Two Very Good Dives on the Pinnacles July 9,10, 2024

Greg Hoberg and I finally caught two calm days to get out with his boat for some diving. We ended up diving the Pinnacles both days, we enjoyed 20 to 40 ft of visibility with lots of rockfish of several different species, were buzzed by sea lions, and, on the second day, enjoyed encounters with several different Lingcod and a few were exceptionally patient with us. Below are some photos from our dive on July 9th, to see more, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/SKC6g7PrEshjGnEg8 We saw hundreds of Blue Rockfish and a great variety of others including Olive Rockfish, Gopher Rockfish, Treefish (rockfish), and China Rockfish. Below: Treefish

It's great to dive in a Giant Kelp Forest again! Below:

Below: Copper Rockfish

Below: Gopher Rockfish

A Below: China Rockfish

Below: Another Treefish (rockfish)

Below: Obligatory beautiful Sea Anemone in foreground, others in background

There's still too many sea urchins. In some places there are only a few so there's a kelp forest, right nearby are small urchin barrens. Below is a kelp holdfast that has been assaulted by sea urchins so no kelp remains.

We were repeated buzzed by speeding sea lions. I finally managed to get my camera to focus and shoot a photo of one, below:

The next day, July 10, we crossed Carmel Bay to see if the kelp forest at Mono-lobo had recovered, sadly, it had not, it had about 5%, maybe, of its normal forest. So we toured much of Carmel Bay and were sorry to see very very little kelp at several other favorite sites, so we went back to the Pinnacles, whose kelp forest is maybe 40% of normal (pre sea star wasting disease in 2014, pre urchin plague that followed the demise of its top predator, the Sunflower Star, which, tragically, is now locally extinct). Below are some photos from this dive, to see more, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/fqyrvsBxfJKX91996 As we dropped down to the anchor we were wrapped in a huge school of Blue Rockfish, below:

We saw several Lingcod on this dive and a few of them were patient enough for us to take our time taking pictures of them. Below:

Below: Greg getting pictures of a nice sized Lingcod

Below: Female Kelp Greenling, they tend to be shy so I'm pleased I got this picture

Below: Gopher Rockfish with a Brown Rock Crab

Below: Looking up through the Giant Kelp Forest

Another cool Lingcod, below:

Below: Several shots of Gopher Rockfish and China Rockfish

Below: Olive Rockfish

It's nice to be able to hang next to Giant Kelp and have Blue Rockfish for company for your safety stop!