The Pasley "Hurry Home" December '06 Dive Report Thread

[HBDiveGirl]

'Chica and I were the ones who passed you on the way up the stairs - we were in doubles, and I was talking with you about the Electric Ray that we saw 104' that followed us around for 10 minutes, the baby GSB at 88', the field of baby Midshipman at 60, the baby (and very clear.. who knew) Giant Kelp Fish at 45', all of the D.Iris and Fakeyssinda between 28' - 24', etc. Glad you had a great dive.

... I've dived Vets a zillion times - and last night was in the top 10. Great viz, calm water, and so much to see. I could go on and on, but re-living the entire dive again with no pix would just make me sad.

Unreal dive last night.

We're planning on going back tonight.

---
Ken

Fortunately, I have NO problem re-living fantastic dives that don't have pictures. (You spoil me with your spectacular pictures, Ken, thank you! )

Thursday Dec. 7, 2006: Vet's Park, Redondo Submarine Canyon, after dark.
Buddy: BabyGBSwhisperer, Ken
Max depth: 106fsw. (Avg. about 40)
Run time: 68 minutes
Temp: 58F (RastaAeris; "Whatevah, Mon! I tell you when it freezes... 'til den, go haahv fun!")
Reason for Pasley to come on home: Visiting divers are missing the great experience of diving with you, (and so are all us locals!)


Five (5!) species of nudibranchs: D. iris, H. crassicornis, Cuthona divae, Navanax inermis, Pleurobranchia californiensis, and a mystery dorid oozing over the mud.

...and there was the incredible Party Coconut, with Octo!! The same black coconut shell we found months and months ago.. still with an octopus inside peeking out. Too Cute!

And the resting Pacific Electric Ray, 'bout 2.5-feet across, that held our nitrogenated attention for many lovely minutes. These things look prehistoric... flubbery but strong. Ken, I thought you were to the side, still looking at it, when it rose off the bottom and slowly swam straight towards me. I side-finned up and away, turning to look at you... and you were engrossed in some micro-treasure in the mud... WITH YOUR BACK TO ME AND THE RAY. :scared: I swept your hands with my light beam, slowly...and then Faster!!!!... and you looked up into that lovely electric face. It was good to see you move those doubles with such style, grace, strength... and speed.

Nice move, Escamillo!

Then there was the Suite: Sarcastic! A fat, empty turban shell smack up against a big glass jar with a big Fringehead in it. The dude's got a Two-Room Suite!! Talk about a date that kills! Bet he pulls chicks all night with that :14: .

By the way: 'Chica's in love.
Double hp100's. My perfect doubles. The search is over. (Break it gently to the lp85s . We'll always be friends.) My heart belongs to the double-hundreds.

And THEN there were the Iris Fields!!! OMG.. going and returning over the sandy edge of the canyon, (22-30fsw) we saw dozens of distinct Dendronotus iris egg masses but couldn't find the Dendy's anywhere. Suddenly, you waved a light at me... (approaching small-GWS speed = something exciting!...) ..I rush over...and look at.... FUZZY BROWN ALGAE! Lovely algae, but just 3-inch tall algae. WT*??
You looked at me..... pointed again forcefully... and a beautifully camoflaged D. iris materialized before my eyes. WOW!! It looks like fuzzy brown algae.. with spots and rhinophores!

Now, we saw them everywhere... eating, schmoozing, mating, laying eggs... The Iris Fields! These are the first D. iris I've seen in hundreds of dives at Vets. Wonderful!

The entire dive was one fun experience after another, beneath a starry December sky, in warm 60 degree water, rolling with the perfect doubles and the most fun dive buddy in the world. Thank you, Ken. You bring so much to every dive.

It's worth re-living.
Then, let's do it again

'Dette

 

[miket]

'Chica and I were the ones who passed you on the way up the stairs - we were in doubles, and I was talking with you about the Electric Ray that we saw 104' that followed us around for 10 minutes, the baby GSB at 88', the field of baby Midshipman at 60, the baby (and very clear.. who knew) Giant Kelp Fish at 45', all of the D.Iris and Fakeyssinda between 28' - 24', etc. Glad you had a great dive.

Wish you saw all the other stuff we saw - but its a big, big ocean.

Thanks for the report at the top of the stairs. It's always exciting to get a fresh first hand report before suiting up.

We tried to find the baby GSB but no luck. The three of us only had low pressure steel 80s so we didn't have too much time in the canyon. The clear water was so nice...

- MikeT

 

[riguerin]

Date: 12/07/2006
Dive Location: Fisherman's Cove, Laguna Beach
Buddy(ies): Glycerin
Time: 7:37 pm
Bottom Time: 64 min
Max Depth: 32 fsw
Vis: 20+ ft
Wave height: 0-1 ft
Temp at depth: 59F
Surface Temp: 59F
Tide information: Low Tide - 5:16 PM PST, -0.94 ft
Gas mix: 32%
Reason for Pasley to come on home: Having your own UW pet.

Local conditions as good as this don't come along very often and I still had nearly half my gas supply left in the doubles from our AM dive. I was able to talk Josh into a night dive. So I left the office a little early, hurried home, and made some quick adjustments to the bands and harness. We met near the entrance to Diver's/Fisherman's and checked the conditions. Tide was much lower, but it was still dead flat. We suited up and entered at Fisherman's Cove. We dropped EXACTLY 12 hours after our earlier dive and stated working our way toward the outgoing ledge.

