Charlie's Diving Blog: 2015

Thursday, December 31, 2015

Final Dive Blog of 2015 - Some favorite dives and photos from a great year of diving

Little did I imagine that my last successful day of diving for this year would be on October 17! Monterey-Carmel sea conditions became very frequently rough and sometimes rainy after that weekend and I had an epic bout with the flu-cold-crud that sidelined me for the first 2 1/2 weeks of November.

Enough of that, here's some photos from some of the great dives I had this year in Monterey-Pacific Grove- Carmel and in the Gulf of Mexico off my home town of Dunedin, Florida in April -June during a long visit there.

Greg Hoberg and I started off the year with an exciting dive with lots of curious sea lions off the Los Lobos rocks south of Point Lobos in early January.

We had several good dives in January, this one was at "Ghost Tree" off Pescadero Point where spectacular surf can be found when big swells come in from the SW in the winter.

Ghost Tree seascape, one of the still largely intact kelp beds left since the sea urchin plague outbreak that has followed the sea star wasting disease.

We found a beautiful Giant Kelp Fish on a stand of kelp at the breakwater in January. We dived the breakwater due to some mechanical issues with Greg's normally excellent outboard.

Rubberlip Perch, Coast Guard Breakwater, January, 2015

Greg with Kelp Greenling, Mono-lobo, March, 2015

Mono-lobo seascape, March, 2015

Strange, paper thin, filefish on Clearwater, Florida's artificial reef, April, 2015

Goliath Grouper with Donna, Shrimpboat wreck off Anclote Key, Florida, May, 2015

Charlie "selfie" with a Goliath Grouper, Shrimpboat wreck, off Anclote Key

Donna playing "peek a boo" with Goliath Grouper, Shrimpboat wreck off Anclote Key

Loggerhead Sea Turtle off Dunedin, Florida

Wheelhouse of the wreck of the Coast Guard cutter Sheridan off Clearwater, Florida

Great Barracuda on the roof of the Sheridan.

Tim Metcalf swimming beneath his wonderful boat which Tim generously let me use on our long Florida visit. It was great to be diving and fishing with Tim again, made me very homesick for Florida, would love to split my time between Florida and California for the rest of my days....

Large school of Spadefish on Rube Allyn artificial reef of Dunedin, Florida

Greg Hoberg took this excellent closeup of me and a cabezon on the Pinnacles after I got back to California.

Greg and I found the wreck of the Flavel off Cypress Point.

Some brass machinery on the Flavel.

Greg with a ling cod, Mono-lobo.

Greg with an egg yolk jelly, Mono-lobo.

Curious young harbor seal I nicknamed "Bennie" for his fascination with my "Jet" fins...remember your Elton John?

Greg and I were diving on a pinnacle off Cypress Point, surrounded by anchovies, we were visited by a humpback whale hunting anchovies, really cool.

A couple weeks later, we again saw humpbacks hunting anchovies north of Cypress Point, headed south. We again dived a submerged pinnacle off Cypress Point and were again rewarded by a passing humpback whale and his sea lion escort.

To see more of my favorite pictures from 2015 dives, please go to: https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6233062464240995089?authkey=COjhj_eyvuz2Mw

I'm looking forward to diving in 2016 though I suspect, since conditions have mostly prevented diving for the past two months, and we have a major El Nino, that diving this winter will be rare....I'm excited about a liveaboard dive boat trip I'm taking to Cocos off Costa Rico, this summer.

Monday, October 19, 2015

Two good dives at Otter Cove including fun with Sea Otters October 17, 2015

Guy Foster and I had two enjoyable dives at Otter Cove in Pacific Grove last Saturday. We had very tiny swell conditions, 20 to 40 ft of visibility, Pacific Sardines, and fun with curious sea otters on our snorkel out for our second dive. The water was incredibly warm for Monterey Bay - 63 degrees at the surface, 61 degrees at the bottom, over ten degrees warmer than normal due to the El Nino. The warmest water I've ever encountered in Monterey- Carmel area. We didn't even get a minor chill. We'll miss this warmth when it is gone..
Below are some pictures from these dive, to see many more, please go to:
https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6207213364403724689?authkey=CM-QharWx4r4Qw

Shore diving at Otter Cove includes going down and then, inevitably, climbing back up a flight of stairs on the left in this photo. Guy Foster is about to make his way carefully into the water. You should only dive Otter Cove near high tide to avoid dense, tough, entangling surf grass.

Good scuba diving at Otter Cove is at least 100 yards offshore so some snorkeling is needed. For the first time ever, we encountered Pacific Sardines on our snorkel out for our first dive. Guy is taking pictures of them in this photo.

Juvenile Calico Bass (aka Kelp Bass) usually found down south in the Channel Islands, also the first time I've seen one here.

We were repeatedly visited by a Harbor Seal on our first dive, he was too shy for closeups though.

Sea Lemon nudibranch (I'm only seeing about 10% of the usual quantities of these this year, even less of other usually common species), a spiny sea star (back to may 10% of the population before the sea star wasting plague decimated nearly all the sea stars except maybe blood stars), and a bat star.

Guy getting a shot. Otter Cove has great rock structures at the outer edge of its kelp forest (one of the few remaining reasonably intact kelp forests in Monterey and Carmel due to the hordes of sea urchins that spread after the sea star wasting disease decimated sea stars which eat them). Sea otters seem to be keeping the urchin numbers down in this area. Where the rocks end offshore here, sand begins, which gives you lots more direct and reflected light for photography.

Fish eating sea anemones.

Guy getting a sea anemone picture.

A seascape with a Pile Perch.

Guy and I hung out at the surface on our snorkel out for our second dive due to playful, curious, young sea otters. I managed to get this cool shot of a low flying cormorant going by.

Guy getting sea otter photos, sea otters to the left in this photo.

Two of the four sea otters came closer to check us out. One was bold enough to come right to us, at speed.

Bubble stream.

When close, he moved fast.

Almost a good closeup. Almost.

Guy is getting his flipper tugged on!

I had my flipper tugged on too, but then he ducked under my flipper just as I took his picture. Almost...

Friday, October 16, 2015

Spectacular dive off the Lone Cypress of 17 mile drive October 15, 2015

Greg Hoberg and I returned to another patch of kelp near the one we dived the day before. We had 50 ft of visibility and incredible warm, blue, 60 degree water down at 60 ft! The dive site was full of colorful ledges. We encountered a big school of Pacific Sardines (in contrast to the huge schools of anchovies we've seen for months).