The Pasley "HURRY HOME" February '07 Dive Reports
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divekim
Contributor
Location: La Jolla Shores
Time: 06:06pmdescent
Temp: 56
Vis: I'll have to tell you about that
Max Depth: 98 feet
Bottom Time: 50 mins
Buddies: California Diver
So I finally found someone to do another night dive this week, thank you Tyler. We parked in the main lot as V street was full of cars. The surf had picked up a little 1-2 feet with a little textured surface, but it was still extremely manageable getting in and thru the surf. We did have one rogue swell come under us unexpectedly past the surf zone.
We dropped in about 20-25 feet of water and the plan was to explore to the south. Just before we descended we agreed it looked a little mucky and it wasn't much better at the bottom, maybe 5 feet with a lot of stuff in the water, the tide was going out so this could have been the culprit. We hit 40 feet of water 10 feet of vis, 50 feet 15 feet, 60 and deeper and it was as far as your light would shine
Winding our way along the edges and walls we quickly made it to 90ish and stayed there just taking in all the topography. There was a very large school of baitfish that hung out with us for about 10-15 minutes, yes occasionaly running into me. We hit a very sandy area on a slope and what does Tyler find, a baby GSB, at 92 feet. Okay, thats not all, he starts petting it, literally putting his hand out and cupping and stroking the baby GSB, just like a little puppy. Continuing along we stayed at depth for about 15-20 minutes before I ascended a little above Tyler.
Some of these walls had to be at least 20-30 feet high and as we went along I looked at my compass at one point and we were going west, strange the wall was still on my left. The canyon just juts in and out and around and over, like a winding road. We finally hit a nice spot to turn and went to the top of the wall. Following the ledge at the top of the wall I came upon some kelp and immediately noticed, oh my, a Black Dorid. I've never spotted one of these on my own, then shortly thereafter a Mantis Shrimp. Okay, I'm done, doesn't get any better than this. No, I didn't bring Marianne's camera, and if I had, the dive wouldn't have been as good.
As soon as we hit 40 feet it got all mucky again. A nice leisurely swim back in to 6 feet of water. Looked to shore, ooops, we're at the boat launch. No worries, what an awesome dive tonight.
---------------------
Location: La Jolla Vallecitos Point
Time: 06:03amdescent
Temp: 57
Vis: 10 foot shallow 20 at depth
Max Depth: 68 feet
Bottom Time: 68 mins
Buddies: Sean, Divinman and ChickoftheSea
We met on V street and with all in attendance by 5:15am we wasted no time gearing up and heading to the water. Surf is still about 1-2 feet but the surface was glassy this morning. A brisk cold breeze this morning due to no clouds last night. All in all a beautiful morning for diving.
As we started our swim out we did notice a nice southerly current and compensated by heading northwest. Dropped in about 45 feet of water and started on our way, we must have gotten turned around on the descent cause we headed east following the ripples in the sand, a quick correction and west we were quickly coming on the northern edge of where the point used to start. We playing this area a while and I found a colorful Octopus out playing, looked like he was still on the prowl, very dark with lots of Red.
Also saw a couple of beautiful Price's Aeolids. There were Nudi Eggs everywhere. Nearly every clump or strand of grass I came on had eggs on it. I also saw several small OneSpot Fringeheads out in the sand this morning.
We started south to find Vallecitos Point, the mission was again doto's I think. There is a lot of sand between these 2 areas now, but it did not disappoint as I found a couple more Price's and 2 diff Frondosis , no there are no photos because by this time my Light Canon had lost all charge and I was using my backup pen light, camera was stowed away in my pocket. Upon reaching the point Terry and Jen inspected every square milimeter of every kelp frond they could find with Hydroids looking for Doto's. I tooled around going down the crevice just below the point and back up. I did take the camera to try and take a photo of Terry and Jen taking photo's but just backscatter is what I came out with.
More Octopus, baby Rockfish, baby Scorpionfish, baby Ocean Whitefish, Barred Sand Bass, Blue Banded Goby's, all the usual suspects. A couple of baby Giant Kelp Fish, baby Sheephead in different sizes. Kelp Crabs trying to hide and of course Brittle Stars. Jen called for a turn around and we slowly made our way back in. Of course as soon as we hit the sand the vis dropped again but still a reasonable 10 feet. I saw a huge Moon Snail on the swim in and put my hand over it to see and it was much larger than I could fit in my hand.
We hit the nasty southerly current in about 15 feet of water or so and started kicking harder to work against it, stood up in 5 feet of water and the waves had gotten a little bigger maybe 2-3 feet but still very manageable.
I will not be sharing photos yet, they just aren't worthy of being shown here.
