Barbi Does Monterey Shootout, post retirement dives #950 - 955 with Beachhopper II July 24, 25, 2026

Backscatter has been conduncting an annual underwater photography contest since 1994, so this was the 32nd. I participated in 2010 soon after Backscatter sold me my Nauticam uw camera case for my Canon T2i Rebel cropped sensor DSLR which I continue to use today though all serious uw photographers have moved on to mirrorless digital cameras with large video displays so you can see what you shot as you go and they have far far more sensitive sensors, an important feature since you are always fighting for light underwater. They also excel at focusing.....But I stubbornly stick to my old rig, replacing it would pay for a nice dive vacation.... Many many years ago, last century, maybe I'll discover when by reviewing old diving photos, we bought a diving Barbi. Donna insisted I take some photos with Diviving Barbi to include in my up to six submissions for this year's contest because she was sure they'd include it in the pre-contest award slide show where many contestants slides are briefly shown. I submitted three Diving Barbi photos and they were briefly screened in the pre show. As always, the combination of my own slow process, my always overloaded agonizingly slow laptop, the realization that I needed to save photos without watermarks to enter, and the need to give my six co petition photos the required contest naming details kept me from having time to do a good job picking between too many photos and selecting my six since the 36 hour contest ended at 6 pm... Below are the three Barbi Photos I submitted and that were briefly shown in the pre award slide show:

I took these Barbi photos with my Tokina 10-17 mm wide angle lens on our first dive which was at a site called VT3 on Friday morning. Below are a couple more of my Barbi favorites (once I had more time to look at more photos).

To see more photos of Barbi Does Monterey Shootout please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/sDSbi7BmiTJgJPGe8 Our second dive of the morning was at Wharf 2, a superb macro photography site, but, unfortunately, I was setup with wide angle... Below are some photos from this dive, to see more, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/gEfDzrfEg3qdvKie7 Barbi put in another appearance! Below:

Guy shooting Macro under the wharf. Below:

Though I was shooting wide angle, I can focus very close to the front of my camera so I had some success with close focus wide angle. Here's a yellow nudibranch with a Dock Shrimp just ahead of it. Below:

There's lots of loose silt under the wharf and with multiple divers moving around there was lots of backscatter from suspended particles. Below is a great example of the power of Backscatter Xterminator from "Go Ask Erin", below:

Below: A Spanish Shawl nudibranch about 1 1/2 inches long. Not bad with a wide angle shot.

After lunch, Beachhopper II took us out for two afternoon dives. The first site was Metridium Mountain. Below are some photos from this dive, to see more, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/pta92jPMP4zPRbok9 Below: Metridium Mountain is named for its many Metridium Sea Anemones, aka Plumrose Anemones.

The water was full of living soup, lots of plankton. I was excited to get this shot of a feeding Cormorant but unfortunately it is blurred out by all the life in the water. Below:

I always look forward to encounters with Cabezon, my favorite fish subject in northern California. Below:

Our second dive of the afternoon was at Shale Island, again, a very popular macro site but I was shooting wide angle with unfortunately very limited visibility. The site is a very roughly circular plateau about 3-5 ft above the surrounding flat bottom. It's edge is a ledge of sedimentary rock that is full of dense invertebrate life. Below:

A Gopher Rockfish. Below:

Our first dive on Saturday the 25th was at one of my long time favorite Monterey Bay dive sites, Eric's Pinnacle. I decided to shoot Macro for these last two dives with Beachhopper II using my 60 mm Canon lens. Erik's Pinnacle is a huge boulder sitting in 50 ft of water and rising to 18 ft. It's a great site for wideangel but its not bad for Macro either. Below are some photos from this dive, to see the rest, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/wyFD7R1Vgdc2LqYi6 There's lots of huge Acorn Barnacles so I couldn't resist taking some shots of them.

Gopher Rockfish face, below:

Below: A Sculpin with a Yellow Cup Coral

Black Rockfish sitting on Orange encrusting sponge. Below:

A feeding crab in amongst Strawberry Anemones. Below:

I finished the dive with an encounter with a very cooperative Cabezon. Below:

Our second dive, which takes me up to post retirement dive number 955, was at Cabrillo Point, a site with sand, large rock structures, and Giant Kelp, it's inside of the Hopkin's Marine Station's marine reserve. Below are some photos from this dive, to see more, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/vAFKH42fT5yqtJzX7 Below: A photogenic decorator crab

An actively hunting Cone Shell snail, around 3 inches long. Below:

It was tricky to catch these constantly moving juvenile rockfish, about 2 inches long, with my macro lens with the narrow view in the fiewfinder. Below:

I spotted a Horned Nudibranch, Hemisenda Crassicornis, and took many pictures of it trying to get a great shot to enter into the contest....Below:

I really enjoyed these dives and the entire Monterey Shootout, the Saturday evening cocktail party, the lectures, and the awards ceremony. My quest towards 1000 post retirement dives continues as I execute my retirement plan which is to go diving.

The Day of the Dolphins plus post retirement dive #949 at the Pinnacles, Carmel Bay July 13, 2026

Greg Hoberg and I took his rigid inflatable zodiac from Monterey Harbor around Point Pinos and Cypress Point into Carmel Bay yesterday. On the way out I was astonished when the boat flushed up two big beautiful flying fish. I never, ever, expected to see these in chilly northern California waters but of course, the water is not as cold as it used to be and this year it's warmer than ever. Greg's depthfinder reported that the water was 60 degrees, that's 8 degrees warmer than usual! The ride down to Carmel Bay was much bumpier than we expected, we hold out, these days, for very calm days to cruise down to Carmel Bay, we're in our 15th year of taking his boat on this trip. When we reached the Pinnacles the water was that wonderful Hawaiian Pacific blue and we would have had exceptional visibility. The whale watch boats have been seeing lots of whales, orcas, and common dolphins so we decided to cruise on across the bay and check out Monolobo. Soon after we left the Pinnacles we saw huge commotion on the water ahead of us, lots of white water like big rapids! It was a tremendous pod of common dolphins. At any one time you could see hundreds so the total number must have easily been a thousand. They came and played under our bow as we slowly cruised along. An unforgettable experience! Here's some shots from my iphone during our fun with dolphins. I was careful with my exposed phone in splashing conditions so the shots don't do justice to the encounter.

When we returned to the Pinnacles we anchored and dived, assuming we'd have clear water, instead, we were astonished that the water had transformed from clear Hawaiian blue to yucky plankton bloom green. Instead of clear we had a dark dive with 15 to 20 ft of visibility...If we'd realized before we splashed we'd have moved to clear water either in Carmel Bay or somewhere on the way back... But the dolphin encounter was way worth it! Some photos from our dive below, I was shooting wide angle in expectation of great visibility, should have stuck to macro. Spanish Shawl (about 3 inches) with Sea Lemon nudibranch:

Greg getting a shot. Below:

The Pinnacles is well known for its Hydra Coral. Below:

Finally, three rockfish. A Gopher, a Black and Yellow, and a Kelp Rockfish. Below: