The Pasley "HURRY HOME" March '07 Dive Reports

[Roughwaterjohn]

La Jolla Shores, Saturday 03-10-07

Info: Secret Garden

Warm day with hazy skies
Surf 2’ -3’ with very short intervals
1.5’ tide on a 0.3 knot flood
Sea surface temperature was 59 degrees
Temperature at max depth was 51 degrees
Medium surge at all depths, slightly more significant in the shallows
Visibility averaged 15’at depth, 5’ or less in the shallows
Max depth 110’
Total bottom time 49 minutes

Photos:

Here is a link to the photos from this dive

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v116/krowsea/LJS 03-10-07/



Report:

I decided to do a dive safari today, as I was unsure where I wanted to dive or what conditions would allow. Sleeping in and refusing to set my alarm found me at the Cove around 9:30AM. Checking with a couple of exiting divers, it seemed conditions were surgy and 10’ of visibility at best. Since those weren’t premium conditions for a Cove dive, I decided to pass.



Back in my truck, and off to the Marine Room I went. The seas were relatively calm, but since it was a very low tide, it didn’t look like conditions for the shallow Reefs south of the restaurant would be much fun either. Feeling a little like Goldilocks, I got back in my truck and headed for the Shores. Pulling into the lot, I could see a surf competition was in full swing, two or three girl’s soccer teams were practicing on the grass, a video crew was filming some type of commercial in the lot and 500-600 divers were lounging on the grass in various states of preparedness or relaxation. Well Goldilocks, your third and final bed is quite full, but we’re all friends here and I’m fairly open minded, so I decided to climb on in. I found the last parking spot in the last row and claimed it as mine.



I took my time gearing up as I had no obligations and nowhere to be after this. I eventually found myself leaving the large expanse of sand for the cool pacific waters. I entered in front of the lifeguard tower, figuring I would head to the Secret Garden today. What the waves lacked in stature, they made up for in sheer relentless consistency. Once past waist deep water, I found myself taking a breath to duck below an incoming wave. Surfacing on the backside, I looked up and thought, “look, another big wave”, which I also ducked below. Another quick surface, another big wave, surface, big wave, surface, big wave, surface, big wave…..well, you get the idea.



Perseverance and long legs eventually found me with both fins on and continuing my westward march. On my back and kicking hard, I felt more like a Coast Guard cutter plowing through heavy seas, as my head broke the waves before they crashed over me heading towards shore. Persistence once again came to my rescue, as I eventually found myself in calm water behind the surf line. I lined up with the Lifeguard tower and the end of the pier, figuring I’d be in 35’-40’ of water. 16’ later, with the bottom only inches below me, I headed west.



Most of the squid eggs are missing from the sand flats, victims of the surge or predators I’m not sure. I saw a very nice Hermit Crab in an elaborate shell, but I must have looked like a Leviathan from the deep, as he wanted nothing to do with me, backing up so fast he actually fell over backwards before scuttling away. Well, knowing when I’m not wanted, I declined to pursue. Visibility at this point had been a sketchy 5’-8’, but seemed to open up to a decent 15’ as I dropped down into the canyon.



The draw was pretty barren, but as I hit 100’ and the flats below the gardens loomed before me, I could see where all the squid eggs had gone. Here was the vast carpet I remembered from previous dives. I wandered aimlessly through the Gardens for awhile, finding the same Hemphill Crab on the same red Gorgonian as my last dive. There were what seemed to be hundreds of baby Rockfish littering the water column with their juvenile antics. I tried photographing a few, but the surge at depth and their psychotic flitting around proved too much for my meager skills.



Gobies of several varieties watched me warily, while Dorids and nudibranchs with Latin names much longer than they scuttled along the bottom. A few crabby denizens postured and tried to start fights, but I declined. With my computer showing my NDL leaving the safety of green bars for the scandalous yellow ones, and with red bars only minutes away from rearing their ugly heads, I decided to head upslope, denying them the chance to control my depths and durations.



