Previous 25| Dive # 275 | Date: June 28, 1998. | Location: Kelvin Grove |
| Purpose: | Access: shore | Weather: sunny |
| Water Temp: 51 F | Visibility: 40' | PSI Used: 1200 psi air |
| Max depth: 72 feet | Time: 45 minutes | Total Hours: 148:13 |
| Comments: Quiet dive, relaxed. Dove south wall - almost had a run in with a jellyfish as I swam over - looked up just in time to see a stinger in front of my nose. No luck finding octopus in the cracks, although there were lots of old dens. Watched a seastar turn itself ove - this one was amazingly quick! Found three grunt sculpins - one was bigger than any I've ever seen. Schools of small silvery fish swarmed around us as we headed back into the shallows - thought maybe they were being chased by one of the four seals we'd seen on the surface, but never saw a seal. And lots and lots of moon jellyfish - reminded me almost of snow there were so many of them! | ||
| Dive # 274 | Date: June 28, 1998. | Location: Kelvin Grove |
| Purpose: | Access: shore | Weather: sunny |
| Water Temp: 51 F | Visibility: 40' | PSI Used: 1200 psi air |
| Max depth: 120 feet | Time: 40 minutes | Total Hours: 147:28 |
| Comments: Went down to see the octopus. He was quite *wiggly* to see us, coming right up the the edge of his den and getting very *big* while checking us out. Kept extending tentacles in what appeared to be an invitation to go visit. Had to leave somewhat reluctantly due to low no-deco time. Found a large gunnel on the way back up, and all kinds of dead crabs (and lots of live ones too!). Lots of perch, shallower. | ||
| Dive # 273 | Date: June 28, 1998. | Location: Kelvin Grove |
| Purpose: | Access: shore | Weather: sunny |
| Water Temp: 51 F | Visibility: 40' | PSI Used: 900 psi air |
| Max depth: 67 feet | Time: 28 minutes | Total Hours: 146:48 |
| Comments: Nice relaxed dive. A grunt in a sponge, seal swam overhead. Couple of bigger lings and the usual assortment of smaller ones. Kelp and painted greenlings, gobies, ronquils, and rockfish. An Irish Lord in a crack. Flounders | ||
| Dive # 272 | Date: June 27, 1998. | Location: Kelvin Grove |
| Purpose: | Access: shore | Weather: sunny |
| Water Temp: 51 F | Visibility: 40' | PSI Used: 500 psi air |
| Max depth: 40 feet | Time: 28 minutes | Total Hours: 146:20 |
| Comments: Stayed shallower, saw the Irish Lord again, and a couple of lings and greenlings. Back to the shallower reef, watched the perch cleaning off the mussels and chasing each other away from their territory. And then chased crabs. :-) | ||
| Dive # 271 | Date: June 27, 1998. | Location: Kelvin Grove |
| Purpose: | Access: shore | Weather: sunny |
| Water Temp: 51 F | Visibility: 40' | PSI Used: 2000 psi air |
| Max depth: 131 feet | Time: 65 minutes | Total Hours: 145:52 |
| Comments: Dropped down to see octopus, then swam along wall. All kinds of stuff - a big ling, both brotulas, quillback and canary rockfish. A tiger rockfish, surprisingly enough. Couple of kelp greenlings chasing each other. Decorator crabs. A tiny Puget Sound King crab - barely half the size of my palm! Snakelock anemones, sea pens, chimney and cloud sponges, white plumose anemones, dahlia anemones. Painted greenlings. A crescent gunnel and a great sculpin. A red Irish lord. Lots of small sculpins and shrimps. In the shallower reefs, schools of perch and all kinds of big fat balckeyed gobies, as well as a few ronquils and rockfish. And the crabs, scurrying madly to get away. | ||
| Dive # 270 | Date: June 25, 1998. | Location: Kelvin Grove |
| Purpose: night | Access: shore | Weather: clear |
| Water Temp: 51 F | Visibility: 30' | PSI Used: 1100 psi air |
| Max depth: 97 feet | Time: 35 minutes | Total Hours: 144:47 |
