God's Pocket 2019

[Merry]

The beautiful spring conditions in British Columbia served up a wealth of exciting animals to shoot and to make matters worse, Phil and I were there for 2 weeks.

The whole enchilada is at: God's Pocket 2019

A few of my favorites:

It took 6 trips to God's Pocket to find a grunt sculpin, Rhamphocottus richardsoni and Phil is eating his heart out.

Juvenile Puget Sound king crab, Lopholithodes mandtii

The luckiest find of all, a spotted ratfish hatchling, Hydrolagus colliei. New Zealand scientist, Clinton Duffy, said that it's unusual to find a ratfish at the surface and that at 3 - 4" and with soft, over-sized fins, it must be a hatchling.

Spotted ratfish hatchling

Juvenile wolf eel, Anarrhichthys ocellatus

Mosshead warbonnet, Chirolophis nugator

Basket star, Gorgonocephalus eucnemis

Armpit blood star, Henricia sp.

The water column had many swimming polychaete worms, Epigamia magna

Tubesnouts, Aulorhynchus flavidus

Orange feather duster worm, Chone aurantiaca

 

[thumbsplitter]

Fantastic! Can I ask what time of year this was? We went in June a couple years ago and the viz wasn't nearly this good!

 

[MaxBottomtime]

We used to go in August every year until last year when we went at the end of March and the first week of April. It's a bit colder, but the visibility was great. This year, we stayed for two weeks again and have signed up for two weeks again next March.

 

[dewdropsonrosa]

I would pay good money for a print of that basket star (serious inquiry - will buy). What a shot!

 

[Xta]

These are spectacular!

 

[SuperSeaMonkey]

Beautiful pictures. Can you include some information about your trip?

- what time of year did you go?
- what was water temperature/visibility like?
- how was transportation like going to God's Pocket from the airport?

 

[Merry]

I would pay good money for a print of that basket star (serious inquiry - will buy). What a shot!

That's so kind of you. Just found out that my SmugMug plan isn't the right one for selling photos. If you want to buy it, I could upload it somewhere else...Phil said Alamy.

 

[Merry]

Beautiful pictures. Can you include some information about your trip?

- what time of year did you go?
- what was water temperature/visibility like?
- how was transportation like going to God's Pocket from the airport?

We've been there in March/April, April, August and September. Spring and Fall have better vis, but even then vis can vary from week to week. Warm, sunny topside conditions encourage phytoplankton growth, but there's tons of stuff to photograph and you can warm up a little better than when it's 50 degrees topside. A trade-off.

This March/April water temp was 46 degrees on my Galileo Luna computer for every dive. Summer water temps ranged from 48 - 50 with an Oceanic computer.

We fly from LAX to Vancouver, then take Pacific Coastal Airlines to Port Hardy. Pac Coastal is very strict on weight...you might need to get a baggage seat if it's the high season to guarantee they'll have room for extra luggage. Town Taxi will take you into town a few miles away, $25 no matter how many people and they have vans for vast amounts of gear. Alternatively some people fly to Vancouver, then take the ferry to Nanaimo and drive the rest of the way to Port Hardy.

We count the days until we can get back there. Let us know if you plan to go and have any questions.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I would pay good money for a print of that basket star (serious inquiry - will buy). What a shot!

I uploaded Merry's basket star photo to my Alamy page for purchase. You're right. It's a beautiful shot!
Stock Photo - Basket star, Gorgonocephalus eucnemis

 

[JohnN]

Beautiful pictures. Can you include some information about your trip?

- what time of year did you go?
- what was water temperature/visibility like?
- how was transportation like going to God's Pocket from the airport?

I was in Gods Pocket 1week after Phil & Merry in 2018 (early April IIRC). They reported superb vis the entire week, the week we were there it was invertebrate spawning time and the water was think with eggs and milt. Almost as thick as an algae bloom. Impressive in its own right, just not what we expected