A new dive buddy (Sage) and I were diving the Casino Dive Park on Catalina yesterday. Due to poor visibility I haven't been diving deeper than 50 ft the past month or so. We were at about 40 ft and the current swept us down to 65 ft after a few minutes. The visibility improved markedly (I had heard reports that was the case).
I looked over at a stand of giant kelp and saw a good-sized black sea bass hovering in an opening. I very slowly swam up to it. It didn't spook and let me hover next to it within 2-3 feet for about 4-5 minutes. Then it slowly swam down to where Sage was and went to the bottom, then up near her before swimming in circles for a while. After that it slowly swam away.
The vis was still bad above us so I checked my compass and headed us on a course to the stairs. About 50 feet away we ran into a second black sea bass hovering above the bottom. I slowly swam over to it and slowly extended my arms towards it so it would see they wouldn't harm her. I was able to gently stroke her side a number of times and she didn't even flinch (note: the males rub the bodies of the female during courtship, but she just wasn't interested in me!). I then hovered alongside her 1-2 ft away and looked her over carefully. We stared into one another's eyes (it wasn't love at first sight), I observed the parasites on its head and side. It was wonderful. Then I backed off a few feet to where Sage was hovering. As we watched, we heard a sharp grunting noise from somewhere (the other bass?) and ours
took off like a bolt of lightning with that sudden flick of the tail I've seen a number of times.
When we got topside Sage said the fish was longer than me so it was easily 350-400 pounds. Of course since BOTH my underwater video housings are in the shop, I got no footage from this exceptional encounter. Hope one gets fixed quickly so I can go back down there.
Although I've had many dozens of encounters with these bass over the years and taken some very good footage of them, this had to rank as one of the top two encounters due to duration and close approach.
I don't want to give the specific location away. If you are diving the Park and encounter these incredible fish, please approach them slowly and don't make any sudden moves to scare them away. It would be fantastic if we can get regular courting stations established in the Park like those at Italian Gardens and elsewhere. Too much "threatening" contact might drive them away.
Enjoy this opportunity. I never saw them in my early years (60's and 70's) of diving Catalina.
Dr. Bill
I looked over at a stand of giant kelp and saw a good-sized black sea bass hovering in an opening. I very slowly swam up to it. It didn't spook and let me hover next to it within 2-3 feet for about 4-5 minutes. Then it slowly swam down to where Sage was and went to the bottom, then up near her before swimming in circles for a while. After that it slowly swam away.
The vis was still bad above us so I checked my compass and headed us on a course to the stairs. About 50 feet away we ran into a second black sea bass hovering above the bottom. I slowly swam over to it and slowly extended my arms towards it so it would see they wouldn't harm her. I was able to gently stroke her side a number of times and she didn't even flinch (note: the males rub the bodies of the female during courtship, but she just wasn't interested in me!). I then hovered alongside her 1-2 ft away and looked her over carefully. We stared into one another's eyes (it wasn't love at first sight), I observed the parasites on its head and side. It was wonderful. Then I backed off a few feet to where Sage was hovering. As we watched, we heard a sharp grunting noise from somewhere (the other bass?) and ours
took off like a bolt of lightning with that sudden flick of the tail I've seen a number of times.
When we got topside Sage said the fish was longer than me so it was easily 350-400 pounds. Of course since BOTH my underwater video housings are in the shop, I got no footage from this exceptional encounter. Hope one gets fixed quickly so I can go back down there.
Although I've had many dozens of encounters with these bass over the years and taken some very good footage of them, this had to rank as one of the top two encounters due to duration and close approach.
I don't want to give the specific location away. If you are diving the Park and encounter these incredible fish, please approach them slowly and don't make any sudden moves to scare them away. It would be fantastic if we can get regular courting stations established in the Park like those at Italian Gardens and elsewhere. Too much "threatening" contact might drive them away.
Enjoy this opportunity. I never saw them in my early years (60's and 70's) of diving Catalina.
Dr. Bill
