Mount Chetron and VT3 with Beachhopper II. Post retirement dive #893 , 894 August 16, 2024

I went out on Beachhopper II for two dives yesterday, Guy had to cancel because he needed to get his neck seal replaced on his drysuit before our September 6-12 dive trip to God's Pocket in British Columbia. The water temperature was a warmer than usual 56 degrees there was a heavy surface plankton bloom so it was very dark below. Visibility was only 15 ft. This site has excellent fish population. Several of the divers enjoyed an encounter with a Wolf Eel but I missed it....Below are some of my photos from the dive, to see more, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/1yYMwTTTYyu84veJ6 A Kelp Rockfish with White Metridium (Plumrose Anemone) that are common on the site, below:

Below: Copper Rockish with a Tube Anemone

A beautiful Sand-Rose Anemone, below:

Tube Anemones, below:

Treefish, a type of rockfish, have amazing red lips. Below:

Carol pointed out a large Cabezon, my favorite local diving subject, on the ledge above the Treefish I was photographing. Below:

There were also several Lingcod and a number of Blue Rockfish on this site. Below:

My computer warned me that I was down to 4 minutes of non decompression dive (I spent most of the dive at 75-81 ft) so I headed up the anchor line for my 3 minute safety stop. Our next dive was at VT3. It's a bit shallower, around 45-50 ft, visibility was limited again, about 15 ft. Below are some photos from this dive. A few more are at: https://photos.app.goo.gl/6EhdqX8b7VNBJfiB6 Below: A Copper Rockfish face followed by a Rainbow Nudibranch

Below: A Spiny Sand Star followed by a Gopher Rockfish

Tube Anemones are the favorite prey of Rainbow Nudibranchs. Below:

Below: I saw an amorous pair of Gopher or possibly Copper, Rockfish. In the photo below the one on the left has shifted to his or her dark phase of color.

In a couple of weeks Donna and I will start our drive up to Oregon and Washington, visiting friends along the way. She'll fly home, I'll drive on to Port Hardy at the north end of Vancouver Island for6. pickup and transfer to God's Pocket on September 6, don't know if I'll get out for any more local dives before then.

Monterey Shootout, Six Dives with Beachhopper II August 1, 2 August 1-3, 2025

I made four dives on Friday, August 1 and two dives the morning of Saturday August 2 with Beachhopper, joined by Guy Foster. Below will first be the six photographs I submitted to the competition, alas, but unsurprisingly unsuccessfully. I submitted three photos in the Intermediate Traditional Macro category, no cropping, only color and other adjustments that apply to the entire photograph. I also submitted three photographs in the Intermediate Unlimited Macro category. Our dive sites on the two days included Mr Ed (and Ed Anderson was on the trip with us), Shale Island, Metridium Mountain, and the former urchin control area (the name slips my memory..). After the six photos I submitted for the contest are some other favorites from these dives, to see them all, go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/K8sLRgESysKrud8UA Here's the three photos I entered into the Intermediate Macro Traditional category: I can never not photo a cooperative Cabezon:

The same is just about true for Lingcod as well:

Below are my three entrees to the Intermediate Macro Unlimited Category: A flatfish: flounder, sole, sand dab...

A really cool flat worm...not cool enough, evidently:

The beautiful face of a juvenile rockfish...

I had to hurridly edit and select my six photos and immediately depart for the Backscatter Social at their shop to submit, so below are some others I like nearly as well but, I don't think my outcome would have been any better. The judges really select by asking the question: "Would you like this picture blown up and mounted in your living room?" I understand the choices they made for awards, they were awesome. A beautiful small white sea anemone (I'm writing this blog at our Pacific Grove home and my sea life books are in Healdsburg). Below:

I kind of wish I'd chosen this Treefish Rockfish, maybe cropped down to just its face with those red lips, instead of submitting two lingcods...Below:

I was shooting macro, unusually for me, on all six dives. I usually shoot fish, with macro, it seems I usually shoot fish faces. Here's a Blue Rockfish face, below:

A couple of different sculpins, below:

I did photo a few nudibranchs. Below is a Monterey Dorid with a Blood Star:

Below: A San Diego Dorid (aka Leopard Nudibranch) with a Black Eyed Goby:

Last, but not least, a Kelp Rockfish unable to hide his scepticism of my choice:

I enjoyed the six dives, I ended up a tired puppy. It was fun seeing lots of the usual suspects at Backscatter's social and at the photo talks by Erin "Go Ask Erin:Artificial Intelligence for Good and Evil" and Mike Bartick of Black Water Photography fame.

