Two very good dives to finish out the year, one near the Lone Cypress in Carmel Bay, the second just off Pescadero Point

On Sunday I did a solo shore dive off Coral Street, Pacific Grove.  It was a great reminder that shore diving is a lot more concentrated work than boat diving!  Visibility was a disappointing 15 ft and there was a significant intermittent surge from periodic large swell sets.  I found a 25 to 30 lb weightbelt early in the dive but decided to leave it rather than abort my dive to lug it to shore.....

On Monday Greg Hoberg and I took his boat around from Monterey Bay to Carmel Bay.  There was a moderate swell and some chop but it was worth it for the clear water in Carmel Bay.  We saw several Grey whales on our ride down (and some more on the way back).  There were several kayakers fishing at our preferred dive spot for the sea conditions, the wash rock off Pescadero Point.  Instead we dived just offshore east of the Lone Cypress in 30 to 50 ft of water.  The kelp coverage was sparse for this area - probably a combination of the series of storms and big swells and sea urchin depredation (sea urchin populations have exploded since the sea star wasting disease killed off the vast majority of sea stars which feed on young sea urchins), normally it would be difficult to get the boat to this area.  We had around 25 ft visibility on this dive and 57 degree water (5 to 7 degrees warmer than normal, quasi El Nino impact).   Due to the sparse kelp we also had great light.  Some pictures below.

Near Lone Cypress

 Would you say that there was a plethora of blue rockfish?

 My favorite local fish model, the Cabezon.

 Greg getting some shots of a kelp crab immersed in kelp.

 We saw many ling cod on this dive.

 Here is one of the many kelp holdfasts that no longer have the kelp.  Look closely and you will see many brittle star arms.  Look even closer and you may pick out a couple of horned nudibranchs.

 We had great visibility and great sunlight, the sparser than normal kelp really helped.

 Great rock structure.

Olive rockfish

To see more from this dive please go to:
https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6098845589722865201?authkey=CPP424Td6MX1pgE

Pescadero Point  - our second dive was right off Pescadero Point, we had 30 ft visibility, sometimes maybe even more.

 Greg cruising along a wall that runs parallel to shore along Pescadero Point.

 What is wrong with this picture?  I'm not talking about light or focus or framing....There are two mussels attached to the rock down 40 ft deep!?  Normally you never find mussels much below the low water line because they are swiftly devoured by sea stars but the sea star population is a tiny fraction of normal since the sea star wasting virus swept through.

 More big rock structure, if you look closely you can see Greg waiting to get a shot of me coming under the overhang.

 Greg getting a shot.  Not the scattering of sea urchins and lack of palm or giant kelp.

 There are orders of magnitude more sea urchins than I've ever seen here before and only about 5% of the normal kelp coverage.  Normally we couldn't have gotten Greg's boat within 75 yards of where we anchored.

 We saw lots of lingcod on this dive too.

 A decent photo of a two inch nudibranch considering the wide angle lens I was using.

A large acorn barnacle, I think there are more of these since the sea star decimation as well.

To see more pictures from this dive please go to:

https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6098846367775812353?authkey=CI3WlZfuzPPpeA

Two dives on Mono-lobo, November 18, 2014

Greg Hoberg and I had two excellent dives at Mono-lobo in Carmel Bay on Tuesday.  We had 35 ft of visibility and 55 degree water.  We saw, for the first time, kelp greenling laying eggs and fertilizing them and we also saw several different cabezon males guarding egg masses.  The conditions were wonderful so I shot a lot of pictures.  If you want to get a feel for the richness of life at Monolobo and the amazing submarine terrain, see the pictures here:

https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6083619285302523937?authkey=CLWX6bbUwN_MZw

 Greg is getting a photo of a female kelp greenling, just right of center in photo, laying eggs.

 Male kelp greenling in special coloration, fertilizing eggs.

 The male kelp greenling's body vibrates when he is fertilizing the eggs.

 First time we've ever seen this.  Would have been a great video....

The female kelp greenling.

 When I took this photo of the vermilion rockfish I didn't even see the sea lion zooming in for a look.

 Vermillion rockfish are bright red in a flash picture, red is simply a dull dark shade without artificial light at this depth (40 to 60 ft or so).

