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All The Sand, Which Is There

We weren't planning to dive today. We needed to perform routine maintenance on the boat, but we had nearly full tanks left over from our White Point dive yesterday. We heard from a little bird that there was good visibility early this morning at the Topaz pilings. I think that bird belongs in a cage. By the time we got there after 10:00 it was a sandstorm under water.
We still managed to find a few critters, but only Merry got decent photos.
I found a Cumanotus sp. nudibranch on a pink hydroid ans pointed it out to Merry. Later I found our second Catriona columbiana on a tube worm with another Cumanotus on top of it. Later in the dive I found a tiny flatfish walking on its fins. I've never seen that except on nature films from the tropics. Any help with identification would be greatly appreciated.

Crawling flatfish

Sanddab race

Barnacle and corynactis on a piling

Sarcastic fringehead

Juvenile horn shark

Small patch of squid egg sacs

One of four tall pilings

Short, broken piling in the canyon

Corymorpha nutans

After the dive we ran offshore to warm up the motor oil. Three miles out, we found six Pacific Bottlenose dolphins. They didn't play much, but hung around long enough for a few shots.

Three Stooges Dive The Radio Tower

Kevin Lee joined Merry and me for a couple of dives on the south side of Palos Verdes this morning. The water was dirty in most spots, but it cleared between Marineland and White Point. I haven't dived the Radio Tower off Pt. Fermin for a few years so today looked like a good time to revisit the site.
Technically, the site should have a different name. The tower, laying on its side in 105 feet is too short to be a radio tower. It looks more like a RADAR tower or an oil derrick. We dropped together and headed down the line. Visibility was limited as we reached fifty feet. I spotted a salp chain and pointed it out to Merry and Kevin. They each took turns firing off a few shots. I turned around to look for our downline and it was gone in the gloom. We looked for a few seconds, then made a free ascent. At the surface we joked about what a dumb move that was, then dropped again. By the time we reached the tower the vis was a little better.
Metridiums, golden anemones, corynactis, scallops and large blacksmiths greeted us.

After returning to the surface we laughed about our stupidity, then headed for White Point. Kevin had only made one dive there and had really bad vis. He was in for a treat. Now he has two dives there in really bad vis. He said he's good for a few more years before diving there again.

Sheep Crab Wranglers

Margaret Webb and Jim Lyle dived the Topaz Pilings this morning and reported that a sheep crab had become entangled in the line. We were planning to make a night dive there tonight, but decided to go over this afternoon and look for the crab. Fortunately it wasn't had to find. It was on the first piling we saw, so we cut it free and re-tied the line.
Visibility was down about five feet from Monday, so I didn't get many photos. There was a reported"hundreds of squid" there on Wednesday night, but we only found a couple small pockets of eggs and no squid. Maybe we'll get lucky on the next full moon and have a real squid run this year.

Channeled Topsnail, Calliostoma canaliculatum

The eggs are cooling

Sarcastic fringehead

That's the way, uh-huh uh-huh I like it

We thought about cancelling our dives with Kevin Lee after looking at milky water all day yesterday, but figured we might get more than the three or four feet vis we expected. We got much more. We dropped anchor on one of the Redondo Artificial reefs and Merry gave a big thumbs up from the bow. We could easily see fifteen feet down the line and there was no dirty layer in the water column this time.
As we hit the reef we spread out in search of photo subjects. I found another octopus nest and called Kevin over. Merry was on the rock pile looking at lobsters...everywhere.
After a short dive we discussed where to head next. We were getting bored of the barge, Avalon, crane, landing craft and Flat Rock, and I didn't feel like wasting gas to look for clean water on the south side. It was decided to hit the pilings off the Topaz jetty.
The line I tied last month was broken. I followed it and found that someone had pulled it tight and wrapped it around some kelp. I untwisted the line and wrapped it around a third piling, then headed back to the first one. The line was now too short, so I added twenty feet of cave line. I'll re-lay the line soon and add one or two more pilings. I'm hoping to have a loop between five pilings so divers can find the easily them from the beach.
As I was about to end my dive, Merry came over and took me to see a nudibranch she found. It turned out to be our first Catriona columbiana sighting! Kevin said he's found several, all at Vet's. What a brat!
I found something that I can't identify. Anyone have a clue what this is?

Ready to dive

Merry's Catriona columbiana

Yet another dry day :(

After a few days of large surf I was hoping the swell models were wrong about today. They were. We had one foot swells with Santana Wind-generated whitecaps in the morning, but by the afternoon we had glassy seas. We drove from Redondo Beach to Portuguese Bend looking for diveable water. We found milk. While heading back home we shot photos of the landmarks. It was a beautiful day, just not for diving.

Portuguese Point

Trail to Sacred Cove

Abalone Cove

Our float is still on the Marineland, sporting a new hairstyle.

Cardiac Hill

Whale Rock and Pt. Vicente Lighthouse

Christmas Tree Cove

Honeymoon Cove

Dominator at Rocky Point

Great Escape on the Avalon wreck with the Sundiver in the kelp.

As we approached Redondo Beach Merry spotted a Fin Whale. We had trouble locating it once it dived, but its blows were so loud that they could be heard for a half mile.

I hope to write a real dive report tomorrow. The swell models show the ocean flattening. I trust them.

Smooth As Silt. Diving The FS Loop And White Point Outfall Pipe

Catalina Guerra joined us this morning as we headed to San Pedro to pick up Kevin Lee. We left early enough so that Kevin wouldn't wait in the Cabrillo Beach boat launch lot too long. Soon after leaving King Harbor we spotted a pod of small Common dolphin. We spent several minutes photographing them as they rode our bow wake. We hastily continued on our way until we found a pod of Risso's dolphin near Rocky Point. A few more minutes of fun and we were back on course. Merry called Kevin to let him know we would be a few minutes late. After hanging up the phone Catalina spotted a Gray whale. A few more minutes passed...Kevin must be very familiar with the parking lot by now. We finally arrived and loaded Kevin's gear onto the boat. He didn't seem to mind the extra half hour sitting...fuming...

Our first dive was on the wreck of the FS Loop off the Los Angeles Breakwater. The wreck sits on a silty bottom and visibility is rarely more than three feet. I told Kevin and Merry to look for Tritonia festiva and Doriopsila spaldingi nudibranchs. I had seen a few of each here before. As we neared the bottom the first surprise was the fifteen feet of visibility. Second was that the entire wreck was littered with Tritonia festiva and Doriopsila spaldingi. I looked like I knew what I was doing.

I was shooting wide angle today, which was a blessing, and a curse. The good visibility allowed me to get some decent shots of the wreck, but I had to shoot nudis at 35mm through an eight inch dome port.

We motored to the White Point outfall pipe for our next dive. Visibility was about ten feet, which is plenty for the small fish and snails found here. Blue ring top snails were the dominant feature of the dive. They seemed to be on every substrate.

We dropped Kevin off and fueled up the boat. On the way home we came upon the largest pod of dolphin I had seen in more than twenty years. Several were leaping high out of the water, usually just before we could get a photo.

Dive Until It Hurts

I had four days off at New Years. It was foggy all weekend. The next weekend brought us the first high surf of the year. This past week I have been battling a sinus infection. I was diving today, no matter what! Our first stop was the wreck of the Palawan. This is not one of my favorite wrecks, but it had been a long time since I dived it so I thought my perception of it was tainted. It was still boring. Corynactis anemones blanket the outer hull, but the top of the wreck is mostly covered by silt. If someone added some metridiums and a wolfeel or two it would be an exciting dive. Visibility was eight feet and it was very dark. My head was pounding throughout the dive, but I was able to clear all the way down. We checked out the bow, saw four or five fish and tried to get photos. At one point I went to the sand to get a shot of the bow from below, but it was so dark that my camera wouldn't focus.We made a short dive of it, then made a slow ascent. During our safety stop two sea lions, looking lethargic slowly floated our way. One liked to float inverted, and eventually came within inches of our faces. Merry got a couple photos between screams. I got out of my gear, blew my nose and headed for the Topaz Jetty. I hoped to lay line between the three pilings I saw last time and maybe find more. The surface visibility was much nicer near shore, but vis on the sand was only about ten feet. I tied off my line to the southernmost piling in forty-four feet and headed inshore. I made it to the end of my line at the same time as I reached the next piling. I'll have to wait for a better day to complete the mission. For now, if you swim out to thirty-six feet and head north from the middle of the condos on the north side of the Topaz jetty you will see an orange line about four feet off the sand. There are pilings at either end, one at thirty-five feet and one at forty-four. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to blow my nose and take some meds. I'm diving again tomorrow.

Bow of the Palawan

Merry finds something interesting

Tiny Squarespot rockfish hide among the corynactis

Outer hull and ribs

Vermilion rockfish

Piling at forty-four feet

Shallow piling

Conditions Improving. Just In Time For My Return To Work.

We lucked out this morning by staying close to home. One dive on the Redondo Barge followed by another foray onto the Topaz pilings. I didn't find much to photograph on the barge. I didn't even turn my camera on for the first ten minutes. The pilings were much better. We had about fifteen feet visibility despite the surge, and I even found three pilings today.

Yellow crab

Spanish Shawl

Proliferating anemone

Sea Hare

Navanax

Hermit Crab

Corymorpha nutans

Sarcastic Fringehead

Cabezon

Santa Barbara Janolus

Corynactis californica

Diving At A Snail's Pace

I've been looking forward to this week all year. I have a four day weekend this week and another one next week. The ocean has been flat, so I was hoping for lots of great dives to end the year. The visibility of the past two days has been pretty bad. We've had around five feet vis for most of our dives. I decided to head north and dive the Hyperion outfall pipe near LAX.