A few Turbots and Stingrays passed below, but in the continuing surge and dropping visibility I left them to their own devices. At 40’ visibility had dropped to 5’ or so and the surge continued its slight creep up in intensity. By 20’, with visibility dropping below 1’-2’, I decided to clip off my camera while I could still see to do it. My shoreward trek found me in Stevie Wonder mode, smiling and enjoying myself, but not really sure where I was or what my surroundings looked like.



A big-dialed compass, strong leg kicks and an unwavering ability to move forward while immersed in fog, something I perfected in the 60’s if memory serves correctly, eventually found me in 4’ of water. Facing the waves I knew would come, I stood up and smiled with that warm glow of satisfaction that comes from correctly seeing the future, right before I grabbed a breath and ducked below a big wave. Perseverance once again held me in good stead, as I gained the shore with only minimal ducking and swayings as I took off my fins and headed shallower. Overall, I’d say it was a pretty good dive, mainly because I was diving as opposed to doing something else, but still it was quite enjoyable. With a line of cars flashing their turn signals at me and passengers asking me if I was leaving, I quickly changed, and left.

 

[divekim]

Date: Friday 03/09/07
Location: La Jolla Shores
Time: 6:25am descent
Temp: 54 toasty degrees
Vis: 5-10
Max Depth: 65 feet
Bottom Time: 71 mins
Buddies: Divinman and ChickoftheSea

So we met in the main lot for a change of scenery this morning with a plan to find the North Wall. The surf has picked up a bit, when we got in it was 2-3 feet and waves were one right after the other, when we got out the set waves that brought me to shore were 4-5 feet. There was a lot of surge this morning even at depth, and the vis was pretty poor just about everywhere.

As we descended I noticed Jen's inflator hose floating behind her and she was hitting her drysuit inflator button to no avail. Dropped my light and started to attach it for her. It wasn't until we hit the bottom that I could get the bugger to actually connect all the way and put some air in her suit, ooops, my ears needed to be cleared and I could use some air as well. You should have seen the marks on my shoulders from the DS squeeze, dark red and purple lines on both shoulders.

Making sure everyone was in attendance and all was okay we started West toward the North Wall. Have I ever used the phrase, the best laid plans? Well this turned out to be one of those incredible sand dives. Not because we couldn't find the North Wall but because we got detoured by all the Dirona Picta Nudi's we kept finding in the sand. I mean whats the point of going to the North Wall when you find, Picta's, Hermissendas, and Frondosis in the sand....lots of people complain about the sand dives at LJS, they just aren't looking hard enough.

After finding the first couple Picta's we just kept scanning the grass/debris clumps in the sand looking for more. And there were at least half a dozen seen. One of the Pictas actually came off the grass and started slithering across the sand right at me. The Hermissenda's were everywhere as well, I came across several who were pulled from their footing by the surge and started floating back and forth over the sand. Lots of critters to see in the sand, Poacher, Baby Scorpionfish, Sculpin, tons of Octopus both Red and 2 Spot in different sizes and stages of entertainment. The above mentioned nudi's, Squid Eggs, Ocean Whitefish, Baby Rockfish, Sandabs and a Sea Lion that kept buzzing by every couple of minutes.

On our way back we hit the sand walls running from the North Wall to Vallecitos and tons of Lobster, Blennies, Fringeheads, more Octopus, Rockfish, and the engine block sitting at the edge of the wall is now completely inhabited by Lobster, at least for today. Shortly after heading east in I spotted a little teeny tiny Stubby Squid, I kept trying to show him to Jen, I was shining my light on him but she thought I was pointing in the sand, she finally saw his ink as he squirted away not to be seen again. Moon Snails, Crabs, a Halibut, and a few more Hermissendas on the swim in.

When we surfaced in 5 feet of water I looked toward the surf and exclaimed something, Jen looked and we both ducked, big ole set wave. I put my reg back in and held my mask and basically got pushed to shore by the next couple of waves.

A beautiful dive, I love sand dives, if you don't like them you're not Doing It Right.

