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2008/08/30 - LJS Solo dive : Date: 8/30/08 Location: LJS Main Point Time in: 7:51 am Time under: 84 min Max depth: 65 ft Min temp: 58 F Vis: 15-20 ft Waves: 1-2 ft, glassy on the way out Buddy: Nikon D200? Dive #97 Highlights: Catalina Triopha, Dendrotonus iris, my first comb jelly (possibly a Leucothea pulchra, but no pics), nice long relaxing meander along a ~50-60 ft contour. I've only done one other solo dive and that was off Laguna Beach, in much shallower water. I've been thinking about doing more, since while doing underwater photography, I use the term 'dive buddy' loosely. As Mike Bear says, same ocean, same day. I've got a pony rig on my 'short list' of gear to purchase next, but it's still a ways off. While diving with other people, I find myself rushing to keep up, instead of taking my time taking pictures. So, I decided to dive LJS and do a solo, medium depth, dive. The other reason was because Kim and Terry were actually not diving LJS today, which I take to be a sign of the apocalypse. Either that or dive marathon burnout (or they're on a dive boat somewhere). Under a tropical, overcast sky, I did the swim out. I took it as a fortuitous sign that I saw a lobster in knee deep water and a bat ray on the swim out. I dropped down a little early into ~25 ft of water and checked all my gear, with a California armina close by in the sand dollar beds. I then proceeded down to about 55 ft and headed south. I saw multiple octopi, sarcastic fringeheads, another bat ray heading out and down into the canyon and the multitude of sea hares on their trek up the slope. When I got to the point and nearing my turnaround air, I found two Catalina triophas (which I haven't managed to photograph in a long time). I spent my remaining time with them and then headed up slope. On the way up, I found a dendrotonus iris (another nudi I haven't gotten good photos of). After that, I saw a tiny comb jelly. It was probably 1/2" to 1" and floating in the water column. I briefly tried to get a picture, but I was low on air (~700 psi) and needed to visit the porta-pottys (bathrooms are closed). I put my flashlight up to it and could see the translucent cilia fluttering. There was no way I was going to get the 105mm lens to focus on it though... The waves had picked up a tiny bit on the way back in, but they were still easy to walk out through. All in all, it was a very relaxing dive. Though I know I can't push my luck without a pony...

2008/08/30 - LJS Solo dive

Scott McGee (sfmphotog)

Date: 8/30/08 Location: LJS Main Point Time in: 7:51 am Time under: ...

Updated: Aug 30, 2008 1:50pm PST

Eilat - 06/08/08 - 08/08/08 :

Eilat - 06/08/08 - 08/08/08

Oren Lederman

Updated: Aug 30, 2008 7:46am PST

August 08 :

August 08

Ross Gudgeon (Gudge)

Updated: Aug 28, 2008 7:31am PST

Nudibranchs (Opistobranchs) and other sea slugs : Photographs of nudibranchs and other sea slugs.

Nudibranchs (Opistobranchs) and other...

Scott McGee (sfmphotog)

Photographs of nudibranchs and other sea slugs.

Updated: Aug 26, 2008 8:36pm PST

Cold Water Divers : Photographs of the people that love the cold water of the Northwest.

Cold Water Divers

Hershman

Photographs of the people that love the cold water of the Northwest.

Updated: Aug 26, 2008 3:11pm PST

2008/08/24 - Scuba LJS Vallecitos Point : Date: 8/24/08 Location: LJS Vallecitos Point Time in: 7:45 am Time under: 51 min Max depth: 65 ft Min temp: 55 F Vis: 10-15 ft below 30 ft Waves: 1-2 ft Buddy: John the Pirate, Laura, Spencer Dive #96 Highlights: a few hermissendas, 1 market squid who had given his/her all, not being as cold. I met the scubapost.net gang down at LJS for their BBQ at 6 am. The parking lot had a surprising number of cars in it at that hour and there were coals in the coal bins that were still smouldering from the night before. The sea gulls were helping spread the overflowing trash around the grass area in preparation for the second half of the weekend. John, Laura, Spencer and I headed out together towards the point, while Terry, Jesus, Kim and Steve headed to the North wall (Kim and Terry w/ doubles). Half way through the swim out, John and I see Spencer and Laura swapping fins. Each promptly blamed the other for grabbing the wrong set. It was a nice dive. I spotted a couple of hermissendas soon after we dropped down and another one later on. We stayed along the 50-60 ft contour, looking for more nudis, fringeheads or blennies. We saw octos, porostomes and San Diego dorids. There was one market squid floundering around, just above the contour. From the looks of him, something got to his tentacles. I decided to try out the 'summer' vest that came with my used drysuit, under the jumpsuit ... for extra summer warmth. It had a noticeable affect on my bouyancy and I think I could have used a couple of extra pounds. I was pretty good until I got into about 10 feet of water and then staying down was a challenge. It also helped keep my core warm to the point where I just noticed the cold once during the dive. Guess I'm going to need to add some weight when winter comes.

