Hitchhiking Octopus Today was a very good day to go diving (see pic below).
Today's Swell Forecast
Plus, some video taping took place for the "How to Safely Shore Dive Monastery Beach" dive video that Doc Wong is putting together. Dave (the owner of the boat) was taking part in the dive video, so we dropped him off just 50 feet from Monastery beach, so he could do a one-way dive to shore. As we motored off Monastery Beach, we saw Chuck Tribolet on his Boston Whaler, also waiting to take part in the dive video.
When we came back after our first dive to pick Dave up, we discovered he had not met up with the rest of the videotape crew. We learned that the video was taking place on a different part of the beach. Dave swam to shore and waited around for nothing. Despite this miscommunication, it was still a nice, mellow day to go diving.
Dive #1: Moss Cove (Cumulative Dive #157)Max Depth: 86 feet
Time: 0:30 minutes
Buddies: Mark
Temperature: Oceanic Computer 41 deg. F (47 deg. F)
Visibility: 30 feet
Weight worn: 24 lbs (20 on weight belt)
Observations:
This site sits just outside the Point Lobos Marine Reserve border, and therefore showcases a runoff of fish life from the sanctuary. We weren't disappointed, and saw a school of black rockfish hanging out at the top of this sharp ridgeline. We also saw:
- Acanthadoris hudsoni
- Diaulula sandiegensis
- a small furry and white nudibranch
- a China Rockfish,
- some unusual white sea urchins with red tips
- orange kelp greenling?
- a sea anemone eating a moon jelly
The site was also replete with abundant strawberry anemones, featherduster worms, hydrocorals, orange sea cucumbers and sponges.
Upon surfacing, Gary dumped a beer can he found underwater into a bucket on the boat. We found out, however, that that was not all that he had salvaged. A small octopus had made it's home inside the can, and was attempting to crawl out of the bucket (see first pic above). After taking a few pictures of the octopus, we dropped it back into the ocean, where it bade us farewell with a couple of squirts of ink.
Dive #2: Local's Ledge (Cumulative Dive #158)Max Depth: 90 feet
Time: 0:33 minutes
Buddies: Mark, Gary, Dave M., Dan B.
Temperature: Oceanic Computer 41 deg. F (47 deg. F)
Visibility: 40 feet
Weight: 20 lbs (all on belt)
Observations:
This site is known for its narrow channel topography, prompting a high flow of nutrients courtesy of the Venturi effect, according to Dave's dive briefing (ah, don't you love engineering speak). The nutrients were in evidence, for every inch of the channels we swam through was plastered with technicolor strawberry anemones, hydrocoral, orange cup coral and sponges. Running into the yellow caution zone on our nitrogen loading meters prompted us to return to the boat, although I wish we could have stayed longer.
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