The Pasley May 06 Dive Report Thread

[scottfiji]

hey ken, another Dendronotus Iris was simming around vets! A really pretty one.. hope you saw some good stuff in La Jolla!!! the dive at vets last night was nice, but vis wasn't too good. - scott

Dendronotus Iris

Rare Pastel-lavander Scorpionfish

Scott

more photos from last night:
http://www.scubapost.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1921

 

[Mo2vation]

Date: 5/18/06
Dive Location: La Jolla Shores
Buddy(ies): HBDiveDiva, Terry (local guide)
Time: 8:20 PM
Bottom Time: 68 Minutes
Max Depth: 98fsw (51 average)
Vis: Below 50, easily 15 - 20 feet.
Wave height: Going in - 2 to 3' rising... coming out, mellow
Temp at depth: 52
Surface Temp: Whatever, I'm in a drysuit
Tide information: High 5.6 at 8:43 PM
Gas mix: Air
Comments:

HBwhatareyouthinkinggirl called me earlier in the week and extended an invite to drive from my comfy home near LAX to La Jolla Shores for a night dive on a school night.

So I weigh the options:

Pros: Chance to dive with local guru (Terry) in a place I really want to learn better
Cons: Sleep?

Duh.

So I pick up HBsleepdreprivationgurl at about 4:45 and we hit the road. We roll into LJS at about 7:25 PM, get settled, visit a bit, gear up and head in.

The surf closer to the pier was raging and curling full on North Shore action. Where we were going in it looked a lot better. We get in, and we kick out about 100 meters past the buoy.

At the buoy Terry shares the plan: Drop and head past a pile of Ray bones, then fade into the canyon to about 110, shooting on the way, turn back and make a slow return to the shore. HBdryglove and I were in 130s with phat D&S fills, TS had his Baby Doubles (72's) so we all had about the same gas.

We drop and start out. The topography and life zone reminded me of Vets. At Vets there is this life zone (the trash line, detritus line... whatever) that sits on the lip of the drop off. It marks the end of sand and the beginning of, well, more sand. Its about 10 - 25 feet wide.

In JLS, this same line is HUGE. Like zillion of yards wide. It just goes on and on. Same critters, same grass and kelp shards ("salad") but because the sand is more hard packed, and the pier further away - everything isn't all "dusty" like Vets from the silt, and there is virtually no trash. If you're local, picture a wider, cleaner, slower sloping Vets, and you'll get the idea. I could spend 90 minutes in the 45 - 60 range here, just snapping off Nudis, octos, fringehead, flatfish, etc.

But the plan was to move on. So we did. We took quite a few shots in this zone, so Terry modified the plan and only took us to about 98, then turned up for the slow return trip. Some notable memories of the dive:

* It was weird diving with a photographer. I usually AM the photographer. None of my regular buddies shoot. So it was interesting to keep an eye on Terry while he was shooting. It was mellow. We had an ambitious amount of ground to cover, so we were moving faster than I usually like, but it was all good. We all stook together and it just worked. Good three-person team.

* Terry's got mad game. Excellent guide, cool hang. Of the thousands and thousands of square meters of diving space we went over and could have gone over, I can't believe dude rolled us RIGHT OVER the small pile of Ray bones in the grass he told us about on the surface 35 minutes prior. I mean, what up Mr. GPS??? Unreal nav. The boy does know his canyon.

* I never cramp, and I got the MOTHER of all Calf cramps last night. ^&$%#%$. Its still killing me this morning. I was diving with one leg for a good part of the first half of the dive trying to stretch this thing back into shape... Silt all over, diving in circles... OY! I was a complete clown down there.

* I'm totally smitten with the place. I can't wait to come back. Great dive. Wacky to have significant surge at 65 feet. Good viz, lots to see. I loved it.

* When I called my wife and told her I was visiting with my first drysuit (Terry bought my beloved 50/50) and that he hotrodded the thing with a pee valve, new seals, etc. she asked if my current suit had valve envy. That was pretty dang funny.

I'm a mental patient to drive 5.5 hours for a 68 minute dive on a school night. Claudette is a nutbar for conceiving this roadie - but I'm so glad I went. Next time I'll come down on a Friday and just crash there. But I will be back very very soon.

Terry, you rock!

---
Ken


Bigazz Nudi

Polly Laying Eggs?

Peeking Octo

Itty Bitty Red Tipped Dorids

La Jolla Variety Dendy

Maculatasaurus

Fuzzball Nudi in the grass

Lil' Octo

 

[divinman]

* It was weird diving with a photographer. I usually AM the photographer. None of my regular buddies shoot. So it was interesting to keep an eye on Terry while he was shooting. It was mellow. We had an ambitious amount of ground to cover, so we were moving faster than I usually like, but it was all good.

Funny you mention this. I am usually the photographer and my buddies are usually swimming laps and looking bored so when not diving with Tony, I usually speed up a bit to keep things lively for the non-photogs. Next time I will just hover over the same 5ft as usual and watch, as like those stereographic posters, the detritus becomes a swirling bio mass of subjects to capure in 1's and 0's.

Terry

 

[drbill]

Actually, Ken, your BigAzz nudibranch appears to be a California sea slug (Pleurobranchaea californica). I got some great footage of one feeding last weekend. If you've ever seen their proboscis, you'll know what I mean. Andrea loved it.

 

[divinman]

Actually, Ken, your BigAzz nudibranch appears to be a California sea slug (Pleurobranchaea californica). I got some great footage of one feeding last weekend. If you've ever seen their proboscis, you'll know what I mean. Andrea loved it.

