Charlie's Diving Blog

Monday, October 9, 2023

Monolobo and Cypress Point Innermost Wash Rocks September 25, 2023

Greg Hoberg and I caught another very calm day with virtually zero swell/surge. The visibility didn't look like it would be great at the Pinnacles so we went to Monolobo which frequently has better visibility but, sadly, currently, is almost completely urchin barrens where there used to be one of the most magnificent kelp forests in Carmel Bay. We had 25 to 35 ft of visibility and a good dive with Lingcod and rockfish. Below are some photos from this dive, to see more please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/BkptDHAUavRRrAAE7 Below: Greg "splashes" to start our dive. I generally splash first and make sure I'm all sorted before Greg plunges in.

Below: Looking back up at Greg's boat from about 40 ft down. Frequently vertical visibility is greater than horizontal...

Below: Greg swimming across urchin barrens where there should be a combination of dense Palm Kelp on every rock and huge stands of Giant Kelp rising to the surface. On a healthy reef all the living urchins are crowded into crevices in daylight.

Above: Greg on beautiful rock structure with good visibility and plenty of light. Normally this would all be under a beautiful Giant Kelp Canopy with the kelp anchored to the tops of the rocks. Below: Here's a Giant Kelp holdfast after the kelp strand has been chewed off but before the hungry urchins have devoured the holdfast. All the rocks should have these holdfasts with Giant Kelp rising from each of them, competing with low rising Palm Kelp, everywhere.

Above: Sea Lemon nudibranch with Black Urchin

Above: Greg with beautiful Lingcod

Below: Greg with a large, confident, patient Gopher Rockfish

Above: Greg spotted a well camouflaged Decorator Crab Below: Black and Yellow Rockfish

Above: Purple urchins devouring kelp they've pulled to the seafloor. Below: Sea anemones in shallow water urchin barrens.

Our second dive was at the innermost wash rocks off Cypress Point. We hoped to stumble onto the steamship wreck we've dived there twice before but the visibility, 15-20 ft, hampered our search. Below are some photos from the dive, for more, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Q3VauJZPXcbPALNo8

Below: Olive Rockfish with Bull Kelp

Below: If you scrutinize the photo you may see a brown Rock Greenling that I only had a moment to photo. Don't see this species around here very often.

We were briefly buzzed by a curious sea lion, below:

Monday, September 11, 2023

Fun Dives on the Pinnacles and on Cypress Point's Inner Wash Rocks 9-8-2023

Greg Hoberg and I caught another calm day and zipped around the Monterey Peninsula from the Coast Guard Breakwater boat launch to dive the Pinnacles and the Inner Wash Rocks off Cypress Point. We decided to make our first dive on the thriving Giant Kelp Forest on the Pinnacles. Visibility was 15 to 20 ft and it was very dark due to the combination of the marine layer blocking the sun, the heavy kelp coverage (hurray!!), and the limited visibility with heavy plankton bloom in the top 20 ft. A very enjoyable dive with lots of rock fish, a couple Cabezon, and a couple of Ling Cod, one quite large. Below are some photos from our dive on the Pinnacles. To see more, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/HAbkbCEqXScRkYsi6 Below: China Rock Fish

Above: Cabezon, my favorite local fish subject. Below: Large Ling Cod

Below: The Pinnacles have lots of beautiful Hydro Coral.

Below: Lingcod

Below: Large, fat, Spiny Sea Star devouring a large Acorn Barnacle

Below: I much prefer doing our safety stop at the end of a dive next to Giant Kelp. The water was quite green at 20 ft.

Our second dive was on the Inner wash rocks off Point Cypress. This is an excellent dive but only when there is only a small swell or less. Visibility was again 54 F, visibility ranged from 15 to 40 ft dependent on where we were relative to the wash rocks and breaking seas on them. Below are some photos from this dive, for more, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/vv23yo14pG8oFNgP8 Below: Greg near the anchor as we start our dive. There was no Giant Kelp, sadly, but at least there was still some surviving Palm Kelp.