Coastguard Breakwater, January 29,2015

Sometimes outboard motors can be recalcitrant.  Last week as we were returning from our dive trip down to Carmel Bay Greg's Evinrude died just as we approached the dock at the boat launch ramp.  Better a motor failure back at the dock than out off Cypress Point....We found that a fuse had burned out and replaced it and the motor power tilt drive worked again so we thought we were back in business.  But Thursday we tried to go out and we burned out a couple fuses again.  Greg and I did a shore dive at the Coastguard Breakwater and had a very good, long - 80 minutes- dive with 58 degree water and 20 ft of visibility and excellent light.  We saw lots of tube worms being preyed on by Rainbow Nudibranchs, we had a long encounter with a Giant Kelpfish and saw a variety of fish more common at the breakwater than at our usual dive sites.

 A pair of Rubberlip Seaperch.

 Greg getting a picture of an amorous pair of Rainbow Nudibranchs laying eggs.

 Rainbow Nudibranchs are usually easy to find preying on the huge population of tube anemones in the sand flat next to the breakwater in about 40 ft of water.  I want to video the nudibranch's attack on a tube anemone one of these days.

 A rainbow nudibranch atop the stalk of a tube anemone that has pulled down into its tube.

 Greg swimming past a Sea Hare sea slug in the left of the picture.  We've seen more of these in recent months than we've seen around here before, perhaps it is related to the unusually warm water - at 58 degrees about 6 degrees warmer than normal.

 While Greg was trying to get close enough to a Kelp Seabass to get a picture, the seabass was startled by a fish hidden in the kelp.  This was the first time I ever had an extended encounter with a Giant Kelpfish.  He was a little over a foot long.

 While maneuvering for a shot, Greg has herded the kelpfish over so that I had a good shot.

 It is a cool looking fish.

 A cabezon with Greg in the background.

A pair of Halfmoons, one of the fish I see at the breakwater but not so much anywhere else around here.
To see more pictures from this dive please go to:
https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6110648203858494897?authkey=CMrH5qvdv636nQE

Dives on the Pinnacles and SE of Cypress Point, Carmel Bay, January 22, 2015

Greg Hoberg and I took advantage of a short break in large swell conditions to dive this Thursday.  Sea conditions were fine for diving inside Carmel Bay and for making the boat run to Carmel from the Monterey Breakwater boat launch where we start.  We've been noting the rapid decline in kelp beds due to the combination of exploding populations in sea urchins following the sea star wasting virus outbreak and the large rough seas which pull off weakened stands of Giant and Bull Kelp.  For the first time ever we were able to cruise right across the rocky shallows of Chase reef to round Point Pinos.  Normally Chase Reef has a huge, dense, kelp bed - even after being thinned by winter storms.  In crossing Chase Reef we did not see a single frond of kelp!  We only saw a couple stands of kelp after rounding Pt Pinos and then we cut right across near Pt Joe, also usually covered by extensive kelp which we have to pick our way through or go around.  Pt Joe had almost no kelp either.  We decided to dive the Pinnacles for our first dive and the kelp there is reduced by something like 75%.  We had 54 degree water (so getting closer to "normal" 52 degrees as the pseudo almost El Nino fades away).  Visibility was easily 40 ft and due to partly sunny skies and parse kelp coverage, light was excellent.

 Greg found a large wolf eel in a deep crevice.

 The wolf eel was hard to get a picture of, I didn't want to scratch my just repolished lens port.

 The giant kelp, bull kelp, and the short palm kelp have all been tremendously trimmed by rapacious sea urchins.  You can see one on top of the remains of a palm kelp just below the ling cod.

 The pinnacles have huge canyons that are great to explore when you've got good visibility.

 The reduced stands of giant kelp are packed with kelp loving blue rockfish.

Yes, once again, one would say there was a plethora of blue rockfish.

For more pictures from this dive please go to:
 https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6107720736262705761?authkey=CO35_OGytr6GggE

We decided to make our second dive near shore inside the wash rock SE of Cypress Point.  Normally this area is inaccessible due to dense kelp - giant kelp spreading on the surface and dense palm kelp covering the bottom.  Again, due to ravenous hordes of sea urchins and large winter seas, the kelp is about 95% gone.  I sure hope it recovers soon but it sure makes exploring new sites easy.  A passing Great White would easily spot an inattentive harbor seal, sea lion, sea otter, or diver when cruising through the area...We again had excellent visibility and light.  We covered a lot of ground on this dive in 20 - 40 ft of water - both to explore and to keep from freezing.

 We were buzzed by sea lions a few times during our dive but they didn't linger for photos.  We also saw a sea otter but we were not close enough for a photo.

 I spotted this group of Leafy Hornmouth snails laying eggs.

 Greg getting a shot of a lingcod.  Note how little kelp there is in the expanse of "urchin barrens".

 A curious grass rockfish in one of the spots that still has Palm Kelp.

