Oh... I thought we were in disagreement. I was wrong.
Yes; challenging conditions can occur in any body of water. The most challenging however, are in cold water.
Where did I go with my force fins?
- Thread starter Soakedlontra
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Yes; challenging conditions can occur in any body of water. The most challenging however, are in cold water.
Bob Evans
Contributor
I will agree to that. Now I only like to be in warm water, not 18 anymore.
OP
Soakedlontra
Contributor
and less weights! I am jealous (just for the warm water not the extreme weather)
Don't end up like those women in Bali, though!
I haven't replaced my broken dry gloves yet and I keep diving with wet gloves. Some divers dive with bare hands here, I tried once during my stress and rescue class and it was challenging even if I spent most of the time on the surface.
---------- Post added June 9th, 2014 at 01:54 PM ----------
The definition of 'cold water' is something I've found interesting. To some it's 55 degrees, to others 70 and there's the below 40 degree group. It truly is a matter of perspective...
Personal body tolerance that's "controlled" by the brain. A lot of people freak out just to hear the words cold water and don't realize that if they just relax their mind their bodies can adjust to colder temperatures.
---------- Post added June 9th, 2014 at 09:33 PM ----------
Is that you in The Bahamas?
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OP
Soakedlontra
Contributor
Turning the clock back to May 11, 2014
On Sunday, May 11, Sam and I visited the orange sea pen "forest" at Possession Beach Waterfront Park on Whidbey Island.
We usually see these bright orange colonial cnidarians at 30 ft (9 m) here.
This time we spotted a few at 70 ft (21 m).
The surrounding bottom did not look like a forest but rather a clear-cut without stumps.
Were the majority of the sea pens hiding inside their bulbous feet?
Did the numerous striped nudibranchs that were crawling all over the place eat them?
We usually see these bright orange colonial cnidarians at 30 ft (9 m) here.
This time we spotted a few at 70 ft (21 m).
The surrounding bottom did not look like a forest but rather a clear-cut without stumps.
Were the majority of the sea pens hiding inside their bulbous feet?
Did the numerous striped nudibranchs that were crawling all over the place eat them?
OP
Soakedlontra
Contributor
Dodging jellyfishes at a new dive site
I have heard that summer is jellyfish season in Puget Sound but I have never encountered more than one big jelly during a dive until yesterday when my buddy Sam and I went diving at a new site near Hood Canal. We did two dives and saw at least 6 large jellies and a countless number of small ones during each dive. Constantly we had to be on the lookout and dodge their insidious, sometimes almost invisible, tentacles. Despite our alertness Sam almost ran into a large sea blubber.
Down on the bottom, on top of a snakelock anemone, I saw my first candy stripe shrimp!!!!!!!!!
and guess what? For the first time ever I left my camera housing at home
:depressed: !!!
So for now the shrimp in transfixed in my memory.
It was a wonderful sunny and warm day without a chilly breeze so I took my first swim in the ocean without any exposure suit Urraah!
Down on the bottom, on top of a snakelock anemone, I saw my first candy stripe shrimp
!!!!!!!!! and guess what? For the first time ever I left my camera housing at home
:depressed: !!! So for now the shrimp in transfixed in my memory.
It was a wonderful sunny and warm day without a chilly breeze so I took my first swim in the ocean without any exposure suit Urraah!
OP
Soakedlontra
Contributor
Time traveling to April 2014
Last April my buddy Sam and I went diving at the breakwater of Monterey, California, again. The visibility was not as good as in December but memorable encounters with giant dendronotis and a curious red octopus made up for the cloudy water.
After battling technical hiccups (now I know more about scratch disk, cache and RAAAAAMMM!) with my video editing software and mac book pro I was able to post a couple of videos about those two creatures online.
Sam shot the footage with our compact Canon S90 that it’s still hanging in there after years of heavy use. He experimented with different white balances and I with music, titles and different video effects. One in particular was not part of the editing software but unexpectedly came into existence by forgetting to check the port of the camera housing.
[video=youtube;rHG1eB5E-gY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHG1eB5E-gY[/video]
[video=youtube;1W95JA9BGHg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W95JA9BGHg[/video]
Another memorable experience was meeting “in flesh and bones” the creator of the force fins Bob and her wife Susanne (at last after so many years of online posting!)
Thank you very much for your hospitality and showing us the building where the first force fins were born and former force fins headquarters!
After battling technical hiccups (now I know more about scratch disk, cache and RAAAAAMMM!) with my video editing software and mac book pro I was able to post a couple of videos about those two creatures online.
Sam shot the footage with our compact Canon S90 that it’s still hanging in there after years of heavy use. He experimented with different white balances and I with music, titles and different video effects. One in particular was not part of the editing software but unexpectedly came into existence by forgetting to check the port of the camera housing.
