San Miguel / Santa Rosa Islands, what to expect?

[diverrex]

I have never considered using any type of cutting device on kelp. Usually you or your buddy just pull it off or beak it by hand. I don't think it's an entanglement problem. Sometimes it might grab your tank valve or a fin but it's no problem to pull it off. The bigger inconvenience is when you surface and a big pad of it is floating between you and the boat. Then you usually want to descend and swim through underwater.

---------- Post added September 10th, 2013 at 12:58 PM ----------

... but after reading about so many incidents of people dying in kelp ......

I can't even remember the last incident in So Cal that was attributed to someone dying because of kelp so I'm not sure not sure where you hear of "so many".

There was one a few years ago down in San Diego where the guy surfaced in the kelp and seemed to panic some. I think he or a DM ended up releasing him from his BC and he sank and drowned if I remember correctly. But that's the only one I remember over the past 5 or so years related to kelp.

 

[fjpatrum]

Keith.M, I wasn't too concerned that it would be a problem but I wasn't 100% sure, since I've read about people having problems.

Vegan Shark, thanks for the info... I hadn't thought about fin straps but now I'll just tape them or put some elastics around the buckles to make sure.

Thanks, folks. I'm really looking forward to this. Just started packing my gear today to make sure I don't forget anything and see if I can fit all my dive gear and work gear in 1 bag.

 

[fnfalman]

Who the heck would try to cut kelps with shears or knives? That's a good way of stabbing or cutting yourself. If you're entangled, then just snap the kelp with your hands.

Keep a trilobite or shears for in case you run into a fishing line, but even that action is highly improbable.

 

[Vegan Shark]

Shears cut through kelp way faster than breaking it with hands. If it's only a single strand of kelp, doesn't take long to snap it, but if you've got an entire cluster wrapped around you then shears are convenient. Granted, most all the kelp-related deaths I've read about were around the Monterey area, and not SoCal, but still. If I had to make an emergency ascent in the middle of a thick kelp forest, and couldn't descend under it due to no air or whatnot, I'd much rather have shears if worse came to worst and I needed to cut my way out.

 

[diverrex]

Shears cut through kelp way faster than breaking it with hands. If it's only a single strand of kelp, doesn't take long to snap it, but if you've got an entire cluster wrapped around you then shears are convenient. Granted, most all the kelp-related deaths I've read about were around the Monterey area, and not SoCal, but still. If I had to make an emergency ascent in the middle of a thick kelp forest, and couldn't descend under it due to no air or whatnot, I'd much rather have shears if worse came to worst and I needed to cut my way out.

I've never dived in Monterey so maybe the kelp is different there than in SoCal but I can't imagine cutting through thick kelp with shears. I've never seen a cluster wrap around someone underwater. Maybe if you panicked and spun it around you as thrashed about it could happen. Underwater it just really isn't a problem. On the surface if you encounter a thick pad you simply slowly push it out of the way. It can be a PITA and the going is slow but I'd call it an annoyance not a problem.

 

[TSandM]

I'm with diverrex. Underwater, kelp is not bad at all, and if you get something caught on it, it's usually pretty easy to reach back and release whatever it is. As long as you don't panic and start twisting around, it's not a big deal . . . and you have a buddy to help, too. On the surface, kelp can be much more annoying, but not in the sense of not being able to get your head above water. It's just a MAJOR pain to make headway in the kelp canopy. Not a bad idea to keep a little bigger gas reserve for kelp dives, so that if you surface somewhere you don't want to be, you have plenty of gas to submerge and swim to the boat at 10 feet or so, where it's much easier.

 

[Vegan Shark]

Yeah, if clear headed, and not out of gas, it's not an issue especially underwater. I'm talking more about dire situations in which someone is out of gas, get entangled, then panics, which is how most of the kelp deaths seem to happen. So someone shouldn't need shears, but hey it's an easy add-on accessory and sometimes even the most cautious people end up doing stupid things like running their tank empty and panicking.

 

[mathauck0814]

Can you link to any of these kelp deaths? And then explain why on Earth you'd be out of gas?

 

[fnfalman]

Yeah, if clear headed, and not out of gas, it's not an issue especially underwater. I'm talking more about dire situations in which someone is out of gas, get entangled, then panics, which is how most of the kelp deaths seem to happen. So someone shouldn't need shears, but hey it's an easy add-on accessory and sometimes even the most cautious people end up doing stupid things like running their tank empty and panicking.

So, in a dire situation with no gas left, you're going to whip out the shears and cut the kelps? By that time you'd be well and drowned even before you can fumble for the shears in your BC pocket somewhere. .

You want to carry a pair of shears? Then carry a pair of shears. I carry a pair myself. But I don't go about thinking that I'm going to use it to cut away kelps, be it a single strand or a clump. That's just asinine. You don't cut kelps with knives or shears. Even if you're entangled with a bundle, it's still easier to snap them by hands.

 

[fjpatrum]

Back from the islands and still alive, despite my wife's concerns of shark and kelp attacks. Trip report (of sorts) and pics (low quality) here: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/so...-channel-islands-trip-report.html#post6897509