so act quickly.  The phone number and web address are listed below.     If you are wanting to make a weekend out of it, here are a few places to try.     Catalina Express  (800) 481-3470     catalinaexpress.com     Seaport Village Inn  1-800-2-CATALINA      catalinacatalina.com     Hermosa Hotel & Catalina Cottages     Toll-Free:  877 241-1313     hermosahotel.com     Registration Home Page     https://catalinaconservancy.ejoinme.org/?tabid=179486     Here is a cool link to a video from last year.     http://www.vimeo.com/8898521     Look for AVDD banner. I'm not sure where it will be right now.     If you need any further information, give me a call or e-mail me.     Mangum_4@msn.com     trmangum4@gmail.com Hope to see you there, Tammy Mangum

40th Annual Banquet and Magical Persian Evening   Fine Persian Cuisine, Live Music, Belly Dancing, Magic of Chris Cory, and raffle prizes, are just some of the things in store for the upcoming Antelope Valley Desert Divers 40th Annual Banquet. This years Banquet will be held at    Pars Restaurant 40008 10th Street West Palmdale    Contact any Board member for tickets.

2010 Upcomming Events Calendar  Feb. 8 - General Meeting  Feb. 20 - 29th Annual Avalon Underwater Cleanup  March 6 - 40th Annual AV Desert Divers Banquet  Mar. 8 - General Meeting  Apr. 12 - General Meeting  May 5* - Chamber Day *(estimated date)  May 10 - General Meeting  May 15 - Scuba Show  Jun. 14 - General Meeting  Jun. 19 - Clam Chowder Dive ( Leo Carrillo)  Jul. 4 - 4th of July BBQ Aug. 9 - General Meeting

Become a Member And enjoy all the Benefits the club has to offer including fun and informative meetings, dives, events, and networking with other divers and professionals in the dive industry. It's easy! Just download the Membership Form, fill it out and mail it along with your payment to the address on the form (or bring it to a meeting or event). Memberships run yearly July-June and cost $25.00 (single) and $40.00 (family). In addition to your membership you will receive an air-fill card from Sport Chalet which is good for 10-free fills. Sport Chalet also offers the club and its members additional discounts and benefits (Club Benefits document from Chris Robinson - Sport Chalet Scuba Operations Manager)

Thanks for visiting our website!  Founded in 1970, the Antelope Valley Desert Divers is one of the oldest dive clubs in Southern California.  Some of our more senior members have been diving together since the 1950's and have great stories and experiences to share.  Members enjoy many benefits, including discounts on dive boat charters, equipment purchases and rentals, just to name a few.  We also participate in annual clean-up dives and campouts.  Why not come out and visit us at our general meeting or  event.

California Diving News Launches CADivingNews.com 2.0 After being a staple magazine in California dive stores for 25 years, CDN creates a strong online presence with its newly revamped website. Visit the new California Diving News website at http://www.cadivingnews.com/ or for more information e-mail: mail@cadivingnews.com. SCUBA Show 2010 — May 15-16, 2010 Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach, CA The SCUBA Show, America’s Largest Consumer Dive Expo, will take place May 15-16 at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, California. This is the 23rd year of this popular event. The show will consist of 76,000 square feet of diving related exhibits including new and revolutionary dive gear, travel pros (many offering show discounts), and diving experts. Several exhibitors also offer free drawings for valuable prizes. The first 1,000 people in attendance on Saturday and Sunday will receive complementary tote bags, and door prizes will be taking place through out the day. Highlighting the exhibit hall will be a personal appearance by world famous artist Wyland. On Saturday he will be interacting with attendees while painting a new piece of art and on Sunday will be painting with over 200 children who have pre-registered in advance.   Legendary underwater filmmaker Stan Waterman will be headlining a weekend of seminars that include some of the most popular dive experts around. Some of the presenters include Jack and Sue Drafahl, Bruce Watkins, Dale Sheckler, Ken Knezick, Ken Kurtis, and many more. Subjects covered include underwater photography and video, marine life, dive travel, and more. A continuous underwater film festival will be running in the exhibit hall on a three-story high screen and will feature films from around the world by over a dozen underwater imaging experts. Saturday night will feature a Casino party benefiting California Ships to Reefs, a non-profit organization sinking ships along the California coastline as artificial reefs. Highlight of the party will be the awarding of the California Scuba Service Award. Exhibit hall hours are Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission is $12 and includes admission to exhibit hall and film festival (seminars are an additional charge). Discount coupons are available at California dive stores, on California dive charter boats and through California dive clubs. Age 12 and under are admitted free. For information on SCUBA Show 2010 call (310) 792-2333 or visit the web site www.scubashow.com. Top Quality DVDs Sought for Underwater Film Festival Assemble your best underwater video film footage for the SCUBA Show 2010 underwater film festival. The 23rd annual SCUBA Show is the largest dive expo of its type in the U.S. and this year takes place May 15-16 at the Long Beach Convention Center. One of the most popular portions of the annual Southern California SCUBA Show has been the unique continuous underwater film festival. Films will be displayed digitally on a massive screen and viewed by thousands of attendees. Featured at past film festivals have been footage, videos and films from some of the world's greatest underwater cinematographers. Even so, some of the most well received films have been from non-professional and semi-professional underwater camera operators. For this year's show, the film festival will be wide open to this talented group. The management of the popular annual dive convention is conducting an aggressive all-out search for the best in underwater video films. They are also opening up the category to include digital still presentations set to music or narration. Footage can be from anywhere in the world, but the video should contain at least 50 percent underwater footage. Those films accepted for screening will be paid an honorarium. Deadline for DVD submission is March 5, 2010. For a complete guideline sheet on submissions, call (310) 792-2333, e-mail mail@scubashow.com or view the guidelines at www.scubashow.com/filmguide.