12/13/2008 - The Calm Before The Storm

Despite the forecast for five days of rain ahead, the conditions at Marineland were pretty nice this morning. The seven foot plus high tide made it easy to swim directly to the point. The nearshore reefs which usually break the surface were submerged enough to swim over without bottoming out. Even the thick kelp forest was easily negotiable, with only the top few feet of the plants forming a thin canopy.
I dropped about twenty feet from Ted's Pinnacle and noticed that someone has pulled the hose out of Our Lady of the Garden's pitcher.
Plenty of new finger sponges being devoured by San Diego dorids, and I saw a large batray in the same place I've seen one a few times before. I wonder if it's the same one.
Visibility was at least eighteen feet at the point, with ten feet in the cove. Water temp was 60F, which felt tropical compared to the 56F at Redondo on Thursday night.