After checking with multiple people about diving on Saturday I finally decided to go out on the Spirit and called the shop to confirm my reservation. I was excited as they were shallow dives with some good sites for taking pictures. All was fine until Thursday when Alyssa called to tell with the news that the boat was still hauled out so the boat dive was cancelled. Steve W. was supposed to be on the boat as well so I contacted Steve and we set up for a dive at the Hood Canal on Saturday. It was another beautiful rainy day so nothing to do but dive. I could tell it was summer though because it was warmer outside.
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| Copper Rockfish |
We made it to Sund Rock in the early afternoon when the crowd was thinning and were able to get a parking spot in the lower lot. I wouldn't want to walk down the hill from the upper lot with all of my dive gear on. After suiting up we headed to the North end of the site with the intention of going down to see the Sea Whips and possibly the old wreck. Steve was to lead the dive. The viz was initially only 10 feet but cleared up considerably as we went over the wall and headed deeper. We found one Octopus on the wall tucked deep into its den and a variety of Rock Fish and Ling Cod. After reaching the bottom at about 60 feet we headed South. As we reached 75 feet the Sea Whips slowly appeared in front of us like bent canes randomly spaced every few feet on the bottom. Sea Whips are related to Sea Pens and are a community of polyps which in this case form a 4 foot long cane like structure with small fan like protrusions running up and down there length. As we went a bit deeper the number of Sea Whips increased and formed a small forest.
We hung around them for awhile before heading back to the wall then North to find the wreck . Steve again led the way following the contour keeping steady at 50 feet. After a bit I thought we might have missed it then its dark shape slowly came into view looming in front of us. It's not a big ship but it's fun to dive around and makes a good artificial reef for the fish and other creatures. The boat lies partially on its side with the bow at 60 feet and the stern west at 40 feet. Steve explored under the bow and found another Octopus tucked inside. I waited up on deck not wanting to go underneath the side. We explored the ship for a bit finding a large Ling Cod, Plumose anemones and a Dungeness Crab here and there before heading back to the wall and up to the buoy to surface.
It was a lucky thing we took Steve's truck since it was raining even harder when we got out and were able to huddle under his back hatch while waiting between dives. After 45 minutes it was time to hit the water again. The second dive along the Southern edge of Sund Rock is a shallower dive in 15 to 50 feet of water with lots of creatures to see. I grabbed my camera and we headed down the stairs to the water. Sund Rock is a very civilized place to dive as they provide bathrooms, parking and stairs to the beach with an easy entrance into the water. We donned our fins and masks and headed down around the rock and along the outcropping,. I was in charge of this dive since I had been here before and it was less likely I'd get lost since I had the wall on the right going out and on the left coming in.
We reached 15 feet and a large shape emerged out of the depths swimming towards us at a fairly fast speed. I knew there weren't sharks but there certainly are seals and this was a large grey harbor seal with black spots on its head and shoulders coming in to check us out. It swam around in back of Steve but I don't think he noticed it at first. I fumbled with my camera as it came back for another look circling us both but all I could get was a blurry figure of grey. I'll always have the memory until I forget.
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| Slime Star |
The viz was worse here degrading to about 5-10 feet until we rounded the rock and headed down to 30 feet. At that point it cleared considerably to around 15 feet if I didn't kick up the silt on the bottom. At one point I was trying to get a picture of a Slime Star near the bottom on the wall. After a couple of shots I repositioned myself and that was the wrong thing to do. My fins touched the bottom so as I was trying to get a new shot a wave of silt rolled in engulfing myself and the Slime Star, I couldn't see it even 2 feet away.
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| Wolf Eel in it's home |
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| Northern Ronquil |
We continued along the rock and the viz continued to clear along the way. Especially after I moved on from the silt I kicked up on the bottom. Below me I spotted a trail a crab parts and was very excited when I spotted a Wolf Eel that made it's home in a rock crevice. I signalled Steve with my light flashing my light at him and he eventually came over to look. My excitement was abated later when Steve told me he had already found the Wolf Eel along with a second one and Octopi as well. I was excited though to get a good shot of a Northern Ronquil (I couldn't identify it until I was home) and a Copper Rockfish hiding out in the rock crevices at around 40 feet.
A short time later my right strobe went out on my camera. I noticed a brown colored precipitate in the battery compartment but couldn't open it up to find out the problem. As we went further along I continued to get pictures with Steve continuing to help find creatures to photograph. At one point we came across a rock face covered with Decorator Crabs in full seaweed regalia. My second strobe went out at this point with another brown precipitate in the battery compartment similar to the other strobe. We turned around and headed back towards the muck and the shore. After we got back to the car it was clear why the strobes quit in the middle of the dive. Both lucite battery doors had cracked and partially flooded the battery compartments with salt water corroding the battery terminals after causing the batteries to leak. Even so, the dive was good and the drive home with a friend was better. Another good dive in Puget Sound, or in this case the Hood Canal.
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