Monolobo Friday, November 13, 2020

 Greg Hoberg and I caught a very calm day and took his boat down to Monolobo in Carmel Bay.  We saw Risso's dolphins over the Carmel trench as we crossed the Bay to Monolobo.  After our dive, we spent some time near them with Greg's boat and were rewarded with some nice viewing of a juvenile albino Risso's that the whale watch vessels have been showing pictures of for some time.  Below are some photos from our dive, to see the rest, please go to:

 https://photos.app.goo.gl/oEwzNGvYNT1Qmi8g8  

We had an average of about 35 ft of visibility, water temperature at depth was 49 degrees.  My drysuit zipper, despite lots of attention, leaked again.  I'm buying a new drysuit, I got this one very cheap and it was manufactured in 2006 and I've decided not to invest $638 to replace its leaky zippers...We saw one ling cod and one Cabezon, still much less than usual, I'm hoping they are just late coming into the shallows where we dive this year.  We were visited by curious sea lions a couple times but the visits were sudden and quick so I didn't get any really good photos but did get a couple ok ones.

Monolobo has great rock structure, mini-walls, and canyons, it is a spectacular dive site, especially now that its kelp forest has largely regrown.

    Greg with a Treefish rockfish.

    A couple of sea lions buzzing us from above.

       Gopher Rockfish

                        I think this Vermilion Rockfish roams this huge site and just visits us during our dives.

     Olive Rockfish

Three more visiting sea  lions.

Good dive at Monolobo November 2, 2020

 Greg Hoberg and I took his boat down to Carmel Bay on Monday through confused seas that were rougher than we expected, though not at all hazardous.  Thankfully the small but very long period westerly swell did not produce much surge for our dive.  We checked out the Pinnacles and Pescadero Pt but weren't impressed by the surface water clarity so we went on across the Bay to Monolobo.  The visibility was better there, during the dive it varied from at least 35 ft to 25 ft, water temp at 65 ft was 52,.  As we crossed the Carmel Trench on the way to Monolobo we saw a pod of Risso's dolphins. Lots of rockfish, only a single Kelp Greenling, not a single ling cod or Cabezon, very strange and a bit worrisome Below are some pictures from our dive, for more, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/7ypXaYcjAbBzXWMAA 

    Lone Vermilion Rockfish, we think this part of this site is his or her territory.

                                         I obviously can't resist shooting the Vermilion Rockfish especially if there aren't any Lingcod or Cabezon to be found.

                                  Gopher Rockfish

  Juvenile California Sheepshead

Good Dives at the Pinnacles and Monolobo, huge pod of Risso's Dolphins off Pt Pinos October 27, 2020

 Greg Hoberg and I caught a day with very calm seas and took his boat down to Carmel Bay last Tuesday.  We had good dives on the Pinnacles and at Monolobo and then encountered a huge pod of Risso's Dolphins off Pt Pinos on our way back.  We were entertained by several repeated breaches.

Below are some photos from our first dive on the Pinnacles.  To see more, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/26mFo1jyhd1aMxXv6

We noticed when we anchored the boat, that the boat drifted back in the opposite direction from what we expected.  We realized that there was a bit of a current running.  While down 65 ft in a maze of mini-canyons we didn't notice the current, but in the pictures that have Giant Kelp you can see that the kelp is stretched out horizontally instead of standing straight up, like usual.  We were pleased to see more kelp and few sea urchins.

Gopher Rockfish on encrusting sponge with sea anemones.

                                            Yes, I'd say there was a plethora of rockfish.

    Note Giant Kelp not standing up straight.  We noticed when we failed to find the anchor line and surfaced downcurrent from Greg's boat, fortunately in giant kelp to hold onto during our three minute safety stop..  Seems like every now and then you have to repeat the whole "Good judgment comes from experience, experience comes from bad judgment!" learning process. I had to kick as hard as I could to beat the current and was really really glad when I got to the boat.

                                         Olive Rockfish

                                  Well, sans bubbles, it would have been an ok shot of a buzzing sea lion.

                                            
         Here the sea lion shot up from below to pay a quick visit.

Our second dive was at Monolobo.  We again had average visibility of 25ft with 56 degree water, about 4 degrees warmer than usual. Below are some pictures from our dive at Monolobo, to see more, to see more, please go to:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/CBdxhLQACV2iQCKC9 

Greg gets a sea lion visit at the start of our dive, right after he finished re-positioning the anchor so that it would be easy (ish) to retrieve.

                                   Ah, I perfectly timed my shot to include bubbles with the sea lion...

Greg spotted a cool sculpin, species TBD, possibly Coraline.  Note one purple sea urchin, cowering in a crevice where it belongs.  The urchins are becoming fewer and the kelp is recovering at Monolobo.

Greg eye to eye with sculpin.

    Getting buzzed by another sea lion, or, the same one, again...

      Vermilion Rockfish, they look charcoal gray in natural light because there is no red light at depth, strobe flash brings out the red.

     I was very happy to see a nice sized Lingcod in the Palm Kelp.  We haven't been seeing them recently like we normally do, and we're diving in a no take area.

           We found the anchor line for our safety stop, no current, no strenuous surface swim back to the boat this time, and the anchor eventually came up through the kelp...

Enjoyable Dive at Otter Cove with Guy Foster October 17, 2020

 Last Saturday Guy Foster and I made our first shore dive in a long while, at Otter Cove.  We rediscovered how much work shore dives are, especially when you include up and down the stairs at Otter Cove and a significant surface swim out and back.  It was good to dive there again, visibility on the outside edge of the kelp forest was 20 maybe 25 ft, water temp was 51, maximum depth was 45 ft.  The kelp forest there, though significant, is maybe 25% of normal.  Below are some photos from this dive, for more, please go to:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/MmXGVSYRkeeXh9yA8

Looking back past Guy at Otter Cove's stairs as we snorkel out to the kelp forest.

  Visibility gradually improved as we made our way through the giant kelp bed to its outer edge where the rocky bottom transitions to sand and where the largest rock structures are found.

                                           Tube Anemones with Sea Lemon Nudibranch

                                  Painted Greenling with Strawberry Anemones and Purple Sea Urchins

                       As we made our way back towards shore through the kelp forest a harbor seal played peak a boo with us.