Wednesday, October 03, 2012
REEF Opportunities
Last year I became more familiar with the local Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) outreach and am hoping to begin working with the annual fish count (as soon as I get back in the water!). It looks like there is already some great work going on in the Puget Sound. An blog article came up earlier this year, giving a terrific description of the REEF program and why it's good to participate. For more information about volunteering in your area, you can go directly to the REEF site here.
Tuesday, October 02, 2012
Puget Sound Diving & Philippines 2013 trip
I guess I'm having trouble getting back in the water. Not only did I not get a chance to go diving in August while in Palawan, but I've been back to the Puget Sound for almost exactly a year now and haven't gotten back in the water. Worse, this will be the first time that I've been able to dive up in this beautiful area with a dry suit! I am definitely looking for some dive buddies that are interested in enjoying some cold water diving in the Hood Canal, at Edmonds, or up in Anacortes. Here's a fun sketch of a diver at Edmonds. Any takers?
Also, I'm going to start posting information for a 2013 Philippines trip here soon. Keep a look out for a summer dive trip in Palawan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Great White Shark Cage Diving?
So, my little brother wants me to take him cage diving off the coast of California on one of these Farallon Islands tours. I've been hemming and hawing because I have never really wanted to swim in chum infested waters while trying to catch a glimpse of a Great White in the water with me at the same time. Don't get me wrong, I love to see sharks while diving and have in the Channel Islands and in the Philippines, but these were 1. not Great Whites and 2. in their natural environment. Plus, I'm still torn on the "controversy" of cage diving and chumming in general. Is this a good idea? What say you?
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Lake Tahoe Fun Dives!
Going to Tahoe this weekend for some camping and fun dives with Dive N Trips! Really looking forward to it, I haven't been diving in Tahoe before. Always a great group of people with Dive N Trips and an opportunity to get your Altitude Specialty, for those interested.
I don't think I'll have a camera yet, but will try to take pictures of the motley crew. See ya on the other side of the water!
I don't think I'll have a camera yet, but will try to take pictures of the motley crew. See ya on the other side of the water!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Otter Release on Saturday
Monterey Bay Aquarium released a young, surrogate reared otter on Saturday - good luck #451!!
See the full story here.
This is a good article to share with the dive instructors at Breakwater because many of them are not "otter friendly" after our good, but yet unidentified, friend continues to go out and play with/pop multiple dive floats on any given weekend.
I did call the aquarium about this strange behavior and they encouraged the dive community to stay patient - breakwater is the otter's home, not the divers!! They also stated that the oft repeated myth that the otter that frequents breakwater is a released otter from the aquarium is not true - this is a wild otter and has not been raised by humans or surrogates in the aquarium. This wild otter could be showing sings of aggression towards the divers by popping the floats or could have simply learned that "floats are fun" all on it's own.
See the full story here.
This is a good article to share with the dive instructors at Breakwater because many of them are not "otter friendly" after our good, but yet unidentified, friend continues to go out and play with/pop multiple dive floats on any given weekend.
I did call the aquarium about this strange behavior and they encouraged the dive community to stay patient - breakwater is the otter's home, not the divers!! They also stated that the oft repeated myth that the otter that frequents breakwater is a released otter from the aquarium is not true - this is a wild otter and has not been raised by humans or surrogates in the aquarium. This wild otter could be showing sings of aggression towards the divers by popping the floats or could have simply learned that "floats are fun" all on it's own.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Diving with the Cypress Sea
Went diving with my awsome dive buddy Kerrie on Saturday. She booked us for three dives on the Cypress Sea, a dive charter out of San Jose. The crew was terrific. "Captain Phil" was very fun and interactive. He made everyone laugh and ease up immediately and was also clearly knowledgable about the dive locations and diving in general.
