The Pasley April 06 Dive Report Thread

[Jake]

Date: 2006-04-30
Dive Location: Casino Point
Time: 11:01
Bottom Time: 24min
Max Depth: 90fsw
Vis: 20-30ish ft
Temp at depth: 52
Gas mix: air
Comments: Just doing a gear check-out dive at a healthy depth. Kicked around, not seeing much, until a gigantic school of fish came our way. Behind it was a large sea lion, who was more than happy to divert his attention from fish to us. After a minute or two of childlike awe (in us), he swam away.

We also saw 2 octopus holding each other, each with an outstretched arm. I don't think they were mating, as they were sitting peacefully with closed eyes. Almost like a lover's touch though; very cool looking.

During the SI, we saw a fishing boat with like 5 guys pull up to the very edge of the park border and throw fishing lines in. I suppose they were outside the boundary, but it was really frustrating for some reason. Almost like they were taking advantage of pet fish or something, who are more trusting in the park. Oh well.


Date: 2006-04-30
Dive Location: Casino Point
Time: 12:58
Bottom Time: 42min
Max Depth: 64fsw
Vis: 20-30ish ft
Temp at depth: 56
Gas mix: air
Comments: Dropped in over the Kismet (sp?) and started a slow contour. Visibility cleared up nicely the shallower we got. A few of us were lucky enough to chance upon shark eggs. Most were swell shark "capsules", although one was a really pretty corkscrew contraption, maybe about 6 inches long by about 3 inches across.

Lots of lobster!

A lot of the bigger fish seemed to be out also, including the largest Sheephead I've seen.

Dive Location: Casino Point
Time: 15:08
Bottom Time: 38min
Max Depth: 56fsw
Vis: 20-30ish ft
Temp at depth: 57
Gas mix: air
Comments: This was the first time I had been to the end of the park in the direction of the harbor (not towards the casino from the stairs). It's pretty cool over there, with great kelp stands and what seemed to be significantly larger numbers of fish. The visibility was pretty poor nearer the harbor and the deeper we were, but improved as we got higher and further away from the boat traffic. Many lobster hanging out over there too.

A thermocline was apparent near the harbor, though we stayed above it. Probably a good thing!


On the way home on the boat there was an altercation in the Commodore's Lounge where we were sitting. Everyone in the cabin seemed to get a good chuckle out of it, but I felt bad because it was a bad situation (a seemingly drunk, frustrated mother, and an unruly and verbally berated child handled by a well-meaning, though loud, good samaritan).

By the way, if you take the Catalina Express ships, the Commodore Lounge is a great(!) upgrade and well worth the extra $10 IMO.

 

[Diver_Jan]

Hi gang,

Borded the Great Escaple with Reefseekers (http://www.Reefseekers.com) Saturday night and headed to Santa Barbara Island.

Arrived bright and early Sunday morning.

First Dive Site: Eleven Phathoms 7am

I was one of the first to jump into the water. The surface was glassy and smooth. Conditions looked great dropping down the anchor line, until I reached bottom at 65'. Viz diminished to around 20' at best. It was dark and hazy. Nothing to really see with the exception of thousands of Brittle Stars and Nudibranch Egg rings. With so many egg rings dotting the reef, you would think you would see at least one Nudibranch?! In my dire efforts, I finally found one Sea Lemon. That was IT! Lots of Sheephead, a few bugs here and there. Pretty much uneventful. Ended my dive early to save on my NDL for future dives. Total bottom time: 45 minutes. Oh, I might add, while doing a safety stop at the hang line, I noticed a nudibranch type creature on a kelp frond, but it also looked like a little sea anenome. Anyone know what I might have been looking at? I wish I had a pic, but....batteries died after 3 shots. Ugh...I had the rechargeable 2500mAH too! I also so another little nudibranch that I hadn't seen before, kind of reminded me of a Hopkins Rose hanging out on a kelp frond as well.

Dive #2 Black Caverns (backside of SBI)

WOW!!! Viz improved immensely, and so did the marine life! This place was hopping with life, including 9 COUNT THEM...9 different varieities of Nudibranchs!!! Whoo hooo....Nudi heaven! There are also two caverns here that you can swim through, but I chose to do the reef once I started encountering all of the nudibranchs. Not only that, but I was chasing my NDL this dive since I explored the reef out pretty far before turning around.

Dive #3 Mini Rookery/ Ken's Cave

Since some divers wanted to go to the 'Rookery' we went to a spot that had something for everyone: Sea Lions, Caves, and an area for those that were hunting. Viz was holding pretty good. I explored the reef close to shore looking for Ken's Cave. I found myself surrounded by several sea lions, buzzing me, and playfully spinning and doing flips in front of my eyes. As I was diving with the sea lions, I found myself diving through a vast Underwater Arch (Not Allan's Arch). Really cool area. I turned behind the arch to find myself in a channel. I followed up half way, then turned around thinking I was going in the wrong direction for the cave. I continued on, not finding the cave. I swam around the outside of the Arch discovering a modest Sheepcrab holding on to the sides. From here, I headed back to the boat to meet up with John.

Dive #4 Sand Flats/ Ken's Cave

John and I headed over the sand flats discovering numberous Angel Sharks, Huge Bat Rays, and more Sea Lions. We came back to the arch, and continued diving in the channel that I started to enter on Dive #3. Following the channel, it entered into a huge cave opening. There was moderate surge, for the top ceiling of the cave has a 'chimney' that the water spouts out when too much water enters in. We had a great time exploring the depths of the cave finding big, BIG Bugs! I also spotted another nudi inside the cave. As we were diving inside the cave, sea lions also joined us. We dove deeper into the cave, finding an exit on the other side. It was so pretty to look out from the cave where it was dark, to see the bright blue water and siloettes of sea lions dancing and frolicing about. Exited the cave and made our way back to the boat. Decided to burn a few more minutes over the sand, not realizing there was yet another Angel Shark! Scared me half witless! LOL Fun safety stop too, for even more sea lions were swimming about us using their acrobatic feats to impress us.

All in all, a great day of diving, being with great friends, and meeting new friends.

Thanks to our DM's John, JT, Jerry and our DMits: Linda and Eric for making a fun filled day, and to the crew of the Great Escape for their hard work, and to PAM (Encore) for the great food and help too!