-----------------------
Location: La Jolla Vallecitos Point
Time: 06:07amdescent
Temp: 59
Vis: 10 foot shallow 15 at depth
Max Depth: 67 feet
Bottom Time: 69 mins
Buddies: VetDiver, Divinman, and ChickoftheSea
Arriving on V street a little early this morning we were welcomed with no waves, calm surface, no wind, beautiful clear skies, enough said. A few alterations needed to be done while everyone geared up but we still got in the water by about 5:45ish, and we didn't even need the whip.
Descended in 17 feet of water and made our way west, when we got to the edge of the 50 ft structure Terry looks at me and asks which way I pointed north but swam a couple of circles cause I wasn't quite sure where we were until Terry flashed his light at me and started taking pictures at the engine block. Okay, now we both know where we are, need to go south. We make our way south without too much to look at on the way. I did come across a nice size Scorpionfish, very orangeish, sitting below the wall.
We started to come up on the beginning of the point and slowed down, Jen and Allison's lights were visible in the distance, they were obviously going a little slower. Terry began taking photos of Doto's on the kelp while I explored the sides of the walls looking for photo subjects. A really interesting Kelp Crab on the side, he was the exact color of the sand and walls but looked fuzzy against the surface of the structure. Lots of baby Rockfish are out now as well baby Blacksmith, baby Sheephead, and baby Ocean Whitefish. I got a pic of one baby Rockfish but he turned as I snapped. Tons of Goby's even 1 Zebra Goby. I never realized they were so hard to photograph til' today.
I found 2 very large Octopus hiding in one of the old caves under the point, most of the cave is filled in with debris, but I could see them one on each side of the cave looking back at me. There were several other Octopus hiding in holes this morning, but these 2 seemed particularly large to me. I finally figured out how to turn off the flash on the camera and finally got a picture of Terry underwater. Of course you know its him by all the friggin lights shining from his direction.
As we swam south along the point I started to notice tons of Nudi Eggs on the side of the wall and upon closer inspection Doto's everywhere. Not just in this one spot, as we turned east around the point there were more patches of them. They are all over the place. Terry also found a beautiful Stearn's right above one patch of Doto's. Apparently I missed the Frondosis that was amongst them all. I was so focused on the tiny specks of pink and peach I totally missed it.
Jen and Allison had finally caught up with us, guess we had been taking a lot of time with all the Nudi's. We hit our turnaround and started back, came across the cinder block again, it is now standing on end instead of laying down. Not much on the swim back in, a small Turbot, lots of Purple Olive Snails, a couple of Bubble Snails, and the cutest little Ray I've seen so far.
Stood up in 4 feet of water right where we started all with big smiles on our faces. What a way to start the day. Thanks for the dive this morning guys.
to be continued.....
Time: 06:06pmdescent
Temp: 56
Vis: I'll have to tell you about that
Max Depth: 98 feet
Bottom Time: 50 mins
Buddies: California Diver
So I finally found someone to do another night dive this week, thank you Tyler. We parked in the main lot as V street was full of cars. The surf had picked up a little 1-2 feet with a little textured surface, but it was still extremely manageable getting in and thru the surf. We did have one rogue swell come under us unexpectedly past the surf zone.
We dropped in about 20-25 feet of water and the plan was to explore to the south. Just before we descended we agreed it looked a little mucky and it wasn't much better at the bottom, maybe 5 feet with a lot of stuff in the water, the tide was going out so this could have been the culprit. We hit 40 feet of water 10 feet of vis, 50 feet 15 feet, 60 and deeper and it was as far as your light would shine
Winding our way along the edges and walls we quickly made it to 90ish and stayed there just taking in all the topography. There was a very large school of baitfish that hung out with us for about 10-15 minutes, yes occasionaly running into me. We hit a very sandy area on a slope and what does Tyler find, a baby GSB, at 92 feet. Okay, thats not all, he starts petting it, literally putting his hand out and cupping and stroking the baby GSB, just like a little puppy. Continuing along we stayed at depth for about 15-20 minutes before I ascended a little above Tyler.
Some of these walls had to be at least 20-30 feet high and as we went along I looked at my compass at one point and we were going west, strange the wall was still on my left. The canyon just juts in and out and around and over, like a winding road. We finally hit a nice spot to turn and went to the top of the wall. Following the ledge at the top of the wall I came upon some kelp and immediately noticed, oh my, a Black Dorid. I've never spotted one of these on my own, then shortly thereafter a Mantis Shrimp. Okay, I'm done, doesn't get any better than this. No, I didn't bring Marianne's camera, and if I had, the dive wouldn't have been as good.
As soon as we hit 40 feet it got all mucky again. A nice leisurely swim back in to 6 feet of water. Looked to shore, ooops, we're at the boat launch. No worries, what an awesome dive tonight.
