Nils wanted to get the Cuda wet again. Cody wanted another hit off the scooter crack pipe, and Dette and I just wanted to get wet.
We arrived Saturday morning to a very full boat. We loaded on and headed out across a flat, windless channel to Anacapa.
Lots of students means shallow, easy sites. Cody and I are both in wetsuits, so this sounds good to us!
Dive One - Sea Lion Spot
Dette and I have dived at this shallow site (25-ish - 30-ish) a number of times. The shot you all remember (the 54 sea lions mugging for the camera) was taken here. We pull up, and there are just a few puppies in the water. They drop over the Diver Recall (usually a dinner bell to these guys and it brings them running to the boat) and the sea lions scattered.
The four of us dropped - we scooted right. No doggies. We scooted left. No doggies. We scooted back right. A few doggies. OY. So we did what scooter divers to - we made a boring dive fun. It started when I gave Cody my scooter - so dude could go all Ben Hur with two scoots. He tentatively gave them some gas, made some adjustments, gave them some more gas and in about 20 seconds tried a barrel roll with two scoots.
Yeah - that didn't end well, as one scoot went left and the other went right when Cody was essentially upside down.
Nils handed off the Cuda to dette. I looked over and saw her smiling and flashing an enthusiastic Shaka to Nils.
Next up was Me on the Cuda and Nils going two-fer with the Sierras. This was my first try with the Cuda. Very different than the Sierra. You notice the mass immediately - its just heavy. And the thing is powerful and fast. Its not designed to be nimble, so in and out of the Kelp its not the best - but if you gotta go far or are a big diver in doubles - this thing is probably a better choice than the Sierra.
There is something very, very satisfying about looking over and seeing your three buddies in formation, zipping along (albeit, Nils only in 3rd gear!) It was quite a site in the clear water.
There were small comb jellies (1" to 2") right at the surface - hundreds of them, with larger ones (3" - 4") by the dozen a little deeper. And all along the bottom were more dead jellies, like we saw a week ago.
Lots of laughs and a very mellow dive. We zoomed for an hour in the shallow water before heading back to the boat.
Dive Two - Channels
I wanted to shoot W/A today, but it wasn't to be (equipment problems) so I set up for a one-strobe Macro. Channels isn't the best dive for Macro, but there are usually some Harbor Seals here and it is quite a scooter dive - as the topography is very scooter friendly.
The water was once again clear - we splashed and hit it. We zoomed all over the place - in and out of the channels. We'd scoot into the island, then turn at the peak of the inward surge and scoot on the outflow, getting spit out through a channel away from the island. We did this move all the way back to the boat after we turned.
On the way back, Dette spotted a lobster trap - we always check them for Nudis. She saw a small Cuthona on one of those bubble kelp things. It was at an unflattering angle, so I broke off the kelp bubble and handed it to Hand Model Chica.
The surge was getting fierce - so it was way hard to hold position, even when bracing. We moved to the back side of a big rock so we'd be protected when it came off island, and dette put her light under the bubble to light up the cuthona from the inside. I dialed the strobe way back and got a great shot of a Light Table Nudi.
We zoomed, we laughed, and we cut this dive short (45 minutes) to get back to the boat so we could lunch it.
Dive Three - Pelican Reserve
Open only two months out of the year to divers (Nov / Dec), the pelican reserve is a breeding ground for pelicans (duh.) I've wanted to dive it for years, but this is my first time.
The water was the clearest of the day - unreal clear. See the bottom and count the tiny rocks on the way down on your giant stride clear. I was looking at the water when I jumped in and I was surprised when I hit it!
Cody did a giant stride with the scooter. Of course, he didn't clip it off - so he kinda just held it. I was cracking up. Never seen that move before!
The four of us scooted in the shallows for a bit, and then we pointed down hill off island to get a peek at the slope.
It was a good move.
