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Dive Dry with Dr. Bill

Weekly Newspaper Column

Dr. Bill Bushing writes a weekly newspaper column titled "Dive Dry with Dr. Bill." This column uses a humorous style to present topics in marine ecology, conservation and natural history. Each column includes a full-color digital image illustrating that week's subject.

Although specific audiences include SCUBA divers, free divers and fishers, the articles are also written to better inform the general public about our regional marine world including the kelp forests of southern California. Jacques Cousteau often said people protect what they love, and love what they know. Although divers have the most intimate acquaintance with our underwater world, it is important that all citizens, especially those living near our magnificent coastline, have some familiarity with its unique residents and their interactions, so they will be more informed about the need to protect them.

Passage of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) in California requires that a series of scientifically designed marine protected areas (MPA's) be established in California waters. This is to ensure relatively intact ecosystems are available for scientific research, education, and non-consumptive use. In addition these reserves fulfill an important role in providing stock to replenish surrounding areas where fishing and other consumptive uses occur, and fish or invertebrate stocks may be depleted.

Newspapers may subscribe to this column in a quartterly, semi-annual or annual basis. Subscription rates are based on readership, but are priced at attractive levels to help ensure a broader distribution. Please contact Dr. Bill for further information.

In the following list, the columns are presented chronologically.

Click on the following link to see each column:

  1. Garibaldi nesting
  2. Sheephead
  3. Nudibranchs
  4. Black Sea Bass
  5. Cleaning Symbiosis
  6. Sea Urchins
  7. Halfmoon
  8. Octopus
  9. Moray Eel
  10. Bat Ray
  11. San Miguel Island
  12. Abalone
  13. Flatfish
  14. Spiny Lobster
  15. Senorita
  16. Giant Kelp
  17. Cormorants
  18. Shovelnose Guitarfish
  19. Cup Corals
  20. Harbor Seal
  21. The Valiant
  22. Elkhorn Kelp
  23. The Sea of Cortez Revisited, Part I
  24. The Sea of Cortez Revisited, Part II
  25. Black Perch
  26. Giant Kelpfish
  27. Isla Santa Catalina, Gulf of California, Mexico
  28. Triggerfish
  29. California Sea Lion
  30. Sex in the Underwater World
  31. Cabezon
  32. Navanax
  33. Gray Whale
  34. Sheep Crab
  35. Electric Rays
  36. Soupfin Sharks
  37. Invasive Species
  38. Plankton
  39. Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) and MPA's
  40. Gorgonians or Soft Corals
  41. Great White Shark
  42. Variable Starfish
  43. Biogeography
  44. Marine Grasses
  45. Scythe Butterflyfish
  46. Food Chains and Webs
  47. Kelp or Calico Bass
  48. The Eco-Evolutionary Spiral
  49. Fried-Egg Jellyfish
  50. Healthy Seafood Choices
  51. Blacksmith
  52. Beach Bunnies (Sea Hares)
  53. Opaleye
  54. Flying Fish
  55. Cruising for a Bruising?
  56. Murphy's Law
  57. Ornate Fireworm
  58. Why I'm Not Against Fishing
  59. My Hypothesis on Poor Vis and Great Whites
  60. Mola mola
  61. Complacency Can Kill
  62. Blue Whale
  63. Talcott Shoals, Santa Rosa Island
  64. Munching and Mating Part I: Bat Rays Feeding
  65. Munching and Mating Part II: Giant Kelpfish Mating
  66. Pacific Electric or Torpedo Ray
  67. Ctenophores or Comb Jellies
  68. The Lion Nudibranch: In the Jungle... the Lion Sleeps
  69. Humpback Whales- Songsters of the Sea
  70. Rock Wrasse
  71. Feather Feet- Barnacles
  72. Crown-of-Thorns Starfish (Baja)
  73. Balloonfish (Baja)
  74. Poor Nemo!
  75. Where's the Lettuce?: Temperate and Tropical Food Chains
  76. Ocean Whitefish
  77. Chitons
  78. Bottlenose Dolphin
  79. What's in a Name?
  80. Kellet Whelk
  81. Sperm Whale
  82. Cerianthid Anemone
  83. Common Dolphin
  84. Giant Keyhole Limpet
  85. Belize Me- Hawksbill Turtles
  86. The Boxer- Banded Coral Shrimp
  87. In Stunning Black-and-White: The Spotted Drum
  88. The Flying Gurnards
  89. Sea Pansies
  90. Cities Under the Sea
  91. Ecological Equivalents
  92. Phoronids
  93. Owl Limpets
  94. Why Die?
  95. First the Tide Rushes In
  96. Gary Baldi Does "It" Again
  97. Underwater Nuptials
  98. Purple-striped jellyfish
  99. Blind as a Bat... Ray
  100. Carnage at the Casino: Kelp Bass hit Jack Mackerel
  101. A Solution to Abalone Poaching
  102. Leopard Sharks
  103. Mating Sheep Crabs
  104. Horn Sharks
  105. Pacific Barracuda
  106. Shifting Baselines
  107. Jack Mackerel
  108. Marine GIS
  109. Divin' with Hurricane Ivan
  110. Scallop Stumps Scripps Scientists
  111. CAUTION- Construction Zone (Octopus Digging)
  112. Wreck of the Pisces
  113. Grass Rockfish
  114. Guadalupe Cardinalfish
  115. Leafy Hornmouth
  116. Myxicola or Coca Cola?
  117. Urchin Barrens
  118. Paper Nautilus
  119. Baby Boom
  120. Cerianthid "Anemones"
  121. Great white shark diving, Isla Guadalupe, Mexico Part 1
  122. Great white shark diving, Isla Guadalupe, Mexico Part 2
  123. Great white shark diving, Isla Guadalupe, Mexico Part 3
  124. Feathers That Sting, not Tickle- Feather Hydroids
  125. What a "Swell" Shark
  126. Plumes and Blooms (Phytoplankton in Winter)
  127. Round Stingray
  128. Winged Pearl Oyster... Invasive, or Not?
  129. Warty Sea Cucumber (Namako: Do You Prefer it Raw or Pickled?)
  130. The Boring Treefish
  131. An Angel of a Shark
  132. A Little Disturbed, Are We? (ecological disturbance)
  133. 'Tis the Season... Not (Christmas tree worms)
