5/16/2010 - First Catalina Trip Aboard No Pressure

Commodore Andy joined us for our first trip to Catalina in a couple of years. We were told yesterday at the Scuba Show that there was a school of Mola Mola hanging out at Ship Rock on Friday. Andy shot the last one.

Actually, there were six dead Molas with their fins bitten off and their bodies half-consumed. There were a couple of guilty looking sea lions of interest on the rocks.

The rest of the dive was highlighted by blacksmiths, jellies and a Dendronotus Ross-O and I found a few years ago at Ship Rock. I don't know if it's been described yet.

We headed over to Seafan Grotto next. Other than the cavern and an abalone, we didn't find much to photograph.

We did pull some sponges off the wall. They work great for cleaning the side of the boat.

We climbed back onboard for another dive at Bird Rock. After that, we were pretty exhausted.

As we approached Pt. Vicente we were sidetracked by a pod of playful dolphins. A nice way to end our first big trip.