This is a no-anchorage zone due to the nearby Chevron Terminal. We had to live-boat it, so Merry captained the boat while I dived first. Conditions on the pipe were worse than any dive this week. Surge, stirred sand, four feet visibility and loud noise from the Chevron tankers. I didn't find any of the sponges nor the variety of nudibranchs I was looking for. The pipe and rocks were covered by brittle stars, chestnut cowries and gorgonian, with a few hydroids and snails thrown in. I told Merry not to bother diving, as I only got a few photos. When I downloaded them later I was surprised to save so many. Merry was not pleased.

We headed back south to try our luck at the crane off Haggerty's.
The surface water was a bright green but looked clear enough to dive. As we approached the bottom I was not surprised to find another bad vis dive ahead of us. Visibility was about four feet, so we looked around the crane and rocks for anything we could get our cameras close to.
The area has a lot of Rough Patch shrimp, Pandalus stenolepis. They are commonly misidentified as Coonstripe shrimp. The Roughpatch has red and blue spots on the sides of its abdomen and the bands cover the entire legs.

We also found a couple more naked clams, Chlamydoconcha orcutti.

After diving we picked up more trash. The balloons prove that it was recently discarded.

Conditions Are Still Bad, Or Is It Just A Fluke?

We left King Harbor this morning in search of better conditions than yesterday. There were also reports of more Orcas heading our way. We didn't find either, but minutes after exiting the harbor we found six Gray whales diving in less than 90 feet off Malaga Cove.

We saw four more at Pt. Vicente before checking out our own places to dive. Most sites had strong currents due to the new moon and large tidal swings. We ended up diving the sewer pipes off White Point. This would be an interesting place to dive on a better day. Blue-ring topsnails and Tritonia festiva were everywhere. The strong surge and blowing sand kept us cowering behind the pipe most of the time.

I found one of these worms earlier this month at Marineland. I have not identified it yet.

The world's smallest metridium anemone.

We wanted to make a kelp dive on our way home. Neptune Cove looked like Catalina. Blacksmiths and sardines swirled below the boat, and we could see twenty feet down the kelp. Once we hit the reef it was a different story. Strong surge knocked us around the entire dive. I spent more than five minutes between taking some pictures while waiting for the surge to subside.

Extreme close up of a Sunflower star.

Hang in there, Baby.

Gloomy Dive On The Avalon Wreck

After replacing a fuel pump on the boat this morning, we were anxious to get in a dive. I wanted to stay close to the marina, just in case, so we headed to one of our least favorite sites, the wreck of the Avalon. It's rare that we have good conditions here. Others seem to dive it when it's clear and calm, but not us. With a couple days of Santana winds, we had flat enough seas to expext decent vis. The top twenty feet were very nice. Unfortunately the wreck sits in seventy feet.
I took a few shots of the bow, then swam toward the stern in search of better visibility. It only got worse the closer I got. I made my way back to the bow and ascended, along with a floating kelp plant that drifted toward our line.
I trust the boat to make it to the south side of Palos Verdes tomorrow. I'll continue toe search for clear water.

Merry and No Pressure

Bow of the Avalon

Kelp Crab

Drifter

Styling On The Pilings

The ocean was flat as predicted, except when another boat came by and rocked us with its wake. Coffee spilled, utensils fell to the floor and I had just vacuumed this morning.
Our first dive was on a wooden pier piling off the Topaz Jetty. We didn't find any nudibranchs as Craig Hoover did, but I had shrimp pose for me. Visibility was great for Vet's. It was easily twenty-five feet. There was a little of what Merry calls sand scatter, but not nearly as much as we had later at the Hermosa Artificial Reef.

The water at Hermosa was clear, but filled with schmutz. I picked a bad dive to try for wide angle. I found a Dendronotus iris next to the anchor, but I couldn't get much detail with a 16-35mm lens. I called Merry over to see if she have better luck.

Diving In A Beautiful Dump

The wind and rain from this week washed debris down gutters, storm drains and cement rivers, leaving floating islands of trash in the ocean. We spent the first half of our day picking up after litterbugs before making it to the south side of Palos Verdes. Once the trash pickup was done, the ocean looked as beautiful as it ever does.

We arrived at Marineland to the sound of an urchin boat compressor and a glassy surface. There was no debate about where to dive.

The visibility was better than thirty feet in the upper water, with about fifteen feet on the reef.
Buchanan's Reef is known for three things; Nudibranchs, rockfish and anchors. There were no surprises today. I found an old anchor similar to this one, but couldn't get a shot with my macro lens.

The reefs are covered with fish, nudibranchs, worms, sponges, hydroids, anemones, snails, bryozoan and algae. I could spend all day at Buchanan's and not get bored.

Among the nudibranchs was a tiny Dendrodoris behrensi, the first one I've seen away from Neptune Cove.

We decided to skip a second dive upon surfacing to a cold rain. It's been awhile since we had to use the heater after a dive. Conditions are predicted to be even better tomorrow. We put trash bags on our list.

Science Diving On The West Side

I dived with three chicks at the same time today. Along with Merry and Margaret Webb, Mary Wicksten, Professor of Marine Biology at Texas A&M (http://www.bio.tamu.edu/facmenu/faculty/wickstenm.htm) joined us for a decapod dive on the crane off Haggerty's. The place was crawling with crustaceans.

Some crustaceans are much larger than others

Mary Wicksten

Orky And Corky Return To Marineland, And They Brought Friends

Merry and I made two dives at Marineland today and had great conditions, shot a lot of photos and had fun, but that was not the highlight of our day. After leaving Marineland I spotted two small boats a mile and half offshore with lots of splashing going on between them. As we approached we saw the fluke of one and knew we found Orcas. There were twelve of them, as counted by Orca expert Alisa Schulman-Janiger, who was on one of the boats. We stayed with them for more than two hours as they hunted sea lions and even performed a little mating action for us. Several of them swam under our boat a few times and one rubbed his dorsal fin on the side of it.

Indicator Of Things To Come

The National Weather Service and CDIP promised calm seas and no wind this afternoon. I arrived at the marina after work today and Merry told me the wind had just come up two minutes before I arrived. Great! We had a bit of an adventure in the choppy seas after our dive. More about that later.
I told Merry I wanted to dive at Indicator on the west side of Palos Verdes. It's a popular surf site, but with the predictions I jumped at the chance to dive a different spot. The reefs run parallel with sand channels between them, Many of the short walls were covered in Red Beard sponges. I found several dozen in a small area. When I see them at other dive sites I usually only find a couple.

I wanted to practice a macro technique by holding down the shutter and not releasing it until the camera focused and fired. I had mixed results due to one of my strobes being in the shop. It was difficult to get my single strobe close enough to light a subject without creating backscatter.

We even had nudibranchs above water.

Merry found a large abalone, then I found another nearby. This is a good sign. Perhaps they may make a comeback after all. I took one shot, but could barely fit the ab in my frame. As an afterthought, I took a close up of it, and found a tiny transparant shrimp in the photo.

I was enjoying myself so much that I didn't notice that I lived up to my name and surpassed my maximum bottom time. I had to hang an extra few minutes, looking up at the rocking boat on the surface. Back on the boat, we struggled to get out of our gear because we had to take turns fending off a sea lion pup who wanted out of the choppy sea. He tried several times to jump into the boat. I held a pole in front of him, but he would push it with his nose. Merry rushed to the bow to unhook the anchor while I kept the sea lion at bay. He followed her and tried to jump onto the bow. Twice he made it onto the swimstep but he really wanted to get in the boat. I finally got out of my gear, pulled anchor and left the little guy to find another surface platform.

Ask And Ye Shall Receive

Yesterday I told Merry I wanted to find a Dendrodoris behrensi at the Underwater Arch. I had only seen one in more than twenty years. I found one within the first couple minutes of the dive. Today, Merry said she hoped there would be a Mola Mola cleaning station above the crane off Haggerty's. We dropped into a dozen of the funny looking fish. I think I want to find a gold-laden shipwreck next week.
The water in the top fourty feet was clear blue. Unfortunately, the wreck sits in fifty-five feet. It was murky, and seemed to be lacking the life we usually see there. No school of Rubberlips, no moray eels, no kelp... We had to look close to find any sign of life, but everywhere we looked, we found tiny animals. Shrimp, nudibranchs, worms, even a copepod fell from one of the Molas.

Lousy Day For A Great Dive

We left the house this morning to find the winds had calmed. I decided to get gas in the boat today instead of tomorrow. The west side of Palos Verdes was flat, but as we neared Rocky Point the swells and whitecaps began to beat us senseless. We didn't have enough gas to turn around and try again later, so I pushed through. It took two hours to get to Los Angeles Harbor, but we did get to see a Mola Mola and a pod of Risso's dolphin close to us.

Angel's Gate Light getting a much need paint job

After spending a week's pay at the fuel dock we braced for impact as we rounded Angel's Gate. Fortunately, we had following seas and the wind had died down. I motored close to shore to check out the dive sites. Marineland was muddy, so I hoped for better conditions on the other side of Pt. Vicente. Neptune Cove resembled Catalina. We could see twenty feet down the kelp and there were schools of blacksmith hovering just below the surface.
I told Merry I wanted to find a Dendrodoris behrensi. I have only found one before and it was here. As soon as I entered the arch I spotted one. I took several shots, then noticed a few drops of water in my housing. I told Merry I was going up to fix it and looked up to see the boat from fifty feet deep.
The visibility was at least twenty-five feet, the best I have seen at Neptune Cove. I cleaned my camera and swapped lenses, then dropped back down for some wide angle. By this time the visibility had dropped and the Sun was setting soon, so I fired off a few shots and left for home.

