np251
Contributor
So, me and KLJ bailed early from work friday and made the drive down to the Breakwater for a night dive. We got there around 7 to some pretty good conditions and where really excited to explore a familiar site we have dove many times before once the lights went out. We planned the dive to kinda bridge civil twilight, so we got kitted up pretty slowly and entered the water a little before 8. We swam out a little to the big #5 and descended right on top of the anchor before heading to the wall and turning left. We made a nice leisurely out-and-back, hitting a max depth of 40feet and checking out all the nooks and crannies with our new lights.
The first surprise was the relative lack of critters. Maybe we should have waited a bit later so things were more active but we were pretty surprised to find everything so quiet. We did come across a couple of big sleeping ling cod but otherwise, i felt like id kinda cheated KLJ after getting her hyped up about all the octopi and stuff we would see.
Anyway, we were coming back in, and at about 37 feet came across one of the many big concrete blocks at the bottom of the wall. Except, this one had a huge California Spiny Lobster sitting right on top of it. He was big- easily 2 feet long, his body being as thick as a loaf of bread. He did the typical tail-tuck-and-back-into-a-crevice maneuver and we continued on our way. Very cool. A little later we are gliding over the sand at about 20 feet- pretty close to the anchor- scanning the sand for with our lights looking for sand dabs and octopi when i see a pair of glowing eyes staring back at me from about 6 feet away. I floated over, expecting to see a halibut or something, but all i could see where these little stalk-eyes poking out the sand. Im showing KLJ when something flickers in the sand about a foot away- we focus on that to find the distinctive fan shaped tail of another lobster, completely white. It moves again to reveal the segmented back of a perfectly white, 8-9 inch lobster partially buried in the sand, presumably having just recently finished molting. It begins to settle itself into the sand, finally leaving just the eye-stalks staring back at us. We kick in a little ways further, checking out the sand dollar patch before ascending right next to the #6 at 9.10pm. Pretty good dive, a little less life than id expected and another perfectly handled dive by my awesome buddy.
After doing a little research, if my understanding is right, this is a pretty rare sighting in the Bay. I understand that C. S. Lobsters that have ended up this far north have probably got swept in by El-Nino currents and that the water is too cool for them to breed. Anyone got any other info on these guys hanging out around here- sightings, size, whatever? It was just such an unexpected sighting that im curious to learn a little more about them.
Cheers
The first surprise was the relative lack of critters. Maybe we should have waited a bit later so things were more active but we were pretty surprised to find everything so quiet. We did come across a couple of big sleeping ling cod but otherwise, i felt like id kinda cheated KLJ after getting her hyped up about all the octopi and stuff we would see.
Anyway, we were coming back in, and at about 37 feet came across one of the many big concrete blocks at the bottom of the wall. Except, this one had a huge California Spiny Lobster sitting right on top of it. He was big- easily 2 feet long, his body being as thick as a loaf of bread. He did the typical tail-tuck-and-back-into-a-crevice maneuver and we continued on our way. Very cool. A little later we are gliding over the sand at about 20 feet- pretty close to the anchor- scanning the sand for with our lights looking for sand dabs and octopi when i see a pair of glowing eyes staring back at me from about 6 feet away. I floated over, expecting to see a halibut or something, but all i could see where these little stalk-eyes poking out the sand. Im showing KLJ when something flickers in the sand about a foot away- we focus on that to find the distinctive fan shaped tail of another lobster, completely white. It moves again to reveal the segmented back of a perfectly white, 8-9 inch lobster partially buried in the sand, presumably having just recently finished molting. It begins to settle itself into the sand, finally leaving just the eye-stalks staring back at us. We kick in a little ways further, checking out the sand dollar patch before ascending right next to the #6 at 9.10pm. Pretty good dive, a little less life than id expected and another perfectly handled dive by my awesome buddy.
After doing a little research, if my understanding is right, this is a pretty rare sighting in the Bay. I understand that C. S. Lobsters that have ended up this far north have probably got swept in by El-Nino currents and that the water is too cool for them to breed. Anyone got any other info on these guys hanging out around here- sightings, size, whatever? It was just such an unexpected sighting that im curious to learn a little more about them.
Cheers
