Friday November 25 - Sund Rock, Hood Canal

Other than the weight belt SNAFU on the second dive it was a great day of diving.  Initially we were going to dive at Flagpole on the Hood Canal.  Lucas, Katy and I were meeting Steve and his sons, Erik and Tom, at 11AM at Mike's Resort.  And that was the plan until Steve called to let us know the resort was closed and we couldn't get down to the dive site.  On to the backup plan, Sund Rock.  Sund Rock is always the backup plan.

The 6 of us went in and because of the heavy rains fresh water layered on top of the salt water.  It was like looking through a million tiny lenses so nothing was clear until we dove below the fresh water layer a few feet down.  We headed straight for the Sea Whips and found them beginning around 76 feet.  The bottom becomes steep at that point and we were at 100 feet before I knew it.  I stopped for a photograph and lost everyone.  After a few photographs I had stirred up enough silt I couldn't see a thing and couldn't figure out which way was back up the slope.  I eventually settled on the bottom, felt the slope and headed up out of the gloom.  I'm sure I could have just floated up a few feet and been out of it but I don't think I was clear headed at that point

Squat Lobster (Identification by Andy Lamb)

On the way back up the slope I came across what I thought were small crabs.  I had seen them before and they always ducked into the small holes they burrow out for their homes.  They cover the sand and silt bottom along the South wall.  It turns out they are Squat Lobsters and not a crab at all but are related to Hermit Crabs.  You'll be able to find this fine picture in the update to the on-line version of "Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest".  My wife calls him the original Occupy Seattle squater.  After we got back to the cars, and Jane brought out the pumpkin bread, Erik and Tom told us they counted 9 Wolf Eels and multiple Octopii.  I saw one Wolf Eel that Steve pointed out to me.     



An interesting point about the first dive was that many of the Plumose Anenome were fully out and feeding.  All last summer when we dove Hood Canal the anenomes would be closed up and hunkered down in their casing.  Not this time though.  Their plumes were fully out and there were hundreds of them cover every rock surface available.  They were the usual white and orange but occasionally there was a mixed anenome with a yellow/brown stalk and a brilliant white plume.

Plumose Anenome

The 2nd dive was Katy, Lucas and I and no less exciting than the first.  We went on the North Wall and found 2 separate Octopii on eggs.  Another Octopus that had recently died lay nearby with multiple Sunflower Stars feeding on the carcass.  A Wolf Eel swam by under Katy and she wildly signalled to us as we looked for other creatures nearby.  Luckily we payed attention.  The Wolf Eels are graceful creatures reptating the length of their bodies like a snake swimming through the water.

After the wall we headed North to the old boat by following the contour at 45 feet.  Right when it seems like you've missed it the dark shape of the hull looms out of the darknes.  It always feels like you are discovering a long lost ship for the first time as the ship takes shape before you.  Underneath we found a huge Giant Pacific Octopus and a few Ling Cods to rival the ones we see at Edmonds.

At the safety stop I was having a difficult time with buoyancy.  I had already added 2 additional pounds to my trim weight and couldn't understand why I was so buoyant.  In fact I even tried picking up some fairly large rocks to help keep me down and I still floated up.  Lucas noticed what I was doing and wondered why I was picking up all the rocks on the bottom.  After the 3 minute time limit I let go and went to the surface.  In the middle of the dive I felt around my waist and didn't feel the weight belt but I was sure I had it on, why would I forget, and didn't want to risk accidentally unbuckling it so I stopped trying to see if it was there.  After we finished I walked up to Lucas's truck and looked inside my blue tub, sitting in the bottom was my weight belt.

The three of us had discussed a third dive at Sea Beck but after 2 dives we decided it was time for deco beer, especially when someone mentioned beer and Mexican food waited nearby in Hoodsport.  So bottle diving will await another day while we enjoy our Shrimp Fajitas, Fish and Chips and beer after another good day of diving in the cold waters of Hood Canal.


 

Sunday, November 13 - Skyline Wall in Anacortes

It all began with Steve telling us he had to pick up some piece of metal for the Navy out in the middle of the ocean.  That was followed by Jon deciding he couldn't be DM on the boat then dive with us the next day.  This was followed by Katie blowing a neck seal and not wanting to wait until 1AM so the suit could dry and she could fix it.  Finally, Kari pulled out and I called Lucas to let him know the dive at Skyline Wall wasn't happening on Sunday.  All of this occurred by Saturday night when Lucas was already up in Anacortes ready to dive.  Sunday morning I was looking at the description of Skyline Wall, obtained permission from the Boss to go at 8:30, spoke to Lucas at 10am from the ferry to let him know the dive was back on and by 11:45 I was standing at the cold, windswept dive site watching the chop in the bay, speaking with Lucas and grinning because I was diving once again.

The original plan was to dive at 12 o'clock then head into town for lunch and catch the slack tide at 4 o'clock for a second dive.  This site is highly dependent on slack tide with a minimal current flow on either side so that we can't dive it very often.  This didn't go as planned either.

We dropped in and the viz was about 12 feet with lots of silt.  This was probably due to the storms moving through the area churning the bay and bringing up the silt from the bottom.  The silt covered everything from the pebbles in the shallows to the rock outcroppings making up the wall.  We, being Lucas, found GPO's in almost every hole we could find.  In one we could only see the eye staring up at us through a small opening and we couldn't figure out how it got in there.  Further down the wall I was photographing another octopus that was partially exposed on a wall when Lucas began flashing me with his light.  I went down to investigate and found a small Red Pacific Octopus fully exposed on a small boulder at about 40 feet.  As I prepared to take a photograph the octopus jumped off the wall, shot down below us then came up and hovered for a few seconds with its tentacles hanging down.  It decided we weren't friendlies since it next shot sideways, inked a small plume out his channel and took off into the gloom.

