Marine Room 08/09/15 - the lack of leopard sharks

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thez_yo

Contributor
Messages
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Location
San Diego
# of dives
100 - 199
Well, I heard reports that the sharks were out, and even saw pictures (maybe I should have checked datestamps, huh?), but found none on my dive today.

We suited up and hit the water by 7:30am, and kicked straight out from the entry point to scan the area for leopard sharks. Surf was almost non-existant with an occasional 1'er, and there wasn't much surge today either.



I'm pretty sure we were in waters at least 10' deep (surface swimming, there was actually 10' of viz!), heading straight West, but no sharks. We did see some big-ish rays, and they are some of my favourite critters, so it wasn't a total loss.



Anyway, so we turned and made for the usual stomping ground, due South. Last week's dive was just abysmal viz so I didn't even bother posting the 2 pictures I did get - we went down pretty deep for us, a whole 42fsw! All we saw down there was a crab or two and the usual sand dollar beds. This time, things were more reasonable, so we did the usual 17fsw max, 8fsw average depth dive for 1:36. Temps were a balmy 66ºF (as opposed to last week's 59ºF at depth!).

I got a treat right when we dropped - a whole school of pacific barracuda!


..and a nice bright yellow kelpfish! He's a bit small, but still incredibly awesome


Just look at that viz! I can see at least 10'!


Our state fish, the Garibaldi


I think I was being told off in this one.. they're getting a little territorial again.


I'm convinced this is a giant sea bass juvie because of the blue fins.. anyone have any better ideas?


LOTS of abalone on this dive


Nice shells of theirs too


Sheepshead


Buddy found a nice big skate hiding under a big mountain of a boulder.. I'm guessing this is where I hit those 17fsw max


More abalone - these are ranging from fancy-restaurant small lunch-plate sized up to dinner-plate sized.




Buddy swam right over this guy, and I swear he was looking straight at it, but nope... totally didn't see him


And some stuff for those dinner plates..




And on our way in... I think that pink fish is a wrasse of some kind. But pink?! And a sea bass, photobombing, as it should.
 
The fish in photo #8 is a barred sand bass, Paralabrax nebulifer.
Hermosa%20Reef%204_zps9jkf7bvy.jpg


A juvenile Giant Sea Bass looks a lot different than the adults.
GSB1.jpg
 
Technical clarification of a commonly-made mistake:

1. The state fish of California is the Golden Trout.
2. The state MARINE fish of California is the Garibaldi.-

- Ken
 
Technical clarification of a commonly-made mistake:

1. The state fish of California is the Golden Trout.
2. The state MARINE fish of California is the Garibaldi.-

- Ken

I didn't even know what a golden trout was... had to look it up.

I guess they picked goldfish for both the state fish. :clown:
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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