 

[divekim]

Top Reason Pasley should hurry home: So I can show you all the Nudi's....
Date: 03/10/2007
Location: Off Pt Loma somewhere on a boat
Time: 09:35am descent
Temp: 55 toasty degrees
Vis: 10 at depth pea soup in the first 40 feet or so
Max Depth: 90 feet
Bottom Time: 53 mins
Buddy: Divinman

Location: Off Pt Loma Somewhere on a boat
Time: 11:56am descent
Temp: 55 toasty degrees
Vis: 10 at depth pea soup in the first 40 feet or so
Max Depth: 60 feet
Bottom Time: 55 mins
Buddy: Divinman

So I had invited myself onto Byl's boat, well actually I had hounded Scott about going out on his boat but there were really taking Byl's boat so you know. I knew Terry would be there as well and told him he was stuck with me as a buddy. What a beautiful day on the water with a great group of guys. Randy, Denny, Scott, Byl, and Terry, were all in attendance on board as we headed out on mostly glassy conditions with small swells and little wind.

The first sight had pretty bad vis when we jumped in, the water is very soupy like, a lot like the shores right now in the shallows. I actually had to follow Terry's bubbles down cause I couldn't see him. Once we got to the bottom it opened to about 10 feet, not a crisp clear 10 feet but you get the idea. Right away Terry found several varieties of nudi's all in about a 6 inch area. I went to pull my camera out of my pocket and it felt very heavy. It was filled with water. How did that happen as I turned it to see the O ring sticking out one side, WOW, operator error on that one. I laughed so hard I almost flooded my mask as I held it up for Terry to see when he looked my way startled by the loud laughter.

Well, this just means I get to hunt for nudi's and move around more to stay warm Nudi's we found, 13 diff ones on this dive alone. Spanish Shawls, Herminssendas, Trilineatas, Festivas, Yellow Edged Cadlinas, Yellow Spotted Cadlinas, Limbaughs Cadlinas, Porostomes, San Diego Dorid, Acantadoris Lutea, Clown Dorids, 1 very cute swaying in the surge would not stay still Polycera Tricolor, and 3 Aegires

So after all that and the multitudes of diff varieties of Perch, Bass, Sheephead, Rockfish, Senoritas, Sargo, and such we were headed back when this big Lingcod swim out and around the rock we are at, it swims along the backside and thru a swimthrough and settles next to a little ledge. I had just looked under this ledge and saw this mass of something very grayish or off whiteish under it, not sure what it was. I moved away as Terry poised himself to take pics of the Ling, and settle down a little bit away and realized it was eggs. The Lingcod was guarding eggs. Terry calls me over to look and I asked, are those eggs, yep, took some more photos before making our way back.

For the second dive we had moved the boat a bit North and to a little shallower water, the vis wasn't any better really, but thats okay cause we saw our 14th Nudi species for the day, a Porters Chromodorid, and Terry found some Coffee Bean's. In additons there were a lot of Snubnose Sculpins at this sight, Garibaldi, Lobster, Hermit Crabs, the Anenomes are some incredible browns, reds, purples and oranges in color, and there were all these proliferating Anenomes on the Kelp during our ascent.

It was a great day on the water. Towards the afternoon the wind had picked up a little so the surface was a little textured but what an awesome day to be out diving off Pt Loma. Thanks for letting me tag along guys. I can't wait to do this again.

Kim

 

[divekim]

Top Reason Pasley should hurry home: finding new critters you never imagined you'd see
Date: 03/12/2007
Location: LJS V Street
Time: 06:00am drop time
Temp: 54
Vis: 10 maybe some 15 at depth 5 in the shallows
Max Depth: 91 feet
Bottom Time: 62 mins
Buddy: Divinman

Sometimes you plan a dive even though you just know the conditions are gonna suck, either surf or bad vis. But, it's Monday and that means a dawn patrol to start of the work week right. Sometimes you get pleasant surprises. 1-2 ft surf, glassy conditions, only a light breeze, clear skies with tons of stars for the swim out. Was probably one of the easiest entries at the shores as the surf zone ended where we put our fins on.

