Very Fun dives with Sanctuary at Aumentos and Hopkins Aquarium 9-23-2018

Yesterday, to my surprise from the night before, I dived with Sanctuary for my third day of diving in a row....Well I'm making up for a slower pace of local diving earlier this year.  I happily drove home in our new Tesla Saturday afternoon after two days of diving with Greg Hoberg.  Donna had set up an Art Show Opening for Art Trails at a fantastic Art Gallery in Healdsburg and I was due there at 6 pm....After attending and enjoying the wine, appetizers, and art I went home to discover that I had a reservation to dive with Santuary the next morning....So 4 am saw me headed back to Monterey, 200 miles south, but once again enjoying our new Tesla Model 3.....Also, I was diving with my wetsuit due to a large leakage problem I'd had with my drysuit that day...

Our first dive was on Aumentos, we stayed in Monterey Bay because the visibility had been better in Monterey than Carmel the day before.  Visibility was 35 ft and water temperature was 49 degrees from the recent upwelling.  Below are some pictures from this dive, for more, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZVoTAcESDTUDafQP8

                                          Juvenile Lingcod

                                          Yellow Edged Cadlina

 Black Eyed Goby displaying his dorsal fin, the first time I've caught this in a photo, I think he was displaying to his reflection on my new 8.5 in dome I was using with my new 24 mm lens.

    Coonstripe Shrimp.  I'm pleased that my 24 mm lens can take decent macro photos.

                                   Black Eyed Goby with a large Hermit Crab

    Coonstripe Shrimp, about 2 inches long

    Black Eyed Goby, about 3 inches long, displaying his dorsal fin to his own reflection in my camera dome.  By far my best ever photo of this type of fish.

                                          Sea Lemon Nudibranch, about 6 inches long.

                                                 Metridium Anemone, aka Plumrose Anemone, about 14 inches tall

    I had a nice encounter with this beautiful, confident Cabezon just before I had to ascend to my safety stop.


Our second dive was near Hopkin's Marine lab, just inside China Point, just past the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  One of the fun things at this site is that you are sometimes entertained by curious Harbor Seals, as I was on this dive.  Below are some photos from this dive, for more, please go to:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/9fCAQZd16rEvtyTk8

       Monterey Bay's inner dive sites have lots of tube anemones where the rocky reefs meet the sand.

                                Male Kelp Greenling

 I realized I was in the company of a young Harbor Seal when I felt my fin getting tugged.  She was quite shy though but kept visiting me throughout my dive, I managed to get a couple pictures.

                                      There were several scenes of Sea Hare orgies and egg laying on this dive.

                                       Unusual to find a Plumrose Anemone in this shallow of water, about 40 ft.

    A parting glance from my new friend as I finished my dive.

Very good, deep, dive at Mono-lobo September 22, 2018

Greg Hoberg and I took his dive boat in calm seas and fog down to Mono-lobo on the first day of Fall.  We were pleased to see the continuing recovery of kelp on Chase Reef as we approached and then rounded Pt Pinos, off Pt Joe, and at Mono-lobo.  We anchored on the outer edge of the kelp because it is finally too dense to weave the boat through.  We ended up spending a lot of time around 70 ft because we had such a rich area of subjects for our photography.  Visibility wasn't as good as we'd been hoping, around 20 ft, a bit better by the end of the dive.  During the dive I was dismayed to find myself getting very wet in my "drysuit" despite having carefully cleaned and lubricated the zippers that morning.....I was cold by the end of the dive and had water sloshing up over my knees for the ride back to Monterey.

Below are some photos from our dive, to see more please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/tfpWVwZmUTyPTLzn9

 Horned Nudibranch, about 3 inches long, I'm pleased with the macro photos I can take with my new "backup" 24 mm lens and 8.5 inch dome.

                                Treefish, a shy rockfish with pink lips.  It dived into its hole after the flash...

    Cadlina flavomaculata, into the Yellow Spot Cadlina nudibranch, this is the first I've seen and photoed.

                                San Diego Dorid, aka Leopard Nudibranch

                                          Kelp Crab

                                          Black Eyed Goby with a White Sea Cucumber

Inside Pt Pinos September 21, 2018

Greg Hoberg and I took his boat out to dive on the last day of Summer.  We headed down to Carmel Bay but a stiff SSW wind and SW chop turned us back because we were concerned it would intensify and perhaps change direction.

We dived just inside Pt Pinos.  We had 15 ft of visibility at the start of the dive and at least 20 ft at the end as the tide came in.  I bought a new 8.5 inch dome to use with my 24 mm lens and I was eager to try the new combination out.  I was pleased with the results.

Below are some shots from this dive, for more please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/qhm3TBK5T4myf5Gw7

                                         Greg in green water.  Sunny days overwhelmed the recent upwelling.

                                        I saw several of these small, about two inch, sea stars....wish they were juvenile sunflower stars but don't think so...needs to have around ten legs or so...

     Black and Yellow Rockfish

                                Olive Rockfish

                                          Large Lingcod

                        Well camouflaged Snubnose Sculpin, only saw it because it moved.  See it?

                                                  Gopher Rockfish

     Coonstripe Shrimp

                                Snubnose Sculpin with orange encrusting sponge

Very good dives at Aumentos and Sammit's Pinnacle September 16,2018

Sunday I drove our new Tesla 3 to Monterey to dive with Sanctuary on two sites in Monterey Bay. 

                              Our Tesla 3, "Deep Blue" parked near where I board Sanctuary.

The first dive was on Aumentos, the second on Sammit's Pinnacle.  Due to left over seas from the previous day and night and because of high winds in the forecast, we stayed inside Monterey Bay.  Visibility at Aumentos was at least 40 ft once you got below a plankton bloom in the top 15 ft.  Visibility at Sammit's wasn't as good but still very decent, about 30 ft.

Below are some pictures from Aumentos, to see more, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/8zrLeWWn4BG6BrY86

                                     Black Eyed Goby

                                          Juvenile Rockfish, about 4 inches long

    Yellow Dorid Nudebranch, about three inches long with brown cup corals.

    Coonstripe Shrimp, about 2 inches long

                                          Yellow Dorid Nudebranch orgy and egg laying

                                          Lingcod

                                          Male Kelp Greenling

                 Cabezon



Our second dive was on Sammit's Pinnacle, off McAbee Beach. 
Below are some pictures from my dive at Sammit's Pinnacle, for more, please go to:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/MfXPDdK8WBX8szJs5

                                          Tube Anemone

                                          Sand Rose Anemone, about 10 inches across

                                Blue Striped Perch

    Serpula Worm, about 3/4 inch across

                                                  Sculpin, about 3 inches long

                                Yellow Edged Cadlina Nudebranch, about 3 inches long

Light Colored Sea Urchin, this sea urchin used to be found from Santa Rosa Island in the Channel Islands in Southern California down to Baja but arrive in Monterey Bay in 2012 during a local water warm spell.