GSB at the Casino Point?

[SPKelpDiver]

Has anybody seen any giant sea bass at the dive park recently? And if so, is there any particular part of the park they like to hang out? I usually cut over to the east walls towards the Sue Jac for my first dive of the morning.

I'm a little bummed that I will only be making a couple dives. I am going with my girlfriend and she isn't certified (yet). I remember when we first got together and took a trip to Avalon. It was all "No problem honey, I don't mind if you want to do another dive. Go for it! Whatever makes you happy!". No, not anymore. Now I understand that bumper sticker I see at my local dive shop. "My girlfriend says if I go scuba diving one more time she is going to leave me, I am sure going to miss her" I get told that I am quite selfish when it comes to diving. I will not not deny it.

Hey no biggie, I will still be in the water all the time. While she snorkels I free dive, so I still manage to get my fix.

 

[AZTinman]

Hope getting her into diving helps. Another diver asked me to help him with his 'diving' girlfriend during my trip out there in early July. She was having difficulties with panic attacks at depths below thirty feet. His first dive with her was pretty short. I ended-up doing a shallow (20 feet) with her attached to my arm while the boyfriend went off to play with his camera.

-AZTinman

 

[tracydr]

Has anybody seen any giant sea bass at the dive park recently? And if so, is there any particular part of the park they like to hang out? I usually cut over to the east walls towards the Sue Jac for my first dive of the morning.

I'm a little bummed that I will only be making a couple dives. I am going with my girlfriend and she isn't certified (yet). I remember when we first got together and took a trip to Avalon. It was all "No problem honey, I don't mind if you want to do another dive. Go for it! Whatever makes you happy!". No, not anymore. Now I understand that bumper sticker I see at my local dive shop. "My girlfriend says if I go scuba diving one more time she is going to leave me, I am sure going to miss her" I get told that I am quite selfish when it comes to diving. I will not not deny it.

Hey no biggie, I will still be in the water all the time. While she snorkels I free dive, so I still manage to get my fix.

I saw two on one dive and one on a night dive. Both near the Sue Jac. At the beginning of June on the same day.
Also saw a large shark ( Blue?) near the steps on the night dive!

 

[SPKelpDiver]

Tracy, thanks for the tip.

Wow what a score on the shark sighting. Near the steps too, amazing. Did the shark hang around or bolt? How big do you think it was? It's funny how the dive park often feels like just that, a park... Disneyland or something. It's definitely not, it's the real pacific ocean and everything floats everywhere.

---------- Post Merged at 10:01 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 09:55 PM ----------

Hope getting her into diving helps. Another diver asked me to help him with his 'diving' girlfriend during my trip out there in early July. She was having difficulties with panic attacks at depths below thirty feet. His first dive with her was pretty short. I ended-up doing a shallow (20 feet) with her attached to my arm while the boyfriend went off to play with his camera.

-AZTinman

What a douche move to ditch his panicky girlfriend underwater. In reality I don't know if my girlfriend could ever get certified due to her finicky ears and sinuses. She often gets blocked up just from snorkeling. To be honest, it doesn't matter to me whether she get's certified or not. Diving is my thing, and I think I'd like to keep it that way.

 

[JohnAC]

Last time I was there we headed straight out from the stairs to the big white buoy and dropped in. At about 70ft we were greeted by a large GSB. Awesome fish in person.

 

[fnfalman]

I saw a giant black seabass cruising the kelp line about maybe June time.

 

[drbill]

They're being seen regularly (except by me since I have my eyes and camera looking down at the reef as the GSBs cruise overhead with curious looks at me). Often seen near the Cousteau plaque or the finger ridge that is just to the south of it. Also out at the "swim platform" and over the sandy flats (training area) to the north of the stairs. Oh, and out by the Suejac. When they are paired up and hovering I tend to see them in the little recessed areas between the finger ridges on the way to the Suejac, at about the depth of the thermocline.

As for the shark Tracy spotted... most likely a soupfin rather than a blue. Blues are pretty rare these days (compared to the late 60s when I started diving out off Catalina) and they tend to stay offshore. Not impossible to see one, but not a high probability. I've never seen one inside the dive park. Soupfins are found close to shore.

 

[AZTinman]

---------- Post Merged at 10:01 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 09:55 PM ----------
What a douche move to ditch his panicky girlfriend[/QUOTE]



Oh, don't be too hard on the guy. He simply asked me to help him out and I didn't mind. I needed someone to buddy with anyway. I might need some help sometime and maybe someone will help me. She was well-composed enough to communicate her discomfort rather than just bolting for the surface. We made a controlled ascent to the surface, discussed her issue and made an alternative plan. She seemed to enjoy herself at the reduced depth.

Hopefully, the experience didn't sour the girl on cold water, Southern California diving and she'll be back.

I'm no expert on Giant Sea Bass, but our dive master told us to look for them on the outside edge of the kelp beds in the thermocline area. He was dead on.

-AZTinman

 

[Teamcasa]

I shot this last month in the park.

 

[drbill]

Strangely enough this has been one of my worst years for filming GSBs in the dive park. Of course I usually have my head down filming some obscure invertebrate and they might be lurking just above me looking over my shoulder. That's the way I saw my first one years ago! Of course everyone else... including a number of first time "Discover SCUBA" divers have seen them this year.