We dropped in 35ish feet of water and started West. Right off the bat Terry spots a teeny Squid, not sure if Stubby variety or not, but it couldn't have been but the size of an eraser on a pencil. Lots of small baskets of Squid Eggs. A couple of Hermissendas were in the sand as well as the cutest, maybe the size of a half dollar, CO Sole, little blue spots, very nice. Continuing on our way Terry is taking a photo of something, might have been a live squid when I see this thing all curled up next to a basket of eggs. OH MY it is a Hagfish. Never saw one before and there he was right out in the open. I quickly got Terry's attention and as he came over it uncoiled and started to move around. We followed it for what seemed an eternity. I mean, if you've never seen one and it starts to give you a show.....Followed it down into a large crevice in the sand walls, it was working its way along the under ledge, going thru holes, almost getting stuck in holes. A neighborhood Stingray decided to join us as well, flying back and forth between and under us and over and around the Hagfish.

Moving on, Terry then finds what I think is a Gooseberry Jelly, red flashing stripes around the edges, I find another tiny little Squid just like the first one. There is a carpet of Squid Eggs that seemed to go on forever, it ran down this draw on the Western edge of Vallecitos Point and was very thick. Hadn't seen one this large thus far. Stingrays, Shrimp, Crabs, Octopus, and other critters were all hiding in the eggs making very nice photo subjects, oh yeah, no camera for me. I did take my housing though and can report it is fine Terry comes on this Brown Shrimp he was looking in Terry's face then turns around and wraps his antennae along the sides of his body and proceeds to bury himself in the sand, spreading his tail to get the sand to cover it until only his eyes are sticking out. Very Cool to watch. A flat worm swimming in the water column, more Hermissendas really tiny ones, Tube Anenomes, baby Scorpionfish, baby Rockfish, big Rockfish, all in attendance.

We turned to return and swam over Vallecitos Point to find several Kelp Crabs hanging on Kelp, Terry found a Pipefish all curled up in some grass on top of a stubby Kelp strand. The vis had turned for the worse as we hit the 50foot mark again, got very cloudy. Coming across the sand on the swim in we saw not 1 or 2 but 4 or 5 different Sea Mice, each time we stopped to watch them they would move an inch or two and start burying themselves in the sand a bit. I had no idea they did this, even more astounding was finding two then actually finding more, how often do you see Sea Mice let alone more than one. A playful Sea Lion caught up with us in about 30 feet and stayed with us to about 8 feet. She would buzz right in front of us, almost getting her body right under me once or twice. At one point she stopped just to my right, settled on the bottom with her fins in the sand and propped up just sat there and we stared at each other for a minute. Then she was off again buzzing us every minute or so.

This was a great dive, definitely did not suck as was anticipated. As we rinsed off gear in the showers Dolphins right were we had surfaced and exited the water. Swimming in circles, possibly catching breakfast, too cool. What a way to start the week.

 

[alaity47]

Date: 03/10/2007
Location: San Pedro Oil Rigs - Eureka, Ellie/Ellen
Time: 8am and 10am
Temp: 55
Vis: 5' at surface, 10' a little lower, 20' deep
Max Depth: 50', 80'
Bottom Time: about :30 both dives
Boat: Sea Bass

First, I have to say: BLECH.

We talked our good friends the Zaleskis into joining us on the oil rigs, where we've usually had really fabulous conditions. One time in summer we saw rather crummy vis, but still in the 20' range.

Boy did I feel bad for them when we all dropped down into pea soup and a wailing current. I was really glad I'd left my drysuit at home, and my camera on the boat - even all streamlined in my wetsuit, I had to work hard to stay in one place.

It was basically a night dive - even if you went deep enough for slightly better vis, it was super dark from all the gunk in the water up top. We got a nice look at all the scallops and anemones on the struts, and caught a glimpse of a blurry sea lion on the second dive, but otherwise - nothin'.

On the bright side, it was a gorgeous day up top, and the sea lions were out and putting on a show. Half the boat sat out dive #3, so while the divers were in the water Captain Richard drove us up close to the rigs to get better photos/videos of the structures and the resident pinnipeds.

The other upside was that the nasty current was pushing us TOWARDS the boat (to the north, where the dive boat is allowed), and there was no wind, so getting back on the boat was actually easier than usual.

All told, we had a lovely day, in spite of some seriously ugly diving. Thanks to the crew of the Sea Bass for even making a bad dive day fun!