If you'd like to see a few more pictures from this dive, please go to :  https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6107721269568025313?authkey=CPrw8IDl9MSdRg

Sea Lions! Dives at Los Lobos rocks off Sobranes Point south of Pt Lobos and off Cypress Point

Greg Hoberg and I made two dives on Wednesday and we took advantage of the calm conditions to cruise south of Point Lobos for our first dive, ever, at Lobos Rocks (the Spanish that came into California called the sea lions sea wolves, hence Point Lobos and Lobos Rocks, both areas are full of sea lions).  Our second dive was at an old favorite, Cypress point.  Both these dive sits require calm seas to be safe for both boat and divers.  We had a very strong current with the incoming tide at Lobos Rocks so having excellent underwater navigation skills, being in good shape, and being sure the boat was safely anchored were all critical to us diving safely with no backup in the boat to do a rescue if we missed it in the current...  The water is quite deep - 80 to 100 ft, all around the Lobos Rocks which are really pinnacles coming up from the bottom about 1/2 mile off Sobranes Point.   I was really pleased to see lots of sea lions floating in groups around the rocks so I figured there wasn't an actively hunting white shark in the area.  We had 25 ft of visibility on this dive with lots of stuff in the water, some of it obviously by visual and olfactory cues, from the dense population of sea lions.  This dive became all about being entertained by the curious sea lions.


This is the more northerly of the two Los Lobos Rocks, the other is hidden behind this one.  This was the closest point we could safely anchor the boat at, in 60 ft of water, surrounded by 80 to 100 ft.  There was a strong current running so we had to pull ourselves down the anchor line and hug the big rock ridge  at the bottom to cross over to the rock in 80 ft of water, we realized it would be critical to be able to navigate back to the anchor on the bottom at the end of our exploration of the rock so we only made it half way around the rock because we were so distracted by the playful sea lions.

 These metridium sea anemones are at 75 ft as we approached our anchor perched up on the ridge, you can just make out the anchor line past Greg.

 When we got to the rock we were swarmed by curious, playful, darting, sea lions.  The speed of the sea lion was directly proportional to the square of how close it was to you!

 We had as many sea lions for entertainment as we usually have blue rockfish, in fact, I would say we had a plethora of sea lions.

 To see more sea lions please go to:  https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6102185758723859617?authkey=COXixNCm7-2_TA

 Black and yellow rockfish at Cypress Point

 The inner wash rocks at Cypress Point are normally very turbulent, like a giant washing machine, so you find Giant Green Anemones here, like this one with a lingcod.  This site is only safe to dive when seas are calm.  For more pictures from this dive, please go to:  https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6102215018210431025?authkey=CIbN8_f1q8bprwE

Dives at Yankee Point Wash Rock and off Ghost Tree, Carmel Bay, January 6, 2015

Greg Hoberg and I had two very good dives on Tuesday.  Seas were very calm and the weather was sunny.  We saw many Gray Whales and were entertained by a group of 500 common dolphins that came and played in our wake and under our bow as we cruised past Point Lobos.  Below are a few pictures from the dive at Yankee Point wash rock, to see more, please go to :
https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6101472671587796849?authkey=CImQ07bp-f3RuAE

 For the second time, ever, the first time being our dive trip a week and a half ago, I found mussels clinging to a rock down 30 ft or so.  Normally mussels don't survive below the low tide level because sea stars devour them.  Sea stars were devastated by sea star wasting virus and now there are hordes of sea urchins obliterating our giant kelp, bull kelp, and palm kelp.

 Greg getting a shot of a small cabezon.

 Happily, there were a few ochre and knobby sea stars around, hope their numbers recover to normal.

 Just above the lavender colored ochre sea star in the upper center of the picture is a small abalone out in the open.  You don't normally see this because abalone in the open are annihilated by hungry sea otters.  I suspect the abalone is forced out in the open to find algae to graze due to competition with hordes of sea urchins.  In the past you also only saw sea urchins in nooks and crannies because of sea otters but their numbers have exploded since the sea star wasting virus decimated sea stars.

Diving this site is only feasible in exceptionally calm seas.  You know you are diving in an area with frequently turbulent water when you see Giant Green Anemones.

Our second dive was off Ghost Tree near Pescadero Point in Carmel Bay.  As on the first dive we had 57 degree water, well above the long term average of 52 degrees and it sure makes doing a couple of long dives a lot more comfortable for old knuckle dragging wetsuit users like us.  We were able to anchor Greg's Zodiac RIB in near shore where normally thick giant kelp beds would keep us out.  Below are a few pictures from this dive, for more, please go to the link to see more:
https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6101472991760193025?authkey=CJ_fqMHzvMLnsQE

 A cabezon guarding his eggs.  Male cabezon guard the eggs the female lays.

 This area has great large rock structures, a blast to dive in clear, bright, conditions.

 The giant kelp has been greatly reduced nearly everywhere and especially at this site.  I did a double take when I swam past the kelp holdfast for one of the lonely remaining stands of giant kelp.  The holdfast is full of small sea urchins (small sea urchins are normally eaten by sea stars whose numbers were decimated by the sea star wasting virus last year) just munching away.  This kelp strand won't last long.

 A cabezon and a rockfish in palm kelp, Greg in the background.

 Greg is getting a shot of a lingcod.

One of the few remaining stands of Giant Kelp in the area, may it endure.