[video=youtube;rHG1eB5E-gY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHG1eB5E-gY[/video]
[video=youtube;1W95JA9BGHg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W95JA9BGHg[/video]
Another memorable experience was meeting “in flesh and bones” the creator of the force fins Bob and her wife Susanne (at last after so many years of online posting!)
Thank you very much for your hospitality and showing us the building where the first force fins were born and former force fins headquarters!
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OP
Soakedlontra
Contributor
Diving inside a rainbow
When we arrived a beautiful serene sunset greeted us. We did not know that the salmon fishing season had just opened so the place was jam-packed with fishermen. Miraculously we found a campsite and spent two days exploring the rocks near a very busy marina.
The 4th of July started with sunshine and blue sky but after noon the weather began to deteriorate. A somber thick layer of low clouds took over and that was the end of the fine weather. Then it began to drizzle.
On the surface we were surrounded by different shades of dull grays and dark greens but underwater it was like diving inside a rainbow!
I have been curious to dive in the Strait of Juan de Fuca (a body of water that separates the Olympic Peninsula, Washington, with Vancouver Island, British Columbia) for quite some time.
Last weekend the environmental conditions looked good so Sam and I loaded the car with scuba and camping gear and headed for a small town called Sekiu.
When we arrived a beautiful serene sunset greeted us. We did not know that the salmon fishing season had just opened so the place was jam-packed with fishermen. Miraculously we found a campsite and spent two days exploring the rocks near a very busy marina.
The 4th of July started with sunshine and blue sky but after noon the weather began to deteriorate. A somber thick layer of low clouds took over and that was the end of the fine weather. Then it began to drizzle.
On the surface we were surrounded by different shades of dull grays and dark greens but underwater it was like diving inside a rainbow!
Umbrella crab (Cryptolithodes sitchensis) color variations
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OP
Soakedlontra
Contributor
Playing hide and seek with a tiger rock fish!
After diving in Sekiu we spent the last day of our long 4th of July weekend exploring another new site in Port Angeles. At Sekiu we had done long shallow dives, here deep shorter ones. A great number of divers may consider a manta ray or a large shark to be a charismatic marine animal. For me it may be an orca or gray whale but the likelihood to actually encounter one of them while diving is so remote that I am perfectly happy to apply this definition to animals that are not longer than few feet if I have never seen on Whidbey Island, like a tiger rockfish. I was convinced that I was likely to encounter this solitary and shy fish tucked inside in one of the rocky cracks at Sekiu but it turned out that my assumption was wrong. I did not expect to see this beautiful rockfish in Port Angeles at all so when I spotted one at a depth of 90 feet the surprise almost took my breath away.
From the top left clockwise: How many white spots can you count in this picture?
In order to do REEF surveys I usually take photos and sometimes write down the name of the animal on my slate.
In this case I did both. I couldn't believe what I was seeing! :shocked2:
A REEF ID picture doesn't need to be too fancy as long as the animal is somewhat recognizable. The fish's color and markings are unmistakable. This tiger rock fish was easily spooked and would retreat deep inside the log as soon as I tried to get close. We played hide and seek for a while. To complicate things even more the bottom was covered with fine silt and I made the mistake to approach the fish without planning out carefully my course of action. Instead I was so excited that I did not realize that my body movements were creating a huge cloud of fine particles and without any current to speak of that dust would linger right in front of the hole for a long time; Sam relaxes after a deep dive and decides to playing with dry suit inflator hose; let's try to take one of those famous over-under photos! Uauh! The visibility is not bad!; at last myself without the camera floating like a cork!
In order to do REEF surveys I usually take photos and sometimes write down the name of the animal on my slate.
In this case I did both. I couldn't believe what I was seeing! :shocked2:
A REEF ID picture doesn't need to be too fancy as long as the animal is somewhat recognizable. The fish's color and markings are unmistakable. This tiger rock fish was easily spooked and would retreat deep inside the log as soon as I tried to get close. We played hide and seek for a while. To complicate things even more the bottom was covered with fine silt and I made the mistake to approach the fish without planning out carefully my course of action. Instead I was so excited that I did not realize that my body movements were creating a huge cloud of fine particles and without any current to speak of that dust would linger right in front of the hole for a long time; Sam relaxes after a deep dive and decides to playing with dry suit inflator hose; let's try to take one of those famous over-under photos! Uauh! The visibility is not bad!; at last myself without the camera floating like a cork!
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OP
Soakedlontra
Contributor
Making bubbles in the Whidbey Island Living column
Great News!
I am making bubbles in the local newspaper Whidbey News-Times!
Community - Whidbey News-Times
Community - Whidbey News-Times
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Bob Evans
Contributor
Betty and Sam..what's cooking besides inspiriting all.
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