Guy Foster and I had two good dives off the Sanctuary dive boat yesterday. Winds were high and expected to get still higher so our dive was less than a mile from the harbor but it was a decent dive site. Guy was making his first dive with his new drysuit and I was making my second dive with a drysuit, a DUI I've gotten from Guy because it wasn't a good fit for him. We had 15 to 20 ft of visibility, water temp at the bottom was 51 degrees F. Below are some pictures from the dive, for more please go to:
be93https://photos.app.goo.gl/i7lrZ5js09Zpn
Guy getting settled with his new drysuit on our first dive.
Rainbow Nudibranch, about 8 inches long, on the hunt for the many tube anemones found on this site. It's cool to see these nudibranchs attack tube anemones.
Can you see the cow crab just above the orange sponge? Just above the crab you can see an upside down sea anemone and a sea urchin on a large, old, encrusted iron chain.
I took this picture of my gloved hand on the iron chain for scale. The chains are from a floating structure that was out on this location, it was a transfer station for sardine boats to dump their catches in and which were then pumped a couple hundred yards to the canneries on shore.
Kelp rockfish near some of the higher rock structure on the site.
Guy pretending to be a harbor seal after a rockfish.
Yellow Edged Cadlina Nudibranch with a Red Sea Urchin
Another chain from the old floating sardine transfer structure that used to be on this site. Read Steinbeck's Cannery Row.
The external skeleton of a large cow crab in the process of being recycled by the sea.
Guy admiring the crab carcase.
A Sand-Rose Anemone in the foreground, a lingcod passing behind it.
If you look closely you can see a small juvenile Painted Greenling just behind and to the right of the mouth (crater in the center) of the anemone. It is one of the only fish in California that can use sea anemones for shelter instead of being eaten by them.
Metridium, aka Plumrose, Sea Anemones
Hermissenda crassicornis, aka Horned Nudibranch, aka Opalescent Nudibranch, about 3 inches long.
Guy getting set to photo the Horned Nudibranch. While he was doing this, I looked around and up and I had a shocking sight. Passing above us was what I first thought was a boat on the surface, then realized it wasn't clear enough to see the surface....then wondered what was the huge shadow coming...whale, White Shark? It turned out to be a huge Mola Mola, at least 8 ft long and about 8 ft high counting its vertical fins, amazing sight. I couldn't get Guy's attention and didn't ascend enough to photo it, and probably lose Guy's location in the process.....One of these days I'll get a picture of one of these amazing fish.
San Diego Dorid Nudibranch
A good day of diving, good practice with our drysuits. I'm now quite comfortable with mine and staying warm while diving in Monterey is a very novel experience. Also, my drysuit's pee zipper also is a nice new feature!
Donna and I are off this week to sail in the San Juan Islands with her college roomate and her husband so no diving for a couple weeks.
I learned so many things from this blog. It is a very nice blog..
ReplyDelete