Catalina Muckdive 01/30/11

[PhotoBret]

So I decided last minute on a dive on Catalina as some friends of mine work for CIMI on the island and said they would host. Picked up some fresh rental gear from Eco Dive Centre and headed out.

Got to the island and decided we would dive the Park first. First of all it was very cold and even in my 7mm long john with 3mm sleeveless hood I was freeaing. Might invest in a drysuit after this season it was so cold!!

Viz was good, better than I expected. Our group had brought some peas with them and once we had descended started to feed the fish. Got to see the resident monster Sheepshead and a few other oddities including a wreck which I had not seen before.
Following that we headed to Toyon Bay which is where CIMI is based, after a bit of a swim out to the Disco Buoy we descended down.

My first time seeing all the squid eggs which was amazing, almost landed on a large torpedo ray having a feast which was cool but scary as well knowing that they pack a punch in the shock dept! Tons of weird Nudies I had never seen before and more Navanax than I could count, I easily saw 50 ranging in size from 4" to 10".
Mantis Shrimps were plentiful, a large angel shark and an octopus to round out the dive. All this on a fine silt bottom which was easily stirred up. Viz however was amazing ranging up to about 30ft.

This was macro heaven and I was so upset that I didn't have my camera after i flooded it in Utila a month ago. I highly recommend trying Toyon bay especially if you love Macro Photography.

 

[drbill]

I lived and worked at Toyon Bay from 1969 to 1979 when it was still the Catalina Island School. CIMI took over our lease in 1979 after the school folded. Had my marine biology lab there and my classes frequently dove as well as doing boat-based work.

I got a min temp of 57 F at 83 ft in the dive park this weekend. That's actually warmed up a few degrees.

Actually there are four "resident monster sheephead." I've seen all four of them at one time swimming in a line. They are all called Oscar. One may have been caught by an angler over in Descanso Bay though.

Wondering if the nudis you saw were species of Acanthodoris. They are pretty common in deeper waters off the island. In fact, most nudibranchs in the region from Long Point to the East End are in deeper water where the colder temperatures and higher nutrients allow their food sources to exist more abundantly.

 

[PhotoBret]

Hey Dr Bill, yeah it was 57* for us as well, we hit a max depth of 85ft at Toyon and cruised around seeing what we could find. Loads of the pink phallic communal Tunicates floating about, I think the nudi's I spotted might have been Peltodoris mullineri , definitely looks similar and one I have not seen before.

 

[pfulks]

I used to love to dive CIMI, I lived and worked in Gallaghers (Campus by the Sea), but around the point from you.

 

[Mochosla]

I saw the squid eggs two weeks ago when I went diving and it is a sight to enjoy. So many everywhere.