Cypress Point Wash Rocks, 7-17-2014

Greg Hoberg and I took advantage of the very small swell conditions to dive around a pair of wash rocks just off Cypress Point.  This is a great dive with good conditions, a real washing machine if sea conditions are other than ideal.  We again had exceptionally warm water - 56 degrees - and great visibility for this time of year averaging 30 ft or so.

 It used to be rare to see sea urchins out in the open - the medium to large ones get hammered by sea otters, but since the sea star wasting disease decimated the sea stars that feed on small sea urchins there are lots more sea urchins out.  Also the kelp beds are by far the thinnest I've ever seen them in the summer - you can see lots of empty holdfasts while diving, suspect it is the sea urchin explosion...

 Greg is in the lower right of the picture facing away as he follows a wall.  He was being buzzed by a nice sized sea lion.

 I think this female kelp greenling was guarding her territory as I was able to get a couple pictures of the normally shy fish.

 Giant Green Anemones are common on this site because they love turbulent water conditions which are the norm for Cypress Point.

Greg with a lingcod.

 For more pictures from this dive please see:
https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6039363850143969985?authkey=CM2cweG9xJOcDQ

Two excellent dives at Mono-lobo with new type of nudibranch and a friendly harbor seal. July 16, 2014

Last Wednesday Greg Hoberg and I had a second day of diving with exceptionally calm seas.  We went back to Mono-lobo, a very large dive site with great canyons and huge rock structures and abundant large fish due to it being a marine preserve right next to the long protected Point Lobos Marine Preserve.  As we rounded Point Cypress into Carmel Bay we saw, as  we had the previous day, thousands of sooty shearwaters and many cormorants and pelicans and terns.  As we approached the edge of the Carmel submarine canyon we saw several groups of Humpback whales feeding on anchovies accompanied by groups of sea lions.  There was also a group of Rizzo's dolphins which feed on squid, we see them frequently in this area and we guessed that there were squid eating anchovies and then getting eaten by the Rizzo's.

The water was again quite blue and clear with visibility varying from 30 to maybe 50 ft.  The water was the warmest we've ever encountered here, 56 degrees, a full 10 degrees warmer than we'd had a month before.  We carefully (as we usually do) planned out our dive to hit a new area of the dive site.  We went down the anchor line (we like to make sure that a) the boat stays put...it didn't once last year and it wasn't that fun to catch it and b) make sure the anchor is also located so that we when try to pull it up to leave we can without having to go back down).  Then we took off on our compass course and hit a big, long, beautiful canyon which varied from about 20 to 40 ft wide with walls 20 to 40 ft high, we cruised at a depth of 50 to 70 ft.  The canyon went on and on and we realized that it was time to force a turn to follow the edge of the kelp bed back to the neighborhood of the boat.  Then I spotted a pair of nudibranchs that were a new type (for us).  We spent quite a while taking pictures of them then realize we better just retrace our dive back up the canyon because we were way past half our air.  Then we got visited by a curious harbor seal and we spent time playing with him....then it was time to go up for our safety stop.  After the safety stop - we were under a dense kelp canopy - I let Greg go up in the small opening our bubbles had created in the kelp to spot the boat.  When he started his second 360 degree spin I knew I better go up to help spot the boat.   Well we spotted it ok and it was of course right were we left it.  It would have been easier to spot if we had had binoculars and a tall ladder to stand on!  Fortunately we had enough air to swim just under the dense kelp to get to the inside edge of the kelp bed and then snorkel back to the boat.  It wasn't really that far...if you were riding a bicycle!

 Huge rock structures are a feature of Mono-lobo.  They create great hiding places for fish and octopus.

 China Rockfish

My first White-lined Dirona nudibranch, about 5 inches long.

 Greg getting a nudibranch photo.

 Curious harbor seal.

 Greg pointed out that I had a friend playing with my fins.

 Greg with a nice cabezon.

Sunlight and clear, blue(ish) water, a rarity!

After a 60 minute surface interval we made our second dive.  On this dive we did a circle route that included going near some wash rocks near shore.  We saw the usual mix of lingcod, cabezon, and rockfish and were once again drawn too far from the boat by the amazing seascapes and ended up with another long swim back to the boat....

For more pictures please go to:  https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6037004376132135105?authkey=CIvqjrv8_-buUw

Dive on the Pinnacles, Carmel Bay, 7-15-2014

After a nice long surface interval complete with snickers bars and hot chocolate and a passing pod of Humpback whales,  Greg Hoberg and I made a second dive in Carmel Bay today on the Pinnacles.  Visibility was still a good 30 ft but had decreased by almost 50% from the morning dive.  We dived a new part of the Pinnacles and saw several nice sized lingcod and were dive bombed by a passing sea lion.

 China rockfish, cool color patterns on these guys.

 The Pinnacles are a no take marine preserve, so there are lots of nice lingcod to see.

 Large lingcod swings past.

 Greg getting a lingcod closeup.

The sea lion was curious but only came by at speed...

To see more pictures from this dive please go to:
https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6036500661317458257?authkey=CPjDltTC4oixdQ

Dive on Mono-lobo, Carmel Bay, 7-15-2014

Greg Hoberg and I had an excellent dive on Mono-lobo the morning of Tuesday, July 15.  We were surprised to find beautiful clear blue water across all of Carmel Bay, on our dive, we had 50 ft average visibility.  We had expected to have more green water with plankton/algae bloom because there hadn't been wind to cause much upwelling for several days.  However it had been mostly cloudy and foggy so maybe that is why we lucked out.

 Greg leading the way through the kelp forest to the outer edge of the ridge.  Lots of blue rockfish.

 Greg getting a shot of one of the many egg yolk jellyfish we saw.

 Sea anemone with palm kelp.

 Greg getting a closeup of a nice sized cabezon.  Cabezon are really cool fish.  It is great to see so many nice cabezon and lingcod in this no take marine reserve.

 The cabezon eventually ran out of patience with us...

It is a blast to dive with conditions like this!

For more pictures from this dive please go to:  https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6036486964751293857?authkey=CLi5ybqT1qOYNA