Mo2vation:
Date: 04/11/2006
Dive Location: Vets Park ('tween second stairs and pier)
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'Dett can tell you much better than I can how much this dive rocked.
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Ken
Ya kidding me??? Pictures AND words ("..plates of shrimp... pages of flatfish..")
You're a double threat, Kenetic!
Perhaps just a different take on what WAS a terrific dive on a gorgeous night.
Nine people on the invite list... and Ken and I show up. PEOPLE!!! COME ON!!! Heartland folk are still waiting for "diving season" to begin... Ours never ends!
Springtime hit with a soft thump as the sun eased behind clouds to set in privacy, leaving us in soft, warm twilight. Lovely. Glassy ocean, no wind, 15 cm (6 inch)ripples tickling the shore. Me, toasty in my drysuit with my new
dry gloves (
wooo-hooo! My very own BGDs!!! My locks may still be cold, but my hands are WARM, baby!)
Ken, (sporting all his own gear for a change,) thankfully had Jay's little P&S while the real cam's in transit. I had to borrow a back-up light, as I'd left mine in his car at the Wrinkles dive 3 days earlier, and he, not recognizing it, had photo'd it and was preparing to eBay it... What I get for leaving gear behind :14: . (
Kenwood: I gotta Photon-Torpedo I'll swap ya' for that OxyCheq back-up on your counter at home... we can leave PayPal outta this one! PM me...
)
The entire world of the Redondo canyon is starting its seasonal change. The bottom is less silty, there is MORE life, and increasing variety. Three kinds of nudis:
Hermissenda crassicornis (EVERYwhere in the 40 to 60fsw zone),
Red Tipped Dorids (Acanthodoris rhodoceras) and that amazing
Lion's mane!!
Juvenile fish abound, and the place is just SILLY with
red octopus. The tiny ones look like that incredible blown-glass image that Terry posted last week: translucent and crystalline-delicate. A current was sweeping the canyon walls, and the tiniest octo's were motating by releasing the kelp/debris, being swept along for a few inches (several centimeters!) and then parachuting back down to re-grab kelp. Beautiful.
Dave's fin was a mind-blowing find! Not only 65 feet deeper than its last known location, but also about 100 yards up the beach and 100 yards out to sea. I carried it around for awhile, hoping the
octopus would give up and move on... but no Way! We left it in possession of 8 strong arms and countless suction cups.
Nice crib, Octavius!
I allowed many crabs to pinch test the dry-gloves, until I was emphatically reminded that these large-sized gloves were just "on-loan" until my size-Meds arrive later in the week. 1 hour and 26 minutes of dexterity and tactile sensitivity in 55F water... Gotta love it... and I do. Better diving through damn-smart technology.
The Blueness did provide an interesting backdrop for the star of the evening: The
Melibe leonina, Lion's Mane nudibranch. The flat, paddle-shaped cerrata were threaded with obvious vascular structures, and they scintillated with star-like specks of reflective blue-green. The whole animal is Crazy-Translucent, including the infamous bulbous oral-hood. It's edged with tiny-tiny cilia, and opens and closes to sweep food into the mouth. (It reminded me of a Venus Fly Trap in its shape.) We watched as it used the hood to slurp tiny animals off the seaweed it was crawling on, and then as it reared up and swept the water column. Our dive-lights quickly attracted clouds of tiny white pelagics, (larval invertebrates and fish,) and the little
Lion gulped and gulped. Then, when it reached the tip of the seaweed strand, it leaped off into open water and flip-flop-swam away, after starring in its own video captured by Kenjisawa, Bigfoot-style. Very cool!!!
We climbed easily out of the pool after an hour and a half of OMG-Look-At-This fun... Wow! Quality AND Quantity... I'll take it!
It was easier to enjoy the chocolate cake, as I could actually feel the fork in my still-warm hands. We ran the Swimming Lion video clip over and over in amazement and laughter.
Thank you, Ken, for an excellent dive and pictures. Absolutely excellent!!
hbDryGlove'Chica
(woo-hoo!)
) mighty Hulk-issendas.