---------------------
Location: La Jolla Vallecitos Point
Time: 06:03amdescent
Temp: 57
Vis: 10 foot shallow 20 at depth
Max Depth: 68 feet
Bottom Time: 68 mins
Buddies: Sean, Divinman and ChickoftheSea
We met on V street and with all in attendance by 5:15am we wasted no time gearing up and heading to the water. Surf is still about 1-2 feet but the surface was glassy this morning. A brisk cold breeze this morning due to no clouds last night. All in all a beautiful morning for diving.
As we started our swim out we did notice a nice southerly current and compensated by heading northwest. Dropped in about 45 feet of water and started on our way, we must have gotten turned around on the descent cause we headed east following the ripples in the sand, a quick correction and west we were quickly coming on the northern edge of where the point used to start. We playing this area a while and I found a colorful Octopus out playing, looked like he was still on the prowl, very dark with lots of Red.
Also saw a couple of beautiful Price's Aeolids. There were Nudi Eggs everywhere. Nearly every clump or strand of grass I came on had eggs on it. I also saw several small OneSpot Fringeheads out in the sand this morning.
We started south to find Vallecitos Point, the mission was again doto's I think. There is a lot of sand between these 2 areas now, but it did not disappoint as I found a couple more Price's and 2 diff Frondosis , no there are no photos because by this time my Light Canon had lost all charge and I was using my backup pen light, camera was stowed away in my pocket. Upon reaching the point Terry and Jen inspected every square milimeter of every kelp frond they could find with Hydroids looking for Doto's. I tooled around going down the crevice just below the point and back up. I did take the camera to try and take a photo of Terry and Jen taking photo's but just backscatter is what I came out with.
More Octopus, baby Rockfish, baby Scorpionfish, baby Ocean Whitefish, Barred Sand Bass, Blue Banded Goby's, all the usual suspects. A couple of baby Giant Kelp Fish, baby Sheephead in different sizes. Kelp Crabs trying to hide and of course Brittle Stars. Jen called for a turn around and we slowly made our way back in. Of course as soon as we hit the sand the vis dropped again but still a reasonable 10 feet. I saw a huge Moon Snail on the swim in and put my hand over it to see and it was much larger than I could fit in my hand.
We hit the nasty southerly current in about 15 feet of water or so and started kicking harder to work against it, stood up in 5 feet of water and the waves had gotten a little bigger maybe 2-3 feet but still very manageable.
I will not be sharing photos yet, they just aren't worthy of being shown here.
-----------------------
Location: La Jolla Vallecitos Point
Time: 06:07amdescent
Temp: 59
Vis: 10 foot shallow 15 at depth
Max Depth: 67 feet
Bottom Time: 69 mins
Buddies: VetDiver, Divinman, and ChickoftheSea
Arriving on V street a little early this morning we were welcomed with no waves, calm surface, no wind, beautiful clear skies, enough said. A few alterations needed to be done while everyone geared up but we still got in the water by about 5:45ish, and we didn't even need the whip.
Descended in 17 feet of water and made our way west, when we got to the edge of the 50 ft structure Terry looks at me and asks which way I pointed north but swam a couple of circles cause I wasn't quite sure where we were until Terry flashed his light at me and started taking pictures at the engine block. Okay, now we both know where we are, need to go south. We make our way south without too much to look at on the way. I did come across a nice size Scorpionfish, very orangeish, sitting below the wall.
We started to come up on the beginning of the point and slowed down, Jen and Allison's lights were visible in the distance, they were obviously going a little slower. Terry began taking photos of Doto's on the kelp while I explored the sides of the walls looking for photo subjects. A really interesting Kelp Crab on the side, he was the exact color of the sand and walls but looked fuzzy against the surface of the structure. Lots of baby Rockfish are out now as well baby Blacksmith, baby Sheephead, and baby Ocean Whitefish. I got a pic of one baby Rockfish but he turned as I snapped. Tons of Goby's even 1 Zebra Goby. I never realized they were so hard to photograph til' today.
I found 2 very large Octopus hiding in one of the old caves under the point, most of the cave is filled in with debris, but I could see them one on each side of the cave looking back at me. There were several other Octopus hiding in holes this morning, but these 2 seemed particularly large to me. I finally figured out how to turn off the flash on the camera and finally got a picture of Terry underwater. Of course you know its him by all the friggin lights shining from his direction.
As we swam south along the point I started to notice tons of Nudi Eggs on the side of the wall and upon closer inspection Doto's everywhere. Not just in this one spot, as we turned east around the point there were more patches of them. They are all over the place. Terry also found a beautiful Stearn's right above one patch of Doto's. Apparently I missed the Frondosis that was amongst them all. I was so focused on the tiny specks of pink and peach I totally missed it.
