San Miguel last weekend.

[spt29970]

The weather gods were behaving themselves last weekend and I managed to make it out to San Miguel on the Truth. Conditions were quite nice. Although my photography was less than inspired, I did manage to bring home a few keepers. The best part of the trip is that DUI replaced my defective ZipGloves and the new ones actually kept my hands dry! It was very nice to have warm fingers even though the water was 50F.

(Click on images for more details)

 

[Larry C]

Very nice. The Sea Lion is a beautiful picture. Love the black background. Nice job on the Kelp Rockfish too.

 

[parabolic]

Wonderful photos spt 29970. You got the ling cod in a nice setting. San Miguel is a magical place, glad you made it out there.
++Ken++

 

[spt29970]

Thanks Larry and Ken,

Did you notice that next to the rockfish is a shredded comb jelly. I found a fully intact one later in the dive, but had a very hard time getting a decent image. Comb jellys have a series of cilia that strobe down its body putting on a light show like an alien spacecraft. This is the best image I got, but it completely misses the color strobes. Oh well.

 

[AndyT]

Cool pics !!!

 

[parabolic]

spt29970
I did notice it but I thought it was a ctenophore or a salp. They are fascinating little animals, like a living light show.
++Ken++

 

[alcina]

Looks like beautiful country!

I adore sea lion shots

 

[spt29970]

Looks like beautiful country!

I adore sea lion shots

San Miguel is one of my favorite places to dive. It is a little tricky to get there since it is about 45 miles from Santa Barbara Harbor and the weather often doesn't cooperate. There is a big sea lion rookery on the island so encounters are pretty much guaranteed. I love shooting them. They blast around so fast that it is usually difficult even to swing the camera around in their direction let alone compose an image. However sometime they love to sit and pose. I am still looking for that "killer" shot.