- Messages
- 94,499
- Reaction score
- 93,640
- Location
- On the Fun Side of Trump's Wall
- # of dives
- 2500 - 4999
Last night I hooked up with OE2X for a dive at Cove 2. We ran into a couple of friends (Chris & Kricket) and decided to head down to the dolphins at about 100 fsw to check for octopus (usually a good place to find them). OE2X had some issues with his light, so we told the two of them to go ahead down and we'd meet them at the dolphins ... which we did.
As we started down the dolphins, the two of us stopped to check out an octopus that was obviously in its last stages of life (very gray), while the two of them continued to the deeper end. Suddenly they were flashing to get our attention. Heading down, Kricket looked at me and signaled the number "3", and pointed down with her light. Looking where she pointed, there were three large octopus laying outside the pilings. Upon closer inspection I concluded that this was a social gathering that only two of them were going to be happy with, so the four of us hovered around for a while (at about 105 fsw) to see what would happen. Eventually the largest of the three (maybe 9-10 feet tip-to-tip) started making his way down to the very end of the piling. OE2X and I followed him down and watched him slither inside. Heading back up to the other two, we watched as they embraced and started mating. After a few minutes, Chris & Kricket signaled they were heading back up (they had much less gas than the two of us), and a minute or so later we decided to head cross-cove toward the I-beams.
On the way across, I found another octopus (small one) poking his head out of a hole in the bottom. We watched him watching us for a minute or so and proceeded to the rock pile where we hoped to find the resident wolf eel. OE2X had found an urchin along the way and was hoping to offer her dinner. We found her, and she was most appreciative of the urchin ... in fact, the speed she moved coming out of the den led me to believe she was downright hungry.
Moving along we did a tour of the I-beams. The plumose anemones are out in full bloom again, sometimes so thick it's hard to see if there are any critters hiding around their stems. Making our way back upslope we got to the jackstraw pilings at about 60 fsw. Along the way, our favorite little pinniped (Junior) made an appearance, buzzing us and creating little silt tornadoes in his wake. At the pilings I found a tiny decorated warbonnet curled up among some scallops. Junior's mom joined the party at that point and we had the pair of seals buzzing around us for a while.
We headed over to the Honey Bear, and lost the seals at the pilings that stick up about 10 feet off the bottom just below the wreckage. Again, the growth of plumose over the past couple of weeks is nothing short of amazing. I pointed out the large mosshead warbonnet in the pipe to OE2X and we did the circuit of the wreckage and headed back toward the cove.
After an extended safety stop (8 minutes or so) we headed in ... 65 minutes at an average depth of 60 fsw ... and feeling really appreciative to have such an eventful dive. I've done well over 300 dives in this cove, and somehow never get tired of the place. This dive was even better than most ...
.... Bob (Grateful Diver)
As we started down the dolphins, the two of us stopped to check out an octopus that was obviously in its last stages of life (very gray), while the two of them continued to the deeper end. Suddenly they were flashing to get our attention. Heading down, Kricket looked at me and signaled the number "3", and pointed down with her light. Looking where she pointed, there were three large octopus laying outside the pilings. Upon closer inspection I concluded that this was a social gathering that only two of them were going to be happy with, so the four of us hovered around for a while (at about 105 fsw) to see what would happen. Eventually the largest of the three (maybe 9-10 feet tip-to-tip) started making his way down to the very end of the piling. OE2X and I followed him down and watched him slither inside. Heading back up to the other two, we watched as they embraced and started mating. After a few minutes, Chris & Kricket signaled they were heading back up (they had much less gas than the two of us), and a minute or so later we decided to head cross-cove toward the I-beams.
On the way across, I found another octopus (small one) poking his head out of a hole in the bottom. We watched him watching us for a minute or so and proceeded to the rock pile where we hoped to find the resident wolf eel. OE2X had found an urchin along the way and was hoping to offer her dinner. We found her, and she was most appreciative of the urchin ... in fact, the speed she moved coming out of the den led me to believe she was downright hungry.
Moving along we did a tour of the I-beams. The plumose anemones are out in full bloom again, sometimes so thick it's hard to see if there are any critters hiding around their stems. Making our way back upslope we got to the jackstraw pilings at about 60 fsw. Along the way, our favorite little pinniped (Junior) made an appearance, buzzing us and creating little silt tornadoes in his wake. At the pilings I found a tiny decorated warbonnet curled up among some scallops. Junior's mom joined the party at that point and we had the pair of seals buzzing around us for a while.
We headed over to the Honey Bear, and lost the seals at the pilings that stick up about 10 feet off the bottom just below the wreckage. Again, the growth of plumose over the past couple of weeks is nothing short of amazing. I pointed out the large mosshead warbonnet in the pipe to OE2X and we did the circuit of the wreckage and headed back toward the cove.
After an extended safety stop (8 minutes or so) we headed in ... 65 minutes at an average depth of 60 fsw ... and feeling really appreciative to have such an eventful dive. I've done well over 300 dives in this cove, and somehow never get tired of the place. This dive was even better than most ...
.... Bob (Grateful Diver)