Jen and Allison had finally caught up with us, guess we had been taking a lot of time with all the Nudi's. We hit our turnaround and started back, came across the cinder block again, it is now standing on end instead of laying down. Not much on the swim back in, a small Turbot, lots of Purple Olive Snails, a couple of Bubble Snails, and the cutest little Ray I've seen so far.
Stood up in 4 feet of water right where we started all with big smiles on our faces. What a way to start the day. Thanks for the dive this morning guys.
to be continued.....
divekim
Contributor
Location: La Jolla Vallecitos Point
Time: 06:44 pm descent
Temp: 59
Vis: 10 foot shallow 15 at depth
Max Depth: 71 feet
Bottom Time: 63 mins
Buddies: Jesus
So, its been a few weeks since Jesus got in the water, actually it was the dive where we saw the Turtle. Agreeing to dive again today we headed out to V Street for a night dive. Conditions were the same as this morning, if you didn't catch them you need to read it again.
We descended and headed a bit southwest heading for Vallecitos point. Now right from the beginning something was weird. I kept hearing this thumping sound, I wasn't sure what it was, but I knew it was something big. Shortly after dropping in we saw a Squid . Continuing on we seemed to be staying about 65 feet and not coming on any structure. I headed a little south no change, a little further west and no change. Okay, let head north, keep hearing the thumping the entire time and it actually made me a little nervous in the dark. Still just sand, a couple Scorpionfish, Octopus, Brown Shrimp, and lots of sand. Okay, lets go east. Must have gone east for almost 5 minutes and boom, sand walls. Okay, now we're getting some where. What's at the top of the wall, the engine block I know where I am now.
So we followed the contour east, more Octopus, Rockfish, Scorpionfish, and Shrimp. Still that thumping in the distance, and, what is that, whale calls, hmmmm, maybe the thumping is whales? We turned the wall and Jesus found a patch of Hermissenda's, at least 6 of them scattered about, no the pics did not come out. Continuing we came on the Point and we just looked around taking our time, this was a pretty slow relaxing dive. We made it to the south east end of the point and turned east to head back along the contour.
Jesus find one of those small whiteish shrimp, it has just molted out of its skin, and it was weird, right after the molt came off it just layed there lifeless and then suddenly it jerked and started moving back and forth. Pretty cool actually. Okay so we've seen a Squid and a Shrimp molt. We continued taking in the clay blocks and ledges which Jesus had not seen yet. In about 20 feet of water there he was, yes I took a picture, no it did not turn out but I had to have proof of what I saw.....a Stubby Squid Oh My, no way, a Stubby Squid, he was a little smaller than a quarter, tiny and so friggin cute I can't believe it. Okay, all the sand tonight was totally worth it....but thats not all, in 15 feet of water we were graced with a 2 foot Horn Shark who swam under us a couple times before darting away in the darkness.
This was one awesome dive, a lot of sand, but a lot of firsts I will never forget.
Here is the fuzzy photo of the Stubby Squid, it's a terrible photo but just in case anyone doubts me, I mean this couldn't be anything but a Stubby Squid.
Kim
Time: 06:44 pm descent
Temp: 59
Vis: 10 foot shallow 15 at depth
Max Depth: 71 feet
Bottom Time: 63 mins
Buddies: Jesus
So, its been a few weeks since Jesus got in the water, actually it was the dive where we saw the Turtle. Agreeing to dive again today we headed out to V Street for a night dive. Conditions were the same as this morning, if you didn't catch them you need to read it again.
We descended and headed a bit southwest heading for Vallecitos point. Now right from the beginning something was weird. I kept hearing this thumping sound, I wasn't sure what it was, but I knew it was something big. Shortly after dropping in we saw a Squid . Continuing on we seemed to be staying about 65 feet and not coming on any structure. I headed a little south no change, a little further west and no change. Okay, let head north, keep hearing the thumping the entire time and it actually made me a little nervous in the dark. Still just sand, a couple Scorpionfish, Octopus, Brown Shrimp, and lots of sand. Okay, lets go east. Must have gone east for almost 5 minutes and boom, sand walls. Okay, now we're getting some where. What's at the top of the wall, the engine block I know where I am now.
So we followed the contour east, more Octopus, Rockfish, Scorpionfish, and Shrimp. Still that thumping in the distance, and, what is that, whale calls, hmmmm, maybe the thumping is whales? We turned the wall and Jesus found a patch of Hermissenda's, at least 6 of them scattered about, no the pics did not come out. Continuing we came on the Point and we just looked around taking our time, this was a pretty slow relaxing dive. We made it to the south east end of the point and turned east to head back along the contour.
