September '05 Dive Reports

[MissyP]

Date: Sept. 22
Dive Location: La Jolla Shores/Vallecitos
Time: 12:34 pm
Bottom Time: 1hr 4 min
Max Depth: 93 ft
Vis: 8-12 ft shallow, 35+ ft canyon
Wave height: 1-3 ft, weak.
Temp at depth: 51 F (suunto)
Tide information: high

I can totally verify Terry's report from earlier today Weak surf, no surface chop, light surge, and excellent vis! Again, 30-40 ft vis in the canyon, aqua blue water with crystal clarity- absolutely no surge/current! Down at 90 ft, I could see at least 3 more "ledges/walls" further down into the canyon (which meant about 40 ft of vis), and once again the feeling of being in the air looking down at Earth. What an amazing feeling :14: Somewhere between 90 & 93 ft, I saw a little head poke out of one of the walls and at first I thought it was a Moray eel- but it was a juvenile wolf eel ! First time I've ever found OR seen one I was thrilled ! Also found another nudi that was new to me- but I haven't been able to identify it yet..
Saw the usual hermissendas, cali. arminas & sea slugs, pipefish, moon snails, horn sharks, lizardfish, few halibuts, 1 sarcastic fringehead, Hemphill's kelp crabs (+other crabs) - along with the less usual school of baitfish, 2 dolphins and about 3 dozen leopard sharks in the shallows. Opted not to do a 2nd dive because I wanted to stay in 2-4 ft deep water to play with all of the leopard sharks.. They seem very social, bumping into people's legs and if I'm not mistaken, they looked like they were playing- surfing the swells and riding the waves into 2 ft water .
(picture quality of the leopard shark below is awful- it was taken from the surface)

 

[pasley]

Date:9/22/05
Dive Location: Redondo Beach, Topaz Jetty
Time: 11:09 a.m.
Bottom Time: 59:30
Max Depth: 61 FSW
Vis: 10-15
Wave height: 1 ft or less
Temp at depth: 55F Suunto degrees
Surface Temp: 66F Suunto degrees
Tide information:
Dive Partner: Robert Phillips
Gas mix: Air (21%)
Comments: Met up with Robert Phillips and proceeded to get ready. Connected my first stage, slowly turned on the air, and an internal O-ring in the first stage popped. So off to Dive-N-Surf which is near by. A few minutes and a reasonable $15,00 later and we are ready to dive. Dropped in to a light red tide. The red tide was visible way off shore. But for our dive it was not too bad. At 20 feet we got below the haze and into relatively clear water. Usual suspects, scorpion fish (lots of them), halibut, sarcastic fringe head living in a shoe and one living under a dead thornback ray. Great day for a dive.

 

[Frank O]

Date: 9/22/05
Dive Location: Redondo Beach, Vet's Park
Time: 7:18 p.m.
Run time: 38:00
Max depth: 81 ft
Vis: ~2 ft in shallows, 15+ at depth
Wave height: Thigh-high
Temp at depth: 54 F (Mosquito) or 52 F (Vyper)
Temp at end: 64 F
Tide: Low
Gas mix: 30%

Despite the unpromising reports from Vet's the night before, Jon and I were cheered by Melvin's a.m. report from Topaz Jetty and decided to soldier on to Redondo for a sundown dive. Surf was trivial and water looked mostly green as we swam out and dropped in 70 ft. Nice vis at that depth, though a little chilly as we passed the thermocline. We meandered about 10 ft farther down the slope then headed north a little toward the pier. Lots of usuals -- 2 or 3 small octopus, a number of cusk eels, flatties of various descriptions, crabs, and a couple of sarcastic fringehead -- one of which was inhabiting a large coffee can, leaving the fish more exposed than usual. We noticed something strange above the eye of one flatfish:

A parasite of some kind? Or just some schmutz that got stuck to it?

Finally I was getting a little chilled, so we headed up the slope where we found the water got dirty around 60 and turned into mocha at 50. As we were getting out, what looked like a class was assembling on the beach to go in -- one fellow was planning to dive without a hood, another had a 3mm/2mm wetsuit on. Brave!

 

[divinman]

Great job on the hornshark and congrats on the wolf!!! Good job Missy.

Terry

 

[Frank O]

A parasite of some kind? Or just some schmutz that got stuck to it?

It's been pegged as Phrixocephalus cincinnatus, a blood-feeding copepod that's known to inhabit the choroid of the eye of the Pacific sanddab in Santa Monica Bay (which encompasses Redondo).

 

[HBDiveGirl]

Date:9/23/05
Dive Location:Old Marineland, Cobble Beach, West toward pinnacles
Time:10AM
Bottom Time:34 minutes
Max Depth:56fsw
Vis:2 feet down to 50fsw, then 3 feet. yuck
Wave height:2-3 feet
Temp at depth:55F
Tide information:3 hours before high
Gas mix: Air (21%)
Comments:
Famous last words: "I like Marineland during a red tide because you can always get under it and find some decent viz."
Uhm....yeah.....not this time.
Ron E. and I were trying out new gear, and after successfully timing our entry between some roaring little sets, began the search for viz......
Gave up at 56fsw. Found Purple globe crabs, sea pens, armored stars, and a dollar. So dark that the longspined comb fish were out.
Gear shakedown cruise...and we shook some stuff loose.
Good navigation practice.
Nice buoyancy practice (20fsw safety stop with no visual reference.)
Safe exit on a lull, between sets that sounded like a bowling alley.
Great lunch in Redondo.
Not dead...so we must be stronger !
Sunday: Catalina!!!

