John and I dove Santa Barbara Island yesterday with Reefseekers Dive Company (http://www.Reefseekers.com) Yes...they are STILL in business for those inquiring minds. Beautiful conditions, great viz, great company as usual. First stie: Blacks Cavern 95' for 40 minutes. John and I dropped down and entered the Cavern exploring all of it's nooks and crannies. John was taking pics and I was looking for bugs. Unfortunately, all the bugs were well out of reach. Saw plenty of the usual suspects including a 'lone' Metridium coming out the backside in about 70' of water. Second Site: Pseudo Island/ Black's Cove Another beautiful dive with rock faces, kelp, and fissures to explore. Lots of Sea Lions in the water with us this time. Spotted a Porter's nudi the size of my pinky fingernail; scattered Spanish Shawl's all over. Dive was mostly uneventful. Third Dive: SE Kelp Awesome dive! We were greeted by tons of playful sea lions on the surface and underwater, many posing for those special shots. John and I found a cave/ swim through in which John was able to grab 2 nice sized bugs. I got one, but it was 'just there' as being legal, so I let it go...just in case. Had a great dive exploring the walls, diving with the sea lions and a lone Harbor Seal shyfully joined the fun. John was low on air, so we headed toward the boat. I had lots of air, so stayed to play with the sea lions. Next thing I knew, John came towards me with a weight belt and wanted me to bring it to the surface. I vented my BC all the way, and couldn't even get off the bottom. This was too risky I thought, so I left it to get a lift bag. We were able to retrieve the weight belt, and all was good...or almost. The weight belt had come off of a diver in which we believe she took it off at the swim step. It then fell down, grazing John and hitting his camera housing. It actually broke his shutter button on the housing, but more importantly, that John wasn't hurt in the process!

said Artistic_Treasures 2007.03.03 at 17:24:22 PST

Shaw's Cove, North Laguna Beach California Saturday 2/24/07 Surf: 0-1' Swell: minimal Surge: 3-5' in some spots Viz: 10-15' murky in some spots Temp: 57 degrees Bottom Time: 50 minutes Max Depth: 47' Buddied up with Robert from South Coast Divers (http://www.southcoastdivers.com). Due to recent rains, Shaw's looked like the place to be. Entered without incident. Dropped down just before the Arch. Noticed quite a few Sea Hares scattered about; a six legged Bat Star (they normally have 5); JV Girabladi's (California's State Marine Fish). Entered the Arch and found a Tylodina fungina right away along with dozen's of Hopkins Rose Nudibranchs, the most I have even seen since I have been diving. Exited the Arch and made our way south on the Reef. Continued to see various marine life. Oddly, we spotted a female sheephead that had a Spear Hole ripped through her Dorsal Fin. Oddly, she seemed to be managing well, swimming around leading a fish's life. Unfortunately, I could not get a picture of her...too quick! Spotted two Moray eels in close proxemity with each other. Then one eel went over and joined the other eel which was not happy with his new room mate. He made several attempts to bite the intruder to no avail. You see, the intruder was the one that was posing for pics! Robert and I continued on and we decided to venture further into the reef exploring vast walls and crevices leading us to the very southern end of the reef. As we turned around, I noticed an octopuss tucked away in the rock. The 'Octo Eyed' is one of my favorite shots to date. I hope you enjoy my photos as much as I enjoyed taking them! Stay tuned for more.

said Artistic_Treasures 2007.02.24 at 21:58:57 PST