  134. Got the Itch? Scratch It! (giant kelpfish parasites)
  135. At Loggerheads... Not!
  136. Turn my World Upside Down... or Downside Up!
  137. You Think Your Sex Life is Strange?
  138. Goliath Grouper
  139. A Nervous Wreck: Wrecks of SE Florida
  140. A Shrimp of an Abalone
  141. Zebra Goby
  142. Irrefutable Proof Marine "Reserves" Work
  143. Northern Elephant Seals
  144. Run, Grunion, Run!
  145. Are You Re-Certifiable?
  146. Blue Banded Goby: Not Quite Red, White and Blue
  147. Why "Dive Dry with Dr. Bill?"
  148. An "African Safari" Here at Home (Zebra Perch)
  149. Good Dives with Good Relations
  150. But It's So Dark Down There!
  151. 60 Feet Under (Not 6 Feet!)
  152. Cwazy Wabbits (Black Sea Hares)
  153. Black Croaker: Out to Make an Impression!
  154. Please Don't Harrass the (Black Sea) Bass!
  155. Butterfly (Fish) are Free
  156. Barracuda Bonanza
  157. An Underwater Arts Festival (Sea Fan Grotto)
  158. Yellowtail... Yahoo!
  159. Up in a Cloud of "Smoke" (Rock Wrasse Mating Swarm)
  160. Written in Stone (Yellowtail Point)
  161. A Jelly "Fish" by any Other Name (Chrysaora colorata)
  162. "School" is Back in Session (bonito)
  163. Other Intelligent Life on Planet Earth (Sea Lions)
  164. What are You doing Here (brittle star Ophiopsilla californica)
  165. The PEN is Mightier than the SWORD (white sea pen)
  166. Orange Puffball Sponge
  167. Why Red and Brown vs. Green Algae?
  168. Mantis Shrimp
  169. A Fragile Rainbow (Starfish)
  170. 'Tis the Season of the (Bat) Star!
  171. Charles Frederick Holder
  172. Not Your Lucy Liu Ling (Cod)
  173. Calimari Concupiscence, Part I
  174. Calimari Concupiscence, Part II
  175. Return of the "Big Head" (Cabezon)
  176. High Density Development in Avalon [Bryozoa]
  177. A Wet T-Shirt, Jacqueline Bisset and The Deep [Deep Diving]
  178. Valentine's Day Roses I Can Afford [Rose Anemone]
  179. Farnworth Bank and the Purple Hydrocoral
  180. The Red Spotted Starfish
  181. The Windmill Worm
  182. The Sand Star
  183. Soft Bottoms and Purple Olives
  184. Shooting Sea Lions In(to) a Barrel (Oil and the Marine Environment)
  185. The Moon Snail
  186. Littorina Lust
  187. Dive Your Plan
  188. What Turns You On (Orangethroat Pikeblenny)?
  189. The "Frayed Rope" Siphonophore (Apolemia)
  190. The Crevice Sea Cucumber
  191. Something in the Way She Moved (Mating Bat Rays)
  192. Just a Few Dollars More (Sand Dollars)
  193. Gopher Rockfish
  194. The Slender or Graceful Crab
  195. Hey Sluggo... Dr. Bill Here! (California Sea Slug)
  196. Bald Eagle... Almost a Turkey!
  197. A Courting We Wil Go... Crazy (Orangethroat Pikeblennies)
  198. Xantus' Swimming Crabs
  199. A Pipe(fish) Dream
  200. Mating Can Be Deadly
  201. Nothing Could be Fina' Than Tylodina fungina
  202. Rosy the Rockfish
  203. The Shortspined Combfish
  204. Float Like a Butterfly(fish)!
  205. As the Abalone Turns
  206. Bat Star Courtship
  207. Eight Arms to Hold You (Octopus Mating)
  208. Look Who's Munching Now (Yellowtail)
  209. Take Only Pictures
  210. Bacteria
  211. Like a Rainbow... Scorpionfish
  212. The Blues... Part One
  213. The Blues... Part Two
  214. Chestnut Cowry
  215. Holy Mackerel, Batman... Fish Farts
  216. "Deadly" Zoanthids
  217. Something "Hot" from the Cold Depths [Chilipepper]
  218. In Hot Water
  219. An Asian Beauty... Not! [Sargassum filicinum]
  220. Daughter of the Wind, Part I (Cousteau's Alcyone)
  221. Daughter of the Wind, Part II (Cousteau's Alcyone)
  222. Coffee Beans... But Not from Starbucks (Solander's trivia)
  223. Cormorants: Birds That Swim, Fish That Fly
  224. Brachiopods: Lampshells That "Light" the Deep
  225. Flatworms: Fencing Fools
  226. Mating Mantis Shrimp May Get Munched
