March 2010 CUPS Meeting -
Coral Reef Critters – The Echinoderms by Mel Cundiff
Coming for March 16, 2010 - The meeting time is 6:30 for socializing and presentation at 7pm
Mel’s talk will guide us through the general characteristics, distribution, and natural history of The Echinoderms. He will have us look at the symmetry, skeletal and vascular systems. Modeling for him will be the famous Sea Stars. A look into regeneration and reproduction will forever change the image we once had of these underwater wonders. Brittle Stars, Serpent Stars and Basket Stars – more of our famous diving buddies. Sea Urchins, Cake Urchins and Sand Dollars will make you shiver and say “Ahhh” on the very same dive. Sea Cucumbers - will Mel reveal the secret of the pearl fish? Join the famous dancers of the sea, the Crinoids and Feather Stars. By the end of this talk you will be an Echino fan – forget those cute dolphins!!!
Who is MEL CUNDIFF? He is a guy who has managed to combine Scuba Diving with his Employment. As Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at CU in Boulder, he also doubles as a Scuba Instructor. And wait until you read this: where he has been diving??? Bahamas. Canada (BC). Caribbean( Belize, Bonaire, Cayman Islands, Cozumel, Curacao, Puerto Rico, Roatan, St. John, St. Maarten, St. Thomas.Venezuela, Costa Rica), Fiji Islands, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, Great Barrier Reef, Australia, Indonesia-north, south, east, Malaysia, Mexico: Pacific Coast, Caribbean/Gulf Coast, Micronesia: Palau (Belau), Truk (Chuuk), PNG-north, south, east, Philippines, Red Sea, Egypt, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Turks and Caicos, United States: CA, CO, FL, HI, MA, NE, NC, NM, WA
His experiences include warm waters surrounding coral reefs; kelp beds in the Pacific Northwest and on a large number of wrecks. He has dived in cenotes, with manatees and dugongs, and in one of the world’s largest public aquaria. He will breathe off anything: surface-supplied air on hookah, Semi-Closed-Circuit Rebreathers not to mention air and nitrox. He has logged almost 2000 dives and administered 1100 SCUBA certifications including many specialties. His third double is a photographer with award winning photos. He also has to his credit contributions or publication including some of his photos in Dive Training, Alert Diver, Colorado-Wyoming Scientist, Colorado-Views from CU-Boulder, Diving Into Darkness: The Elements of Safe Night Diving, Between the Reefs, Underwater Universe and Who’s Who in Scuba Diving.
Mel teaches advanced college-credit courses in Tropical Marine Ecology and Coral Reef Ecology—the latter course being taught in Cozumel, Mexico, to SCUBA-certified, seňor-level biology students. Each year he presents about four all-day, well-illustrated “Coral Reef Ecology” seminars to SCUBA-certified divers in the Colorado area. These seminars have been well received and, along with the coral reef ecology course, have been the focal point of some of his articles published. Now I ask you – where will he go next? Come to the meeting and he will invite you along.
*Feb Meeting - Thank you Nick Ferris for some wonderful slides and underwater history on Kona, Hawaii.
**Coming for April 20, 2010 AMAZING FIJI, Beauty Above and Below Water by John Warn exploring the different regions of Fiji
**Coming for May 18, 2010 Marine Mammals by Jim Durkee
The Downtown Aquarium is the new CUPS meeting place.
Please mark your calendar for 2010 - the Third Tuesday of each month!
(See link below for map.)
· Note: There is usually free parking in the lot just south and in the adjacent Children's Museum parking lot. You can enter this free parking area by taking the first driveway entrance on the right just south of the aquarium main building. We have received reports of car break-ins at this lot as it is unattended. Otherwise there is parking directly across the street from the Aquarium at a flat $7 in the evening.
· Entrance: Go through the double doors on the Water Street side (across from Senor Sol Restaurant) and the classroom is directly to your right on the first level.
· Map: Denver Downtown Aquarium If you want to make your own Mapquest Direction map, here is the official address: 700 Water St, Denver, CO 80211
Thanks to the hospitality of Landry's Restaurants, Inc., CUPS will be able to return to our regular third-Tuesday meeting schedule at the beautiful Downtown Aquarium in their spacious classroom.