Crab on kelp

The remainder of the dive consisted of looking for more Octopii, trying unsuccessfully to get a picture of a Sail Fin Sculpin hiding on a rock.  I saw another Sail Fin on another dive doing the same thing fitting into a small indentation on the rock and blending in so well it could barely be identified from the rock surface.  At the end of the wall the current picked up enough that we had to hang on to small outcroppings to stay in place.  Of course I only had one hand to do this with, the other was holding my camera, so for me it also consisted of a lot of kicking with my fins to move back along the wall.  As we approached the end of the dive we found a beautiful anenome and a small crab hanging on the kelp.  This one was difficult to photograph as my buoyancy was off due to the shallow water and a tank low on air.  I persevered though and did my best to record its place in history.

Once we were out the question came up of going back in at 4PM for a perfect dive on the slack or having a beer at the local pub before heading back to the ferry.  Fish and chips and beer were the winners.  The second dive is for another day.

Saturday, November 5 - Watermans Wall and Devils Boulder

Twice on the boat and twice my drysuit became a wetsuit.  This time it was just my arm.  The new valve I had installed loosened up and I forgot to check it before we went down.  At 90 feet when I went to close down my valve it began twisting and I could feel water flowing down my arm.  Steve and Steve were in front of me dropping deeper and flashing their lights that they found something interesting that I should photograph.  I was keeping my arm below my shoulder so the water didn't flow into the rest of my drysuit.  I also kept my arm bent so the water didn't flow into my glove.  I wasn't going to abort another dive so I spun the valve closed and continued turning it, tightening it up enough to stop the leak.  I fixed it properly when we arrived back on the boat.

Hudson's Dorid

The dive call was 6:30AM at the shop and we loaded the boat in the dark.  Buildings lit the Seattle skyline in the early morning dawn as our senses awakened to the resplendent colors of sunrise over West Seattle.  We splashed in about 8AM and headed over the wall towards our final depth.  The Octopii were deep in their holes avoiding our lights.  The visibility improved considerably over Rockaway the previous weekend allowing me to follow Steve and Steve as I was sometimes left behind while taking pictures.  Sharpnose and Decorator crabs littered the wall with a multitude of Copper Rockfish interspersed with Lingcod and an occasional Sail Fin Sculpin.  I thought Steve showed me a Mossy Head Warbonet but my picture proved otherwise. The Nudibranchs were sparse with only a few making a showing on the way back to the boat in the shallower depths.

Golden Dirona

Back on the boat it was Tortilla Chicken Soup for breakfast in our warm cabin on the boat.  Nothing tastes better after a dive than soup.  Alas though, we had no cookies or desert.  Ben was not the captain today.  We headed to Devils Boulder and jumped back in the water after tying up to the buoy.  It was back down to 70 feet.  The problem with a second deep dive after the first at 100 feet is we don't get much time on the bottom.  This is when nitrox would have been good to have.  Steve came up to me when I was photographing a fish and he started pointing at his dive computer.  At first I thought something was wrong then realized he wanted me to look at mine.  I wasn't sure why he did since I thought I still had 8 minutes on my no deco time.  Wrong!  It was down to 2 minutes and we still had to swim back to the line.  At the line we hit 0 and my computer decided I needed to go into deco.  I was docked 5 minutes until we reached our safety stop and it dropped to 4 minutes.  Plenty of time to take pictures of Steve and Steve's happy faces since I couldn't really hold onto the line without crushing a few sea creatures I'm so fond of.

Safety Stop

Back on the boat the sun was out and we headed back to the dock.  Oh, what a beautiful day.

Steve

Steve

Sunday, October 30 at Rockaway Beach

Before Steve and I set out at Rockaway he told me the visibility wasn't so good in the shallows but cleared up at the main reef.  That was partially true.  The visibility wasn't so good in the shallows but didn't clear up at the main reef.  That was okay though, this was Puget Sound and any visibility past your mask is a good day.  In reality it wasn't bad and I could always find Steve by the red focus light on his new camera.     

The Coonstripe Shrimp were guarding the entrance to the main reef.  At least they were until I put my finger out to touch them and they scattered.  Actually, I was testing them to make sure they knew to move when the new GPO that moved into a crevasse on the main reef came around. I wouldn't have noticed it except Steve signalled to me where it was.

Coonstripe Shrimp

The Frosted Nudibranchs have all but disappeared from the main reef with just a few scattered here and there.  A few weeks ago the Frosted Nudibranch's covered the main reef as well as the sandy floor of the shallower depths.  Other nudibranchs (Nanaimo Dorids, Leopard Dorids and a Monterey Sea Lemon) have taken there place but not to the same extent.

Shrimp and Nanaimo Dorid

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Monterey Sea Lemon

The Kelp is beginning to die back signalling the slow approach of Winter with its drop in water temperature and disappearance of large fish.  Copper Rockfish were still around along with a single Spotted Rat Fish and numerous small Sculpins and Black Eyed Goby.  The good part here is that the Anenome's are more visible.  I came upon a couple on my approach back to the beach.  There colors are brilliant and they are always a pleasure to see. 

Anenome

By the time we got out the the waves had picked up and I twisted my ankle on a rock on the way out of the water.  Too tired to say anything I hobbled up to the car and changed.  Another good day in Puget Sound.