We saw so much stuff on the slope in the 50 - 60 foot range. Several octos, including one nice one that was very patient with my shooting.
After I shot the octo, Nils called me over - I saw him shooting something, but I didn't see what it was. He was shooting a small kelp fish that was "hiding" amongst the stipes. It was a very cool find, and made for a great shot (thanks for bringing me over, Nils!)
I was getting a little chilly so we moved up slope to about 40 feet. All day I'd been stopping at every sulfur sponge I would see, looking for a Tylodina Fungina Nudi - they're a shelled nudi that eats those sponges. I have a special Tylo dance I do when I find one.
After a day of looking, I finally spotted one (a tiny baby Tylo) at the 40 foot line in Pelican Reserve (get this: no sulfur sponge in sight... just dumb luck) I call over Claudette and commence the dance. I can provide details, but there are 4 distinct moves, they go in order, and I'm a white guy in a wetsuit underwater with a camera and a scooter hanging off of me. Emmit Smith I am not.
On the way back up the slope Claudette saw some wacky feather looking things in a small alcove. Maybe eggs? Maybe a plant of some kind? DrB... any ideas?
We got to the 18 foot bottom right under the boat and had plenty of gas, so we just zoomed around. The four of us, rolling, spinning and running into things - the bottom, a rock, each other.
We laughed even more, hit the deck and took down for the ride home.
Nils, Cody, Dette - More laughs per dive than I've had in a long, long time. You three make a great team. We stayed tight, we stayed safe, and we brought our own fun. I loved every moment of Satuday. Thanks a lot, folks.
Some images below.
Enjoy.
---
Ken
=================================
Here's that Light Table Cuthona. Dette was holding on and wedging in to hold this kelp bubble steady enough to for me to take the shot. See how the body of the Nudi just glows?
World's most patient Octo - this guy got comfy and let me take several shots.
Here is the Tylo. I'll spare you all the dance.
Nils' Kelp Fish - thanks for the spot, buddy. Who knew they had hands like a little Seattle Grunt Sculpin??
DrB - what are these things???
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
We arrived Saturday morning to a very full boat. We loaded on and headed out across a flat, windless channel to Anacapa.
Lots of students means shallow, easy sites. Cody and I are both in wetsuits, so this sounds good to us!
Dive One - Sea Lion Spot
Dette and I have dived at this shallow site (25-ish - 30-ish) a number of times. The shot you all remember (the 54 sea lions mugging for the camera) was taken here. We pull up, and there are just a few puppies in the water. They drop over the Diver Recall (usually a dinner bell to these guys and it brings them running to the boat) and the sea lions scattered.
The four of us dropped - we scooted right. No doggies. We scooted left. No doggies. We scooted back right. A few doggies. OY. So we did what scooter divers to - we made a boring dive fun. It started when I gave Cody my scooter - so dude could go all Ben Hur with two scoots. He tentatively gave them some gas, made some adjustments, gave them some more gas and in about 20 seconds tried a barrel roll with two scoots.
Yeah - that didn't end well, as one scoot went left and the other went right when Cody was essentially upside down.
Nils handed off the Cuda to dette. I looked over and saw her smiling and flashing an enthusiastic Shaka to Nils.
Next up was Me on the Cuda and Nils going two-fer with the Sierras. This was my first try with the Cuda. Very different than the Sierra. You notice the mass immediately - its just heavy. And the thing is powerful and fast. Its not designed to be nimble, so in and out of the Kelp its not the best - but if you gotta go far or are a big diver in doubles - this thing is probably a better choice than the Sierra.
There is something very, very satisfying about looking over and seeing your three buddies in formation, zipping along (albeit, Nils only in 3rd gear!) It was quite a site in the clear water.
There were small comb jellies (1" to 2") right at the surface - hundreds of them, with larger ones (3" - 4") by the dozen a little deeper. And all along the bottom were more dead jellies, like we saw a week ago.