Dendrodoris behrensi

Mexichromis porterae

Flabellina iodinea

Rock scallop wide open

Entrance to the Underwater Arch

Top of the arch

No Pressure

Blacksmiths munching on copepods in the water column

From The Desert To The Sea

We were on our way back from four days in Phoenix, dreading work tomorrow and wondering if we missed any diving. We had no internet access at Merry's Mom's house. While stopped behind a long line of cars on Highway 10 in Palm Springs, Margaret Webb called Merry to let her know about conditions. The ocean was flat and there was a Mola Mola cleaning station on the Barge.
We listened to traffic reports so we could avoid more jams and made it home in time to get in a quick dive. Even at 78 feet, it was too surgy for me to get any macro shots. We did see a Mola being cleaned by a Blacksmith just as we hit the barge. Merry saw at least five more.
Despite being shut out photo-wise underwater, we tried to make up for it by motoring over to the Lady Washington tallship. She's visiting Redondo Beach this week.

White Point Landslide

I was born in San Pedro and spent most of my adult life there. I began free diving and later scuba at White Point. It was one mile from my apartment and a relatively easy dive compared to most of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. For night diving, I would park under the palm tree just off Paseo del Mar and hike down the fire road. The landslide of the past few weeks has washed away the area. I went down there this afternoon with Merry and Jeff Shaw to get a first-hand look.

My old parking space is now twenty feet below street level

Crews remove asphalt

The beginning of the White Point Artificial Reef

I am used to seeing news vans every time someone jumps off Pt. Fermin, but this was big news this week.

Weather Window Diving

According to the weather reports we were not supposed to be diving this weekend. A few light sprinkles fell as we arrived at the marina, but soon gave way to mostly sunny skies. The ocean was a little rough, but the diving was still fun.
We hit Buchanan's Reef first in search of nudibranchs. Fall seems to be a bad time for nudibranch hunting locally. There are a few laying eggs, but we have not been seeing the diversity of species we are used to.

For our second dive we motored over to the Garden Spot, a small offshore reef between Marineland and Abalone Cove. Abandoned lobster traps litter the reef, but have become living reefs themselves. There are also live traps on the reef, so someone hasn't learned that this reef eats traps.
Visibility was poor at both sites, but Kevin, Merry and I were all shooting macro.

Afternoon Diving

Dr. John Bibb joined Merry and me for an afternoon dive on the Redondo Beach Artificial Reef. Visibility was down from our previous dives here and the marine life was shutting down for the evening. The metridiums were closed. There were no octopus nor cabezon eggs to be found. The one thing different about this dive was the sea lions. There were several who remained with us throughout the dive, and one who was a little brat. During our ascent she constantly blew bubbles, bared teeth and twice nipped at my hood. I was shooting macro today, so no sea lion close-ups.

I Need A Surge Protector

After returning from Morro Bay, I was still in nudi hunting mode. Merry and I headed for Marineland this morning, but the poor vis made us change our plan. We dropped near Abalone Cove, but found near zero visibility on the bottom.
We try to keep our boat from getting that familiar moldy boat smell, so we don't allow wet gear inside the pilot house. This meant having to get out of our suits after a six minute dive.
We headed back toward Redondo Beach where we saw flat seas and decent vis earlier in the day. I thought I would stop and check out Christmas Tree Cove on the way. We could see at least twenty feet down the kelp, so we donned our gear and jumped in again.
We had about fifteen feet vis, but the surge knocked us around like Mike Tyson. I had a difficult time trying to shoot macro while getting pummeled. I came away from an hour dive with five photos.

By the time we got back around to the west side the vis was not as great as we had hoped, but it still looked inviting. The surface was flat and the kelp was standing straight, so we were relieved to avoid the surge we experienced earlier. No such luck. Each time I was ready to push the shutter I would be pushed and pulled around. We only made two shallow dives, but Merry said she was exhausted by the time we got home.

Morro Bay Muck Diving, Day Two

We awoke to light rain in Morro Bay this morning, but it cleared out by 6:30 and turned out to be a beautiful, sunny day. We rushed over to the North T-Pier to make an early morning dip in the pond. High tide did not bring the clearer water I had hoped for, but it did bring in 50° water, down five degrees from yesterday.
Kevin lead us to the pilings where he discovered three new nudis yesterday. I managed to get a few shots of one of them, Adalaria jannae but mangled the others. I hit the delete button a lot today.
Visibility was down to about five feet, but we made the best of it and stayed for well over an hour. Kevin made another two hour dive. Our deepest depth was twenty feet.

Morro Bay Muck Diving, Day One

Visibility under the T-Pier in Morro Bay had tripled since my last dive here in July. We had at least six feet today, which is more than enough for muck diving. Even in great vis, you can't see the bottom because it is covered with shells, bryozoan, anemones and of course, nudibranchs.
Kevin Lee, who has dived all over the World and has photographed around five hundred nudibranchs found four new species for his collection today. That is amazing for a single dive anywhere. I didn't find anything new, but we still have another dive in the morning. Here is my haul from today.

Exit Point

Kevin Lee rests after a two hour submersion

Merry Passage initiates Kevin to Morro Bay muck diving.

Barging in on Nudis

Merry and I are taking another road trip to the Morro Bay T-Pier this week, so we made one last local dive today on the Redondo Barge. Sea Lions were all over us, but we were set up for nudi photography. Not a lot happening today, so we came home with very few shots. We're saving our nudi-finding luck for later.

Do Over Day with Maggie D

Margaret Webb joined Merry and me for a second attempt at getting cabezon eggs. We got a little more than we bargained for.
We arrived to find several sea lions resting, jumping and barking for us to join them. We dropped into the chilly water and went our seperate ways, in search of photo ops. Margaret made a bee line for the cabezon eggs that Frank Lukowski found on Thursday, Merry headed over to a concrete block while I followed the line I laid last week.
Margaret came back with some very nice images.

Two sea lions followed me along the line. I was swimming twenty feet off the bottom, so they wouldn't hold still for more shots.

I found a yellow car body flattened by the elements, but crabs, lobsters, scallops and lots of red algae have taken up residence.

Back at the reef, fish we willing to pose for the scuba paparazzi.

One section of the reef even flipped off Margaret.

I noticed Merry firing off shots next to her block. I swam over to find that she had found yet another octopus nest. She's incredible at finding nesting behavior. I took one shot, then left her to fire away.

Merry shots from the reef.

We motored to the Landing Craft for a second dive. We found a strong current and the visibility had subsided, but it was still good enough for wide angle photography. Margaret began her dive at an octopus nest we found earlier this month. We didn't see any eggs, but the octopus, while looking a little ragged was still standing guard.

Margaret worked a little harder than I, and got a better image.

Margaret's images from the Landing Craft

I was hoping to get some shots of the Giant Sea Bass around the wreck, but they were a no show today. At one point a school of Blacksmith rushed by, ducking for cover under a rusty plate, but no predator was seen.

I swam around the wreck and fired off as many shots as I could before ending our dive day under a warm shower onboard.

Eggs...scuse me!

Margaret Webb joined us for a dive on the Redondo Artificial Reef this morning. After seeing the Cabezon eggs Frank Lukowski shot on Thursday, we wanted to get a chance to see them up close and personal.
When I dived this reef for the first time on Monday there was a California Scorpionfish on some concrete. When we went back on Tuesday there was a cabezon in the same spot, but no eggs. I shot a few pictures and Merry shot video. Frank found the eggs on Thursday and today the same cabezon was there, keeping a close watch.
I took a few shots but didn't want to bother him, so I pointed him out to Merry and Margaret so they could do it. Margaret shot enough pixels to make him hide under a ledge, then Merry moved in for some macro shots of the eggs. Margaret didn't notice the eggs, so we're going to make a do-over dive tomorrow.
After a very short bottom time I moved the anchor, took an obligatory metridium shot and then followed the Two Chicks up the line. A fiesty sea lion zoomed by a few times while we were ascending, but the upper column of water was too dirty for a shot.

Palos Verdes Cleanup Pays Off

We stop to pick up trash nearly every trip. Some days it's plastic bags, buckets and balloons. Other days it's abandoned fishing gear. This week was someone's first birthday. We found their balloons to prove it.

Karma must be on our side because we had excellent conditions at Flat Rock. Twenty feet of visibility in blue-green water, no surge and lots of critters. I did find a lost hoop net and fishing pole, but there was no other sign of human contact on the reef. I was able to get some decent wide angle shots today.

Frank and Charlie dive Phil's Reef

We had a sea lion play with each of us, Frank saw metridiums for the first time, we were red tide free but I forgot to move my strobes out so most of my shots are nothing but backscatter. The few I saved...

Charlie and Frank

Simnia

Sea Lion

Lingcod

Frank and Merry

Who turned out the light?

We went back to the artificial reef that I dived yesterday. The ocean was mill pond flat, so we were hoping for a repeat of the forty feet plus visibility I had yesterday. The dinoflagellates had other ideas. The Nestle's Quick reached down to thirty-five feet, blocking what little light we had through the thick marine layer. It turned out to be one of the darkest night dives I've ever made at ten in the morning. I didn't bring a dive light, so I was forced to use the modeling lights from my camera strobes. Merry shot video using twin 100 watt lights, but even they had a difficult time cutting through the blackness.

Merry near a concrete "sculpture". I didn't darken the photo. It was that dark.

