What do you do when the water's chock full of jellies? (Report)

[Gombessa]

You wait for the cleaning crew to show up!

Matt set up a recreational charter aboard the Escapade on Sunday, August 2. The plan was to head south, far south towards Big Sur. On our way down we even had an escort pod of Risso's Dolphins, a big one.

First dive was at Soberanes Point. As we got in the water, it seems every spineless jerk (inverts, of course) had the same idea. The water was a stew of tunicates, salp and jellies, and by the time we got to depth, it was a night dive (awesome!!). Ian laid a line by the anchor so we followed him to wherever - there's some great structure here and the wall gets deep, fast.

During the surface interval, we watched a pod of humpback whales who had also discovered the nutrient-rich area were gorging themselves. I thought that would clean up the viz, but Clinton brought up the point of net output. Yuck.

Dive 2 was at Flintstones, with moderate current. Same stew of plankton, and lots of egg yolk jellies. I've never been here before and I'd love to come back with better viz. The wall/pinnacle is covered with corynactis and little crabs that raise their claws in defiance if you get too close.

More humpbacks after dive 2, with some of them coming up right next to the boat. We even saw a juvie full-on breach, twice! Captain Jim has a couple of perfect shots of the moment (below).

​

Larger version of the movie here.

Whale pics.
Matt's report.
Clinton's pics.

 

[Ben_ca]

Great report...


Posted via Mobile Device

 

[Peter_C]

Wait our vis on the North Coast was better? That never happens.

Sounds like an awesome encounter with the marine life I have never been that close to a whale.

 

[Gombessa]

Wait our vis on the North Coast was better? That never happens.

Sounds like an awesome encounter with the marine life I have never been that close to a whale.

I read about that Albion campout and I'm floored. Great vis in the North Coast makes for some incredible diving! What's next, 200ft in PNW?

I was on a whale watching tour in Monterey maybe 5-6 years ago. It was fun, but we never got closer than 100 yards or so from a whale - just a fluke in the distance, maybe a spray of mist. Sunday on the other hand was jaw-dropping. We literally got sprayed when the humpbacks surfaced to blow, and my god do they have some foul, rancid breath! And you can't escape it too, cause it's everywhere. Just gotta tough it out until the wind carries it away.

 

[Anti-Hero]

Nice report, Kenn!

 

[deeper thoughts]

Thnx for sharing

 

[mikeguerrero]

We literally got sprayed when the humpbacks surfaced to blow, and my god do they have some foul, rancid breath! And you can't escape it too, cause it's everywhere. Just gotta tough it out until the wind carries it away. [/QUOTE]

Ken,

Can you be more explicit on the smell? Would you say a mixture of fish smell with ocean water? Can you compare it to the smell of the sealions at Break Water next to the bathrooms?

I was there last month when they were all over crowding the rest rooms and they built fences to keep them from crossing onto the cement.

They were urinating and pooing all over one another and then sleeping on top of the mixture and then barking at one another, the smell was to die for, just horrible smell that I don't want to remember.

Is the whale breath that bad or worse?

Thanks,

MG

p.s
nice video of the whales...

 

[micboucher]

Great report and video Kenn! I heard that about their breath from someone else last weekend too. I've never been that close to experience that...not sure if that's good or bad though.

 

[Gombessa]

They were urinating and pooing all over one another and then sleeping on top of the mixture and then barking at one another, the smell was to die for, just horrible smell that I don't want to remember.

:shocked2: Wow Mike, the mental image that conjured was...unsavory!

I'd have to say the whales probably smelled better. Whale breath seems to be more of a sulfurous, rotten-egg smell rather than a "clogged latrine" affair. It's unpleasant for sure, but bearable. And it wafts away after several seconds, so the evanescence of the experience probably makes it more tolerable than some smelly object sitting there barking at you while continually radiating stink.

Next time I'm at BW, I think I'll hook up the p-valve a bit earlier than otherwise

 

[mikeguerrero]

Next time I'm at BW, I think I'll hook up the p-valve a bit earlier than otherwise [/QUOTE]

Thanks for clarifying the smell and I now have a better understanding what you went through on your boat trip...

You made me fall out of my seat with that quote...