11/30/2008 - Sshhhh, We're Hunting Nudi's
Date: 11/30/2008
Dive Location: Palos Verdes, California
Dive Sites: Wreck of the Avalon, Hawthorne Reef, and an attempt at the old MarineLand swim platform
Viz: 2-12' (milky and murky)
Water Temp: 59-63°f (Suunto)
Max Depth: 77' / 74' / 83'
Bottom time: 44 / 38 / 36 min.
Buddies: RobC&Bob W
See pics/report from others here.
Saturday Rob C, Bob W and I boarded the Sea Bass for another macro critter hunt in PV. This was my third such trip this year, and the second organized by Scott G. Unfortanetly, Scott was unable to join us, due to a last minute ankle injury that left him unable to fin for pics. We were sorry to hear of the news, but we pressed on. Thick fog hung to the harbor and to Palos Verdes for the ride out. As usual, even with a full load (12 divers) all with camera/video rigs/scoots, logistics went very smoothly on the Sko-T charter. It's amazing the difference of being on a charter where everyone is experienced, courteous and friendly.
The first stop was the wreck of the Avalon. I hardly recognized that we were at the right spot with the thick fog and high amount of kelp at PV compared to this summer. The last two times I dove this site we anchored near the crane, but I never managed to find the wreck, as there was so much to photograph on the nearby reef. This time Captain Richard said he was right on the bow of the wreck. Sure enough, as soon as I got to the bottom of the anchor line, adjusted some camera controls and cut through the horrible viz, I was at the bow. My first find was something that looked like a small dorid, but I wasn't sure. Even from the pics, I'm unsure if this is even a slug..
Unknown Nudi
We spent the rest of the dive making a circle around the bow and some of the reef nearby. Surge was much worse then my last two visits here, so the resulting tollerable pic count is very low.
Cadlina luteomarginata
Our next stop was Hawthorne reef, my favorite PV site. Ross-O and the Orion III was picking up it's anchor (with a human powered windlass it appeared) so we waited patiently and then moved in. Ross said conditions weren't great, so our expectations weren't high. Viz and surge was as reported, but of course macro subjects were in abundance here, with an incredibly high count of Sea Lemons.
Lemon Dorid
My first major find was my second ever Simnia snail, or what I'm pretty sure was a Simnia. The mantle (I think) was mostly retracted, so it looked much different then the one I found at Shaw's this summer.
Simnia Snail
Other finds included a swell shark egg (Kevin Lee said he saw several there), Coonstripe Shrimp and many Nudi's (no decent pics of most unfortantely).
Swell Shark Egg
Flabellina trillneata
Spanish Shawl
Cadlina limbaughorum
The decision for the third site was left up to the group. Many people wanted to do a Marine Land dive, so we picked up the anchor and motored south. The wind was ripping through the cove, and we ended up passing on two sites before making an attempt to anchor near the old Marine Land swim platform. We descended down the anchor line to strong surge and dismal viz over a very silty mucky bottom. I followed the anchor line and found several photo subjects, but alas, no platform. The scoot-togs of the boat were able to make the swim and see the platform, and reported alot of life around the still very intact structure. Here are the few pics I got with the lowest amount of backscatter and complete wash-out:
Hermissenda crassicornis
Dendronotus robilliardi (A first!)
Armina californica
Desipite the conditions, a great time was had by all, a common theme for Sko-T charters! Looking forward to the next!
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