The bizarre artwork

Metridium anemones and large piling on a huge block

Another colorful concrete oddity

Cabezon

Simnias decorate a brown gorgonian with eggs

Merry's Video

The visibility was still great...I think. I couldn't see it. Temperature was a refreshing 51F.

It was the best of vis, it was the worst of vis...

I wanted to try something different today, so we headed out to one of the artificial reefs. The surface looked as if someone had spilled a billion gallons of Nestle's Quick in the water. I had misgivings, but figured if the chocolately goodness reached all the way to the bottom I would abort the dive. Fortunately the mud was only five feet thick. Below that, I had the best visibility I have seen this year. I could clearly make out the color of the corynactis covered concrete and boulders from more than forty feet away.
I had my macro lens on the camera, so my shots were limited to anything within a couple of feet. I shot some metridium anemones, a California scorpionfish and a tiny Ronquil, then surfaced to change to a wide angle setup. After the longest one hour surface interval ever I raced back down the line.
Low tide had arrived during my time above, and the visibility dropped to fifteen feet. I shook my head, then made the best of a bad situation.
We are hoping the fog will allow us to go back tomorrow at high tide to explore the reef a little more.

Rare eggs and swimming scallops at White Point Rock

Merry and I went to White Point Rock to exchange thermographs for the Catalina Marine Society. We placed one next to the reef fourteen months ago, so it should have plenty of data to collect. After retrieving the old one Merry went to work on video while I scoured the small reef for interesting macro critters.
Dr. Jeff Goddard told us that nobody has pictures of Ategema alba eggs, so we've been looking for them every time we dive here. We named one area on the rock Ategema Valley for the number of the not-so-attractive nudis we see there. The moment I reached the valley I spotted the largest Ategema alba I have ever seen, and it was laying eggs! I fired off several shots, then went to tell Merry the news. She was still sprawled across the sand with the video lights on, so I left her alone. I should have gone over there, as she made a cool discovery as well. She got some great footage of San Diego Scallops, Pectin diegensis flittering across the sand.

Rough Patch Shrimp

Corynactis californica with Serpulid columbiana

Ategema alba with eggs

Don't Dive Angry

We've been diving the Redondo Barge a lot lately. Between finding new nudibranchs, octopus nests and sea lion encounters it's been an exciting run. Sometimes, even fun can get boring. There are several artificial reefs near the barge made up of boulders, pier pilings and concrete blocks. One reef is within swimming distance to the barge.
I decided to lay some line between the barge and the nearby reef so that we could dive the barge, but also visit the reef on the same dive. This would increase our chances at interesting animal encounters.
The ocean was pretty flat today so we headed out to the barge, where we dropped a marker. We then anchored near the reef and planned to lay line between the two sites. After hoisting the colors (dive flag) we were gearing up when two private fishing boats arrived and began fishing right next to us. One even circled our float.
We pulled anchor, grabbed our float and after explaining nicely to the fishermen what a dive flag was, we left for the Landing Craft instead.
Conditions here were nice, with more than twenty feet visibility on the wreck. I didn't zip my drysuit all the way, so I was not only still upset about the fishermen, I was now soaked.
I managed only three photos during the dive. I was looking for small, interesting subjects while Merry shot video. The only nudibranch I found was a single Spanish Shawl. Merry had encounters with five Giant Sea Bass. Two of them came right up to her face.
I got back on the boat, took a hot shower and brought my drysuit home to dry inside and out. It is now cooling in the evening breeze. I guess I need to do the same.

Octopus Eggs of the Redondo Beach Artificial Reef

Despite dire predictions from the swell models we decided to give diving a shot today. The sea was calm and the red tide had dissipated enough to dive the barge off Redondo Beach.
I've been wanting to shoot video of the developing eggs. After anchoring at the site I lowered the video camera into the water. I could barely see it in the chocolate milk just a foot below the surface. Merry said the water was fine at the bow. We dropped into the brown water, but at twenty-three feet it cleared up nicely. From less than forty feet I could see our anchor in eighty feet of sand.
I made my way to the octopus nests while Merry scoured the barge for critters. A sea lion greeted her with a face full of bubbles.
Visibility was a great twenty-five feet with 54F water. Back at the surface we had blue water on one side of the boat, with dirty green water on the other.

Breaking News...Swell Models Wrong Again

Predictions for today were one to two foot swells. We couldn't leave the marina until 11:30 due to thick fog, but we should have stayed home. Four foot swells, wind and red tide along the west side of Palos Verdes did not look inviting. We decided to look on the south side for any possibility of getting in the water. Buchanan's Reef look diveable.

We anchored near the south end of the reef so we could look for a net that Ross Overstreet found awhile ago. Before we got dressed we saw two unusual sights. An inflatable was towing a floating platform, making very little way, and a cormorant with fishing line caught in its beak.

We wanted to use a net to catch the bird and wrap a towel around it so we could remove the fishing line. "Stringer" didn't think much of that idea.

Visibility on the reef was less than ten feet with 51F water temperature, but we found the net. I managed to fire off a few shots before we had enough of another bad dive.

I ended the day by cleaning the bottom of the boat in the slip...with my camera. :)

Night Dive At High Noon

Kevin Lee joined us for an attempt at photographing octopus nests and the tiny Cadlina modesta on the Redondo Barge. Red Tide had moved in, creating night dive conditions with very limited visibility. I had to use both modeling lights just to focus, but came away happy.

We headed for the Landing Craft, hoping to find one or more of the resident Giant Sea Bass. We didn't see any, but our old friend the Torpedo Ray was back. Kevin found yet another octopus nest. It's an epidemic!

Decent Conditions On The West Side

Red tide has been showing up all over SoCal for the past few weeks. We've gone through patches of chocolate milk, only to find nice water on the other side. Today was no exception. We made a couple of shallow dives off Palos Verdes to practice shooting wide angle. At Margate Road we had nine feet vis and some surge. Fortunately there was not much to see there anyway. We moved to nearby Flat Rock and had a nice dive. At least twenty-five feet vis and lots to see. Merry immediately found four Tylodina fungina on a yellow sulphur sponge. Throughout the dive we had sheephead coming right up to our cameras. One very large male stayed just out of range, but it was good to see them coming back to this site.

Western Grebes patrol King Harbor

"Official" Captains Merry and Phil, thanks to Commodore Andy for our promotions

Being a dive boat Captain is serious business

Decent vis, lousy photography at Flat Rock

Four Tylodina fungina. Taken with a Nikon 16-35mm lens and eight inch dome port. I missed my macro lens today.

Octomom Merry Strikes Again

This is getting old. I've been scuba diving for twenty-two years and had never seen octopus eggs until last month. Merry found two nests together on the landing craft. We later found a single nest on the Redondo Barge. Today, Merry dragged me over to a rock and showed me three nests, each guarded by an octopus, all on a rock about two square feet in size. Many eggs have hatched, and many more are unfertilized.

Meanwhile, life on the barge is still booming. I'm always amazed at the number of animals who survive crawling around on iron oxide.

Showing Kevin Lee Some Real Diving

Kevin Lee has dived all over the world, including each pole. His photos are extraordinary. We felt it was time to get him back into real diving, with real surge and real backscatter. We met up at the Cabrillo Beach boat launch in San Pedro.
This is not Kevin;

Our first dive was on the wreck of the African Queen as it is commonly called. Only Patrick Smith knows the real name. :)
The vertical visibility was great. We could see the wreck sitting in ninety feet from around forty feet. Horizontal vis was less than desirable.

We then beat our way through the wind chop to White Point Rock. Visibility was poor, and even shooting macro was difficult. Keving probably got National Geographic quality shots. I got these;

After diving with us, Kevin will never enjoy the tropics again.

Birds, Snails, Nudis And Whales...And A Little Dolphin Porn

We got our butts kicked by the swells last Saturday. Sunday's planned dives with photographer extraordinaire Kevin Lee were cancelled after checking conditions. We were bummed. On Monday, we decided to push our luck and bounce our way to the Redondo Barge. A Brown pelican and a Night Heron warned us to stay in the harbor, but we didn't listen.

Despite the rough surface conditions, visibility on the barge was a nice twenty feet.
Two sea lions played with us for awhile, then left us alone to look for tiny friends.

Dirona picta

Cadlina modesta

Tritonia festiva

Simnia Delonovolva aequalis

Red Gorgonian

Vermilion rockfish

Senoritas pecking at skeleton shrimp

Merry shooting a Tritonia festiva

Some crustaceans

After returning to the horrors of the above-water world we spotted six Blue Whales and a pod of Common dolphin. A few of the dolphins were displaying curious behavior. They would swim upside down against the genitals of another dolphin. Hmmm.

Silt And Swells

Three to five feet swells at five second intervals. Not the kind of news you want to read before a dive, but we wanted to check out conditions before a big dive day tomorrow. We pounded our way around the peninsula, seeking any shelter from the SW swells. We tucked into the Garden Spot, a small reef between Marineland and Abalone Cove. The bottom here is silty, so any water movement makes for a difficult day of photography. Today was no exception. Most of my shots were nothing but backscatter, but I was able to clear up a few with the help of Photoshop.

Triopha catalinae with a Blackeye Goby buddy

Diaulula sandiegensis

Serpula columbiana

Mating pair of Mexichromis porterae

Flabellina iodinea with a small Diophorodoris lirulatocauda

Such a big name for a tiny nudibranch

Marineland Platform SMB

I've placed plastic milk cartons as marker buoys on the Marineland Platform a couple of times and they were removed within a few days. After a squid boat dragged the platform last year, fouling it with a ton of net and killing a ton of animals, I knew I had to mark it again. This time I used a real buoy. I hope it will serve two purposes. I'd like to inform fishermen of the danger of setting a net there, and make it an accessible dive for Marineland beach divers again.
The platform is in seventy-five feet a few hundred yerad off the end of the 120 Reef. It's about the same distance as swimming from the cove to the Point.
The platform is a former floating dock similar to the fuel docks in harbors.

