12/13/2005 - Unsuccessful Search, Successful Dive

I didn't find my new friend at Marineland. It was a longshot, but I still buy a Lotto ticket occasionally so I'm pretty hopeful.

I did find a wall I haven't seen in a few years. It's a rock the size of a small house with a twenty foot vertical wall undercut by a small cave filled with fish and lobsters. I could spend an entire dive exploring the wall alone. It was covered by Triopha catalinae nudibranchs as well as the usual assortment of colorful life that abounds at Marineland.

I found a smaller Batray than the one we saw Saturday. It swam right at my head, less than a minute after I turned off my camera. I didn't find the variety of nudis I usually do as I was looking around for the tropical fish most of the dive. I did manage to see hundreds of nudis. Marineland is crawling with them, pun intended.

One of the unusual sightings today was a kelpfish. They are common all over Southern California, but I don't see many of them at Marineland. I also found two Horn shark egg cases.

I managed to notice the moment my drysuit leaked today, so I'm 99% sure the leak is a bad o-ring on the pee valve bolt. Hopefully I'll know for sure by staying dry next dive.

One of my favorite things about diving Marineland is the variety of life found there. It would make a great dive in the Channel Islands. For a beach dive, it's incredible! I would rather dive there than any site along the shore of Catalina.