Sund Rock death on Sunday 7/24/2022

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Any more facts on this event? Although I've only been there once, Sund Rock may replace Cape Arago as my favorite NW dive site, and it would be good to know whether there are specific hazards there.

Sund Rock will never replace Waddah Fingers (Neah Bay) as my favorite, but it is a good site.

I haven't encountered any hazards diving there. To me it is a normal site with just more life than most dive sites. That doesn't mean they don't exist, just that I'm not aware of any. I am curious if anyone chimes in and describes any.

 

[Steelyeyes]

Sund Rock will never replace Waddah Fingers (Neah Bay) as my favorite, but it is a good site.

I haven't encountered any hazards diving there. To me it is a normal site with just more life than most dive sites. That doesn't mean they don't exist, just that I'm not aware of any. I am curious if anyone chimes in and describes any.

I encountered complete blackout conditions there once. My wife and I started a descent near the wrecked boat. At 25 feet the normal green turned tea colored and in a few seconds complete black like someone painted my mask. I immediately ascended above the layer. My wife wisely had stayed a few feet above me, we reunited and aborted the dive. We never figured out what made the water so "thick".

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I encountered complete blackout conditions there once. My wife and I started a descent near the wrecked boat. At 25 feet the normal green turned tea colored and in a few seconds complete black like someone painted my mask. I immediately ascended above the layer. My wife wisely had stayed a few feet above me, we reunited and aborted the dive. We never figured out what made the water so "thick".

That's really interesting, I've never seen or heard of anything like that in Puget Sound or Hood Canal.

@davehicks you ever hear/see anything like this black "cloud"?

 

[davehicks]

That's really interesting, I've never seen or heard of anything like that in Puget Sound or Hood Canal.

@davehicks you ever hear/see anything like this black "cloud"?

I've been blacked out plenty of times when someone kicks up sand and silt at a dusty site. Usually, you kick for a few seconds to get out of the cloud.

Beyond that, I suppose it's a matter of perspective. I've done a few dives where even reading your computer is difficult, but I don't know if I'd call that blacked out. I've never seen it that bad at hood canal, except maybe the surface layer.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I've been blacked out plenty of times when someone kicks up sand and silt at a dusty site. Usually, you kick for a few seconds to get out of the cloud.

Beyond that, I suppose it's a matter of perspective. I've done a few dives where even reading your computer is difficult, but I don't know if I'd call that blacked out. I've never seen it that bad at hood canal, except maybe the surface layer.

what he describes is what I'm used to from open water classes, but then the silt clouds are isolated. I figured I'd ask someone with more experience than me at that site, as I consider it to be a very safe one.

 

[bertschb]

I've been to Sund Rock a few times. Nice site. But, it's a swimming pool compared to some of the diving I've done on the jetties off the Oregon coast.

 

[OrcasC205]

That's really interesting, I've never seen or heard of anything like that in Puget Sound or Hood Canal.

@davehicks you ever hear/see anything like this black "cloud"?

I've seen it so thick at Sund Rock that we almost ran into the wreck (to the north) before we saw it. We weren't completely blacked out, but had 2-4 feet viz at most. We were able to stay together only because of our lights.

 

[BRT]

That's really interesting, I've never seen or heard of anything like that in Puget Sound or Hood Canal.

@davehicks you ever hear/see anything like this black "cloud"?

We have been in Hood Canal when there was absolutely no visibility over 1 foot, but I could still see my gauges held close.

 

[gcbryan]

I wouldn't consider Sund Rock to have any unusual hazards but there are times in the summer when the algae blooms make the visibility very bad. I wouldn't consider that a hazard. If it's too much for your comfort level, just don't continue the dive.

It's not like it suddenly comes up to you. I've been there many times and there was only once when it was bad enough to only do one dive and call it a day. Viz was about 3 feet and therefore it was pointless to continue diving.

There have been many other times when the viz was 10' or less so you just had to maintain closer contact. Most of the dives has just been the usual PNW viz of 15' or so. It's also quite common for the top few feet to be worse than the rest of the dive.

You can keep the dive to less than 60 fsw and see most of the site, you can keep it to 100 fsw and see anything worth seeing and you can get to 200 fsw if that is what you want to do.

Current isn't an issue here, there are always Wolf Eels in the shallower part and there is usually a GPO to the north at about 100 fsw (as well as other places). You can see Sea Pens and Sea Whips on the flats from about 65 fsw and deeper.

It's a very nice, safe and convenient site. I like it better during the week as it's much less crowded (we've usually either had it to ourselves or maybe one other dive party showed up). On the weekends it can be a zoo (or not).

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

Sund Rock will never replace Waddah Fingers (Neah Bay) as my favorite, but it is a good site.

I haven't encountered any hazards diving there. To me it is a normal site with just more life than most dive sites. That doesn't mean they don't exist, just that I'm not aware of any. I am curious if anyone chimes in and describes any.

I think that Sund Rock is fairly benign site, easy to navigate, nice life and structure, etc......good ingress and egress. As with all sites in Puget Sound, vis can be an issue and currents need to be considered.

I totally agree that the Waddah fingers are absolutely awesome......but my favorite dive on the entire planet is Duncan Rock...... west of Waddah.....

2nd favorite site is Arena Rock in N CA...