Pescadero Point, 5-21-2014

Greg Hoberg and I dived off Pescadero Point after fighting our way down to Carmel Bay through 5 foot swell with significant wind chop.  The swell was significant and visibility looked poor at the Pinnacles so we decided to dive our reliable protected spot off Pescadero Point at the entrance to Stillwater Cove.  We had 15 foot visibility so we were both glad we had decided to use our macro lens.  On the way back in we saw a really huge seal on the surface and as we passed it realized it was a big elephant seal - off the Coastguard Breakwater.  First we've ever seen on our outings.  Below are a few pictures, if you would like to see more please go to:
https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6018182738730761521?authkey=CMWNhbmZzvjfMg

 I first spotted this cabezon's tail when looking in a hole and then found I could manuever to the next hole and barely get a shot of his face.

 Strawberry anemones, each about 1/2 inch across.

 Juvenile black and yellow rockfish, about 8 inches long.

 White Dendronotid nudibranch feeding on hydroids.

 Blue ring top snail with strawberry anemones.

 Pacific Greenling

 Tubeworm, about 1 inch across.

 Acorn barnacle feeding among strawberry anemones.

Young lingcod, a beauty as these guys go!

Cypress Point, Inner wash rocks, 5-14-14

Greg and I again encountered very calm conditions so dived Cypress Point again, this time the inner wash rocks.  Wonderful dive.  20 to 30 ft visibility.

 Greg's getting a closeup of a small lingcod while being carefully observed by a black and yellow rockfish.

 Now Greg is getting a shot of both the rockfish and the lingcod.

 The patient rockfish let me take a closeup too.

 Beautiful young lingcod.

 Cool looking anemone, species TBD.

 We saw many nudibranchs of several different species, wish I'd been using my macro lens instead of by 10-17 mm Tokina fisheye lens, though it is very versatile.  I think this is a white dendronotid.

 Orange and white nudibranch (Catalina Triopha) beside a big anemone.

Small (2 inch) sea star, maybe a juvenile?

To see more pictures from this dive please go to:

https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6015231725144795969?authkey=CNTO86HG6pGNhQE

SE of Cypress Point 5-13-14

Greg Hoberg and I made a second dive just inside of Cypress Point.  We had widely varying visibility as the falling tide swept water with different plankton densities through.  Our visibility varied from 50 ft plus during the first half of the dive down to only 20 ft at the end.  Water temperature was a chilly 50 degrees and we did a lot of swimming on this dive to keep from freezing.  Unusually calm conditions allowed us to dive in an area that usually would vary from uncomfortable to hazardous.

 Clear water and sunny conditions, a very uncommon combination in Carmel Bay.

 Streaming bull kelp, I loved the play of light on it, down 40 ft or so..with a plethora of ever present blue rockfish.

 Greg led us along a long wall going west, we rounded the west end of it and were able to come back in shallower water.

 Behind Greg you can see a sea lion that repeatedly dive bombed us but never slowed down for our convenience...

More cool sunlight shimmering on bull kelp, incredibly beautiful dive.

To see more pictures from this dive please go to:
https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6015230962480305153?authkey=CNqCvOf28sXp2QE

Cypress Point, Outer Rock 5-13-14

Greg Hoberg and I dived the outer rock off Cypress Point last Tuesday.  The swell was very low and this was the first time we had encountered conditions for comfortable diving off Cypress Point in quite a while.  We had 20 to 30 ft visibility and the dive ranged from as shallow as about 20 ft to over 60 ft.

 Giant Green Anemone are common on this "wash rock".  Green Anemone like turbulent water and this is a very turbulent dive site under all but the calmest conditions.  Turbulent conditions go down to 50 ft on this rock!

 The orange bat star to the left of the Giant Green Anemone is about 6 - 7 inches across so you can see this is a large anemone.

 Greg is hovering over a scattered group of Giant Green Anemones.

 Greg recently added a cool GoPro video to his versatile still photography rig.

 Greg found a Umbrella Crap, just above his pointing finger.

 Seldom do I intentionally touch critters, I like to be minimally intrusive (beyond my doubtlessly alarming bubble blowing and strobe flashing).  But this time I couldn't resist picking up the Umbrella Crab to show the small body and legs hidden beneath the over sized "helmet".  These ridiculous looking crabs always remind me of "Lord Dark Helmet" (Rick Moranis) in Space Balls.

For more pictures from this dive please go to:
https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6015231302065946865?authkey=CIqUmKb8iZq_qgE

Dive on Mono-lobo, last Thursday, May 1.

Greg and I had a second day to dive with decent conditions last week.  Once again we had 20 to 30 ft visibility.  We dived Mono-lobo because it was somewhat sheltered from the westerly swell which had also dropped to 2 -4 ft from 3-5 ft the day before.

 We had a beautiful, sunny, calm, day.  This is looking to the west from our dive site on mono-lobo towards Point Lobos Marine Reserve.  Point Lobos Marine Reserve is one of the most beautiful places on the planet for a hike and at this point I've got a fair sample to base that claim on.

 This is looking to the east towards Monastery Beach and you can see the Monastery perched above it.  Monastery beach is a spectacular shore dive on a nice day and extremely deadly if a large swell sets in.

Looking to the north past Greg is Carmel Bay with Cypress Point at the far left.

 Greg with a large lingcod.  This area is now protected so there is a good population of lingcod and cabezon.

Greg has his wide angle lens just a few inches from the face of a cabezon.

For more pictures from this dive please see:  https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6010737033689720385?authkey=CNbBu8js77HaoAE

Dives on Pinnacles and off Pescadero Point last Wednesday, April 30.

We finally got some low winds and reasonable swell size and were able to take Greg Hoberg's dive boat down to Carmel Bay and made dives on the Pinnacles and off Pescadero Point.  We had more typical 20 to 30 ft visibility and significant surge down to around 50 ft.  

 Greg on one of the many walls to be found on the Pinnacles.

 A Treefish (rockfish)

 Interesting sculpin, still not sure the species.

 This sculpin is around four inches or so long.

Despite looking at lots of different sculpin pictures I'm still not sure which kind this one is.

 A pair of amorous sea lemon nudibranchs.

 A white spotted rose anemone.

A hudson's nudibranch is near the center of the picture to the right of the orange filter feeding sea cucumber.

The small striped thing near the center of this picture is a showy snailfish juvenile.  It was around three inches across.  I spotted it as I swam past but was about to lose sight of Greg, at the time I thought it was a new kind of nudibranch (for me) instead it was the first time I've seen a snailfish.

For more pictures from these two dives, please go to:  https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6010731814024672193?authkey=CPGyoNqYu5H26AE