Lots of laughs and a very mellow dive. We zoomed for an hour in the shallow water before heading back to the boat.
Dive Two - Channels
I wanted to shoot W/A today, but it wasn't to be (equipment problems) so I set up for a one-strobe Macro. Channels isn't the best dive for Macro, but there are usually some Harbor Seals here and it is quite a scooter dive - as the topography is very scooter friendly.
The water was once again clear - we splashed and hit it. We zoomed all over the place - in and out of the channels. We'd scoot into the island, then turn at the peak of the inward surge and scoot on the outflow, getting spit out through a channel away from the island. We did this move all the way back to the boat after we turned.
On the way back, Dette spotted a lobster trap - we always check them for Nudis. She saw a small Cuthona on one of those bubble kelp things. It was at an unflattering angle, so I broke off the kelp bubble and handed it to Hand Model Chica.
The surge was getting fierce - so it was way hard to hold position, even when bracing. We moved to the back side of a big rock so we'd be protected when it came off island, and dette put her light under the bubble to light up the cuthona from the inside. I dialed the strobe way back and got a great shot of a Light Table Nudi.
We zoomed, we laughed, and we cut this dive short (45 minutes) to get back to the boat so we could lunch it.
Dive Three - Pelican Reserve
Open only two months out of the year to divers (Nov / Dec), the pelican reserve is a breeding ground for pelicans (duh.) I've wanted to dive it for years, but this is my first time.
The water was the clearest of the day - unreal clear. See the bottom and count the tiny rocks on the way down on your giant stride clear. I was looking at the water when I jumped in and I was surprised when I hit it!
Cody did a giant stride with the scooter. Of course, he didn't clip it off - so he kinda just held it. I was cracking up. Never seen that move before!
The four of us scooted in the shallows for a bit, and then we pointed down hill off island to get a peek at the slope.
It was a good move.
We saw so much stuff on the slope in the 50 - 60 foot range. Several octos, including one nice one that was very patient with my shooting.
After I shot the octo, Nils called me over - I saw him shooting something, but I didn't see what it was. He was shooting a small kelp fish that was "hiding" amongst the stipes. It was a very cool find, and made for a great shot (thanks for bringing me over, Nils!)
I was getting a little chilly so we moved up slope to about 40 feet. All day I'd been stopping at every sulfur sponge I would see, looking for a Tylodina Fungina Nudi - they're a shelled nudi that eats those sponges. I have a special Tylo dance I do when I find one.
After a day of looking, I finally spotted one (a tiny baby Tylo) at the 40 foot line in Pelican Reserve (get this: no sulfur sponge in sight... just dumb luck) I call over Claudette and commence the dance. I can provide details, but there are 4 distinct moves, they go in order, and I'm a white guy in a wetsuit underwater with a camera and a scooter hanging off of me. Emmit Smith I am not.
On the way back up the slope Claudette saw some wacky feather looking things in a small alcove. Maybe eggs? Maybe a plant of some kind? DrB... any ideas?
We got to the 18 foot bottom right under the boat and had plenty of gas, so we just zoomed around. The four of us, rolling, spinning and running into things - the bottom, a rock, each other.
We laughed even more, hit the deck and took down for the ride home.
Nils, Cody, Dette - More laughs per dive than I've had in a long, long time. You three make a great team. We stayed tight, we stayed safe, and we brought our own fun. I loved every moment of Satuday. Thanks a lot, folks.
Some images below.
Enjoy.
---
Ken
=================================
Here's that Light Table Cuthona. Dette was holding on and wedging in to hold this kelp bubble steady enough to for me to take the shot. See how the body of the Nudi just glows?
World's most patient Octo - this guy got comfy and let me take several shots.
Here is the Tylo. I'll spare you all the dance.
Nils' Kelp Fish - thanks for the spot, buddy. Who knew they had hands like a little Seattle Grunt Sculpin??
DrB - what are these things???
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
