ScubaQTX
Registered
August 14, 2010 76 feet. Air Temp 65 Low Water temp 51 degrees. 5 mil wetsuit, 16 lbs, gloves, hood.
Struggle a bit through the surf (not used to it) then back kick out to orange mooring ball in front of lifeguard tower #30. Takes a while to get out there. I drop down at the ball then head due west. I could/should have gone ahead to the red marker, but I thought it might be someones dive flag/float. Swim over sand and purple fields of sand dollars for a good ways until I see the mooring. Vis is pretty decent. Id say about 25 feet. Ahead, I see the entrance to the canyon and venture in. Vis is better, maybe 30 feet, but its also colder. Not terrible. Im at 76 feet pretty quickly. The canyon looks like the SOCAL Mountains underwater, without the cacti and ground cover, that is. Fairly quickly, I see a fried egg jellyfish and take two pics. I head north and see a good size fish, but I cant make out what it is. A little while later, I see a nudibranch, so I take its picture. My hands are getting cold, so I hold them to my chest. Not freezing, but I should have layered the 3 mil shorty that is sitting back at the rent house over the 5 mil. A group of four divers comes from the north above me at the turn of the canyon and one of them is kicking sand all over the place. Behind them viz, is noticeably worse. Canyon veers to the east, so I continue on. I see a crab digging in the sand, (also messing up the viz, but nearly as bad as the diver) so I stop to take a couple of pictures. By this time I check my air. About 1350 psi, so I think I should turn around. Im pretty cold, by now, so I dont fret it that much. I decide however, to leave the canyon and head west, the south, then west, so as to reach my entry point on the beach (roughly) without having to head back south in the canyon. Im not sure where the surfers are, but I dont want to just head straight in. I just kick in with the wave surge. When I am about 15 feet deep I get an odd sensation. As I look to my right, I see hundreds (if not thousands) of skinny 6-8 inch silvery fish to my right. In fact, that is all I can see. Just fish flying by. I look to my left, then up. Its a very large school that is flying by me, avoiding me, but all around me at the same time. Its mesmerizinglike being in the middle of a bait ball. It goes on for several seconds. Im sort of bewildered for a while, but then something kind of clicks in the back of my mind-bringing me back to reality. I think to myself, why are the swimming into shore like that? Is there something that scared them? Plus, Ive never had a school of fish not avoid me before. This is odd. I better pick up the pace and get shallower. What if a shark is behind me? I dont look. Now the wave surge is kicking pretty good. This is fun, Im wave surfing under water. Kick with the surge and go about 30 feet, surge back a little, then 30 more feet. Its fun. Soon my knees are in the sand. I pull off my fins and stand up. Im right where I entered. Nice. My 100th Dive not bad at all.
Later, Im recounting my dive to my friend who has a restaurant downtown SD. He asks me if I know that the White Sharks are in that canyon. I tell him I know, but kind of dismiss him with the number of shark attacks vs. coconut kills statistic. Two days later, he texts me that a very large white was spotted in La Jolla shores the day after I was there and the following day
Struggle a bit through the surf (not used to it) then back kick out to orange mooring ball in front of lifeguard tower #30. Takes a while to get out there. I drop down at the ball then head due west. I could/should have gone ahead to the red marker, but I thought it might be someones dive flag/float. Swim over sand and purple fields of sand dollars for a good ways until I see the mooring. Vis is pretty decent. Id say about 25 feet. Ahead, I see the entrance to the canyon and venture in. Vis is better, maybe 30 feet, but its also colder. Not terrible. Im at 76 feet pretty quickly. The canyon looks like the SOCAL Mountains underwater, without the cacti and ground cover, that is. Fairly quickly, I see a fried egg jellyfish and take two pics. I head north and see a good size fish, but I cant make out what it is. A little while later, I see a nudibranch, so I take its picture. My hands are getting cold, so I hold them to my chest. Not freezing, but I should have layered the 3 mil shorty that is sitting back at the rent house over the 5 mil. A group of four divers comes from the north above me at the turn of the canyon and one of them is kicking sand all over the place. Behind them viz, is noticeably worse. Canyon veers to the east, so I continue on. I see a crab digging in the sand, (also messing up the viz, but nearly as bad as the diver) so I stop to take a couple of pictures. By this time I check my air. About 1350 psi, so I think I should turn around. Im pretty cold, by now, so I dont fret it that much. I decide however, to leave the canyon and head west, the south, then west, so as to reach my entry point on the beach (roughly) without having to head back south in the canyon. Im not sure where the surfers are, but I dont want to just head straight in. I just kick in with the wave surge. When I am about 15 feet deep I get an odd sensation. As I look to my right, I see hundreds (if not thousands) of skinny 6-8 inch silvery fish to my right. In fact, that is all I can see. Just fish flying by. I look to my left, then up. Its a very large school that is flying by me, avoiding me, but all around me at the same time. Its mesmerizinglike being in the middle of a bait ball. It goes on for several seconds. Im sort of bewildered for a while, but then something kind of clicks in the back of my mind-bringing me back to reality. I think to myself, why are the swimming into shore like that? Is there something that scared them? Plus, Ive never had a school of fish not avoid me before. This is odd. I better pick up the pace and get shallower. What if a shark is behind me? I dont look. Now the wave surge is kicking pretty good. This is fun, Im wave surfing under water. Kick with the surge and go about 30 feet, surge back a little, then 30 more feet. Its fun. Soon my knees are in the sand. I pull off my fins and stand up. Im right where I entered. Nice. My 100th Dive not bad at all.
Later, Im recounting my dive to my friend who has a restaurant downtown SD. He asks me if I know that the White Sharks are in that canyon. I tell him I know, but kind of dismiss him with the number of shark attacks vs. coconut kills statistic. Two days later, he texts me that a very large white was spotted in La Jolla shores the day after I was there and the following day
