Two very good dives off North Monastery Beach and on the Pinnacles August 17, 2023

Greg Hoberg and I caught another very calm day last Thursday. We cruised down to the Pinnacles, were unimpressed by the apparent visibility so continued across Carmel Bay to Monolobo then went over to the Kelp Forest off North Monastery and anchored there. We had a very good dive, visibility opened up as we descended and we had 20 to maybe 25 ft of visibility. Monastery remains a great dive site, of course. Water temperature at the surface was a much warmer than usual 57 degrees, at the bottom 53. Below are some photos from our dive, to see more, go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Q3oPHDDXntVjLZocA

Above: Orange Tube Anemone Below: Painted Greenling

Below: Monastery's Kelp forest is about half of normal size

Below: Gopher Rockfish on her perch

Below: Big Spiny Sea Star, my hand for scale.

Below: Leather Sea Star

Below: Spotted or Crevice Kelpfish, about 4 inches long. The first one I've photo'd in Carmel for awhile, so....

Above: Colorful Kelp Holdfast We headed out to the Pinnacles for our second dive. Near the Pinnacles we encountered a pod of Harbor or possibly Dall's Porpoises. Before starting our dive I decided to conduct an experiment with a new "Heatwave" instant reuseable heat pack. It works by releasing heat when it transitions from liquid form to a solid crystal structure. I pressed the activator button and presto, the transition began, releasing heat. I slipped it into my wetsuit between my main suit and the thin shorty I wear under it. It provided some noticeable, welcome, warmth for the next 30 minutes. See below, one pack in liquid form, the other one solid. I'll need to boil it to return it to the liquid state for its next use.

When we descended on the Pinnacles we were once again pleased that visibility opened up as we descendend. Again, we had 20 -25 ft of visibility, 53 degrees at the bottom. Below are some photos from this dive, for more, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/juaYsdA2VCHfEDW87

Below: China Rockfish

Above: A patient Lingcod