Jesus find one of those small whiteish shrimp, it has just molted out of its skin, and it was weird, right after the molt came off it just layed there lifeless and then suddenly it jerked and started moving back and forth. Pretty cool actually. Okay so we've seen a Squid and a Shrimp molt. We continued taking in the clay blocks and ledges which Jesus had not seen yet. In about 20 feet of water there he was, yes I took a picture, no it did not turn out but I had to have proof of what I saw.....a Stubby Squid Oh My, no way, a Stubby Squid, he was a little smaller than a quarter, tiny and so friggin cute I can't believe it. Okay, all the sand tonight was totally worth it....but thats not all, in 15 feet of water we were graced with a 2 foot Horn Shark who swam under us a couple times before darting away in the darkness.
This was one awesome dive, a lot of sand, but a lot of firsts I will never forget.
Here is the fuzzy photo of the Stubby Squid, it's a terrible photo but just in case anyone doubts me, I mean this couldn't be anything but a Stubby Squid.
Kim
Location: Vets Redondo
Temp: 57
Vis: 15
Max Depth: 94 feet
Bottom Time: 65 mins
Buddies: Claudette and Tevis
Great dive last night down to the squid eggs. Milo, DIRBum, and Rick along as second team on the dive. Whale in the water nearby-heard it but didn't see it. Sealion, lobsters, one bat ray. Knee-high surf.
Jim
Temp: 57
Vis: 15
Max Depth: 94 feet
Bottom Time: 65 mins
Buddies: Claudette and Tevis
Great dive last night down to the squid eggs. Milo, DIRBum, and Rick along as second team on the dive. Whale in the water nearby-heard it but didn't see it. Sealion, lobsters, one bat ray. Knee-high surf.
Jim
divekim
Contributor
Top Reason Pasley should hurry home: I take better pictures of large objects, I need more models.
Location: Scripps Canyon Sumner Branch
Time: 06:52 pm descent
Temp: 59
Vis: 10-15 at depth
Max Depth: 110 feet
Bottom Time: 51 mins
Buddies: Dan and Cat
Met up with the Scripps group for a night dive and we were greeted by a very nice fog bank coming in. It was so thick it was actually sort of misty getting geared up. The surf was about 1 foot, low tide, glassy conditions and once we got down the cliff to the beach not much fog, we could still see the cliff.
Dropped in and headed to the canyon with Dan in the lead. I had brought Marianne's camera with me and I'm finding that on dives like this where there is so much to see it really detracts from my dive. I haven't mastered the tasking yet and I worry about things like buoyancy and venting, making sure I don't go past my max depth, and keeping an eye on my air.
I did see lots of Nudi's and some really big ones. Spanish Shawls, Trilineata's, Yellow Edged Cadlina's, Yellow Spotted Cadlina's, Porters Chromodorid's, San Diego Dorid's, a big honkin Noble Dorid that had to be the size of a baseball, Limbaughs Cadlina's, and Clown Dorid's. For fish we had our usual suspects, Rosy Rockfish, Vermillion Rockfish, a Calico Rockfish, lots of Blacksmith, the baitfish running into us because of our lights, Scorpionfish, Kelp Bass, Barred Sand Bass, Ocean Whitefish, also Coonstripe Shrimp and Lobster were in abundance. Of course all the sponges in all their colors as well as the Gorgonians. There was one bunch of Golden Gorgonians that really caught my eye, they were on a ledge above us and when you look up and shine your light on them they just glow.
We made it a pretty good distance in the canyon before coming up over the ledge and heading back. Dan stopped us in about 18 feet of water to make sure all deco commitments were clear and that we all had enough air to swim due north before swimming to shore. More Lobster, a Purple Globe Crab, more baitfish, and lots of little crabs in the sand on the swim in. Finally hit a turn point to go east and we all stood up in 5 feet of water. Looked around, where the heck are we? The fog had gotten so thick you couldn't see shore or the cliffs. Finally spotted the glow of lights on the cliff which gave us an idea of what direction to walk to. Of course, then we had to find the path back up the cliff.
All in all a very nice dive and I actually got a couple of nudi shots that might be worthy of sharing.
Location: La Jolla Shores
Time: 06:22 am descent
Temp: 59
Vis: 25-30 at depth
Max Depth: 76 feet
Bottom Time: 71 mins
Buddies: ChickoftheSea
Meeting in the main lot this morning with a plan to hit the North Wall, remember that was the plan. Still just 1 foot surf, no wind due to the fog so glassy calm surface, a little north running current which yes, would mess up the plan.
