Where did you solo dive today?

[DaleC]

Unfortunately Sas I do not own a camera so I would have to draw you pictures which could take some time as I use MS Paint

The sad part is it's true.

My personal preference for awhile now has been a sunflower star I collected about 2 years ago. I have learned a lot about seastar behavior by watching it. (I'll try to edit in a pic). It is part of an ongoing experiment I am conducting to see which species of local cold water fauna adapt to home aquarium conditions. In about ten years I'll be ready to post some results!

(fish nerd hangs his head)

Probably Sea dragons do get poached by private collectors occasionally but if anyone ever caught whiff of someone having them in their tanks around here there would be hell to pay. They are pretty well designated for public aquariums only by special permit. I would be interested to know if the laws are more lax down there if they are that prevelant.

 

[Sas]

Unfortunately Sas I do not own a camera so I would have to draw you pictures which could take some time as I use MS Paint

The sad part is it's true.

Yea that was why I got a camera, was too hard to describe the things I've seen! Most people have no idea what is out there in the bay, also I am a bit obsessed with IDing the things I've seen. A friend I met on SB gave me a housing and I got a second hand camera off ebay for about 50USD at the time Best investment yet for diving!!! Though really keen to upgrade soon..

My personal preference for awhile now has been a sunflower star I collected about 2 years ago. I have learned a lot about seastar behavior by watching it. (I'll try to edit in a pic). It is part of an ongoing experiment I am conducting to see which species of local cold water fauna adapt to home aquarium conditions. In about ten years I'll be ready to post some results!

Ahh interesting. Is it something like this? Edit: Just saw your pic then

What is the scientific name? Have you had much luck so far with your experiments?

Probably Sea dragons do get poached by private collectors occasionally but if anyone ever caught whiff of someone having them in their tanks around here there would be hell to pay. They are pretty well designated for public aquariums only by special permit. I would be interested to know if the laws are more lax down there if they are that prevelant.

Yes I imagine some are taken. Friends have had critters taken that they have shown visitors so some people don't like to show others the usual habitats of certain marine life. The laws on illegal fishing are quite strict here. If you are busted they can fine you a LOT, take your boat, your gear and even your house (for repeated offenses). That is mostly to combat illegal ab fishing though, not sure if there have been people busted with weedies. I know people who've had permits to collect some for scientific reasons but that is about it!

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Wonderful pictures Sas!

I'm again suffering from serious "sea horse envy" (and Octopus and Cuttlefish and Sea Dragon envy)

Best wishes.

 

[shoredivr]

Up in Tobermory, Ontario this weekend, did a sidemount check out dive with some changes to the sidemount tank rigging for drysuit diving. (The bolt snaps need to be larger since I'm diving with drygloves, for example. We're experiencing a little cold snap here, and on Saturday night the air temperature went down below freezing: minus 4 degrees C. The water was much warmer than the air.

76 ft, 48 degrees F, 31 min at the Lighthouse.

43 ft, 48 degrees F, 37 min at the Tugs shipwrecks.

While I was hanging out at the Tugs, enjoying a dusk dive, I saw my very first Long Nose Gar, just hanging there and checking me out. Very cool, about 18 inches long. I don't have a camera, but here are other people's pictures of the same species of fish.

eNature: FieldGuides: Species Detail


Scroll down to the seventh photo for the gar fish pic.
Ontario Diving

 

[Stoo]

43 ft, 48 degrees F, 37 min at the Tugs shipwrecks

Doood... You were practically right in front of my house! We could have gone solo diving together!

 

[shoredivr]

Doood... You were practically right in front of my house! We could have gone solo diving together!

Yeah, had lunch at Craigie's on Sunday (last day they were open this season) with Larry and Lynn of Diver's Den, they said you had a house along there.

I'll be up again in mid-November, we could try for a solo dive together then....

 

[mikemill]

So on Halloween I decided to head out to our bunny slopes and do some soloing. After a bit of a panic the night before when my pony reg was leaking and then free flowing I got my gear all squared away.

My main goal was to get more comfort in my drysuit, working on my trim, and working on my frog kick. If I felt good after the first dive I was gonna take my camera out as I hadn't done that since getting the drysuit.

Had two wonderful dives that actually were shallower then I had planned. Originally I was planning for 50ft but both dives ended up maxing at 40ft with averages around 25-30ft.

It was so nice being able to move at my own pace and just sit there and go "if I move like this then the suit does this" or "if I keep my eyes looking ahead while kicking it goes smoother".

I did learn I need to pay more attention to my navigation. Both dives I intended to go north but ended up going more west due to going around kelp and rocks. Got to see fields of tube anemones that I hadn't seen before. Luckily I was able to fix the navigation error on my way back in and returned to close (a hundred yards or so) of where I wanted to surface.

I ended up taking the camera out on the second dive and started playing/experimenting with various strobe positions. I just took the UTD Essentials class earlier in the month so I got to play with my back kick and helicopter turns a lot and boy were they helpful. BTW is it wrong to wear the UTD beanie between solo dives?

Also learned how hard it is to reel an SMB while maintaining your ascent rate without a wrist mount gauge. Luckily that got taken care of this weekend

In case anyone cares:
Dive 1: 8:35 AM, 62 minutes, 39 ft max, 24 ft avg, water temp 52F
Dive 2: 11:44 AM, 61 minutes, 41 ft max, 29 ft avg, water temp 52F

 

[FishDiver]

Wonderful pictures Sas!

I'm again suffering from serious "sea horse envy" (and Octopus and Cuttlefish and Sea Dragon envy)

Best wishes.

Quantas-

Couple of days in Sydney will fix ya right up.

 

[shoredivr]

I'm down in Phoenix and got a dive in at Lake Pleasant, 66 degrees F, 35 ft max depth, 41 mins.

Saw a big fish, maybe a striped bass. The viz was 25 ft, nice dusk dive with a spectacular sunset.

 

[286571455]

Lake Cumberland in south central Kentucky yesterday temp was 59 viz was abought 5'!