First dive site was the cove at the Empire Landin rock quarry. We don't usually go into the cove, and stay along the outer edge. I love this site because it is where the scythe butterflyfish live. I've gotten good footage of them here including courting. It took me 35 minutes to find them, then I spent the next 40 minutes filming them... when they'd venture out in the open!

Other subjects were an abalone, a sea star that appeared to be Henricia aspersa (relative of the blood star), morays, a very small juvenile giant kelpfish and a scorpionfish. Noticed a rock with an orange bow tied around it. At first I thought it was a joke, but it was at the location I saw the scythe butterflyfish so it may mark study spots for a student at USC's Wrigley Marine Science Center not too far away.

Second site was Italian Gardens. Everyone wanted to see the giant sea bass that hang out there to court. I've got tons of footage of them so I dropped deep to film whatever I could find. Didn't see much of interest so I ascended slowly towards the reef area to look for a Mexican sea cucumber I've been seeing in this region. Not a single sighting of the giant sea bass due to the depth ranges I chose to spend time in.

Did find a fishing rod and reel at about 30 ft. Didn't bother keeping it... too much of a hassle while filming. Filmed a green alga I rarely see as well as a nice abalone hidden under a rock. There was a young Navanax (opisthobranch relative of the nudibranchs) with interesting color patterns. It looked like a cross between the two common species here (N. inermis and N. polyalphos). Also another small mating circle of their relative the black sea hare (largest snail in the world at about 3 feet), with a cluster of their day old spaghetti eggs.

Was able to film a nice female rock scallop. You can tell the females from the males by the color of their "lips." Females are greenish to gray while the males are red to orange. Several good sized lobster in the rocks here... they know they're safe, at least from me since I don't take them and certainly wouldn't poach. However, I love eating them when my buddies capture enough in season!

A female sheephead was resting in a rock crevice, but took off before I could get any good close shots. A beautiful 2-3" juvenile treefish swam about right in front of my lens. They look almost like a tropical fish with their bright yellow and black stripes.

Several "performing" morays to film and I did get a shot of one of the bat rays "flying" off as I approached the shallows.

Third dive was at Garibaldi Reef. Initially we hoped to see the soupfin sharks here (I've been "skunked" every time), but we headed with the current at 60 ft towards the south end of the reef. The current was blowing, making it difficult to stabilize to shoot video. I actually rolled onto my back and then back over as I filmed one surprise visitor!

Our visitor was a 200-250# giant sea bass who was very inquisitive. He kept coming in to eye Mina (I think he was in love), Mark and my camera. Although vis was not great, I managed to get a fair bit of usable footage as it continued to check us out, often getting within a few feet of us. When we tried to leave, it followed us and would cut us off by swimming right in front of us. It continued to follow us along the edge of the reef (at about 30 ft) until it got bored and swam off.

I found a female sheep crab feeding on one of the Chaetopterus worm tubes unearthed by the bat rays. Was able to film her tearing it apart with her small claws and stuffing pieces into her mouth. This is the third species I've seen them feeding on (a dead bat ray carcass and a golden gorgonian were the others). Not far away I found a male sheep crab, or at least what was left of him after something munched. Couldn't believe the predator didn't try eating the tasty leg meat!

Not a great day of diving but a lot of fun thanks to the group of divers on board. Mina, Mark and I were invited to dinner by one of the divers who began diving 5 years before I did, in 1956 off Long Island Sound! Wow. We had a great time at dinner with him, his daughter and her BF who were also diving that day.