Coastal Clean Up Day 9/20

[Scuba_Jenny]

You saw a toad fish?
How cool, I hear they are pretty common, but because they are such masters at hiding, you don't see them very often. As far as the scorpion fish, I see them on almost every dive...

I saw 3 small spotted stingrays today and a couple flounder. The one was only about 3 inches. His eye had already moved over, so I wonder how small they are before it happens.

Also saw a small trigger/parrot looking fish early in the dive. It was resting and looked all freaked out. I wonder if he took a nibble on a hook and was thrown back in...

 

[MikeJacobs]

scuba_jenny once bubbled... SNIP...Also saw a small trigger/parrot looking fish early in the dive. It was resting and looked all freaked out. I wonder if he took a nibble on a hook and was thrown back in...

If that was a filefish, Jen, I noted the same strange behavior. They're not usually that docile. Since sick fish don't last long (especially with all those predators around) my first thought was that it was a female with eggs. They usually patrol the reef freely, but this one was hunkered down in what might have been a nest or at least a protected area.

Marc: please do post when you find another. Next time I think I'll concentrate more on bottles, cans, knives & guns (lol) and other debris - getting tangled again in fishing line and HOOKED once is enough.

Oh, and I saw a snorkler carrying a bag of bugs (obviously too small) out from under the pier, but there were no police or F&G folks about. I wonder if he does that every saturday morning.

 

[freedive]

Hey guys sorry for the late post bu AWESOME dive on Sat. It was great to see that there wasn't much actual garbage down there except for the miles of tangled up fishing line with attached hooks and lures. It shows there is a conscious effort on the part of the fishermen to keep the reef clean

Jenny that was an awesome BT Holy Cow :wacko: you outlasted my 2 tanks with your one by 15 minutes and that included walking out to the car and switching them.

All the different sealife was amazing there, I certainly did not expect to see as much as there was. Too bad we didn't see that guy raiding the condo with the undersized lobsters, I would have given him a quick lesson in lost mask retrieval

Once again thanks for the great dive, It was great to take part in the reef clean up.

Hope to see you all soon again

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

I'm curious about the guy with all the undersized lobsters. I recall late in the dive doubling back to see the undersized bugs on the north side and on my way back to shore, checked out the condo on the south and it had a bunch of shorts there, along with a really nice size stone crab. Hmmm...

 

[MikeJacobs]

scuba_jenny once bubbled... I'm curious about the guy with all the undersized lobsters. I recall late in the dive doubling back to see the undersized bugs on the north side and on my way back to shore, checked out the condo on the south and it had a bunch of shorts there, along with a really nice size stone crab. Hmmm...

As I think about it, I'm certain that the guy poached undersized bugs - you saw how small they were. They looked tiny in his bag. He had about a half-dozen at least. He was pretty bold, to. I saw him park is pickup on El Mar, walk down the alley ("your" alley, Jen), and a few minutes later he was showering right in the middle of our sign-in.

I'll walk down this Saturday and see if he makes a practice of it.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Yeah and if he does, I think a call to Marine Patrol would fix the problem!