Two Good Dives with the Sanctuary in Carmel Bay Saturday, Oct 1, 2016

Guy Foster and I went diving with the Sanctuary last Saturday.  The marine forecast had been up and down but we lucked out with only a small wave and moderate wave chop so the Sanctuary took us down to Carmel Bay in search of clearer water (significant plankton bloom has the surface in Monterey approaching brown in color).  We had an average of 20 ft to 25 ft of visibility and a bottom temperature of 51 degrees.  Our first dive was between "Fire Rock" a wash rock off Pescadero point so named for the bright colors of invertebrate life on it, and the Pescadero Point shore.  Our depths ranged from 55 ft to 77 ft on this dive.  The Giant Kelp is still much reduced from normal but is recovering from the sea urchin plague and the Palm Kelp on the bottom is also starting to come back though there are still many urchins (and more and more sea stars, thankfully).  One diver reported seeing a juvenile sunflower star about 8 inches across though I still haven't seen one for about 3 years.  Lots of nudibranchs, lots of chestnut cowries, several red rock crabs, and decent numbers of rock fish on this dive.  Below are some photos from this dive, you can see more at:  https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipMTo2XU9uRMV2PnkYkeVo7bHvZ7GWBI1Y6YTJIh

                                     Olive Rockfish

                                         Hudson's Dorid Nudibranch (shot with my Tokina 10-17 mm fisheye wide angle so not bad, but I can't match macro lens closeups)

                                      San Diego Dorid Nudibranch

                                          Sheep Crab

                                Chestnut Cowry, 1/3 up from bottom and 1/3 in from right

                                         Guy taking a shot of a cowry

                                          Red Rock Crab
 
Our second dive was in an average of 46 ft of water between Fire Rock and the large rocks in the middle of the mouth to Still Water Cove.  The area had large scattered rocks with rich invertebrate life, we were entertained by a confident Cabezon at the end of the dive.  For more pictures from this dive please go to:  https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipNUCAdhIQeNr4pdkY4fbtknp0eKhDddmsZYgAFB

                                          Anemone with Kelp Rockfish

                                         Amorous Red Rock Crabs with a Blood Star

                                         Guy getting a shot of Red Rock Crabs

                                                San Diego Dorid

                                          Hudson's Dorid Nudibranch

                                          A feeding Sea Cucumber

                                          Guy getting a Kelp Rockfish photo.

                                          Cabezon with Guy

                                          Cabezon frequently remind me of Dominar Rygel XVI of Farscape.