| Comments: Started off with the intent of going to see if Mr. Octo was in the mood for a repeat performance - and was he ever! Dropped down to his crack, and he'd gone a way up in the back - but started wiggling as soon as we arrived with out lights. Both brotulas, a small ling, and a couple of rockfish shared the crack with him. I started banging and scraping my light to entice him out, and he responded better than I ever could have imagined! Turned and gave us an excellent view of his head and eye... then reached a couple of tentacles out as if to entice US into his den! Finally came to the edge of the crack - then turned so he was heading out mouth first - and was his underside ever white! Pulled himself out of the crack and raised up as if to survey who was looking at him - never seen three of us backpedal quite as quick as when we saw just how big he was - I would estimate 14' across! Kept reaching for my light as I continued to scrape the rocks, but I was staying well away, not wanting to get into a tug-o-war! Eventually got bored of us and went back in, and continued to perform. He pulled himself up to the top of the crack and gave us an excellent view of him breathing, as well as his horns and eyes. Eventually settled back down, which was when we left him. Rest of dive was great - sailfins, buffalo sculpin, snailfish, grunts, rockfish, small lings, and all kinds of crabs and perch. And someone was kind enough at that point to bring up that an octo can crush with close to a ton of force - good thing I wasn't aware of that - or how big he was - when he was plastered across my mask!! :-) | ||
| Dive # 269 | Date: June 25, 1998. | Location: Kelvin Grove |
| Purpose: night | Access: shore | Weather: clear |
| Water Temp: 51 f | Visibility: 30' | PSI Used: 1200 psi air |
| Max depth: 118 feet | Time: 30 mnutes | Total Hours: 144:12 |
| Comments: Big red jellyfish as we
started off - loooong tentacles everywhere, but we all
successfully avoided them. Swam down along wall, and
suddenly found I was having problems seeing - due to a
large tentacle plastered across my mask! I think Mike
must have swam over top of this octopus and the octo must
have been reaching for him and caught me.. Let go almost
immediately, and I slammed on the brakes to say hello. He
was sitting across a rock, just outside his den, just
glaring at me. Reached out to touch him, and he suctioned
on to me with so much strength I jumped - which spooked
him and sent him crawling back into his den, where he
continued to glare at us. In the same small area, there
were also the two red brotulas, a sailfin sculpin, a
grunt sculpin, a huge lingcod, and an Irish Lord. Wanna
talk sensory overload? My excitement levels were waaay
up... Carried on until someone got narked and hugged the
wall (claims he was checking out something orange
|
||
| Dive # 268 | Date: June 23, 1998. | Location: Ansell Point |
| Purpose: | Access: shore | Weather: clear |
| Water Temp: 51 F | Visibility: 30' | PSI Used: 1600 psi air |
| Max depth: 97 feet | Time: 43 minutes | Total Hours: 143:42 |
| Comments: Hadn't dove Ansell in a while, seemed like a good night. Got in, descended, swam north, with the *goal* being to say hello to the wolf-eel. Couple of kelp greenlings and smaller lings, lots of pink snakelock anemones and sea peaches. And a decorated warbonnet, just sitting in the sand. Swimming along at 80-odd feet, and saw a pair of faces staring at me - went to investigate, and found the mated pair of wolf-eels. She ducked in behind him, but he watched warily. Wouldn't come out to be fed, but he didn't retreat either, so I guess we're making progress! Started back up to find the other eel, saw a number of small gunnels and rockfish, and a couple of anemones. Found the lone male at 56 feet, and we was QUITE happy to come out and say hello - a little more backed-off than usual, but I think we woke him up. And he's getting huge - he must be 7 or 8 feet long. Continued on southward towards out exit point, and Carlos and I almost met a nasty red jellyfish (thanks again, Sean!). Lots of seastars, gobies, ronquils, quillbacks in the shallows. And another finstrap, complete with buckles for my spares kit.. :-) | ||
| Dive # 267 | Date: June 21, 1998. | Location: Kelvin Grove |
| Purpose: | Access: shore | Weather: beautiful |