 

[Mo2vation]

Date: Friday 3/9 - Sunday 3/11
Dive Location: Avalon (Dive Park & Valiant)
Buddy(ies): HBDG, with several other SoCal's dropping in
Time: 3 glorious days, twoi crazy nights!
Bottom Time: Hours and hours... 10 dives
Max Depth: 99
Vis: from excellent to mearly very good D)
Wave height: Stair entry... please.
Temp at depth: 55 below 50 FSW, 57 above
Surface Temp: whatever - dry suit
Tide information: WOTAD (weird one-tide-a-day) weekend
Gas mix: Pirelli, Yokohama & Goodyear
Top reason Pasley should hurry home: The Nudis are back in Avalon!

~~~~~~~~~~

Every quarter, Chica and I pack up the dubs and head to Catalina for three days of close proxmity, high intensity practice. This learning by emersion is the best way I learn - doing 3 to 4 dives a day in close succession gives me the chance to immediately correct mistakes and address problems, then go back in and verify the correction, and do it right.

I love this stuff. And we couldn't have picked a nicer weekend for it. Just beautiful.


DAY 1
We arrive on Friday morning, and get to the dive park. We have the place essentially to ourselves. We make a dive to the Sue Jac, and we're stunned to find four species of Nudis on it. I mean, a Fed Ex, sure... but three others??!! Nice. Its cool enough for them to come rolling in. Later in the day on our subsequent dives we found several more Nudis in the park, including a full on Janolus outbreak! On the Swim Platform we found more Janolus and Trilineata. What's going on here?? Three dives, then out for a nice dinner at the Country Club with some of our SoCal homies. Post dinner we rolled to the Galleon to meet up with several others that rolled in Friday night, but me and Chica didn't stay - we know the best dive of the weekend is always the early AM Sat dive!


DAY 2
We roll into the park and are first in the water - around 7:00 ish. Back to the SueJac, and we're greeted this time by SIX species of Nudi's. SIX ON THE JAC. A first for me, and I've dived that tub a zillion times. Chica found an impossibly small Hopkin's Rose (about the size of a pencil eraser) hitching a ride on a Cuke! A baby Trilineata, Limbaughs, Fed Ex, etc... amazing. Horn Shark egg, Swell Shark eggs all over the place, swell sharks, eels, octos, etc. Great dive. Next the Valiant for more Nudis and Octo fun. Off to the Kismet and more Janolus, back to the platform for more Janolus and other fun stuff... Four great dives, back to the Country Club for dinner with Josh and Jen.


DAY 3
Swim Platform - Chica found this Coffee Bean Cowrey. How, I'll never know. She brought it over, and it slowly opened its mantel to cover the beautiful shell. I snapped a bunch of macros of this wacky master of disguise (we lost him when we turned out back on him for about 4 minutes...) Next, back to the Valiant - this time we spent more time off the wreck on the sand. So much life on the Starboard Sand... amazing. Zillions of Limbaughs just crawling around everywhere. Mexichromis on the port side, octos, etc. Fun dive. Final dive was leading a group to the Sue Jac, through the eel and Shark zone. Josh & Jen provided directions to yet another Hopkins they found on the 'Jac... I located and shot it. 2 Hopkins in the park in two days. Wow.



Excellent weekend. I was getting so comfortable in the dubs and enjoying the dives so much that we never broke out the deco bottles to practice... Oh, we schlepped them, but never dug the out!!! Fun is good.

Great to see you all again. Here are some pics. Full Macro gallery from this weekend is located here. I brought all 4 lenses and ports - but with all the Nudi action I never broke out the wide angles!


Enjoy.

---
Ken


Shark Baby! We found several of these Swell Shark eggs in the park this weekend. A few of them had baby sharks wiggling around!

Speaking of babies - Lots of baby Nudis this weekend. Here's a Baby Janolus we found on the swim platform.

And a baby Trilineata on the swim platform (check another fuzzy baby Janolus in the frame!)

And a couple of shots of a baby Hopkins hitching on a Cuke

Sue Jac TriMiniAta - what's with all the mini-nudi's this weekend??

Full size Janolus found as Chica and I negotiated. "Ken, come look at this Octo." "Chica, come look at this Janolus." For the record, Janolus beats Octo.

The Josh & Jen spotted Hopkins on the 'Jac. Thanks for the perfect directions, guys!

Abalone we came across on the way back from the Valiant. Their edge always reminds me of the tux I wore to my Sr Prom in the 70's.

Mexichromis family from the Valiant probably not enjoying my bubbles