The water was pretty calm, so we went to three terrific dive sites. The first was about 50-120ft atol just outside of Pt. Lobos, though I can't remember the name. So pretty! Beautiful California Hydrocorals, brittle stars, loads of anemone, a giant spider crab, decorator crabs, comb jellies, hundreds of "sea lemon" nudibranchs and their eggs - because their my favorite, here's an excerpt from the Monterey Aquarium about them:
"A sea lemon, like all nudibranchs, can produce both sperm and eggs (it’s hermaphroditic). Since nudibranchs live only about one year, the ability to mate with any other nudibranch increases their chances of reproducing. Females lay circular, light yellow ribbons containing as many as 2,000,000 eggs; only 99% of the resulting larvae survive. In Monterey Bay, the spawning season is from November to March
Sea lemons breathe through the rosette of gills on their back. Nudibranchs that have this arrangement of gills are in a family called dorids.
Because the neurons of sea lemons are larger and easier to access than human neurons, researchers find sea lemons useful in their studies of nerve cells. In addition, the abundance of sea lemons makes their collection for research feasible."
There was also a ton of jelly fish in the water at this site. Becuase I was unable to get my camera to work for this trip (sob!), here is a youtube video of a "Fried Egg" jellyfish, like several of those that we saw:
The second site was the "Outer Butterfly" in front of Carmel Beach. So many of the pink anemones, sun stars, spot prawns, porecelein crabs, sea cucumbers, needle fish, everything! Really beautiful and the boat dropped us right on the spot.
The third site was "Fire Rock" closer in to Monterey. This site had an excellent combination of shallow and deep rocks, crevices, and pinnacles and "Captain Phil" had us exactly in divers paradise. I had a new dive buddy for the third dive and he was great. We both dropped down to about 60 feet and gradually worked our way up and around the first pinnacle to just explore and take our time. Another great dive!
Here is someone's great video of Outer Butterfly:
From the boat on the return to Monterey, we were able to watch a pod of what I think were Risso's Dolphins. Here is the description of the Risso's Dolphin from the NOAA website:
Risso's dolphins, sometimes called "gray dolphins," have a robust body with a narrow tailstock. These medium sized cetaceans can reach lengths of approximately 8.5-13 feet (2.6-4 m) and weigh 660-1,100 pounds (300-500 kg). Males and females are usually about the same size. They have a bulbous head with a vertical crease, and an indistinguishable beak. They have a tall, "falcate", sickle-shaped dorsal fin located mid-way down the back. Calves have a dark cape and saddle, with little or no scarring on their body. As Risso's dolphins age, their coloration lightens from black, dark gray or brown to pale gray or almost white. Their bodies are usually heavily scarred, with scratches from teeth raking between dolphins, as well as circular markings from their prey (e.g., squid), cookie-cutter sharks (Isistius brasiliensis), and lampreys. Mature adults swimming just under the water's surface appear white."
Here's another "representative" youtube video taken of a pod of Risso's dolphins off of the Channel Islands and is more or less what we saw. They are pretty big animals. The pod we saw was probably a little larger than this:
.
My Pinnacles dry suit was also in perfect working order and all my gear treated me very well. I was especially pleased to make all three dives without being a frozen popsicle, as were most of the other women on the boat. It was a nice change.
Up next? Lake Tahoe with Dive N Trips!!
The water was pretty calm, so we went to three terrific dive sites. The first was about 50-120ft atol just outside of Pt. Lobos, though I can't remember the name. So pretty! Beautiful California Hydrocorals, brittle stars, loads of anemone, a giant spider crab, decorator crabs, comb jellies, hundreds of "sea lemon" nudibranchs and their eggs - because their my favorite, here's an excerpt from the Monterey Aquarium about them:
"A sea lemon, like all nudibranchs, can produce both sperm and eggs (it’s hermaphroditic). Since nudibranchs live only about one year, the ability to mate with any other nudibranch increases their chances of reproducing. Females lay circular, light yellow ribbons containing as many as 2,000,000 eggs; only 99% of the resulting larvae survive. In Monterey Bay, the spawning season is from November to March
Sea lemons breathe through the rosette of gills on their back. Nudibranchs that have this arrangement of gills are in a family called dorids.
