Move DPV fun

[WillAbbott]

Uncle Pug once bubbled...
the visibility should be excellent in Hood Canal... it has been excellent in Puget Sound lately.

During the summer at some of our dive sites it is not unusual to have a biomass so thick that viz is inches in a 10' band near the surface.

Several times this past week we have been able to see the bottom of the boat from 60fsw.

Hood Canal usually has better viz than here.

I forgot about that UP... yeah the vis is better this time of year I hear... the algae/plankton/biomass (whatever) die off is this time of year so it's not in bloom. When we were over at Florence the first time the vis seemed terrible, but this last time it seemed way better (though in reality about the same) Just we had sun as opposed to rain, thunder, lightning, hail... etc... and it was much brighter and easier to see... 10-20 vis is deffinately good enough, esspecially on a sunny day. I think aren't you doing you'r cert dive alone with the instructor? that will help also, as you guys won't silt up as much. Our first dive with no current and 12 students plus DM's and instructors makes a heck of a silt up situation, where it doesn't dissipate.

I bet California's vis is the same... its in ways (IMO) the same as the true PNW, but yeah the water temps are nicer... Though I hear parts of Cali blow away the vis up here. Can't wait to get my alttitude cert and hit Clear lake (40degree water year round) but 300' Vis...

 

[DiverBuoy]

Uncle Pug once bubbled...
Vertical viz is often less than horizontal viz here.

Also when there is a surface layer the light is highly attenuated making it more diffcult to see.

When we have good vertical viz we also have excellent horizontal viz... baring student bloom.

In my short career of diving, I've never heard of this. Is this the organic layer you spoke of in Washington waters? Does it sit only on the surface and block ambient light? We get algae blooms (red tide) in California most years - but it is throughout the water column and can reduce vis to a few inches from the surface all the way to the bottom.

I guess you answered my question - there is no formula.

 

[Uncle Pug]

DiverBuoy once bubbled...
In my short career of diving, I've never heard of this.

Yes... the plankton bloom will concentrate at the surface and extend downward some days 5 feet then 10, 20, 30, 40 in varying densities... but it is usually the 10 foot thick layer at the surface that is really bad. When you drop out of the bottom of the bloom it is like sky diving through a cloud and breaking out into the clear.

It goes through cycles... seems to disappear and then start building again. During a heavy bloom it can be very dark even at 60fsw! With the cloud cover and high angle of sunlight during the summer it can be very difficult to judge S W N & E since what little light gets through is directionless. This makes navigation compass dependent.

During the winter we can have periods of great visibility.... however in a normal year we will have more rain than this year and a river dumps a ton of silt near one of our favorite dive sites.

 

[DiverBuoy]

Uncle Pug once bubbled...
When you drop out of the bottom of the bloom it is like sky diving through a cloud and breaking out into the clear.

During the winter we can have periods of great visibility....

Thanks for the information. I love the description of dropping through the bloom (like clouds)...

One more question: On the best days just how good can the vis get for a shore dive from the mainland? Also when you have shore runoff don't beaches close for a couple of days due to dangerous bacteria levels (they do down here)?

BTW - Year round diving from the shore in So Cal is pretty much a compass navigation dive. Now at the channel islands it is much better. And rare times like right now right off shore during the colder parts of the year - it can get to a whole whopping 25-30 feet

Here are conditions as of last night in the reef protected coves of Laguna Beach (we consider this vis good):

Temp: W 59 A 59
Visibility: 15 - 20
Surf: 2-3 ft with an occasional 4 ft
Surge: 4 - 6 ft

When there is a bloom, diving is closed (however, I've sneaked in a few times ... don't tell anyone )

 

[Uncle Pug]

DiverBuoy once bubbled...
Temp: W 59 A 59
Visibility: 15 - 20
Surf: 2-3 ft with an occasional 4 ft
Surge: 4 - 6 ft

Best days? I have seen 70 feet... a few times. 40 would be considered great 20 normal.

Close the beach?!? Not that I've ever seen. Bacteria? You guys must have sewage runoff problems when it rains... right?

Hmmm....
Most of the shore diving here doesn't really require a compass... the down slope means you are going away from shore. Deep water on one side means you are going one way and on the other side means you are going the other way.

As for the current conditions you listed... WOW... waaaarrrrmmmm
We get wind waves at times but Puget Sound is protected from ocean swell.

 

[DiverBuoy]

Uncle Pug once bubbled...
Best days? I have seen 70 feet... a few times. 40 would be considered great 20 normal.

Wow.

Close the beach?!? Not that I've ever seen. Bacteria? You guys must have sewage runoff problems when it rains... right?

Yes, and it makes me mad (oh and if we go diving despite the warnings we see the famous finless brown trout - ever seen one of those in the ocean?)

Most of the shore diving here doesn't really require a compass... the down slope means you are going away from shore. Deep water on one side means you are going one way and on the other side means you are going the other way.

Smart guy. Uh, we use natural nav too but when the slope is like 50/1 its a bit hard to tell and when 6 foot surge flattens any perpendicular sand ripples ... and when there are no sea fans or sunlight ...

Well you need a compass to do anything more complex than if the reef is on your left your going out to sea and if the reef is on your right your going into shore. If you keep following some reefs into shore on a bad day - you might die. Better to 45degree it away from the reef and pop up closer to the steps

As for the current conditions you listed... WOW... waaaarrrrmmmm We get wind waves at times but Puget Sound is protected from ocean swell.

Yes you can usually dive to low 50s in a wetsuit. My coldest dive was 49 or 50 (can't remem-b-b-brr).

 

[Uncle Pug]

DiverBuoy once bubbled...
Yes, and it makes me mad (oh and if we go diving despite the warnings we see the famous finless brown trout - ever seen one of those in the ocean?)

we are more civilized up here in the PNW... indoor plumbing, underground sewer systems, waste treatment facilities, ect.

None of the dumping the night soil bucket out the upstairs window in to the open sewers running down the streets like you guys... no... wait... that's Europe...

Ahhhh.. hmmm... so exactly what is your problem there?

 

[DiverBuoy]

Uncle Pug once bubbled...
we are more civilized up here in the PNW... indoor plumbing, underground sewer systems, waste treatment facilities, ect.

None of the dumping the night soil bucket out the upstairs window in to the open sewers running down the streets like you guys... no... wait... that's Europe...

Ahhhh.. hmmm... so exactly what is your problem there?

Ha ha.

As you know CA precipitation is the antithesis of WA. When a storm finally comes, it pours, to the tune of mudslides and floods - I'm sure you've heard a few of our doozies. The ground can't handle it, being so brittle and dry. Anyway the sewer systems can't either and the waste water treatment facilities just direct run off to the "toilet bowl of Laguna" - our beaches. On numerous occasions places like huntington and newport have been closed for weeks or even months for high bacteria - we are talking lethal levels of course. It's outrageous.

 

[Uncle Pug]

DiverBuoy once bubbled...
we are talking lethal levels of course.

Or is that hyperbole?

 

[DiverBuoy]

Uncle Pug once bubbled...
Or is that hyperbole?

Just like the authorities use deaths at intersections to rank which one will get the next traffic light. A multi-week beach closing requires many people to be hospitalized or one or two to die BEFORE they decide it's a public hazard.

Don't you just love this DPV discussion folks <LOL>