In Good Hands - Limbaughs and eggs from the Starboard sand on the Valiant

On the Starboard sand, the Nudis sort of walk on stilts. Its so cool. They're not ON the sand, but kind of OVER the sand, going from wacky stilt to stilt - twisting and turning as they hand off from one to another. Here is a Mexi and a Rush Nudi making their way along the stilt bed.

Chica's Coffee Bean - this thing was amazing!

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As always, if you get the red X of death, right click it and select "show Pictures" and the pic should show up. If not, hit f5 and reload the page.
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[ChickOfTheSea]

Awesome pics Ken! So glad you guys found the Rose on the Jac! He was super cute Huge rhinos and all

Jen

 

[divekim]

Top Reason Pasley should hurry home: being surrounded by green biolumenescnt creatures is just too cool not to share with friends

Date: 03/14/2007
Location: LJS North Wall
Time: 06:49pm drop time
Temp: 53 at depth, but there appears to be a thermacline again at 30ish where its 57
Vis: 10-15 when your lights are on
Max Depth: 84 feet
Bottom Time: 68 mins
Buddies: ChickoftheSea, Divinman, and California Diver in spirit

Decided on a much needed night dive, its been awhile, though it seemed like night Monday morning, we met in the main lot at the shores at 6pm. I had thought my buddies were diving doubles for Jen to get more practice in them and of course because Tyler only dives doubles, get there and plans had changed, no doubles and apparently Tyler couldn't make it. The surf was maybe 1-2ft and very mushy. In fact some of the surfers were practicing diving off their surfboards due to the lack of surfable waves. Not much current on the surface and it was pretty glassy, but there was a definite westerly current at depth.

We dropped in 50feet of water thanks to Terry's handy dandy fathometer and grouping at the bottom started our way West. Some scattered Squid Egg baskets littered the peninsula and there were white and brown Shrimp out playing. Crabs scirmished away as our lights hit them and I saw a couple of Hermissendas on the random debris patches in the sand. We were on the peninsula for 5-10 minutes and I kept looking to my left, south, and could tell it started to drop off with an inviting deep abyss just calling beyond there. So after about 10 minutes of swimming out over sand I got antsy and asked Terry and Jen to turn South motioning that the drop for the wall was just beyond.

Dropping over the edge of the wall I noticed a lot of Rockfish and Sheephead who hadn't settled in for the night they darted away from our lights. Turned to follow the wall South, we had dropped right at the Red Gorgonian that sits on the wall, it looked to me like it had Zooanthid Anenomes on it now. It was nice to see all the Brittle Stars and Coonstripe Shrimp out in numbers. The fish all positioning for the best resting spots for the night. Blacksmith nudging out Rockfish and Sheephead nudging out the Blacksmith. Lobster's trying to back up into the same crevices as the fish and being pushed back out. You only get to see this when you start your dive at dusk and it has just gotten dark for the night. I saw a lot of nudi eggs on the wall but no nudi's.

As we worked our way west Terry was taking a pic of something, I saw this big sort of eelish looking thing, sort of like a Cusk Eel but bigger. Turns out it was a very large Ronquil, it was curled up next to a rock at the bottom of the wall, I was trying to get Terry's attn to show him when here he comes with his camera flashing away and an even bigger Ronquil that he was taking pics of. So much for showing him something new and of course his was bigger than mine. There was a very nice Sheep Crab sitting on the wall, had several muscles attached to him which I found strange. I never did test to see if he was alive or not. Kept moving down the wall when a few minutes later Jen gets my attention, she is back at the crab, but wait, she makes our univeral sign for Eel, she found a little Moray Eel in a hole just below the Sheep Crab that we had gone by but did not see the Eel below. Now that is just too cool to find on the North Wall. Finally getting Terry's attention to get the proof on film he was also surprised to see one here.