We kicked out and dropped in about 25 feet of water, knowing we were pretty north we headed southwest to hit the draw. Now, here is where I totally screwed up, I could tell we had reached the draw but not thinking I turned west without realizing til later that it was the norther edge of the draw. Continuing west we hit the 50 foot wall that drops to 60-70 feet and I started heading northwest. Of course after a few minutes I knew we were too far north and most likely in the area they call the dump.
No worries as there are lots of critters in the kelp and grass and detrius completely covering the area. A lot of Red Octopus out this morning hiding in the grass and debris, Sandabs were everywhere. While I was taking a picture of an Octo I noticed that there were suddenly 4 or 5 Sandabs settled right in front of me as well. Also saw quite a few small Giant Kelp Fish, baby Rockfish were plentiful, baby Ocean Whitefish, Sheepcrabs as well. I kept coming across nudi eggs but only saw 1 Armina making his way thru the sand between grass patches. There was a Pipefish and Cusk Eels, Kelp Crabs, and swimming Crabs.
We spent a lot of time looking for critters and finally headed east a bit to hit the wall and follow it south for a bit. Lobsters, a Fringehead in a hole. There was one ledge that had 6 or 7 Coonstripe Shrimp under it which sort of struck me as strange cause I'm not used to seeing them in the same spot here, I immediately thought about Laguna and the fact they are usually with Moray's and took a much closer look, of course no Moray under the ledge. It was about this time I came upon the elusive yet alluring DemersalShark, and I actually managed to get a pretty good picture of it.
Finally hitting a turn around point we started to head southeast, knowing we were already too far north and not wanting to surface amongst the surfers. Of course again that was the plan. There were a lot of Moon Snails and Purple Olive Snails out this morning, Sea Pansies and Sea Pens, its nice to see them coming back in numbers. I missed playing with the Sea Pens. We made it to 7-8 feet and I didn't see any feet dangling so figure we were safe, of course when I went to stand up in 5 feet of water there they were, surfers. Oh well, still a little North of the lifeguard tower but not all the way to the bathrooms. We were greeted with the always cheerful smile of Tyler waiting at the sea wall for us.
The water was a beautifully clear this morning, vis was very nice, and of course once again some of my best dives have been when our plans didn't work out.
Location: Scripps Canyon Sumner Branch
Time: 06:52 pm descent
Temp: 59
Vis: 10-15 at depth
Max Depth: 110 feet
Bottom Time: 51 mins
Buddies: Dan and Cat
Met up with the Scripps group for a night dive and we were greeted by a very nice fog bank coming in. It was so thick it was actually sort of misty getting geared up. The surf was about 1 foot, low tide, glassy conditions and once we got down the cliff to the beach not much fog, we could still see the cliff.
Dropped in and headed to the canyon with Dan in the lead. I had brought Marianne's camera with me and I'm finding that on dives like this where there is so much to see it really detracts from my dive. I haven't mastered the tasking yet and I worry about things like buoyancy and venting, making sure I don't go past my max depth, and keeping an eye on my air.
I did see lots of Nudi's and some really big ones. Spanish Shawls, Trilineata's, Yellow Edged Cadlina's, Yellow Spotted Cadlina's, Porters Chromodorid's, San Diego Dorid's, a big honkin Noble Dorid that had to be the size of a baseball, Limbaughs Cadlina's, and Clown Dorid's. For fish we had our usual suspects, Rosy Rockfish, Vermillion Rockfish, a Calico Rockfish, lots of Blacksmith, the baitfish running into us because of our lights, Scorpionfish, Kelp Bass, Barred Sand Bass, Ocean Whitefish, also Coonstripe Shrimp and Lobster were in abundance. Of course all the sponges in all their colors as well as the Gorgonians. There was one bunch of Golden Gorgonians that really caught my eye, they were on a ledge above us and when you look up and shine your light on them they just glow.
We made it a pretty good distance in the canyon before coming up over the ledge and heading back. Dan stopped us in about 18 feet of water to make sure all deco commitments were clear and that we all had enough air to swim due north before swimming to shore. More Lobster, a Purple Globe Crab, more baitfish, and lots of little crabs in the sand on the swim in. Finally hit a turn point to go east and we all stood up in 5 feet of water. Looked around, where the heck are we? The fog had gotten so thick you couldn't see shore or the cliffs. Finally spotted the glow of lights on the cliff which gave us an idea of what direction to walk to. Of course, then we had to find the path back up the cliff.
All in all a very nice dive and I actually got a couple of nudi shots that might be worthy of sharing.
Location: La Jolla Shores
Time: 06:22 am descent
Temp: 59
Vis: 25-30 at depth
Max Depth: 76 feet
Bottom Time: 71 mins
Buddies: ChickoftheSea
Meeting in the main lot this morning with a plan to hit the North Wall, remember that was the plan. Still just 1 foot surf, no wind due to the fog so glassy calm surface, a little north running current which yes, would mess up the plan.
