New to GSAS? Click here first for a club tour. Also, Frequently-asked Questions
TL;DR: Saturday April 20th, 10AM, Upper Gwinn Commons, Seattle Pacific University.
Park in the Dravus Lot.
Fish, Plants, Tanks, Drygoods, EVERYTHING aquarium-related!
Card or Cash
Masks encouraged, but not required.
It's that time again for GSAS's main fundraiser, the HUGE General Auction!
As with our plant auction last fall, we are pleased as punch with our new venue space: Upper Gwinn Hall at Seattle Pacific University, same campus as our monthly meetings and Holiday Party. Click on Google directions above, or on the map to see details of the area. Please park in the Dravus lot to the Southeast. A very small amount of accessible Parking and load/unload space is available at the North side of the building as well. Outside food is not allowed inside the room...but can be purchased directly downstairs is the SPU cafeteria or Einstein Bros Bagels. Bring a water bottle!
Bidding starts at 10 AM, preview and setup at 9. We go until everything's gone (likely late afternoon). Please read the auction guidelines for more information. If you are a member, please pre-register your items. The board has again approved a bump of the seller split to 70% (historically it's 60%)!
What will you find at this auction? Everything! Tanks, logs, CO2 equipment, boxes of stuff from people's basements, and of course FISH, SHRIMP and PLANTS! We've got new donations donated by our generous amazing poster from Amit! Volunteer to be a runner or recorder for a stretch.
Masks are encouraged but not required. If you have any symptoms of sickness, please be respectful of others and stay home. Similarly, be respectful of others' mask-wearing or distancing choices at our meetings.
SATURDAY, March 9th, 1:00 PM (noon social)
Home Show Video and Awards Presentation
SPU, Otto Miller Hall Room 109
Masks encouraged but not required. Please stay home if you feel sick or have any symptoms.
The Home Show meeting is always a member favorite, and this year we're presenting on a Saturday! Back at the start of February, a crew of four drove all around the Puget Sound area to visit eleven homes. Join us March 9th at 1PM, where we will first visit the eleven aquarist homes via a 56-minute edited video. We'll also show some great photos taken by the judges, who will present the top awards. You'll also be able to vote for Audience Favorite. The home show is a family event -- oftentimes we have "spot the ..." games for the otherwise-disinterested fish spouses and kids, dragged to the meeting by the erstwhile competitors, to play during the video!
After the presentation, join us for our Monthly Auction (sellers, pre-register your stuff here).
To whet your whistle, here's some clips we had to cut because the show was so darn long!
February 13th (Tuesday), 7:30 PM (6:30 Social/Setup)
Lee Newman: “What Fish Species Lurk in the Yucatan Cenote Biotopes?”
SPU, Otto Miller Hall Room 109
Masks encouraged but not required
Lee Newman, of Vancouver BC, has been keeping and studying freshwater fish for over 45 years, especially the geophagines from South America. Recently retired Curator of Tropics with the Vancouver Aquarium, Lee is also an award-winning photographer and writer, contributing over sixty published articles.
Since earning his full cave diver certification in 2010, he has been a little distracted by the topic of the talk he will present for us this month:
Cenote Fishes of the Yucatan Peninsula
is an overview of a very complex ecosystem. The peninsula is built of very porous limestone and therefore cannot hold surface waters such as rivers and lakes. However, that porosity has allowed rain and atmospheric carbon dioxide to hollow out the layers of rock below giving rise to an intricate network of flooded cave passages. Cave ceiling collapses form cenotes and exposes the ground water to sunlight and the surrounding forest. Residing in each cenote is an aquatic community - including fishes. The presentation looks at the geology of the peninsular and the effects of glaciation on the flooded cave passages - now a Mecca for cave divers worldwide. It also looks at how the fishes got there and why there are differences in the aquatic community structure of the cenotes. Given such a unique ecosystem, the presentation also covers some of the efforts being made to conserve the cenotes and their fishes.
Following the meeting, our Monthly Auction (sellers, pre-register your stuff here).
Thank you to everyone who came out in force to our record-breaking general auction this year, especially to all our volunteers who worked tirelessly the whole day. And a special thanks to the sponsor stores and national companies.
Our big auctions still remain the primary source of income from the club, and their success means we can pay our rent and Internet video storage bills, bring in top quality speakers, and have nice prizes in our contests throughout the year. Thanks again!