Recent Blogs Posts

DIVE DRY WITH DR. BILL #464: TOPSMELT

I've been working on a few new episodes of my cable TV show, one of which focuses on the "baitfish" in our waters. "Baitfish" do not represent a scientific group of related species. They are the schooling fish that are often used by anglers to catch larger, predatory fish such as yellowtail, barracuda or bonita. Oh, and I'm working on that episode ("Predators") as well. The three primary species of baitfish I'm covering ...

DIVE DRY WITH DR. BILL #463: PIPEFISH: A FIRST (FOR ME) IN THE DIVE PARK

My son Kevin came out a few weeks ago to do some diving on his birthday with his old man (that's me!). Always a pleasure to be able to do something that we can both enjoy together. We got in five dives including one night dive (no Humboldt squid in sight). On one of those dives I almost missed something I'd never seen in the dive park before!

As we were heading back toward the stairs, I glanced ...

DIVE DRY WITH DR. BILL #462: BRITTLE "STARS"

Some of my readers may remember that I have an interest in astronomy as well as the marine environment. A few of you joined my Halley's Comet watching events on the island back in 1986, and some of the lovely ladies may remember my promise to make you "see stars" after the bars closed at 2:00 am. Yes, I later heard that a few of you were disappointed when you found out I meant looking at them through the telescope on ...

DIVE DRY WITH DR. BILL #461: PELT-O-DORIS

Strange title for a column, Dr. Bill. Just what does it mean? Are we talking about a mink pelt for a woman named Doris? Of course not. Even though I'm aghast at the tactics of groups like PETA, I am not one who advocates the wearing of animal skins... unless the entire critter has been properly used for food, tool making, greasing the wagon wheels, etc. You know, just how some of our "Native" American tribes used to show reverence ...

DIVE DRY WITH DR. BILL #460: PACIFIC SARDINE... CANNED, OR IN PIGS AND CHICKEN?

You can call it the Pacific sardine, the California sardine or the California pilchard... or even use its scientific name, Sardinops sagax, but whichever name you choose it will still taste the same. That is unless you order it in olive oil of tomato sauce instead of water. This baitfish is a member of the family Clupeidae which includes the herring, menhaden, pilchards, sardines and shad. They travel ...