  227. Take a Lick... of Kelp or Ice Cream! [Green Abalone]
  228. Tyrannosaurus Morayensis! [Moray Eeel]
  229. Mate Selection [Octopus Mating]
  230. Munching NOT Mating- Shark Attack! [Sheep Crab Feeding]
  231. Crab Cocktail... without the Sauce [Octopus Eating Crab]
  232. Now That's Using Your Noodle! [Sea Cucumber Eviscerating]
  233. Slate Pencil Urchin
  234. Draining the Dive Park to Save Avalon
  235. Striped Shore Crabs
  236. Spaghetti Worms... A Sticky Subject!
  237. Thornback Ray... A Day of Firsts!
  238. It Starts at the Top [Killing Sharks]
  239. Descended from Urchins [Purple Sea Urchin DNA]
  240. Have a Heart... Urchin
  241. Southern Kelp Crab
  242. Butterflyfish Babies
  243. The Horned Aeolid (Hermissanda crassicornis)
  244. Light The Way... Please
  245. Jellies... Without the Sting [Ctenophores]
  246. Keep It Clean [Giant Sea Bass Cleaner Fish]
  247. Cousteau on Catalina
  248. Just for the Halibut [California Halibut]
  249. Sting of the Scorpion(fish) [California or Spotted Scorpionfish]
  250. #250... But Who's Counting? [Dives in La Jolla]
  251. The Island Kelpfish
  252. The Munchability of Mullineri [nudibranch Peltodoris mullineri]
  253. Shovelnose Guitarfish
  254. Must be Your Relative! [Salp Cyclosalpa affinis]
  255. Shark and Awe: The Shortfin Mako
  256. Not at My Mom's Dinner Table! [Ocean Whitefish]
  257. Take It to the Cleaners [Halfmoon Cleaning Mola mola]
  258. Up the Bean Stalk... er, Kelp Stipe [Sheep Crabs]
  259. Homogenized? No Thanks! [Invasive Species]
  260. If They Can Do It... Why Can't We? [Deep Water Red Alga Maripelta rotata]
  261. Venice, Florida... Quite a Mouthful! [Shark Tooth Diving]
  262. Acro-Bat Star-ics [Bat Stars]
  263. Xenophobia [Coralline Red Algae]
  264. Politically Incorrect [Common Names]
  265. What Constitutes a Predator?
  266. Weirdo Spearos
  267. That's a Lot of Bull... Kelp [Nereocystis luetkeana]
  268. Just Where is That Nudi Beach [Acanthodoris hudsoni and A. rhodoceras]
  269. A Snoozin' Seal [Harbor Seal]
  270. "Fly" Me to the Moon... Jellies [Moon Jellies]
  271. A Valentine's Pansy? [Sea Pansies]
  272. Mapping Accuracy
  273. Salema
  274. Pilotfish
  275. Sargo
  276. Rainbow Star
  277. Wakame... But In Its Place [Undaria Pinnatifida]
  278. The Spiny Skinned Critters [Echinoderms]
  279. The Sunflower Starfish
  280. The "Sheepish" Crab
  281. The Wavy Top Snail
  282. Oops... Pardon Me [Male Sheep Crabs "Mating']
  283. Stop Your Brooding... Not! [The Brooding Anemone]
  284. Warm Water Wussies [Holothuria zacae]
  285. The Sharks and the Bees
  286. In the Market... for Squid!
  287. Beam Me Up, Scottie... er, Karl [USC Recompression/Decompression Chamber]
  288. The Staghorn Bryozoan
  289. Nibbled Nipples [The Aggregated Nipple Sponge]
  290. The Rainbow Dendronotus [Dendronotus iris]
  291. A Pretty "Cheeky" Fish [White Sea Bass]
  292. Narc'ed? Gee, I Hope Not!
  293. Knobby or Giant Spined Starfish
  294. Is There an Urchin Doctor in the House [Black Urchin]?
  295. Anchors Away [Anchor Damage to Reefs and the White Sea Cucumber]
  296. My New Dive Buddy
  297. Gentle Giants... Let Them Be [Goant Sea Bass]
  298. A Barely Bloody Star [Blood Star]
  299. A Not-So-Sheepish Sheephead
  300. Our Meals... and Fish Meal
  301. Green Turtles... in Hot Water
  302. Barred Sand Bass... Barred from What?
  303. Tying the Knot... Down Under [Underwater Wedding]
  304. SoCal and Catalina MPA's, Part I
  305. SoCal and Catalina MPA's, Part II
  306. Fried, Scrambled or Poached? [Snail Eggs]
  307. Do's and Don'ts in the Dive Park [Dive Park Etiquette]
  308. Nothing Could be Finer than a Little Flabellina [Spanish shawl nudibranch]
  309. Jack Frost... the Lacy Bryozoan
  310. Deep Ecology
  311. The Noble (not Nobel) Dorid