Merry and the new buoy

A couple of visitors approved of the new buoy

As for our dive, we arrived to find a plankton layer on the surface. We expected to see brown water down to at least forty feet, but instead it was only three feet thick. We had a nice twenty-five feet of vis all the way to the bottom. Among the critters who call the platform home are crabs, small fish, anemones, barnacles and nudibranchs.
My efforts from today;

Flabellina trilineata

Corynactis californica

Decorator crab

Monterey dorid

Merry's video from last year

Surge, Choppy Seas And Backscatter. Great Dive!

We went out to the Redondo Barge to get an update on the new octopus eggs this afternoon. The ocean was choppy enough that we dropped the second we reached the anchor rode. There was a persistant current throughout the dive with some surge thrown in for good measure. It was difficult to shoot macro with red algae flowing back and forth in front of our subjects. Still, it was a great dive. We had twenty feet vis and only one sea lion chasing fish.
The eggs look good, but the octopus was gone. I'm hoping it was just hiding nearby. She left a Rough Patch shrimp to babysit for her.

Painted Greenling

Rock scallop

Orange Cup Coral

I looked at the rock where we found the Cadlina modesta nudibranch last week. It was still there, but it had a couple of visitors.

I saw a tiny bump near the nudi and took a couple shots, hoping it wasn't just algae or rust. I was surprised to see the World's tiniest Dirona picta.

Long Day For A Half Hour Dive

We needed to get gas, so rather than pay $5.53 per gallon at King Harbor we set out for Los Angeles Harbor, where we saved more than a hundred dollars. We picked up Charlie Bartleson at the Cabrillo boat launch and headed for the fuel dock. The Ocean Defenders Alliance boat, Clearwater passed by. We waved, but they didn't see us. Perhaps they were mesmorized by the avian life at the dock.

After receiving a watery salute by the Los Angeles Fire Department we headed for the wreck of the African Queen. Pat Smith tells me that's not the actual name of the wreck, but I haven't found the true identity.

We only found one of the wolfeels today, and despite our gift of frozen squid, he wouldn't come out to play.

The propeller is beginning to resemble a Christmas tree. I need to leave the camera on the boat next time and work on cleaning it up.

Bow of the wreck

Charlie surveys the wreck

California scorpionfish were all over the wreck

Token metridium shots

We had glassy seas this morning from Marineland to Long Beach, but during our 36 minute dive the wind came up, giving us a bumpy, wet ride home.

Barking On The Barge

Patrick Smith and Cindy Shaw joined us for dives on the Redondo Barge and Haggerty's Crane. Several sea lions waited very impatiently for us to get in the water. They cavorted with us the entire dive. I was set up for macro on this dive, so no pics.
Within a minute of dropping on the barge I found more octopus eggs. Octomom moved out of the way long enough for me to get three shots. These eggs are new without embryos, so we get to watch them develop this time.

Merry spotted another blob on the same rock she found a Hallaxa chani nudibranch on earlier. This time the blob was a Cadlina modesta, another first-time sighting for us.

Our next dive was on the crane off Haggerty's. This time I set up for wide angle, but none of my shots were in focus. When I got home I noticed that the lens had been switched to manual focus. Without focus gear there was nothing to do under water but look around.
I spotted a harbor seal a few times and Patrick got a couple shots of a giant sea bass. My only shot worth posting is Merry looking at the moray eel.

Attack On A Navy Vessel On 9/11

We rushed home from the SDUFEX film festival in La Jolla so that we could check up on the red octopus eggs at the Landing Craft. About half of them have hatched. While photographing two trilineatas I was sudddenly attacked by a red menace. It turned out to be Commodore Andy who had arrived to join us. I showed him the eggs and the juvenile giant sea bass, but I missed the three large GSBs that Merry spotted again.

Red Menace looking for divers to stick

Andy and I have a long discussion about molecular physics

Terror of the Deep

Our little buddy comes out to play. Poor vis doesn't go well with a 60mm lens. I was set up for octopus eggs.

Spanish Shawl

Hairy little hermit crab

Cuthona divae laying eggs next to hedgehog hydroids

Trilineata twins out for a walk

Pyrosoma

Triopha catalinae

The red octopus, octopus rubescens population is about to go up.

Incredible Day At The Rust Heap

If you had told me a few years ago that I would be diving the Redondo Barge and the Landing Craft frequently I would have bet against it. I found these sites to be boring and devoid of any interesting marine life...Then I got a camera.
We went back to the landing craft this afternoon to try for better images of the octopus eggs Merry found on Labor Day. The two octopus were gone. I presume they died and were eaten since their offspring appear ready to hatch soon. After giving the embryos epilepsy with all the strobe flashes I looked around the wreck for any other subjects. I found the juvenile giant seabass in the same hole it was in two weeks ago. As I settled down to set up my shot he got camera shy and bolted. He brushed against my camera, but not before I fired off a premature shot.
I heard some strange sounds coming from Merry and looked to see that a cormorant had rubbed against her leg while in search of some fresh seafood. I couldn't get a shot with my 60mm lens, but he remained on the wreck for more than a minute. I wish I could free dive that well.
For Merry's latest trick, she surprised me again with another new find. She pointed out a small file clam swimming along the rusty deck. I did my Chris Grossman impression and took a ton of shots of it. I was surprised at how much they bounce around.
We've made two new discoveries on consecutive dives at the Landing Craft. Add those to the four GSBs we've seen and it's becoming a decent site to dive on. Don't tell anyone I said that.

The Ocean Hates Us

I was looking forward to this weekend. I don't get much time off work, and three days meant a chance to get in some diving. On Saturday the fog, wind and swells kept us out of the water. We went out Sunday, but probably should not have. The swells were close together so we made a short, bumpy run to the Redondo barge. Six sea lions played with us the entire dive but I was set up for macro photography. I didn't find many subjects and came home empty handed.
This morning the winds were back. We took one look at the ocean and went home. After a few hours, the wind died down so we gave it another shot. We headed to the Hermosa artificial reefs, but it was too rough for diving. After bouncing around for awhile, I decided to check out conditions at the landing craft off Malaga Cove. It was diveable, but not great.
We dropped down and watched the vis disappear. The swells had stirred the sandy bottom, and I had little hope for any photos today. I concentrated on getting close to tiny subjects until Merry came over with exciting news. She found two, count them, two octopus with eggs! Neither of us had ever seen one.
Most of our shots were filled with backscatter, but we were able to salvage a couple shots.

Flabellina trilineata

Zoanthids on gorgonian

Cuthona divae laying eggs next to a hedgehog hydroid, hydractinia milleri

Two octopus with eggs. I couldn't fit both clusters of eggs in the frame with my 60mm lens in that visibility.

Cephalopod nursery

Attempts 3, GSB 0

After finding four giant sea bass on the Landing Craft last week we couldn't wait to try again with a wide angle setup. We went out after work on Tuesday, but the strong winds and ripping current made us turn around once we got there. On Saturday the wind and swells kept us on land. We had a memorial service to go to today, so we snuck in a quick dive this morning before the wind came up. No GSBs were spotted but the dive was interesting.
We dropped into dirty water and were greeted at 23 feet by a thermocline that dropped the temperature from 71F at the surface to 53F rather quickly. My lips were numb for the next 61 minutes. Visibility was poor for the first half of the dive, but as high tide arrived we suddenly could see thirty feet vertically and about fifteen feet horizontally.
Fish and crabs kept us busy while we waited for the GSBs that never came. At one point the fish made a beeline for us. I though for sure we were going to see some big fish now. Unfortunately, it was just a free diver scaring the fish away.

Double Down on the Landing Craft. Four GSBs!

After reading reports of good conditions at Hawthorne Reef yesterday I decided to try for some wide angle shots of the reef structure and the large Lingcods. Naturally, we had fifteen feet of murky vis. I took a few shots, but spent most of the dive spotting macro subjects for Merry.

Several replica Chinese catamarans cruised the area this weekend. After our dive we checked one out.

We planned to make a second dive at the drainpipe near Rocky Point, but fishing boats in the area dampened our spirits. Merry suggested the Landing Craft again. This time, I set up for macro, hoping to find the tiny snails and crabs we saw yesterday. While looking in a hole I spotted a juvenile Giant Sea Bass, about a foot long. I went over to get Merry so she could get some wide angle of it, but when I got to her, she had three adult GSBs within a couple of feet of her. She had her macro lens on at the time, but the sighting alone made her day.

A Bad Day of Fishing is Not Necessarily Better Than a Good Day at Work

We heard a report of a fishing boat taking on water off Marineland this morning as we were a couple miles away. By the time we got there a Sheriff helicopter, two Baywatch boats and the Coast Guard were already on scene. They pumped water from the small boat and towed it back to Los Angeles Harbor. We were hoping for a new wreck dive site.
The swells were large and the intervals were short along the west side of Palos Verdes this morning. We were looking for better conditions on the south side, but it was choppy and green all the way to San Pedro. We felt that there would be no diving this weekend, and we hadn't seen any whales either, so it was a wasted gas day. After nearly three hours on the water we headed back around Rocky Point to find flatter seas than when we left. Merry suggested diving the landing craft off Malaga Cove.
We dropped into limited vis, but it improved to about fifteen feet as we approached the wreck. I was set up for wide angle, so it was going to be a challenge getting anything with the sand stirred up in the water. As I was taking shots of blacksmith on the wreck, two Giant Sea Bass cruised past me. I only had time to fire off a couple of quick shots before they faded into the gloom.
I showed my pictures to Merry, then went around to the other end of the wreck, where I found a large torpedo ray resting in the sand. After taking a few pictures I took Merry over for a turn. When I tried for a close up, he decided he'd had enough and got out of Dodge.
I later found some fish eggs with no one guarding them. Merry got some nice shots of them, as well as a large coffee bean snail.
It turned into a nice dive day after all. I would prefer flatter seas and clearer water, but it was better than being at work.

