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.
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:
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...
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