Skookumchuck
Contributor
I did'nt find anyone that wanted to join me for a dive this past weekend on Galiano Island so I decided to go solo con Dios. Saturdays dive was on Madrona Wall on a perfect slack. Very nice dive with O.K. viz, mayby 15-20 feet. Lots of life on the wall, cabezons, scallops, feather duster worms, tons of sponges, and empty urchin shells on the ledge at 60 feet but no sign of what ate them. On Sunday I drove north to a small cove with beach access across from Bodega Ridge Cabins. When I checked my computer during decent I found it was telling what time it was instead of what I needed to know, it got the time wrong too, so I decided to stay shallow and explore the top of the wall around 20 feet deep. With 1500 psi left I surfaced in the middle of the bay to find my three kids standing on the shore yelling something I couldn't hear and pointing out past me. When I turn to see what I figured would be a seal or sea lion my heart was jump-started by the enourmous dorsal fin of an Orca no more than 50 meters away from me. I watched three smaller fins break the surface just before the adrenaline dump launched me shoreward. While my heart slowed down to a safer pace we watched as sixteen whales moved past in three groups. My kids told me that two of the first group turned back and entered the bay behind me as I proved split fins are capable of generating great bursts of speed. Never again will I refer to shallow diving as boring.
Thats fantastic... So I guess you had no want to go pet them?