You mean like THIS Doc???

 

[drbill]

Yep, you got it Terry!

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Date: May 20, 2006
Dive Location: Marineland
Buddy(ies): Ted and James? I'm so bad with names.
Time: 10:11
Bottom Time: 1:11
Max Depth: 64'
Vis: 0-10'
Wave height: So-so to LOUD!
Temp at depth: 56F
Comments: The gate at Marineland was locked with a new combination today. A couple dozen frustrated divers met at the top of the parking lot trying to figure a legal and not too destructive way in. We finally reverted to cavemen and moved a boulder out of the way so we could drive around it. After looking at the vis from the surface and the occasional set of waves, most divers left for Malaga Cove. The three of us that went in had a nice dive. The vis was down to ten feet on the point, but it was good enough to see where we were going and to find Ted's Pinnacle.
There was a lot of mating and egg laying going on today. I didn't get many pictures, but I did witness at least ten different nudibranch species laying eggs. I came across a large Lingcod who didn't seem to mind me being above him.
As I neared the cove I could hear breaking surf and the vis went to zero. I swam in a little, but the surge pushed me into an urchin-covered rock. I ripped a large hole in my drysuit pocket. Fortunately I have everything inside clipped off so nothing was lost. I was also lucky to have a pocket there. I would have ripped my drysuit instead. I surfaced on the outer half of the cove and walked out unscathed. Today was Ted's first dive back after breaking some fingers at Marineland several weeks ago. He also walked out.
Monterey dorids doing the nasty

Sea Lemons decided to go at it as well

Rainbow nudi looking for food or a good place to lay eggs

 

[scottfiji]

Wave height: So-so to LOUD!

wow, see phil - I *knew* the waves would be big today with a direct south swell! anyways, glad you had a good dive. nice photo of the monterey dorid, those are not too common. I'll be diving in la jolla tonight & tomorrow. hey, what is ted's pinnacle? and why does ted own it? lol

scott

 

[wetrat]

Date: May 20, 2006
Dive Location: La Jolla Shores - North Wall X2
Buddy(ies): Mark99, Colby the rat pup on dive #1
Time: 7:10/10:15 am
Bottom Time: 41/60 min
Max Depth: 81/85 fsw
Vis: 15 ft
Wave height: 1-2, occasional 3 ft
Temp at depth: Aeris 58/59F (Sizzlin' hot! )

Rousted Colby the rat pup at 5:30 am to hit La Jolla Shores in search of the wolf eel Sean showed me last week (thanks Sean!!). Colby looks like a zombie with Don King morning hair. In the car he says, "I made an unwise decision to go teepee my band teacher's house last night." Indeed. So we arrive at 6:25 am, Mark arrives five minutes later, we wake Colby up, gear up, and wade in. As we get ready to descend, Mark notices my near-new Light Canon has water in it. Crap!!! I usually carry a backup but not today of course, so after borrowing Mark's we drop down just beyond the red lifeguard bouy. Vis was better than expected, a consistent 15 on both dives. We headed west until we hit the rim of the canyon, then turned northwest to a depth of 75 ft. We swam along the 75 ft contour, checking out the life here and there, and hit the wall. Among the fish we saw were Sheephead, a Rosy Rockfish, Blackeye Gobys and Catalina Gobys. Then, we saw him - the WOLF EEL!!! :11: Yessssssss!!!! Goal obtained!!! I wasn't even sure if I could find the North Wall again, much less a wolf eel with gnarly twisted teeth!! Awesome. Colby was diving an aluminum 80, so at his turn pressure, we ascended above the wall past a Spanish Shawl and across the sand. We poked our heads out right in front of the lifeguard tower in about ten feet of water. Sweet!!!!

Colby was hemming and hawing about whether to do a second dive or not when some girls his age (13-14) came along and started sunbathing, in their bikinis, on the beach right in front of our car. He immediately decided to "take a nap" in the car. And so, Mark and I waded in without him. The second dive was fantastic too, as we decided to focus on finding nudibranchs. That yielded some beautiful specimens, including a Hermissenda, a Navanax and unbelievably, a Dendronotus iris. Heh, heh, am I the luckiest rat alive or WHAT?? We had a bit more trouble finding the wall, but did finally, and poked around a bit. Nothing really new to see, but that was just fine. The wolf eel was probably way back inside his condo taking a nap. At four minutes 'til deco, we headed back up across the sand. On the way in, we saw a tiny octopus hunkered into a hole in the mud, and we hovered over a mini sand-dollar bed. We also saw a very interesting fish that I think was a Southern Spearnose Poacher, but don't quote me because I still pretty much suck at critter ID!! Thanks for the dive Mark and Colby - it was another fantastic morning to be alive!!!

 

[MaxBottomtime]

wow, see phil - I *knew* the waves would be big today with a direct south swell! anyways, glad you had a good dive. nice photo of the monterey dorid, those are not too common. I'll be diving in la jolla tonight & tomorrow. hey, what is ted's pinnacle? and why does ted own it? lol

scott

It was actually pretty flat, so we entered off the point. The surf came up during our 1:11 dive, but Ted and I still managed to walk out easily. We could hear the waves from 100 feet off the beach. Don said a large set came through while we were down. We're planning to be back there tomorrow since Don has the new combination.
Ted's Pinnacle is a nice wall similar to the one on the Southeast corner of the main reef. It's basically straight off the point in 58 feet. He set a Pelican float on it a few years ago. The pin and part of the rope is still there.