Favorite photos from Atlantis Dumaguete and Atlantis Azores, dives on June 17 - July 4, 2025

Below are some of my favorite diving photos from Atlantis Dumaguete, dives from June 17 - June 21, and Atlantis Azores, dives from June 22 - July 4, 2025. I came to Atlantis Dumagette having made 834 dives since I retired November 1, 2011, faithfully executing my retirement plan, which is to go diving. I finished the trip with 886 post retirement dives, so I made 52 dives in 18 glorious days of diving in the Philippines. I call these my favorite pictures, not necessarily the technically best pictures. For me a favorite diving picture is 65% subject, 35% picture quality (lighting, exposure, backscatter, framing) though focus is very important. First are some of my favorites from Atlantis Dumaguete, to see the rest of my favorites from these dives, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/3LLG2aPYh9npTiyV8 Many, no, most, of the pictures from Atlantis Dumaguete are from muck diving and the search for exotic critters. Our incredibly sharp eyed guide Wing far and away found most of the subjects. Below: Capturing behavior and new subjects weigh heavily in my choice of favorite photos for this blog entry. Here is a tiny pymy squid guarding its eggs on an algae plant.

I love this pair of photographs with a beautiful dark green Nebrotha Nudibranch next to a Y shaped plant with a Skeleton Shrimp (remember the aliens in the office in "Men in Black"?) standing in the Y, followed by a closeup of the Skeleton Shrimp.

This is perhaps my favorite ever Clownfish/Anemonefish photo, of a False Clownfish. As Tom Campbell, a professional underwater photographer/high definition videographer explains, the best photographs are when the subject appears to be having a conversation with the photographer. Below:

Spiny Sea Horse, below:

A beautiful Finescale Razorfish, aka Collared Knifefish, the first I've ever seen and photographed. Below:

Fields of Garden Eels are frequently to be seen when diving in tropical coral seas but they are infamously shy and they slowly shrink down into their burrows even when you make a very slow, careful approach attempting to get a picture. I finally got a good Garden Eel closeup, below:

A beautiful small goby matching the color of the Whip Coral he is parked on. Below:

I always hope to see octopus, they are amazing, intelligent, creatures. One of the coolest Octopus is the Wonderpus, below:

The best picture of a Peacock Wrasse, aka Blue Razorfish, I've ever been able to take. Below:

Beautiful Ornate Ghost Pipefish followed by a face closeup. Below:

I love this series of three photographs. A Saddleback Clownfish, Saddleback Clownfish with their anemone and their carefully tended eggs beside it, and a closeup of the about to hatch eggs with the babies eyes very prominent. Below:

An exotic Bubble Coral Shrimp with its goby neighbor, below:

A False Clownfish tending his eggs and a closeup, clearly the about to hatch babies have their father's eyes! Below:

A Threadfin Sand Diver, a new fish for me, below:

Above: A pair of Amblon Scorpionfish with a translucent Sea Star Below: A Cockatoo Waspfish

Below are some of my favorite dive photos from diving with Atlantis Azores with dives from 6-22 through 7-4-2025. To see the rest of these favorites, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ED4q3WWpiD6PKe4p8 While diving the beautiful coral reefs of Apo Island we had encounters with several highly venemous but not aggressive Banded Krait sea snakes. Russ and Barbara, trying to video a Banded Sea Krait, found it too cooperative. Below:

The largest pufferfish I've ever seen, a Map Puffer, sheltering under a coral head with a beautiful small grouper. Below:

I enjoy capturing behavior, below is a Blue Edge Cleaner Wrasse attending to an Anemonefish.

A sample of the wonderful Whale Sharks of Oslob, below, strictly natural light photography, no video lights, no strobes. Starting with Barbara getting a visit from a curious juvenile Whale Shark. Below:

The first beautiful Linecheeked Wrasse, the first I've ever photo'd. Below:

Below: A difficult to capture Banded Pipefish face and, wonderfully, a Banded Pipefish carrying eggs on its belly.

I'm very happy with this capture of the very very shy, elusive, not commonly seen Comet, aka Marine Beta. Below:

Longjawed Mackeral filter feeding on plankton, below:

Below: A Giant Frogfish color matching the Gray Sponge he is sitting on.

A beautiful Scorpionfish perched on the wall. Below:

A Hairy Squat Lobster with its goby neighbor sheltering in a sponge. Below:

I love that I managed to capture, using relatively shallow depth of field, first, the Blue Edge Cleaner Wrasse hovering over its Moral customer and then a picture of the Cleaner wrasse cleaning the Moray. Below:

A beautiful Day Octopus we encountered repeatedly during our four dives on Kimud Shoal, diving to see Thresher Sharks. Below:

We had wonderful encounters with the big, beautiful, silver colored Thresher Sharks of Kimud shoal. Below:

Another first, as were the Thresher Sharks, an Urchin Clingfish, aka Longsnout Clingfish. Below:

My best picture ever of the ever moving, darting, fluttering juvenile Harlequin, aka Many Spotted, Sweetlips. Below:

A beautiful, deadly, predator, the Peacock Mantis Shrimp. Below:

Another first time fish species, the Pegasus Fish, aka Seamoth. Below:

A wonderful trip, Atlantis Dumaguete is wonderful and so is Atlantis Azores. Great staffs, great food, great diving.