We kicked out and dropped in about 25 feet of water, knowing we were pretty north we headed southwest to hit the draw. Now, here is where I totally screwed up, I could tell we had reached the draw but not thinking I turned west without realizing til later that it was the norther edge of the draw. Continuing west we hit the 50 foot wall that drops to 60-70 feet and I started heading northwest. Of course after a few minutes I knew we were too far north and most likely in the area they call the dump.
No worries as there are lots of critters in the kelp and grass and detrius completely covering the area. A lot of Red Octopus out this morning hiding in the grass and debris, Sandabs were everywhere. While I was taking a picture of an Octo I noticed that there were suddenly 4 or 5 Sandabs settled right in front of me as well. Also saw quite a few small Giant Kelp Fish, baby Rockfish were plentiful, baby Ocean Whitefish, Sheepcrabs as well. I kept coming across nudi eggs but only saw 1 Armina making his way thru the sand between grass patches. There was a Pipefish and Cusk Eels, Kelp Crabs, and swimming Crabs.
We spent a lot of time looking for critters and finally headed east a bit to hit the wall and follow it south for a bit. Lobsters, a Fringehead in a hole. There was one ledge that had 6 or 7 Coonstripe Shrimp under it which sort of struck me as strange cause I'm not used to seeing them in the same spot here, I immediately thought about Laguna and the fact they are usually with Moray's and took a much closer look, of course no Moray under the ledge. It was about this time I came upon the elusive yet alluring DemersalShark, and I actually managed to get a pretty good picture of it.
Finally hitting a turn around point we started to head southeast, knowing we were already too far north and not wanting to surface amongst the surfers. Of course again that was the plan. There were a lot of Moon Snails and Purple Olive Snails out this morning, Sea Pansies and Sea Pens, its nice to see them coming back in numbers. I missed playing with the Sea Pens. We made it to 7-8 feet and I didn't see any feet dangling so figure we were safe, of course when I went to stand up in 5 feet of water there they were, surfers. Oh well, still a little North of the lifeguard tower but not all the way to the bathrooms. We were greeted with the always cheerful smile of Tyler waiting at the sea wall for us.
The water was a beautifully clear this morning, vis was very nice, and of course once again some of my best dives have been when our plans didn't work out.
Date: 2007-02-07
Location: CDM Breakwater
Time: 20:11 splash
Temp: 58
Vis: 15ish
Max Depth: 16fsw
Bottom Time: 64 mins
Surf: flat
Surge: 1-3 at times, typically calm though
Tide: low, low, and more low
Buddies: Bruce3, Ben and Sonja
Top reason Pasley should hurry home: Iraq sucks, and the diving's been great
Comments:
Fun dive tonight. The ocean was calm as could be, temps were nice, surface conditions were pleasant, and I caught my first ever legal bug. He made a nice birthday dinner for me.
The tide was a little low, but it didn't make a huge difference other than having less vertical area to traverse while hunting.
Large variety of fish in view, tons of too-small lobsters, which should all be of legal size just after season ends. Curses! Saw an octopus, sting rays, thorn rays, and some other organisms that I didn't recognize (various invertebrates doing invertebrate things).
So yeah...fun!
Location: CDM Breakwater
Time: 20:11 splash
Temp: 58
Vis: 15ish
Max Depth: 16fsw
Bottom Time: 64 mins
Surf: flat
Surge: 1-3 at times, typically calm though
Tide: low, low, and more low
Buddies: Bruce3, Ben and Sonja
Top reason Pasley should hurry home: Iraq sucks, and the diving's been great
Comments:
Fun dive tonight. The ocean was calm as could be, temps were nice, surface conditions were pleasant, and I caught my first ever legal bug. He made a nice birthday dinner for me.
The tide was a little low, but it didn't make a huge difference other than having less vertical area to traverse while hunting.
Large variety of fish in view, tons of too-small lobsters, which should all be of legal size just after season ends. Curses! Saw an octopus, sting rays, thorn rays, and some other organisms that I didn't recognize (various invertebrates doing invertebrate things).
So yeah...fun!