Looking the wheelhouse with the starboard engine in the center

Blacksmith at the wheelhouse

Camera-shy Ocean Whitefish

How do you like your eggs?

Cleat

Sheep crab

Two GSBs

Garibaldi guarding his nest

Cabezon, garibaldi, blacksmith and rock wrasse living together. It's crazy!

Merry sneaks up on a Pacific Electric Ray

I'm outta here

Had Enough Of The Barge

I have! I was pretty bored today as the vis was down to fifteen feet after our spectacular dive yesterday. I only took a few photos while swimming around the entire barge. We went offshore after the dive and Merry had a fun jelly dive. After she climbed back aboard she yelled that two Molas were next to the boat. By the time I grabbed a camera we had a dozen. Merry slipped back into the water, but the molas dived before she could see them.
We met Tyler Fenton as we were gearing up. It seems as if everyone is out this weekend.

We had a report of good conditions yesterday from our lookout.

Dave Jensen surfs up behind us on the Disappearance.

Merry is down there somewhere

One of twelve

Here comes the rest of the gang

Merry fires off a shot

Gopher rockfish

Lingcod

I forgot the most exciting part of the day! As Merry was gearing up for her blue water dive, a small salmon shark swam toward the boat. I tried to get close enough for a photo but it dived. We didn't know what species it was until we got home. Merry was just a "little" nervous.

Diving Double Header

Frank Lukowski and Charlie Bartleson joined us today for two dives on the Westside. We began our day with the best visibility we've ever seen on the Redondo Barge. It was easily thirty-five to forty feet. I shot video on the first dive while Merry and Frank flashed strobes constantly. Several small lingcod patrolled the sand, and we even had a couple of jelly sightings.
Our next stop was the crane off Haggerty's. Thwe water was green and full of particulates here. The large kelp forest was gone, leaving barren sand around the barge. Several garibaldi nests had eggs that were nearly fully developed. Charlie shot video on this dive, and got a mating pair of garibaldis. One of the moray eels was in his usual perch, but wouldn't come out, even for the squid we brought with us.

Here's a few of Merry shots.

Finding Hallaxa

We went back to the Redondo Barge in search of the tiny blob Merry found yesterday. We looked in the same area and after a minute of close scrutiny, Merry pointed at a discoloration on a rock. I took a closer look and could almost make out its shape. My macro lens got a better look at it.

Hallaxa chani on bugula. That's my fingertip on the left.

The visibility was down to ten feet, so while Merry worked on the Hallaxa I hovered nearby. I found a Pyrosoma atlanticum being devoured by corynactis anemones and thousands of orange cup corals.

We saw a single sea lion and a batray as we began our ascent. While hanging at twenty feet we had a school of sardines circle us for several minutes. Once we were back at the surface, the fun really began.
A brown pelican kicked over to us, hoping we were fishing. He didn't get any bait from us, but he was very patient.

I grabbed my camera out of the housing and before I could take the first shot, a Mola Mola had surfaced near the pelican. Two beggers and no food to give them.

It's A Zoo Out There

Recently, a number of boisterous sea lions have moved into King Harbor in Redondo Beach. Some seem to have made the move permanant.

Pelicans have also begun to take back the beach.

Our neighbor Larry made sure this halibut was only a temporary resident.

We wanted to seek out smaller animals today. We began our quest in the shallow rocky reefs near Palos Verdes. We gave up after only five minutes due to the surge and poor visibility. We tucked our tails between our legs and headed for the Redondo Barge. This rusting hulk near shore always seems to offer up a couple of surprises. Today we had two sea lions in our faces for the last ten minutes of the dive. It's a bit unnerving trying to hold the camera still near a nudibranch with a two hundred pound puppy charging you.
I found the tiny Metridium senile for the third time. Each time, it has been in a different location. I'd love to be there to see it swim.

Two Pyrosomas floated by in the slow current. The only other thing we saw in mid water was a lot of small brown particles falling from the surface. Hmm...it was right after the sea lions surfaced for air above us. We rinsed our gear right away today.

As for the tiny critters, we had plenty. Barnacles, nudibranchs and bryozoans were the main focus today.

We've been finding this bryozoan growing on gorgonian for the past few weeks. It seems to be a favorite food of the Spanish Shawl.

Merry found a rock with two Pleurobranchaea californica sidegill slugs, a tiny Aegires albopunctatus and an octopus the size of a half dollar. There was also a small orange shrimp that I missed. Hopefully Merry got a shot of it.

I'm hoping to shoot more wide angle soon. Scott and Margaret Webb are in Cozumel. Maybe they will bring us back some clear water.

Hermosa Beach Artificial Reef

Commodore Andy called us and reported 2-6 feet of vis on the African Queen and Olympic II. We had better conditions in Hermosa Beach, but I couldn't seem to get anything in focus today. I managed to Photoshop six images enough for posting, including the World's tiniest Dendronotus iris.
As we approached the bottom, I spotted it atop a tube anemone next to our anchor. He was less than an eighth of an inch long. I later found a larger one, about two inches.

Great Weather For Kite Flying

Merry was in Phoenix all week, so we couldn't wait for the weekend to arrive so we could dive again. We found a tiny Metridium senile on the Redondo Barge last week but I was set up for wide angle. On Saturday I had my 60mm lens ready and all the swell models looked great.
We pounded our way to the barge and decided it was too rough to dive. We headed around the south side of Palos Verdes for more of the same. We wasted so much gas that we had to go into Los Angeles Harbor a week earlier than expected to fill up. We cruised by a couple of the ships from Navy Week in San Pedro, then headed for home.

We fought wind waves all the way home. Our gear was soaked, despite the fact that we never got in the water.
This morning we tried our luck again. The halyards were clanging against their masts and flags were stiff. We went back home and hoped for better conditions next week. After a few hours at home we were bored and decided to try again. We made it to the barge without too much effort. It was rough, but there were no whitecaps yet.
The visibility below the thermocline at thirty-five feet was very nice. I could see the sand from thirty feet above and I could see each end of the barge from the center. The metridium was gone, but I found another in a rusted hole.
The water was 53F at depth, with a nice 62F during our ascent.

Delonovolva aequalis

Metridium senile

Aegires albopunctatus

Flabellina iodinea

I'm hoping for better conditions next weekend. I may have to get Margaret Webb to wave her magic wand over the water.

Tropical Diving Near Long Beach

Scott and Margaret (Good luck charm) Webb joined us for a dive on the African Queen this morning. The water along the south side of Palos Verdes was blue. We were hoping for more of the same off Long Beach, but expecting green harbor water. To our pleasant surprise, it was a beautiful cobalt blue. Scott said the winds that picked up after the dive must have blown it in from the Caribbean.
I've seen blue water in the Horseshoe Kelp area before. It usually goes down to forty feet before turning brown. Today the thermocline was at forty-three feet and although the vis diminished, it was still good enough for wide angle photography.
I dropped the anchor near the propeller of the wreck. There is a new clump of monofiliment net on it since our last dive here.

Behind the propeller is a small wolfeel who allows cameras to get close. He was not there today, instead replaced by a large adult. Margaret, Scott and I took enough shots of him to blind him permantly.

I swam over to the foredeck to shoot some metridiums when I spotted the smaller wolfeel in a new home. I promised Margaret a wolfeel and metridiums but didn't expect to see two.

After what seemed like a three minute dive we ascended back up to the blue, looking for jellies along the way. Merry spotted a Leucothea pulchra at twenty feet. She took some shots while I watched from the anchor line, then I took a turn. By the time I found it I was below forty feet, but you can see in this shot with the boat in the upper right corner that I was still in blue water.

We didn't find any Blue whales as was reported in the Daily Breeze yesterday, but still had a great time.

Snow In July

The ocean was nice and flat this morning as we left Redondo Beach. Salps were drifting just below the surface along the west side of Palos Verdes. The water was clear enough to see them, but it was the color of green harbor water. We headed to the south side looking for anything nice.
Fishing boats were over many of our favorite sites, so I decided to check out Ted's Pinnacle at Marineland. It had been a long time, and I needed a fix.
The surface looked nice. There were a few small salps and we could see down the kelp about ten feet. We dropped through a mild current and watched the visibility drop as we descended. There was a snow storm of particulates in the water, which my camera tried to focus on all day.

Not too bad near the surface

Jesus Blob is hardly recognizable

Our Lady of the Garden in winter garb

The crack on the north side of Ted's Pinnacle. It is usually filled with fish, but only a few sheephead darted in and out today.

This is the rock just to the north of the statue. I usually find Hopkin's Rose nudibranchs here, but there was a larger surprise in store.

We're hoping for better vis tomorrow when we head to Long Beach for Wolfeel, metridium and Blue Whale photos. Hopefully it won't snow.

Nice Conditions On The Barge

We brought our good luck charm Margaret Webb to the barge for another Two Chicks at the Same Time dive, and she delivered good visibility. Tons of macro photo ops today, so naturally I shot wide angle.

