This diving blog is happening well after the dive due to multiple sources of delay including a vacation to Pacific Grove and Yosemite with my sister Bette and her husband Tom, a fire evacuation for a week from our Healdsburg home, and the crash of my laptop necessitating the transfer of data to a new laptop!
Greg Hoberg and I took advantage of very good sea conditions to make the run down to our favorite dive site, Monolobo, in Carmel Bay. We were pleased to see signs of kelp forest recovery at several dive sites and especially were pleased to see the Monolobo kelp forest back to its normal pre sea star apocalypse/sea urchin plague extent. Visibility on this dive was not as good as we hoped for at this time of year but still an enjoyable 15-20 ft. Water temp was near the normal 52 degrees.
Lots of big healthy spiny sea stars. Still no sign of any sunflower stars, they seem to be locally extinct following the 2014 sea star wasting disease, haven't seen one in five years. Hope they eventually repopulate our area. Thankfully, virtually every sea urchin we saw was tucked into a crack in the rock because the ones out in the open have gotten devoured, probably from a combination of sea otters, wolf eels, and a few sheepshead.
It was great to be diving in the large rock formations of Monolobo beneath a dense kelp forest again.
Gopher Rockfish
San Diego Dorid, aka Leopard Nudibranch, about four inches long.
A large Ochre Sea Star
Giant Green Anemone, about 8 inches across
We were entertained by jellyfish in the kelp forest for our swim back to the boat.
To see more from this dive, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/mjzUXAvXe2k4aGtY7
Now I'm eagerly anticipating my next diving trip. Thursday night I start my travel to Dominica to snorkel with Sperm Whales with Tom Campbell and Beth Davidow! Hopefully, pictures, and maybe GoPro video, to come.
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