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...