Wow, the small band adjustments made a huge difference. The rig trimmed out much better (thanks Milo and Chris). It was definitely much more comfortable ... had way more freedom of head movement, harness was snugger, chest D-Rings easier to reach, lower bolt/wingnut was no longer digging into my back. Bottom line, I was way more relaxed. In fact so much so that I couldn’t resists grabbing a couple bugs that were out for an evening stroll.

The highlight, however, came around 20 minutes into the dive. Out of the pitch darkness this massive creature zoomed into view. It was a really big Harbor Seal. The ones I've previously encountered are usually kind of shy, but this one seemed to have zero fear us ... it actually seemed to like our company. After a couple minutes, we figured out why. It was using our lights to spot and hunt fish. So we obliged it. We started lighting up the fishies and watched it chase them around and devour them. The best chase was a decent sized Garibaldi. It almost got away a few times but it had no chance with two spot lights following it's every move. By this point, the seal was swimming up and stopping within inches of us as though it wanted to make physical contact. I was the first to reach out and pet it. It seemed to really enjoy this as it kept coming back for more. Josh and I took turns gently rubbing and scratching it before it would zoom off for more fish ... then it would come back for more love'n. This basically went on for nearly the entire remainder of the dive. It was definitely one of the most memorable marine life encounters that I've ever experienced. It's was like having your own pet ... an UW version of a Labrador.

Afterwards, Josh treated to food and drinks at BJ's Restaurant and Brewery. It was a perfect ending to an awesome day of diving. Excellent diving, great company, and ice cold ale - it doesn't get much better than this.

 

[miket]

The best chase was a decent sized Garibaldi. It almost got away a few times but it had no chance with two spot lights following it's every move.

Man that must have been fun to do. Did the seal swallow em whole?

 

[riguerin]

Man that must have been fun to do. Did the seal swallow em whole?

For the little guys, yes ... it just inhaled them like a vacuum cleaner. For the Garibaldi, no. It was a brave and awesome fight for survival. The Garibaldi tried to hide under any rock it could find. It almost got away a few times. After catching it, it took a little while for the seal to subdue the fish and get under control. Once it did, the seal sought out a nice flat open spot on the top of the reef before it started to chow down.

Yeah, it was definitely one of those magic UW moments. In a sick way, I felt the satisfaction of sweet revenge :evil:

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I made my 250th Marineland dive yesterday. I wanted to get in a quick dive before the storms arrive, but more importantly I had two objectives. The kelp has grown back with a fury the past two weeks and I wanted to get a few wide angle shots of the canopy. The vis in the cove was good enough to get them.

I also made the first of several treks to the secret spot where Evil Jeff and I planned to set up an experimental artificial reef. We got the idea from the Christ of the Abyss statue in Florida and the garden gnomes in England. The first endeavour consisted of lovely young girl who weighs a ton. I had to carry Our Lady of the Garden down to the cove before getting in my gear because I couldn't handle the weight. I hooked a liftbag around her arm and made the 1/4 mile swim to the spot. The Lady acts as a sea anchor and the liftbag as a sail. Add that to the strong current I was swimming against and it explains the leg cramps I had Thursday night. Jeff is preparing Jesus and Buddha statues for our next dive.

After dropping my hitch-hiker off I made my way over the the reef and slowly headed back in, stopping to smell the Hopkin's Roses along the way.

 

[LLKZ16]

Date: 12/8/06
Dive Location: OML 120 Reef
Buddy(ies): Jimmy
Time: 9:32 am
Bottom Time: 70 min
Max Depth: 47 feet
Vis: 10 or so
Wave height: 1.5 to 2.5 ft
Temp at depth: 59F
Surface Temp: 62F
Tide information: Pushing High
Comments:

Met up Jimmy for our regular Friday morning dive. The weather was nice, just slightly cloudy. With the impending swell in mind, I went to go check out the point. The point looked do-able because of the high tide. However, I did not like the way the waves were moving across the shore on the way back to Cobble Beach. I felt that we might be fighting the current on the way back. With this in mind, I decided that we should check out the 120 reef for a more leisurely dive.

Getting out was easy even though some larger waves were coming in closer to the cove area near the point. The visibility did not look promising as we kicked out to the end of the point. Jeez what a difference a week makes. Last week we had 30 ft visibility and today it was pretty surgy with 10 ft or so visibility. That said, we had a pretty great dive. We took our time and made our way on the right side of the reef to the end and then followed it back on the other side working our way back and forth. As we made our way into the thick kelp area on the other side of the point, we noticed that the surge was not so bad because of how it was protected by the rock point.

After we got out, we talked to a couple of guys who entered at the point and worked their way back to Cobble Beach. Basically, that said it was a ***** of a trip coming back. It looks like I called it right today….lol

With some creature ID help from Scott, below are some pictures from today.

Sea Cucumber

Cabazon

Diaulula Nobilis

Greenling Up Close

Octo (Big Guy Out In The Open!)

Island Kelp Fish

Sun Star (Up Close)

Yellow Dorid Love

Tree Fish & Brittle Star

Yellow Chin Fringehead

Yellow Chin Fringehead (Close Up)

Odd Rock

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Lee, I'm glad you got in a dive after all. The current was pretty strong yesterday. BTW, the first picture is a sea cucumber.

 

[scottfiji]

BTW, the first picture is a sea cucumber.

nice reports phil, lee. just for the record, I did not id lee's first photo

 

[LLKZ16]

nice reports phil, lee. just for the record, I did not id lee's first photo

Yup Scott is right, the first picture was my goof . It was a pure guess :huh: . I really need to get that book you recommended Scott.

Thanks for the correction Phill.

:monkeydan