fencingfish
Contributor
- Messages
- 163
- Reaction score
- 13
- # of dives
- 200 - 499
Hi Lobsta Divahs! I came home for the weekend for a friend's wedding and was able to squeeze in a day of diving with orion612004 on Friday.
We went to Old Garden Beach Friday morning (no hassling from the locals like LewisEvans reported). It was low tide around 10:30 when we got in the water. Quick 23 minute dive with a max depth of 38 feet. Surface temp was 70F with a temp at depth of 54F. Saw the usual suspects: winter flounder, chiton, grubby sculpin, pollock, and crabs.
Afternoon dive at Folly Cove left side wall, high tide. Dive time of 56 minutes, max depth of 42 feet. Surface temp was 72F with a whopping 22F thermocline down to 50F at depth! And it didn't feel like it stepped down in stages, nope, we were swimming along at 72F and then BAM! 50F, also a little bit of a current below the thermocline. Saw tons of small grubby sculpin, large and baby winter flounder, a rock gunnel. Went to feed the resident northern red anemone but it was closed up. We decided to press on a little further before turning back and came around the corner to see......................................................................................................................the Folly Cove Torpedo Ray!!!
I had started the dive thinking about how I still have never seen it (seen them at Lanes Cove and Back Beach before, but never the fabled Folly Cove ray!) and we came around the corner and there it was, right by the wall in 42fsw. IT WAS HUGE! We sucked down most of our tanks dancing, observed it from all angles and then turned around. And on the way back in my buddy found a horseshoe crab!
Amazing dive, definitely ranks in my top 10, probably top 5. I wish I could have been home longer to get back in the water and search for the ray again!
We went to Old Garden Beach Friday morning (no hassling from the locals like LewisEvans reported). It was low tide around 10:30 when we got in the water. Quick 23 minute dive with a max depth of 38 feet. Surface temp was 70F with a temp at depth of 54F. Saw the usual suspects: winter flounder, chiton, grubby sculpin, pollock, and crabs.
Afternoon dive at Folly Cove left side wall, high tide. Dive time of 56 minutes, max depth of 42 feet. Surface temp was 72F with a whopping 22F thermocline down to 50F at depth! And it didn't feel like it stepped down in stages, nope, we were swimming along at 72F and then BAM! 50F, also a little bit of a current below the thermocline. Saw tons of small grubby sculpin, large and baby winter flounder, a rock gunnel. Went to feed the resident northern red anemone but it was closed up. We decided to press on a little further before turning back and came around the corner to see......................................................................................................................the Folly Cove Torpedo Ray!!!
I had started the dive thinking about how I still have never seen it (seen them at Lanes Cove and Back Beach before, but never the fabled Folly Cove ray!) and we came around the corner and there it was, right by the wall in 42fsw. IT WAS HUGE! We sucked down most of our tanks dancing, observed it from all angles and then turned around. And on the way back in my buddy found a horseshoe crab!
Amazing dive, definitely ranks in my top 10, probably top 5. I wish I could have been home longer to get back in the water and search for the ray again!