Having hit a really conservative turn around I motioned to head back trying to turn a little early due to the aformentioned westerly current, it was gonna take longer to get back than usual. We made our way back up the wall and meandered up the slope to get on the peninsula for our trek to shore when we caught a set of eyes in our lights, Terry starts flashing his light and illuminating a beautiful at least 5 foot Angel Shark. It wasn't entirely covered in sand and it was definitely large. You could see his spots pretty clearly where there wasn't any sand. We actually spent a long time here taking in the beauty and of course the photos and video that had to be taken. There was also a couple of Squid swimming around but its an Angel Shark you guys. Finally realizing we had spent too much time we continued on, several Thornback Rays on the swim, Baitfish torpedoed us, a practice of Lobster grabbing skills was performed, and the usual Crabs and Stingrays were seen.

In about 25 feet of water you could really start to see the biolumenesnce coming off of us as we swam and knowing there was only one thing left to top off this great dive we all turned off our lights and navigated by compass alone and watched all the green flashing particles we created as we swam in. How cool to watch your buddies swimming surrounded by a green glow. It's weird how after a few minutes it starts to play tricks with your vision. I think I bumped into Terry a couple of times. It got a little hard to read my SPG after awhile but totally friggin cool.

Thanks for the dive last night, sorry you didn't get to practice doubles Jen and your camera, but hey what an awesome dive.

 

[divinman]

are in anticipation on Kims pending report

The best part about morning conference calls is you can edit pictures while you do it.

Album: http://www.scubapost.net/forums/Scorpionfish/031607/

 

[divekim]

Date: 03/16/2007
Location: LJS V Street
Time: 05:58am drop time
Temp: 54
Vis: 10 maybe some 15 at depth 5 in the shallows
Max Depth: 104 feet
Bottom Time: 60 mins
Buddies: Vetdiver, ChickoftheSea, Divinman

Meeting a little earlier this morning we found about the same conditions as earlier in the week, small surf, light breeze, very dark, no surge, little south running current on the surface.

We kicked out and dropped in 71 feet of water and worked our way along the South Walls this morning. Big Squid Egg Carpet at the bottom and running down slope to 104 feet, I never did make it to the end of the carpet to see how big it was cause again Terry kept finding things of more interest.

There were dozens of Hermissenda's out. Nearly every one of them was near eggs and moving along thru the sand. A couple were battling with Crabs and or Sandabs. I swear I saw one rear back and nip a Sandab on the tail to get it to move. Many Octopi out this morning as well as a couple of Squid. Terry found a beautiful Janolus sitting in some detrius on the slope, then he turns around a few minutes later and finds a Black Dorid making its way up the slope, then another Janolus. Quite the eye this morning Terry had.

As the photographers were busy taking photo's of nudi's I explored the large detrius patch that was running along the Squid Egg carpet. Beautiful baby Kelp Fish, baby Scorpionfish, baby Rockfish. Actually a lot of the baby Rockfish are starting to school. You'll find groups of them together where before you would see one, then another, then another....Lots of Red Octopus hiding in the Squid Eggs, Perch, a couple of little Lobster were in the detrius patch. Lots of big Lobster at the top of the walls hiding under the clay ledges. I did practice a few skills by capturing Lobster. One was at the top of the slope stiring up this crazy big cloud of clay and didn't see me coming.

Finally hitting a turn around point we made our way back up the wall and the slope to head in. This is where I made sure I vented all my air because today was the first day without my Gaiters since I got them. Wanted to see if I had finally gotten the feet thing down enough to not use them. I'm happy to report I did great, no floaty feet on the swim in. A couple of Brown Shrimp buried in the sand on the swim in, all you can see are their little red eyes sticking out. Bubble snails and an abundance of Purple Olive Snails having a good ole time with each other. They seemed to be everywhere this morning. Stingrays and Sandabs were also plentiful on the swim in.

Surfaced in 4 feet of water in front of the lifeguard tower, we went a little too far North trying to compensate for how far South we had gone. No worries, can't get in a surfers way if there is no surf for them to ride.

Great dive this morning guys, great finds on the nudi's Terry.