Thursday, February 24, 2022

Fun dives on the Pinnacles in Carmel Bay and off Otter Cove, Monterey Bay off Pacific Grove February 8, 2022

Greg Hoberg and I caught a morning of decent sea conditions and took his RIB down to the Pinnacles in Carmel Bay and made a second dive back inside Monterey Bay off Otter Cove. I'm finally posting this a couple weeks after our day of diving because a few weeks ago my wife Donna and I drove down to San Diego to pick up a pair of litter mate sister German Shorthair - Standard Poodles ten weeks old, so getting on my lap top has been challenging! Our visibility on the Pinnacles was around 40 ft, we were very pleased to see the continued recovery of kelp and we observed fewer sea urchins outside protective crevices. Even Palm Kelp is starting to recover on the bottom. Below are some photos from this dive, to see more go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/qnzEAbJFH1f41K3a8
We had a lengthy encounter with a patient Cabezon.
Greg gets a Cabezon photo. Can you see it, right of the photo center.
Greg's boat above as we make our safety stop, hovering in beautiful, wonderful, restored Giant Kelp. We pounded our way back north to Monterey Bay through choppy seas for our second dive. We had around 25 to 30 ft of visibility and the lighting was very good thanks to the reflective sandy bottom. Below are some photos from this dive, to see more, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/jBxSCLyndG1tySkF7
An amourous pair of Kelp Crabs