Two dives off the Escapade on Saturday; we were crossing our fingers that conditions would be better than the last weekend, and that a few days of calm after the first storm blew over would be enough to clear things up.
Dive 1: Ballbuster. This was the first time I've been out there, and there was quite a bit of particulate matter in the water, along with a mass of pretty friggin' large sea nettles to dodge. I didn't really get a good sense of the site, except to note that there were plenty of metridium out, and the usual rockfish/lingcod suspects about. I can't wait to head back in better viz.
Dive 2: Anchors 2 & 3: Another first for me. We were told that there isn't much out there other than the anchors, so each group kicked out a bit to find and explore the various shale beds surrounding the site. I loved seeing the orthogonal cut of the shale slabs, and noting that the corynactis only grew along the vertical faces of the shale. The anchors themselves were impressively large, with a mass of steel cable along with giant chain links. They were also home to some copper and vermillion rockfish of impressive size.
Dive 1: Ballbuster. This was the first time I've been out there, and there was quite a bit of particulate matter in the water, along with a mass of pretty friggin' large sea nettles to dodge. I didn't really get a good sense of the site, except to note that there were plenty of metridium out, and the usual rockfish/lingcod suspects about. I can't wait to head back in better viz.
Dive 2: Anchors 2 & 3: Another first for me. We were told that there isn't much out there other than the anchors, so each group kicked out a bit to find and explore the various shale beds surrounding the site. I loved seeing the orthogonal cut of the shale slabs, and noting that the corynactis only grew along the vertical faces of the shale. The anchors themselves were impressively large, with a mass of steel cable along with giant chain links. They were also home to some copper and vermillion rockfish of impressive size.