| Water Temp: 53 F | Visibility: 30' | PSI Used: 1200 psi Nitrox 32 |
| Max depth: 95 feet | Time: 29 minutes | Total Hours: 142:59 |
| Comments: Dove the north wall again with the divemasters. Down the pipeline to 90 feet, then across to the wall. A grunt sculpin flittering along, and the huge ling again shallower. Lots of sponges down deep too. Decided I had to go to the bathroom and couldn't wait any longer, so I signalled and went in on my own. Saw a grunt on the way in, hiding in a sponge, and enjoyed the schools of perch in the shallower waters as they swam with me. Then surfaced and ran up the hill... ;-) | ||
| Dive # 266 | Date: June 21, 1998. | Location: Kelvin Grove |
| Purpose: OW #4 | Access: shore | Weather: HOT! |
| Water Temp: 53 F | Visibility: 15' | PSI Used: 700 psi Nitrox 32 |
| Max depth: 48 feet | Time: 28 minutes | Total Hours: 142:30 |
| Comments: Baaad decision by me - decided to dive the south wall as the other two classes were out of the water , and I figured the vis would have cleared - WRONG! But lots of little stuff to poke around with - found a teeny-tiny urchin shell. Pretended to eat a brittlestar, never seen eyes staring at me like that before as I did when Kim noticed... :-) | ||
| Dive # 265 | Date: June 21, 1998. | Location: Kelvin Grove |
| Purpose: OW #3 | Access: shore | Weather: gorgeous |
| Water Temp: 53 F | Visibility: 30' | PSI Used: 800 psi Nitrox 32 |
| Max depth: 65 feet | Time: 23 minutes | Total Hours: 142:02 |
| Comments: A grunt sculpin crawling along. Lots of color today, and pretty light as well. And jellyfish! I think they must have been having a suntan festival or something, cuz there were moon jellyfish everywhere! The odd red jellyfish too, but small enough to avoid easily. Lots of quillback rockfish, and a couple of coppers too. A weird nudibranch, one I've only seen pictures of, and lots of tube dwelling anemones. Brittlestars EVERYWHERE - poke one, and they all go scampering away. Squat lobsters peering out, gobies darting back under rocks. LKots of flounders too, and perch as well. | ||
| Dive # 264 | Date: June 20, 1998. | Location: Lookout Point |
| Purpose: drysuit | Access: shore | Weather: sunny |
| Water Temp: 51 F | Visibility: 20' | PSI Used: 700 psi Nitrox 32 |
| Max depth: 28 feet | Time: 38 minutes | Total Hours: 142:39 |
| Comments: Ran into some current as we rounded the point, and discovered one student from the other group swimming alone - took him out of the current and ascended, where we found his buddies on the surface. I descended back down behind my group, who were crawling through the shallows as the current was a little too strong to try going around the point with them. Handfed a big fat kelp greenling, tried to talk a big dark perch into visiting too, but he merely swam along with me, crisscrossing in front of my mask. Scored big when I thought I saw a tank mesh lying on the bottom, and it turned out to be a goody bag! Will be perfect for crabbing..... | ||
| Dive # 263 | Date: June 20, 1998. | Location: Lookout Point |
| Purpose: drysuit | Access: shore | Weather: sunny |
| Water Temp: 51 F | Visibility: 30' | PSI Used: 1100 psi Nitrox 32 |
| Max depth: 88 feet | Time: 38 minutes | Total Hours: 142:01 |
| Comments: Lots of kelp greenlings on a shelf - can't remember the last time I saw that many! Couple of small lings, a field of white plumose anemones. And more greenlings. A tiger rockfish. Tons of green urchins, and a couple of red ones too. Crabs everywhere. Quillback and copper rockfish. Sponges. A block in my right ear when I nosedived off a shelf at 6o feet and dropped down headfirst to 88 feet - had to come back up to almost 60 feet to get it to clear - but no problems from there. Small bit of current, decent vis. Couple of seals having a GREAT time on the surface, playing and splashing with each other. Schools of perch too. | ||
| Dive # 262 | Date: June 19, 1998. | Location: Kelvin Grove |
| Purpose: night | Access: shore | Weather: clear |