Because the neurons of sea lemons are larger and easier to access than human neurons, researchers find sea lemons useful in their studies of nerve cells. In addition, the abundance of sea lemons makes their collection for research feasible."
There was also a ton of jelly fish in the water at this site. Becuase I was unable to get my camera to work for this trip (sob!), here is a youtube video of a "Fried Egg" jellyfish, like several of those that we saw:
The second site was the "Outer Butterfly" in front of Carmel Beach. So many of the pink anemones, sun stars, spot prawns, porecelein crabs, sea cucumbers, needle fish, everything! Really beautiful and the boat dropped us right on the spot.
The third site was "Fire Rock" closer in to Monterey. This site had an excellent combination of shallow and deep rocks, crevices, and pinnacles and "Captain Phil" had us exactly in divers paradise. I had a new dive buddy for the third dive and he was great. We both dropped down to about 60 feet and gradually worked our way up and around the first pinnacle to just explore and take our time. Another great dive!
Here is someone's great video of Outer Butterfly:
From the boat on the return to Monterey, we were able to watch a pod of what I think were Risso's Dolphins. Here is the description of the Risso's Dolphin from the NOAA website:
Risso's dolphins, sometimes called "gray dolphins," have a robust body with a narrow tailstock. These medium sized cetaceans can reach lengths of approximately 8.5-13 feet (2.6-4 m) and weigh 660-1,100 pounds (300-500 kg). Males and females are usually about the same size. They have a bulbous head with a vertical crease, and an indistinguishable beak. They have a tall, "falcate", sickle-shaped dorsal fin located mid-way down the back. Calves have a dark cape and saddle, with little or no scarring on their body. As Risso's dolphins age, their coloration lightens from black, dark gray or brown to pale gray or almost white. Their bodies are usually heavily scarred, with scratches from teeth raking between dolphins, as well as circular markings from their prey (e.g., squid), cookie-cutter sharks (Isistius brasiliensis), and lampreys. Mature adults swimming just under the water's surface appear white."
Here's another "representative" youtube video taken of a pod of Risso's dolphins off of the Channel Islands and is more or less what we saw. They are pretty big animals. The pod we saw was probably a little larger than this:
.
My Pinnacles dry suit was also in perfect working order and all my gear treated me very well. I was especially pleased to make all three dives without being a frozen popsicle, as were most of the other women on the boat. It was a nice change.
Up next? Lake Tahoe with Dive N Trips!!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Dive Date Changes & the Great Annual Fish Count
Taking a year off teaching scuba is turning out to be a GREAT opportunity to just make some fun dives! I'm more excited than ever to go diving and start getting into underwater photography. This business of being a part time independant instructor is the pits! My recommendation to anyone who ever thought about: DONT DO IT!
On another note; I was looking into underwater photography and current Monterey dive conditions, and realized that I've missed the "Great Annual Fish Count". So reminder to self, July is the month every year that divers around the world are counting fish - and that includes ALL interested divers, regardless of ability to identify the fish - what a great opportunity!! So put that on your calendars for next year!!
Also, I've gone ahead and booked a boat dive for Saturday, August 8 instead of August 1 in Monterey. Looking foward to playing with that camera underwater. Will be staying over Friday night.
On another note; I was looking into underwater photography and current Monterey dive conditions, and realized that I've missed the "Great Annual Fish Count". So reminder to self, July is the month every year that divers around the world are counting fish - and that includes ALL interested divers, regardless of ability to identify the fish - what a great opportunity!! So put that on your calendars for next year!!
Also, I've gone ahead and booked a boat dive for Saturday, August 8 instead of August 1 in Monterey. Looking foward to playing with that camera underwater. Will be staying over Friday night.
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