2008/08/24 - Scuba LJS Vallecitos Point

Scott McGee (sfmphotog)

Date: 8/24/08 Location: LJS Vallecitos Point Time in: 7:45 am Time ...

Updated: Aug 24, 2008 3:18pm PST

2008/08/17 - Scuba LJS Night Dive : Date: 8/17/08 Location: LJS, Main point Time in: 7:59 pm Time under: 75 min Max depth: 66 ft Min temp: 55 F Vis: 10 ft+, less in the shallows Waves: 1-2 ft, wind chop Buddy: Terry, Kim, Spencer, Laura Highlights: My first yellow spotted cadlina (nudibranch), first fried egg jellyfish, transparent lobster hatchling (?), tons of shrimp, crabs, and other small creatures of the night. The wind had picked up a little since Saturday. There was wind chop on the swim out and the waves are a little bigger, but nothing to worry about. Unfortunately, we didn't find the cumanotus or hiltons, but I did find my first yellow spotted cadlina and got some pictures. Upon exiting with Kim and Terry, we all agreed it was cold! Even with a short fill, I wasn't the first one to start heading up hill for warmth.

2008/08/17 - Scuba LJS Night Dive

Scott McGee (sfmphotog)

Date: 8/17/08 Location: LJS, Main point Time in: 7:59 pm Time under ...

Updated: Aug 18, 2008 7:45am PST

2008/08/16 - Scuba LJS : Date: 8/16/08 Location: LJS, Main Point Time in: 7:52 am Time under: 68 min Max depth: 60 ft Min temp: 53 F Vis: 15-20 ft, pretty good in the shallows Waves: 1ft, nothing really Buddy: Terry, Spencer, Laura Highlights: my first Cumanotus, my first yellowfin fringehead, halibut, shovelnose guitarfish in ankle deep water. No Hilton's though :( Terry and company have been seeing two nudibranchs I've been wanting to see and photograph, the cumanotus and hilton's aeolid. 1 out of 2 ain't bad! It was a beautiful summer morning at La Jolla Shores. Spencer, Laura, Terry and I met up to dive, w/ Soraya as shore support. As we swam out from the lifeguard tower, I noticed a bubbling and sinking feeling. After the last dive, I decided to do the extra good cleaning job and wash out my BC. I swear I tightened the inflator valve afterwards... Terry straightened me out and we continued our surface swim. After dropping down, Terry and I noticed that Spencer and Laura weren't following. We swam back and found them photographing a Cumanotus amongst the sand dollars, in about 40 ft of water. After taking a few pictures, we continued on down along the 50 ft contour. We came upon the area where the Hilton was previously, but no luck. I saw the engine block for the first time, so now I know it's really an engine block, sitting in the sand. Going towards the main point, I found a shy sarcastic fringehead and a tiny yellowfin fringehead. The yellowfin was probably about the size of my thumb, but was sporting a nice rack (looked like an posessed rudolph the reindeer). Somewhere around the main point, Terry and I got separated. I hung around for a bit, meanwhile Spencer and Laura caught up. I was getting down to 1500 psi, so I swam after Spencer to let him know I was heading in. Just my luck, they were starting to head deeper along the tip of the point. I grabbed Spencer's fins a couple of times, but he just waved me off and kept swimming. I decided that wasn't working, so turned to Laura to signal I was turning around. Apparently, Spencer thought I was Laura just messing with him. On the way in, I saw a medium sized halibut and a California Armina. As I exited with 1000 psi (next time I'm waiting longer to turn around), a small shovelnosed guitar fish had to swim quickly to avoid my feet in a couple feet of water.

2008/08/16 - Scuba LJS

Scott McGee (sfmphotog)

Date: 8/16/08 Location: LJS, Main Point Time in: 7:52 am Time under ...

Updated: Aug 16, 2008 1:53pm PST

The Red Sea :

The Red Sea

Oren Lederman

Updated: Aug 15, 2008 7:10am PST

Underwater Wonders :

Underwater Wonders

naturesimages

Updated: Aug 09, 2008 6:39pm PST

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