  312. A Commoner... The Kelp Snail
  313. You Old Fossil! [Helicoplacus]
  314. Rhodoliths... Riddle Solved!
  315. Dreaming of Palm "Trees" and Sunny Beaches [Southern Sea Palm kelp]
  316. Chitons... The Undersea Armadillos
  317. Sea Gulls... Rats of the Sea
  318. Painted Greenlings... Nature's Artists at Work
  319. Proving We are "the Stuff"
  320. Have You Spotted... the Spotted Kelpfish?
  321. A Whale... of a Shark [Whale Sharks at the Georgia Aquarium]
  322. A Giant... Among the Clinids [Giant Kelpfish]
  323. Don't Be So Sarcastic... Fringehead!
  324. Turning Vinegar Into Wine [Algal biofuels]
  325. One Critter's Trash is Another Critter's Home
  326. The Infidel's Ghastly Ghost Net
  327. A Skeleton of a "Shrimp" [Caprellid Amphipods]
  328. Why We Need Marine Reserves, Part I: Baselines
  329. Why We Need Marine Reserves, Part II: Successes
  330. Why We Need Marine Reserves, Part III: Design Criteria
  331. Dancing in a Hula Skirt [The Hula Skirt Siphonophore, Physophora hydrostatica]
  332. The Sex Life of Gobies
  333. Scientific Names Can Be Important [Epizoanthus giveni]
  334. How Kelp Helped Win "The War"
  335. What Good is Kelp Anyway [Products Made from Kelp]
  336. Giant Kelp: A Worthy Subject for a Lifetime
  337. The Mating Habits of Giant Kelp
  338. Sheephead in the Skies
  339. The SCUBA Show
  340. Boldly Go Where... (The Roddenberry Dive Team)
  341. San Miguel Island... Exotic, But Cold
  342. Working on My Night Moves [Night Dive]
  343. An "Egregious: Error [Egregia menziesii]
  344. The Return of Gary Garibaldi
  345. (Sea)Weeds: "Plants Out of Place" [Sargassum filicinum]
  346. A Different Kind of "Jaws" {Humboldt squid]
  347. Wreck Alley, Part I: A "Nervous" Wreck
  348. Wreck Alley, Part II: Way Up North- The Yukon
  349. Diving D'Yellow Boat
  350. Plankton, Part 1: You'd Better Sweat The Small Stuff!
  351. Plankton Part 2: Take Me Away to Where I'm Going [Meroplanktonic larvae]
  352. Carnage at the Casino Redux [Kelp bass and morays hunting blacksmith]
  353. The Barnacle Billy Buffet [Acorn Barnacles]
  354. In the Dark About Mating [Polychaete Worms Spawning]
  355. "Bugs" of a Different "Flavor" [Spiny Lobster]
  356. I Can't Believe I Tried to Eat the Whole Thing [Kelp Bass Munching on Blacksmith]
  357. Up a Tree... Fish! [Treefish]
  358. A Round and A Round and Another Round...
  359. The Tragedy of the Common
  360. Sailor "Home" from the Sea [Velella velella]
  361. Dive Accidents and Speculation
  362. See "Weeds..." But Not Much Else [Sargassum filicinum and night diving]
  363. Blind as Amore.... er, A Moray
  364. Salema: Night and Day
  365. The MLPA's "Integrated Preferred Alternative" Map
  366. It's All in the Genes [DNA testing of fish]
  367. The "Sargastic" Sargo
  368. The "Catalina Blue Perch" [Halfmoon]
  369. Zebra... Perch... Chub [Zebra Perch]
  370. Whale Wars... and the Eating of Flesh
  371. The Rubberlip Seaperch
  372. "Black is Black..." But Not Usually [Black Perch]
  373. Walleye the Bug-Eyed Surfperch
  374. A Cormorant Convention
  375. A Problem with the "Pterodactyls" [Brown Pelicans]
  376. 29th Avalon Harbor Cleanup
  377. The Spiny Sand Star
  378. Sea Trek

In the following lists the columns are ordered alphabetically by subject:

ALGAE AND MARINE PLANTS

NON-VERTEBRATES

FISH

SHARKS AND RAYS

MAMMALS

OTHER VERTEBRATES

ECOLOGY, CONSERVATION AND MISC

WRECKS AND MISC DIVING

OTHER GEOGRAPHIC AREAS

This web page last updated March 7, 2010
(web site usually updated on a weekly basis)

This document maintained by Dr. Bill Bushing.
Material © 2003-2009 Star Thrower Educational Multimedia
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This document maintained by Dr. Bill Bushing.
Material Copyright © 2000-2010 Star Thrower Educational Multimedia