| Water Temp: 51 F | Visibility: 30' | PSI Used: 1100 psi air |
| Max depth: 69 feet | Time: 35 minutes | Total Hours: 141:23 |
| Comments: Great vis. Found a sailfin sculpin nestled alongside the rock wall, unconcerned when I poked him gently to get him to swim a bit so Lacey could see his dorsal fin ripple. A decent sized Red Irish Lord a wee bit further along, brilliant red and starinf back at me. Big ling, must have been close to 5 feet long, startled me when I glanced sideways and saw it staring at me - swam slowly off when I started talking to it. Lots of gobies, ronquils, squat lobsters, shrimp, and prawns ducking under rocks, and lots of crabs scurrying everywhere. A seapen too, glowing neon green in the dark. Another Red Irish Lord on the way back in. Quillbacks, coppers, and black rockfish. Four more tiny sailfin sculpins when we started poking around in the shallows. A gunnel and an alligatorfish. Not as much bioluminescence as usual, but a nice dive anyway. | ||
| Dive # 261 | Date: June 18, 1998. | Location: Whytecliff |
| Purpose: night | Access: shore | Weather: clear |
| Water Temp: 51 F | Visibility: 20' | PSI Used: 1600 psi air |
| Max depth: 127 feet | Time: 45 minutes | Total Hours: 140:52 |
| Comments: Nice dive.... looking for octopus, didn't see any. Did find a sailfin sculpin, though. And a large decorated warbonnet in a crack at about 50 feet. Rockfish everywhere, like usual at Whytecliff. Couple of massive lings - one under a rock peering out at us, the other was tagged and sitting on a rock. I couldn't get over the size of them. Wonder if they are the two we normally see hiding deep in the crack? Lots of crabs too. | ||
| Dive # 260 | Date: June 14, 1998. | Location: Ogden Point |
| Purpose: OW #4 | Access: shore | Weather: overcast |
| Water Temp: 52 F | Visibility: 20' | PSI Used: 1000 psi Nitrox 32 |
| Max depth: 41 feet | Time: 31 minutes | Total Hours: 140:07 |
| Comments: Got back in at the third marker with reports of a wolf eel around the second at 37 feet. Lots of anemones, not just white plumose ones, but green and red too. A nudibranch, clinging to a rock. Some weird nudibranchy-thing I am trying to identify still - it looked like it had suction cups on the tips of it's legs, and was hanging on to the kelp. A tiger rockfish in a crack - he was brilliantly colored, caught me eye. Lots of lings to finger-spearfish (you try and sneak up on them and touch them - almost NEVER catch them!). Swimming along, some movement caught my eye - and I looked up just in time to see a six foot female wolf-eel come flying down the rocks to say hello! She came right down and swam in our faces, looking for handouts (which we didn't have, but she didn't seem too upset by that), and appeared to almost enjoy rubbing herself along my glove when I put a hand out. Wolf-eels are always a thrill, especially when they are that friendly! Followed the breakwater in to the shallows, saw lots of gunnels and shrimp. A great dive. | ||
| Dive # 259 | Date: June 14, 1998. | Location: Ogden Point |
| Purpose: OW #3 | Access: shore | Weather: overcast |
| Water Temp: 52 F | Visibility: 15' | PSI Used: 1000 psi Nitrox 32 |
| Max depth: 41 feet | Time: 35 minutes | Total Hours: 139:36 |
| Comments: Always a nice dive at Ogden. Swam out with schools of perch, saw lots of crabs "hugging" each other. Some big lings too, peering at us off their respective rocks. Rockfish too, hiding in the cracks and crevices. White plumose anemones covering some rocks, and lots of kelp harboring more perch and small sculpins. A painted greenling staring at me. A small peach-colored wolf-eel peeked out of the rocks at us then darted back in, staring shyly back at me. Surfaced up through the kelp around the third marker. Lots of yellowish jellyfish, tho! | ||
| Dive # 258 | Date: June 13, 1998. | Location: Kelvin Grove |
| Purpose: OW #2 | Access: shore | Weather: sunny |
| Water Temp: 51 F | Visibility: 20' | PSI Used: 700 psi Nitrox 32 |
| Max depth: 41 feet | Time: 30 minutes | Total Hours: 139:01 |
