Monterey conditions. (let's keep it going )

[wnissen]

On Sunday I saw an extremely unusual (to me) invertebrate. It was maroon / burgundy, about the size of a pomelo or large grapefruit, kind of shaped like a tulip. It had a few lines of white dots going up the sides. This was about halfway out on middle reef in Lobos, sitting at the bottom of a crevice that looked like it had plenty of room for me but in fact did not, maybe 15m / 45ft of depth. Never seen anything like that before. If anyone knows what it might have been, I'd be grateful to hear from you.

 

[elgoog]

@wnissen Sounds like an anemone with it's tentacles withdrawn - depending on the water conditions, it's pretty common to see that happen.

I don't have any photos but Google "anemone closed" and see if the images look familiar.

 

[uspap]

Two dives Monday at Breakwater. 20+ vis along the wall. My gauge said it was 48 degrees. It sure felt like it too.

 

[wnissen]

@wnissen Sounds like an anemone with it's tentacles withdrawn - depending on the water conditions, it's pretty common to see that happen.

I don't have any photos but Google "anemone closed" and see if the images look familiar.

That's it! Cool, thanks so much for helping me out. I looked a lot like this one: https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-strawberry-anemone-tealia-lofotensis-closed-channel-islands-california-38672505.html?

 

[dive1bb]

That's it! Cool, thanks so much for helping me out. I looked a lot like this one: https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-strawberry-anemone-tealia-lofotensis-closed-channel-islands-california-38672505.html?

Those were really neat looking! Glad you asked about them. Thanks for the googling tip @elgoog

 

[dive1bb]

Two dives Monday at Breakwater. 20+ vis along the wall. My gauge said it was 48 degrees. It sure felt like it too.

It has been pretty chilly lately! Hope you had a good dive regardless!

 

[Bigbella]

Visibility was in the 8 meter range, near the splash rock at North Monastery; so too at Coral Street.

Yesterday, there was almost a forty degree difffrence between the air and water. High eighties and fifty degree -- 10 C water -- a welcomed relief . . .

 

[BikerBecca]

A chilly cloudy day at the Breakwater. Did three dives with students. One along the wall, two in the middle reef. The vis was really poor. 10 feet would be wishful thinking.

It made me sad for the students because the middle reef is really a beautiful dive. However, for them seeing it for the first time they were truly excited. They were more optimistic about the vis thinking it was 15~20 feet. They could be right, they probably have better eyesight than me. LOL!

Water temp for all dives was 56F.

All said, a so-so day of diving is still better than an awesome day at work.

Finally, if you're thinking of diving tomorrow remember it will be the last day of the US Open at Pebble Beach, and by the afternoon a drive from Monterey to San Francisco may take you up to four hours.

 

[elgoog]

Point Lobos was awesome today! Overcast and misty in the morning but that only made gearing up in our drysuits that much more comfortable. We even got interviewed for a Taiwanese TV show

The drive was the same as usual (even on the way back) so the US Open didn't affect anything today - if anything, the Whaler's Cove lot was emptier than usual so I guess folks stayed away to avoid the traffic. The cove is completely packed in with kelp which makes any surface swimming, and even scootering, a bit of a chore.

We entered the water at almost high tide today which was super nice compared to last week when it was a really low tide and I had to do a swan dive off the edge of the boat ramp into the water to avoid hitting my tanks on the rocks.

Armed with a depth appropriate mix and oodles of extra gas, we scootered over to the Three Sisters area - basically, followed the rock contour heading NW from Lone Metridium until we hit 100ft and then we could see the 2nd and 3rd Sisters. Similar to Beto's Reef, these are densely covered in sponges, hydrocorals and gorgonians with a lot of fish hiding in the various nooks and crannies. For whatever reason, there were a LOT of female kelp greenlings swimming about (??)

-> 122ft max, 64min, 30-40ft viz, 50F bottom temp

As per usual, photos below shamelessly co-opted from my dive buddy.

 

[uspap]

Dove South Monastery today. Vis was about 15ft. The sad thing is that it was like diving on the moon. Hardly any life and an urchin barren.