MaggieD and Merry on a nudi hunt

Pay no attention to the rusty knees

There be nudis here

This is as close as I could get with 16mm

When the sea lions are away, the fish come out to play

Merry demonstrates the ONLY way to dive. She's been teaching me how to be a better diver. I'm a Doing It Merry's Way In Training, DIMWIT.

Down And Dirty On The Barge

We heard a report of blue water and lots of jellies two miles south of Pt Vicente yesterday so we rushed out there first thing this morning. We found some salps near the surface, but the water was green. We went another mile out but it was still the color of pea soup. After backtracking to the salps I jumped in and began firing away. At twenty feet the soup became thicker. I dropped to sixty-five feet, but all I found was brown muck. Back up to twenty feet, I shot about a hundred shots and managed to get six in focus due to the bioclutter.

Leuckartiara spp.

Cyclosalpa affinis

Mitrocoma cellularia

We checked out a few sites nearshore and decided to look around in the silt storm at the Garden Spot, an offshore reef between Marineland and Abalone Cove. The vis was bad and there was a bottom current, but I was able to get one picture of a mating pair of Mexichromis porterae.

Home on the Barge

After a nice, relaxing road trip we decided to take it easy this weekend and dive locally. We headed to the Redondo Barge only to find dirty green water. A small band of sea lions greeted us so we hoped for great conditions on the wreck. I saw one sea lion under water, but too far away for a picture.
The barge had more nudibranchs than I recall seeing. The south wall was covered with Triopha catalinae and the northeast corner was crawling with Aegires albopunctatus. I was set up for wide angle, so Merry spent all of her dive on the corner.
Without sea lions to keep my attention I was able to observe the usual goings on of the residents. Two lingcods guarded the perimeter of the barge, waiting for stragglers to peek out from underneath.

A large yellow rock crab decided the barge wasn't big enough for his smaller rival. The loser still tried to act tough in front of me.

With no sea lions to bug them, fish were cruising outside the barge. Vermilion rockfish, Blacksmith, Senoritas and even the first two Blue rockfish I've found here went about their business.

I found a tiny Navanax polyalphos, only my second one. I didn't think I could find Merry before it crawled away so I took two shots. It turned out that she was only twenty feet away.

We will probably try the south side of Palos Verdes if we go out tomorrow. The way our dives have been going, I might find something new.

Road Trip, Day Three. Monastery Beach

Chuck Tribolet was correct. The ocean had picked up a bit since yesterday, but it was still manageable. The waves were less than a foot, but the surge was persistant throughout the dive.
We began setting up our gear when Merry asked me where the cameras were. I raced back to the hotel with a feeling of disgust. Back at Monastery we set up gear and noticed another problem. I filled my high pressure 130(3442psi)at Glenn's Aquarius II dive shop at the Monterey breakwater. He looked at the tank and said high pressure. I mentioned the 3442 part. Fifteen minutes and $8 for an airfill later we were on our way. When I hooked up my reg I found that it only had 2700 psi. Grrr! We would not be able to make it all the way to Mono-Lobo Wall. We decided to swim about halfway and make our way back under the kelp.
The visibility was not as nice as it looked yesterday. We could see the sand from twenty feet above, but the horizontal vis was dark and full of broken bits of kelp. The last time I dived here there were rockfish everywhere. I think the darkness and surge kept them away, as we only found one small school of Blues and a few individual fish on the reef.
The rocks had sponges, tunicates and telia anemones that reminded me of the Northern Channel Islands. It's great to make a shore dive and see them. I had trouble getting the camera to focus in the darkness, but managed a few shots.
We're heading for home first thing tomorrow morning with hopes of beating Carmegeddon. If not for that, we would love to make another dive under the Morro Bay T-Pier. Oh well, another trip, another time.

Merry tells the Monster Berries that they can't hurt her!

I wish I had filled my tank in San Luis Obispo.

South Monastery looking very nice.

Lake Pacific yesterday

A gentle reminder of what it can be like here.

Not too bad on the outer edge of the kelp

Sea stars and orange sea cucumbers were everywhere

Road Trip, Day Two. Morro Bay To Carmel

We left Morro Bay after a much needed rest and continued north toward the Monterey peninsula. We stopped for a few minutes to view the elephant seals at Piedras Blancas, visited Pt. Lobos for a few minutes and then enjoyed the Hawaii-like conditions at Monastery Beach. We then headed into Monterey to fill my tank for tomorrow's diving. If conditions are anywhere close to today's I'm expecting one of my better dives.
Here are Merry's images from today.

Merry avoids being eaten by a giant clam

Saying goodbye to Morro Bay

Road Trip, Day One. Morro Bay T-Pier

Merry and I arrived in Morro Bay yesterday and checked out conditions. We talked to the Harbor Master and got permission to make our dive from their dock. It was nice not having to make a surface swim on a beach dive.
Morro Bay is about as laid back as any place on Earth. They have most modern conveniences except for hull cleaners. The boats have artificial reefs growing under them, including the USCG and Harbor Department boats.

Only Psycho Solo Diver is macho enough to go in there

I timed the dive to enter the water just after high tide. There was a strong surface current yesterday, but no problems today. The visibility was only about four feet, but that is plenty for muck diving. The water was a toasty 54F, three degrees higher than we're used to in L.A.
I began by walking down the harbor dock ramp and made an easy seated entry near the end of the pier.

Aegires albopunctatus

Dendronotus frondosus

Triopha catalinae

Polycera atra

Flabellina trilineata with Hermissenda crassicornis in the background

Doris montereyensis

Diaphorodoris lirulatocauda

I had two possible firsts for me. I found two large (four inches) dorids that I first thought were Monterey dorids but they lack the texture and black dots.

I was ready to call it a day after an hour and six minutes when I spotted my first Aeolidia papillosa.

Among the other denizens of the not-so-deep were various anemones, crabs, mollusks and fish.

After ninty-nine minutes under the pier, I made an easy exit on the rocks next to the ramp. We're heading to Monterey tomorrow, but Morro Bay is on my list of sites to return to.

Current Events At Hawthorne Reef

We're heading to Morro Bay on Monday to dive the T pier so we thought we would practice nudibranch photography before we leave. I decided on Hawthorne Reef. I figured it is far enough offshore to get some decent visibility. I figured incorrectly. We had enough current to warrant a granny line to the anchor and flying like flags during our ascent. Even with the strong current, we had eight to ten feet of visibility at best.
I'm hoping the muck diving of Morro Bay will be better.

The current did bring in a few visitors. Despite staying within twenty feet of the anchor I saw four pyrosomas.

The Ocean Gods Played A Trick On Us

We headed back out to the Redondo artificial reef and landing craft for a chance to get wide angle images in the remarkable visibility. The swells were down from yesterday and winds were light, but the visibility was back to normal. We had about half the vis we had yesterday.
We still had a great time. There were Pyrosoma atlanticum floating around the reef, and Merry made a new friend on the landing craft.

Redondo Beach Artificial Reef

It looks like a sea cucumber just finished his seafood platter.

The landing craft

Merry looks for a good spot to photograph her new dive buddy

Not everyone wants to be friends

He tried to follow Merry home, but had trouble climbing the chain. He did try, though.

Independence From Bad Dives

With the prospect of another holiday weekend of bad dive conditions Merry and I headed to the southside of Palos Verdes yesterday in search of the blue water we had seen offshore last week. It wasn't there. It wasn't anywhere. We settled for the Marineland platform and found five to eight feet of visibility. The tiny nudibranchs and California scorpionfish that once called the place home have moved on. I was only able to capture two decent photos.

We decided to stay close to home today and go nudi hunting on a rockpile in the Redondo Beach Artificial Reef. The surface looked like a bowl of lime Jello. We dropped in, expecting the green murk to follow us to the bottom where we would thumb the dive. At twenty-five feet we were greeted by a pleasant surprise. My lips and Merry's cheeks suddenly felt as if they were being stabbed by tiny needles. The water temperature dropped from 67F to 51F instantly. Once we made it to the reef the Arctic blast had brought in clear water and we had close to thirty feet of visibility. I can't remember the last time I saw more than fifteen feet.
The unexpected visibility made me wish I had set up the camera for wide angle, but I was able to focus on larger subjects from a couple feet away, even with a 60mm lens in a flat port.

After warming up a bit we headed for the crane off Haggerty's. There was a fishing boat on it so I decided to try the landing craft nearby. I hadn't dived there in several years. The last dive I made there involved towing Ross and Beth Overstreet in circles around the wreck, laughing at what a nothing little dive site it was.
I learned something about myself today. Now that I have a camera instead of a scooter I appreciate the small animals and plants much more. I enjoyed every minute on the landing craft today. It was larger than I remembered and was full of life. I hope to never again think of a reef covered in life as nothing to see.
The visibility was twenty-five feet, so we will make a return trip tomorrow, this time with a wide angle lens.

Conditions Improving?

We had two feet of vis on the Star of Scotland yesterday. I managed to fire off two quick shots of a small giant sea bass before it disappeared.

This morning we tried our luck on the south side of Palos Verdes. We found blue water less than a quarter mile from shore, but the four foot swells kept us from getting in the water. It was a bit calmer at White Point Rock, although the water was a little browner. I knew my wide angle shots wouldn't come out, but tried anyway.

