Whales, dolphins and sandstorms

[MaxBottomtime]

After replacing a throttle cable on the boat, Merry and I made a trial run today. The weather couldn't have been better. The visibility under water could have been. We experienced surge and blowing sand at White Point Rock. The visibility was less that eight feet, so I spent most of the afternoon deleting pictures. I did manage to get shots of a few rockfish and some zooanthids.
Water was 53F.

Starry rockfish, Sebastes constellatus

Gopher rockfish, Sebastes carnatus

Juvenile Blue rockfish, Sebastes mystinus

Zooanthids have taken over this gorgonian

Topside was much more fun. We had pods of common and Risso's dolphins off Portuguese Bend, then to end the day on a high note, a Gray whale with a newborn calf snorkelled around Pt. Vicente.

Risso's dolphins

Gray whale and calf

[youtubehq]yWa6F_KCC7g[/youtubehq]

 

[FrankPro1]

I've never seen a Starry Rockfish. They almost look like a Rosy but with more spots. Do we normally have them? Or are they starting to spread south like the Blues? What a treat seeing the mama and calf. Very cool that you caught the tail slapping Risso on video. Glad to see you've got the No Pressure back up and running.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

That was only the second Starry rockfish I've seen. It looks pregnant, so maybe there will be more at WPR. The other one was at Hawthorne Reef about ten years ago.
At the beginning of the video (Merry shot it) there is a Risso's in the left side of the screen jumping completely out of the water twice plus one doing a handstand, holding his fluke out of the water for several seconds. The fin-slapping was the coolest part. It seemed to go on forever.
As we approached Pt. Vicente we saw a whale watch boat so we decided to hang for awhile. I was surprised when the calf surfaced about twenty feet in front of us.
One of the rigging hoses that was repaired popped off. While I was on the swimstep trying to fix it a boat went by, making a huge wake. My shoes got soaked and my screwdriver went to the bottom. If my temporary fix doesn't hold I'll have to call the mechanic back out.

 

[FrankPro1]

Risso's in the left side of the screen jumping completely out of the water twice

Awesome! I didn't even notice that.

 

[DwayneJ]

Pretty much identical experiences as yours... Surge at depth and limited vis but Rissos and Grey whales on the surface.

 

[drbill]

I've seen a few starry rockfish but at significant depth.

Is there a reference to the blue rockfish moving south? Is it in respond to our cooler temperatures this year, or a longer term trend? Seems to contradict the general direction of water temperatures and global climate change. Interesting.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

We've been seeing a lot of juveniles around the south side of Palos Verdes for the past year. There is a school of adults at Buchanan's Reef off Marineland, but I haven't seen any other adults south of Anacapa Island.

 

[HBDiveGirl]

Love the sound of all that breathing! Thanks for the lovely video, Phil and Merry!

~~~~
Claudette

 

[Rainer]

Jenth saw some (juveniles) on the Olympic a few weekends ago. She might have some footage even (that she didn't post).

We've been seeing a lot of juveniles around the south side of Palos Verdes for the past year. There is a school of adults at Buchanan's Reef off Marineland, but I haven't seen any other adults south of Anacapa Island.

 

[Tessunderwater]

These are amazing pictures! What part of CA was this shot? I have family in the San Diego area and on my next trip out, I hope to get some diving in. I've heard good things about Casino Point.