12/29/2007 - Draining A Tank The Fun Way

Reports from Malaga Cove and Redondo Beach were pretty bad this morning, so Merry and I headed to Marineland to finish off a couple of tanks. I had 52 cu ft left in a steel 119 and still managed to get in an hour dive. Of course, this involved hardly any movement, and with the 53F water, I was COLD! The visibility was about fifteen feet and I spotted two Polycera atra nudibranchs as soon as we reached the bottom. One was laying eggs while the other was grazing with a Spanish Shawl. A school of mackerel cruised by twice and a nice halibut settled in the sand just a few feet away from us. I found four Megalommas, sabellid worms and tried to get several shots. They have long eye stalks and close at the first disturbance. I was lucky to get in a couple shots.
We had an uneventful exit, which is cause for celebration at Marineland.