Devil And The Deep Blue Sea

Between illness and lousy conditions I had only made one dive in the past seventy-eight days. I had to get out today or else I would have to take up knitting, or go on a killing spree. My chest cold cleared up a few days ago, but it appears the ocean hasn't.
Merry and I headed several miles offshore so I could have a turn at being a teabag looking for jellies. We found a spot with a strong current and fairly clear water so I inflated my liftbag and jumped in. The upper seventeen feet was light blue with very little to see so I dropped to where I found about twenty species of gelatinous critters. The visibility was very poor, about five feet, and most of the animals I saw were less than a quarter of an inch long. Naturally, I was set up for wide angle. I did the best with what I had to work with.
We motored up to the Star of Scotland for our next dive, but aborted after only a few minutes due to the two feet of vis at the stern. We're diving the T-pier in Morro Bay next month. I think the vis will be better for that muck dive than what we've had here.

Commodore Andy Has All The Fun

Merry and I are still too sick to dive, but well enough to run the Moby Kate while Andy dived. During the surface intervals we were entertained by dolphins, pelicans and purple-striped jellies. Andy reported mediocre vis on the Star of Scotland and nearby rockpiles, but the ocean was calm and we had a great time, even though no juvenile Great Whites were spotted.

In Case You Haven't Had Enough Barge Stuff

Merry wanted to go back to the Redondo Barge today to shoot video of the fried egg jellies, Phacellophora Camtschatica. Our neighbor at the marina warned us about rough conditions but we decided to try anyway. He was right. We bounced our way at half speed to the artificial reef. Whenever we need the wipers on early in the morning, it's probably a day to stay inside.
We had a difficult time gearing up and couldn't wait to get in the water. Once we dropped below the surface it was like a different day. We had the same bluish water at the surface as yesterday, but this time it reached all the way to the bottom. No chunks floating by, no brown mid-water and I was set up for macro. Naturally.
I made the most of it by finding an Acanthodoris rhodoceras and several tiny Aegires albupunctatus on the barge. Merry shot video of the jellies while a few sea lions hovered over her head. She held her ground and refused to give in to those camera hogs.

Aegires albupunctatus

Hermissenda crassicornis

Tritonia festiva

Acanthodoris rhodoceras

Merry's video

Chunky Soup With A Side Of Jelly

Frank and Charlie joined us this morning for a quick run to the Redondo barge. Three sea lions waited patiently for us to gear up.

The surface water was fairly clear, the mid water was not and the bottom had about twenty feet plus, but it was full of chunks. I took photos of divers interacting with jellies and sea lions, but most of them were pretty horrible. I realized that I need to get even closer when shooting wide angle or else find better vis.

Jellin' On The Barge

Margaret, Merry and I went back to the Redondo Barge this afternoon to try our luck again. The wind chop made the surface a little rougher than yesterday and visibility was down, but we had a great time. I spent most of the dive freeing egg yolk jellies trapped on the barge while Merry got some incredible photos of an Acanthodoris rhodoceras. Margaret was smarter than we were. She spent her time in the sand, where she had less backscatter to deal with. Her photos look like they were shot on a different day.

My feeble attempts...

Afternoon Delight. Two Chicks At The Same Time

I raced out to the Redondo Barge after work this afternoon with Merry Passage and Margaret Webb as my buddies. Well, they were until I saw a large egg yolk jelly, Phacellophora Camtschatica. I tried to get decent shots despite the bioclutter in the water. I drifted with the jelly for a few minutes until I realized I was on the cement blocks and pier pilings rather than the barge. I looked around for a few minutes and decided to make the best of it. The visibility wasn't bad, but it was difficult to get wide angle shots on the reef. MaggieD and Merry made it to the barge, where they found more jellies stuck on gorgonians.
Once we were all back onboard I spotted a jelly on the surface. Merry took shots of it. Hopefully she will post them.

A Day At The (snail) Races

We tried to go diving this morning but the swells were twice the size as the models said and much closer together. We got about a hundred yards and turned around. We decided to clean the boat again, only this time we actually cleaned it.

Of course, cleaning the boat means grabbing the camera to "inspect" the bottom. After finding my first Gould's bubble snail last week I was shocked to find two dozen today. They were everywhere!

The race is on

This one had a mucus web, much like a navanax makes.

All smiles.

Look Ma, no teeth.

What big eyes you have.

Another surprise was finding two tiny rainbow nudibranchs on a small tube anemone.

Nearby was a Dendronotus frondusus, another new find in the muck. It seems as if the population changes every time I dive...I mean clean here.

Some of the regulars were still around.

Rictaxis punctocaelatus

Hermissenda crassicornis with a fresh growth of new cerata after meeting with Mr. Navanax.

Octopus with dinner

Aeolidiella oliviae with bryozoan

Muck Diving At Marineland

We went to Marineland early this morning in search of Rainbow nudibranchs, Dendronotus iris. We dropped down in a very familiar spot, right where we had seen dozens of them before. We spent more than an hour in surge and twelve feet visibility with no luck. I did find more than two dozen Cuthona divaes. I saw what I thought was two on the same hydroid, but it turned out to be a single animal next to four tailing each other. Near the end of the dive I found one laying eggs. The surge and 51F water was getting to me, so I only got one decent shot.
Merry conducted an experiment today. She's been planning for a year to plant fish kabobs in the sand, leave the area and see what shows up later. It didn't take long before Kellet's whelks, sand stars and our old mantis buddy took an interest. Next time, we'll bury the bait deeper.

Fish kabobs

Brittle star on bryozoan

Polycera tricolor

Cuthona divae

Another Boat Cleaning Report

The water was a little dirty in the marina today, but I managaed to find several nudibranchs and my first Gould's bubble snail in the silt.

Bulla gouldiana

Janolus barbarensis

Diaulula sandiegensis

Aegiris albopunctatus rearing its ugly head

Hermissenda crassicornis

Navanax inermis with two Prostheceraeus bellostriatus

Navanax inermis egg mass on a tunicate

I found two dozen Aeolidiella oliviae crawling around. I usually find one or two.

Aeolidiella oliviae

As we were leaving, we saw the Marine Mammal Rescue Unit trying to find an easy way to rescue a sick sea lion.

African Queen

It was time to see how much money we could throw into the ocean today, so on our way to fill up our gas tanks we headed out to the wreck of the African Queen. The wreck is a steel hull sailboat now laying in ninty feet a few miles off Long Beach. Ocean Defenders Alliance recently removed most of the fishing nets from the site.
The upper thirty feet of water was a dirty green with only a few feet of visibility. We descended right over the deck and marvelled as the metridiums came into view. Visibility on the wreck was a decent twenty feet plus. Water pemperature was a toasty 50F.
My first shot of the huge propeller was an attempt at ambient light photography...actually, I forgot to turn on the strobes.

It looks much nicer when lit.

A small wolfeel has moved into the hole where a larger one used to reside.

Bow of the African Queen

Yellow crab living in crowded conditions

Squid have recently visited the wreck as well

Despite the lack of current, most of the metridiums were open.

Enough Surge And Low Visibility. I'm Back At Marineland

I took the day off to relax after our three day trip to the Northern Channel Islands, so I decided to get in a quick local dive. The top twenty feet at Marineland looked very clear, but the bottom was down to eight feet vis. Oh well, time for a nudi hunt. Merry got some great shots while I seemed to be in a dust cloud. I managed to find a Hermissenda doing its impression of Donald Trump.

Three Days, Three Islands

We just got home after a three day trip to San Miguel, Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Islands. Weather forecasts did not look good before the trip, but despite the wind and surge we saw only a few sprinkles on Friday morning.
Most of the passengers spent the three days hiking, so that left the deck open for a handful of divers. On Friday we dived Hare Rock, Prince Island and Judge Rock at San Miguel. Visibility was low and the surge was strong so I only shot a few macro photos.

On Saturday we attempted a dive at East Point Canyons, Santa Rosa Island but surfaced after only fourteen minutes. The surge pushed us twenty-five feet in either direction and wouldn't let up. We relaxed on the boat the rest of the day.
This morning we made two dives on the Spirit of America wreck near Scorpion Anchorage, Santa Cruz Island. When I heard Patrick Smith announce we were diving a wreck I switched to a wide angle setup. My shots came out okay despite the bio-clutter in the water column, but the wreck is covered with so many different species of nudibranchs, sponges, snails and shrimp that I would love to make several more dives on the wreck shooting macro. I tried a few close up shots of macro subjects with an eight inch dome port with varying results.

Special thanks to Captain Andy for setting up the trip and to all his friends and neighbors for making the trip fun. Extra special thanks to our new dive buddy Breanne. She's an intern on the Vision who came here from Nova Scotia by way of British Columbia. She had great fascination for the animals we found because it was all new to her. She's made over 120 dives since getting certified last September and looks like a seasoned pro under water. Her spirit and infectious laugh kept us smiling all weekend. She even carried much of our gear back to the car. Merry said we could adopt her.

More Muck Diving Photos

I had one more tank to empty before heading to the dive shop so I decided to make one more short dive under my boat. I didn't turn on the camera before descending and it cost a life. As I neared the bottom after struggling to turn on the camera I saw a navanax about to devour a hermissenda. Normally I would rescue the little guy, but I barely had time to fire off one shot before he was half the nudi he used to be. I resigned myself to observe nature without interfering. After feasting on the hermissenda the navanax headed up the piling. I saw a Janolus barbarensis on my way down but couldn't find it later. I think the navanax will be burping all night.

I found two Rictaxis punctocaelatus in the silt. One had recently laid eggs but I missed out on the shot. I need to ask my boss if I can just stay home and dive all day.

On Saturday I found my first Aeolidiella oliviae but had the wrong lens to prove it. As my spg was screaming at me to ascend today I spotted him and quickly fired off three shots. With a little more air and time I might have waited for the camera to focus.

Among the other nudibranchs crawling all over the place were more Hermissenda crassicornis

Aegires albopunctatus

a Polycera atra laying eggs

and several Prostheceraeus bellostriatus flatworms