 Greg getting a cabezon photo.

A large cabezon next to his greenish mass of eggs just below the kelp holdfast.  

Monolobo has fantastic rock structure and diving through the kelp bed when the water is clear and the sun is shining is fantastic.

A beautiful trio of large sea anemones, each around 10 inches or so across.

Another beautiful cabezon.

Dives on the Pinnacles and inside the Wash Rock south of Point Cypress, November 17, 2014

Greg Hoberg and I dived on the Pinnacles and near a wash rock inside Cypress Point on Monday.  We had 40 ft visibility at the Pinnacles and 35 ft near the wash rock.  Water temperature was 55 degrees.  Again, lots of sea urchins and brittle stars.  We are seeing some sea stars but still far fewer than before the sea star wasting virus came through starting a year ago.  Probably due to the huge growth in sea urchin population the kelp beds are only a fraction of normal so it is easy to maneuver Greg's RIB zodiac to locations that are normally impassable due to kelp.

 Lots of sea urchins.

 Greg getting a wide angle closeup of a pair of clown nudibranchs.

 Clown nudibranch, aka orange and white, scientific name catalina triopha.

 Greg comes through a mini canyon.

 Back to the boat.  For more pictures from this dive, please go to :  https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6083618082540251585?authkey=CLqGpMmjq-m8rwE

 Our dive on the inside of a wash rock south of Cypress Point was near a golf hole and we saw a number of golf balls, Greg showed off his submarine juggling.

Lots of blue rockfish.

Cruising back to the boat.  For more pictures from this dive please go to:  https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6083618735623489425?authkey=CK2fvaeJ4fHfWQ

Mono-lobo, November 6, 2014

Greg Hoberg and I dived on Mono-lobo today.  Surface temperature was again 55 degrees like yesterday.  Visibility was a disappointing, green, 20 feet.  We saw the usual mix of rockfish, lingcod, and cabezon.  The dive site was crawling with brittle stars today.  More than I've seen in all my years of diving.  I wonder why there are so many and wonder if it is related to the dearth of sea stars following the sea star wasting syndrome outbreak.

To see all the pictures from today's dive please go to:
https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6078811551283374593?authkey=CM_vrOyX7o34bA

 Hundreds of brittle stars.

 Black rockfish and more brittle stars.

 A stand of kelp has pulled its holdfast off the rocks.

 Greg crossing one of the many pinnacles on this dive site.

 We saw lots of lingcod today, as we usually do in this protected area.

 Greg above the remains of a kelp holdfast.

 Kelp holdfasts frequently have many brittlestars but usually only their arms are visible.  Note the snubnose sculpin half way down from the top.

 A large strand of kelp has pulled its holdfast off the reef.

A kelp rockfish with lots more brittle stars.

Sunset Point and Ghost Tree, November 5, 2014

Greg Hoberg and I had two good dives today.  One right off Sunset Point on the outer tip of the kelp bed, the other at the east(ish) end of Lingcod Reef near the "Ghost Tree" surfing spot.  On both dives we had 25 feet of visibility and 52 degree temperature.  We saw a smattering of lingcod and a couple cabezon, many blue rockfish and the usual assortment of other rockfish.  We were visited by harbor seals and a sea lion but no real photo opportunities with them.  Once again I saw lots more sea urchins than I used to see before the sea star wasting disease decimated starfish populations.  I'm seeing a few sea stars but a tiny fraction of what I used to see.  Still have not seen a single sunflower star all year long.

To see a selection of pictures from these two dives please go to:

https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6078441119349825361?authkey=CKf2r5bilISxvgE

Here's a few of the pictures:

 A plethora of blue rockfish.

 Count em.

 Looking up.

 Lots of pulled up kelp holdfasts.  You always see more this time of year after storms (we had our first last weekend), but I think there are more than usual because of more sea urchins since the sea star wasting syndrome struck this area (started about a year ago).

 A pair of Ohdner's nudibranchs with a sea urchin.

 Greg getting some kelp shots.

 Vermillion rockfish

A ravenous horde of sea urchins.  Time for a ravenous horde of sea otters...