| Comments: Over the wall this time. Found a small octopus in a crack, lots of brittlestars jumping around. Many seacucumbers too, as well as lots of seastars. Some kelp greenlings, darting for cover, as well as some rockfish. LOTS of moon jellyfish! | ||
| Dive # 257 | Date: June 13, 1998. | Location: Kelvin Grove |
| Purpose: OW #1 | Access: shore | Weather: gorgeous |
| Water Temp: 51 F | Visibility: 20' | PSI Used: 300 psi Nitrox 32 |
| Max depth: 38 feet | Time: 24 minutes | Total Hours: 138:31 |
| Comments: Did skills..... and stirred up the bottom. Vis was pretty good, all things considered! Found a gunnel gurled up on the sand, and lots of perch in the shallows swimming around us. | ||
| Dive # 256 | Date: June 10, 1998. | Location: Whytecliff |
| Purpose: night | Access: shore | Weather: clear |
| Water Temp: 51F | Visibility: 20' | PSI Used: 1300 psi air |
| Max depth: 115 feet | Time: 32 minutes | Total Hours: 138:07 |
| Comments: Rockfish crowded in a crack as we descended staring out at us. Sponges harboring small quillbacks and squat lobsters. Shrimp and prawns, their eyes reflecting, hopping all over. Couple of nudibranchs. Tube dwelling anemones. A glassy tunicate. Some strange crab I've never seen before, reminded me of a young Puget Sound king crab. Had absolutely no fear, marched straight over to me when I wiggled a finger at him. A kelp greenling staring out from under a rock. A sailfin sculpin rippling his dorsal fin caught Marlies' eye. He was unspookable. Shallower, an octopus greeted me nose to tentacle, wiggled his arms at Marlies when she came up to say hello. Small lings in a crevice. A greenling with a hook & weight caught in it's mouth - couldn't get a hold to cut the weight off. Lots of gobies, ronquils, crabs, and seastars in the shallows. | ||
| Dive # 255 | Date: June 7, 1998. | Location: Keystone |
| Purpose: OW #4 | Access: shore | Weather: sunny |
| Water Temp: 52 F | Visibility: 20' | PSI Used: 700 psi Nitrox 32 |
| Max depth: 50 feet | Time: 24 minutes | Total Hours: 137:35 |
| Comments: OW #4. Octopus ignoring us. grunt sculpin in a barnacle, big lings *buzzing* us. Huge crabs and crabshells everywhere, Small mosshead warbonnet. | ||
| Dive # 254 | Date: June 7, 1998. | Location: Keystone |
| Purpose: AOW Navigation | Access: shore | Weather: gorgeous |
| Water Temp: 52 F | Visibility: 20' | PSI Used: 300 psi Nitrox 32 |
| Max depth: 15 feet | Time: 22 minutes | Total Hours: 137:11 |
| Comments: AOW Navigation. Always fun in current. ;-) | ||
| Dive # 253 | Date: June 7, 1998. | Location: Keystone |
| Purpose: OW #3 | Access: shore | Weather: gorgeous |
| Water Temp: 52 F | Visibility: 20' | PSI Used: 900 psi Nitrox 32 |
| Max depth: 50 feet | Time: 28 minutes | Total Hours: 136:49 |
| Comments: Grunt sculpin in a barnacle. Kelp greenlings - both male & female. Huge brown ling swam by. Couple of clown nudibranchs. hermit crabs, decorator crabs, red rock. | ||
| Dive # 252 | Date: June 6, 1998. | Location: Kelvin Grove |
| Purpose: | Access: shore | Weather: sunny |
| Water Temp: 50 F | Visibility: 30' | PSI Used: 1000 psi air |
| Max depth: 94 feet | Time: 32 minutes | Total Hours: 136:21 |
| Comments: Red brotula, weird eggmass, giant nudibranchs everywhere! Sponges, quillback & copper rockfish. Small alligatorfish. No luck with octopus. | ||
| Dive # 251 | Date: June 6, 1998. | Location: Porteau Cove |
| Purpose: drysuit | Access: shore | Weather: sunny |
| Water Temp: 53 F | Visibility: 10' | PSI Used: 1000 psi air |
| Max depth: 47 feet | Time: 32 minutes | Total Hours: 135:49 |
| Comments: Quick drysuit orientation. Somewhat limited vis until the end of the Granthall, where it broke around 50 feet. So dark it wasn't funny. Large ling on deck, quillbacks hiding inbetween the holds. Tunicates all over, as well as calcereous tube worms that disappear as you shine your light on them. Octopus under cement slab. Opting for Kelvin for second dive due to porr vis and abundance of other divers. | ||