No surge, no current, no surf. Vis was 25 ft easy. Nice dive
Fantastic dive this morning. No surge, current or surf! Man it's been a nice winter for a change. :Banane35:
Full Album: http://www.scubapost.net/forums/Scorpionfish/020907/
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1_Cto0IBwM
Hornshark close up
Juvenile octopus
Hermie
Clam art
Blenny
Sheep Crab feeding on parchment worms
View from the bottom of the wall
TINY Black dorids(2)
The required Tube anenome shot
Along the ridge
Armina
Small butterfly ray in the shallows
Fantastic dive this morning. No surge, current or surf! Man it's been a nice winter for a change. :Banane35:
Full Album: http://www.scubapost.net/forums/Scorpionfish/020907/
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1_Cto0IBwM
Hornshark close up
Juvenile octopus
Hermie
Clam art
Blenny
Sheep Crab feeding on parchment worms
View from the bottom of the wall
TINY Black dorids(2)
The required Tube anenome shot
Along the ridge
Armina
Small butterfly ray in the shallows
Roughwaterjohn
Contributor
Well, It was another wonderful Wrinkles day. Blue skies, warm sun, calm seas and plenty of life. If you didn't attend, now would be an appropriate time to kick yourself.
Here's a link to the 2 page album from this event;
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v116/krowsea/Wrinkles Feb 07/
Here are the first set of some of my shots, which I'm hoping to get posted before Terry puts up his great shots.
Here's a link to the 2 page album from this event;
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v116/krowsea/Wrinkles Feb 07/
Here are the first set of some of my shots, which I'm hoping to get posted before Terry puts up his great shots.
Roughwaterjohn
Contributor
Here are a few more, including a couple from the after dive dinner at Gina's (well...at least the shots I can show to the world, some I'm keeping to myself. )
)
LLKZ16
Contributor
Date: 2/9/07
Dive Location: Vets
Buddy(ies): Angelique & John
Time: 9:08 pm.
Bottom Time: 53 min
Max Depth: 80 fsw
Vis: 10-15 feet
Wave height: 1-3 feet
Temp at depth: 57F
Surface Temp: 58F
I met up with Angelique and John around 8:30 pm and the conditions looked pretty good. The waves were small and the wind was calm.
The plan was to enter at the stairs near the pier check out the lush squid egg carpeting and then work our way back to the stairs near the main lot. Entry looked like a piece of cake but for the first time ever, I some how lost a grip on my fin and lost it. After franticly searching the shallows, John comes in from slightly out side of the surf zone with my fin in his hand. I owe him BIG TIME for that great catch.
We all kicked out to the end of the pier and down we went. As we worked our way out, we came across the biggest spider crab I have ever seen. It must have been 3 feet around. We hung around for a bit checking it out until Angelique bumped it and off it went (with Angelique flying in the opposite direction….lol).
There were no squid out tonight but the eggs are still there swaying wonderfully back and forth in the current. On the way out to about 70 feet where the eggs were there seemed to be a ton of Midshipmen hanging about three feet above the sand and as soon as we came up to them they would dart back down to the sand and bury themselves. It was quite comical.
Overall, we had a GREAT dive. There were a TON of critters out tonight.
Below are some highlights from the dive:
HUGE Spider Crab
Midshipman
Brown Shrimp
Target Shrimp
Cusk Eel
Squid Eggs
Tube Anemone
Rough Back Sculpin
Cusk Eel In Eggs
Tube Anemone In Eggs
Octo
Pipefish
Feather Duster Worm
Round Stingray
Thorn Back Ray
Dive Location: Vets
Buddy(ies): Angelique & John
Time: 9:08 pm.
Bottom Time: 53 min
Max Depth: 80 fsw
Vis: 10-15 feet
Wave height: 1-3 feet
Temp at depth: 57F
Surface Temp: 58F
I met up with Angelique and John around 8:30 pm and the conditions looked pretty good. The waves were small and the wind was calm.
The plan was to enter at the stairs near the pier check out the lush squid egg carpeting and then work our way back to the stairs near the main lot. Entry looked like a piece of cake but for the first time ever, I some how lost a grip on my fin and lost it. After franticly searching the shallows, John comes in from slightly out side of the surf zone with my fin in his hand. I owe him BIG TIME for that great catch.
We all kicked out to the end of the pier and down we went. As we worked our way out, we came across the biggest spider crab I have ever seen. It must have been 3 feet around. We hung around for a bit checking it out until Angelique bumped it and off it went (with Angelique flying in the opposite direction….lol).
There were no squid out tonight but the eggs are still there swaying wonderfully back and forth in the current. On the way out to about 70 feet where the eggs were there seemed to be a ton of Midshipmen hanging about three feet above the sand and as soon as we came up to them they would dart back down to the sand and bury themselves. It was quite comical.
Overall, we had a GREAT dive. There were a TON of critters out tonight.
Below are some highlights from the dive:
HUGE Spider Crab
Midshipman
Brown Shrimp
Target Shrimp
Cusk Eel
Squid Eggs
Tube Anemone
Rough Back Sculpin
Cusk Eel In Eggs
Tube Anemone In Eggs
Octo
Pipefish
Feather Duster Worm
Round Stingray
Thorn Back Ray
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