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Date: Sept. 22
Dive Location: La Jolla Shores/Vallecitos
Time: 12:34 pm
Bottom Time: 1hr 4 min
Max Depth: 93 ft
Vis: 8-12 ft shallow, 35+ ft canyon
Wave height: 1-3 ft, weak.
Temp at depth: 51 F (suunto)
Tide information: high

I can totally verify Terry's report from earlier today Weak surf, no surface chop, light surge, and excellent vis! Again, 30-40 ft vis in the canyon, aqua blue water with crystal clarity- absolutely no surge/current! Down at 90 ft, I could see at least 3 more "ledges/walls" further down into the canyon (which meant about 40 ft of vis), and once again the feeling of being in the air looking down at Earth. What an amazing feeling :14: Somewhere between 90 & 93 ft, I saw a little head poke out of one of the walls and at first I thought it was a Moray eel- but it was a juvenile wolf eel ! First time I've ever found OR seen one I was thrilled ! Also found another nudi that was new to me- but I haven't been able to identify it yet..
Saw the usual hermissendas, cali. arminas & sea slugs, pipefish, moon snails, horn sharks, lizardfish, few halibuts, 1 sarcastic fringehead, Hemphill's kelp crabs (+other crabs) - along with the less usual school of baitfish, 2 dolphins and about 3 dozen leopard sharks in the shallows. Opted not to do a 2nd dive because I wanted to stay in 2-4 ft deep water to play with all of the leopard sharks.. They seem very social, bumping into people's legs and if I'm not mistaken, they looked like they were playing- surfing the swells and riding the waves into 2 ft water .
(picture quality of the leopard shark below is awful- it was taken from the surface)

I hope to get pictures of all that and more this weekend. I also plan to post a picture of you in your new piece of dive gear.

 

[MissyP]

I hope to get pictures of all that and more this weekend. I also plan to post a picture of you in your new piece of dive gear.

just remember one thing- I have pictures of you from Marineland wearing your "new gear"...... :no

 

[ShakaZulu]

Date: Sept 24
Dive Location: La Jolla Shores - Main Wall
Time: 10:32 am
Bottom Time: 40min
Max Depth: 93 ft
Vis: 20-25ft in the canyon
Wave height:
Temp at depth: 50 F (suunto)
Surface Temp:
Tide information: ?
Gas mix: Air (21%)

Comments: I set my alarm clock for 5:30pm, instead of 5:30am, so I missed the boat to Los Coronados. I'm still pissed about that, but I drove down to La Jolla Shores to get wet.

With no dive buddies, I asked some scuba dewds parked next to me if I could join them. I paired up with Andrian and we went diving. Did the bubble check at 25ft and headed west. Hit the wall and dropped into the abyss. Cruised the wall at around 80ft and saw an octopus outside it's hole, nice find. Saw a little leopard shark and some prawns in the structure walls. Concentrated on a real slow ascend to see how the reduced effect of micro bubbling would make me feel afterwards. Well, I think I feel better, so it does work if you allow enough time for the nitrogen to pass through your blood to you lungs. Nice dive, met some kewl new people.

 

[divinman]

Date: 09/24/05
Dive number: 296
Dive Location: San Diego/ Wreck of the Yukon
Time: 08:49a
Bottom Time: 54 minutes
Max Depth: 98ft

Avg Depth: 56ft
Vis: 10-15, murky and green
Surface Temp: 64F
Temp at depth: 51F
Surface Conditions: large rolling swells but far apart so not unpleasant at all

Date: 09/24/05
Dive number: 297
Dive Location: Sand somewhere near the El Rey Kelp cutter wreck
Time: 11:02a
Bottom Time: 38 minutes
Max Depth: 86ft
Avg Depth: 52ft
Vis: 8-10ft, murky and green
Surface Temp: 64F
Temp at depth: 51F
Surface Conditions: same as before

Image Gallery is here: http://gallery.scubapost.net/v/terry/album10/092405/

Sean and I met up with Max, Remi and Mike at Dana landing and went out to the Yukon. The swell was probably 3-8ft so a slow progression in the panga kelp the bow from beating us to death as we made our way to the wreck. We geared up and dropped down to a nice average day here. Vis was 10-12 mostly and the surge wasn't unmanageable. We saw the usual creatures and toured at a leisurely pace until the NDL drove us back to the surface.

Dive Two was SUPPOSED to be at the El Rey but our coordinates must have been wonky cause all we found in the green murk was sand and more sand and a rock and some sand. Oh well, they all can't be stellar dives.

Terry S.