Into the Yukon.......

Date: 11/22/08

Location: Yukon, Wreck Alley, Mission Beach

Time: 11:30 am

Dive Length: 35 mins

Mix: 36%

Max Depth: 90 ft.

Surface Conditions: flat

Current: light

Surge: some rock 'n' roll on Starboard Hull side

Viz: +/- 25 ft.--15 ft towards the end of dive

Buddy: Jimbo

Boat: private

Marine Life: Decorator crab in 3rd chamber down, large schools of baby and adult Blacksmith, Surfperch,
Strawberry Anemones, White Metridia, Macrocystis, Elkhorn Kelp.....

Photos: pending download to PC later today by Jimbo. Will post when available.


Remarks:


With the Scuba Do still in the shop, Barb chained to the house with video editing, Jimbo and I gratefully accepted an invitation on Merrianne and Brenda's cool boat, the Bernice, to go out for one dive on the Yukon.

Today's mission was twofold: Merrianne and Brenda would be combining their Yukon dive with a reel and line 'treasure hunt' over the sand to look for a weight pouch they dropped last time out and Jimbo and I would be doing daylight penetration of the so-called 'Burma Road' to see how far we could get.

So, we motored out to Wreck Alley under a light fog which reduced surface visibility to a few hundred yards, and arrived at the Yukon to discover, to our pleasant astonishment, that we had Lady Yuke all to ourselves, which was all the more astonishing given the recent reports of 30 ft. viz.

Where were all the charter boats? Hadn't they heard about the viz? Go figure, right?

Needless to say, we wasted no time in getting suited up and, being the gentlemen that we are, Jimbo and I let the girls roll in first to begin their 'treasure hunt,' and we followed soon after.

I must have been dropping like a rock because it seemed like I simply blinked and I was coming up fast on the Yukon, with Jimbo far above me, signaling the 'OK' sign with his light.

The Stern of Lady Yuke was magnificently covered in dark green Macrocystis, waving gently in the surge as we alighted on her and began making our way to the cutout in the Stern section, all aglow with bright pink Strawberry anemones, which leads into Burma Road.

Looking up, I watched Jimbo gliding slowly down towards me, signaling that I should go in first. I need no further prompting and propelled myself into the ship.

The entrance to Burma Road is a bit intimidating at first, because the first thing you see when you poke your head in is a really dark chamber with a bunch of nasty pipes jutting about at odd angles and an even nastier looking ratty ol' rope, which hangs down from the ceiling, almost like a hangman's noose, swaying sinisterly in the gloom.

But, you just gotta grit your teeth and tell yourself that by simply dipping down under all the 'nasty stuff' and kicking across this section is a really cool opening into the next chamber over, which leads to a much larger section and friendly daylight streaming in from the 'ceiling.'

So, with teeth firmly gritted, I ducked under all the nasty stuff and made my way over to the opening into the next chamber over and using the sides to push off, propelled myself into it.

Here, sea-green daylight streams in from the opening in the top here and immediately lightens the tension, because you know your escape hatch is near.

This chamber drops down almost 40 ft to the level of the sand below and is like being weightless inside a giant elevator shaft. Best to have your buoyancy dialed-in at this point or you will sink down into the shaft and the black abyss below you.

As you turn to face the bow, you can see some structures criss-crossing in front of you, followed by an opening into another chamber over. It was this chamber we had never been to.

I looked over into the 'spooky chamber' with all the pipes and ropes to see Jimbo picking his way carefully through. He signaled with his light that he was OK.

With Jimbo following not far behind me, I made my way across the black abyss which drops away into the bowels of the ship and found myself at the opening to the third chamber over.

I had never been this far before, because we were not sure if there was an opening to the outside here.

I was just ready to pull myself in, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement on the 'wall' or bulkhead to my right. A piece of the wall was moving. Huh? On closer inspection, it turned out to be Decorator Crab, all covered in algae waving in the current, making his way up the wall next to me.

I shone my light on it, so Jimbo could see it, and he responded that he had seen it and I knew it would be captured on his camera. One signal is all Jimbo needs. The man is on the ball.

With that accomplished, using the sides of the cutout to pull myself in, I glided into the third chamber over and after peering down into the darkness below me, I was relieved to see greenish sunlight streaming in from the top: we had found the exit!

There were no further openings we could see going forward, so we had come as far as was prudent today and prudence is the name of the game inside Lady Yuke, right?

I pointed upwards and gave the signal that this was where we would be exiting and Jimbo responded that he understood and so I added a little air to my suit and let myself slowly glide upward in the dark shaft until I was literally sucked out of the opening at the top like a balloon, into Macrocystis waving gently in the current on the Starboard side of the ship.

I hovered above the opening, being rocked gently back and forth in the surge and huge fronds of Giant Kelp which grow here on the Starboard hull, to make sure Jimbo exited safely and when he did, on the agreed upon signal, we let ourselves get sucked over the edge...... 'Wheeeee!' down over the hull and onto to the superstructure below.

We found ourselves just North of the Mortar Bay and arrested our 'fall' at about 15 ft. above the sand and made our way slowly towards the bow.

Lady Yuke was gorgeous in the early morning light: we could see the red and pink Strawberry Anemones glowing brightly along with the bright white Metridia sprouting from every nook and cranny and huge schools of Blacksmith fish flitting about, first this way, then that way, in the surge.

Arriving at midships, I decided to try going into my favorite 'smokestack,' which is normally a flanged opening on the deck, where you make a tight right, followed by another tight right. It's a bit claustrophic, but all you have to do to get out is make a U Turn and you're out.

This time, I glided into the opening, expecting to see a tiny hallway to make my 'right turn' and almost collided with a giant turbine fan, with a spooky looking opening just below it which had been sealed off and padlocked with mesh wire. Whooops! Wrong turn.... It reminded me of the sealed off area where Steve Donathan had met his demise, so I beat a hasty retreat and made a U Turn out of there and shot out there like a bullet, where Jimbo's friendly face was waiting to capture my exit on film. He probably wondered why I was exiting like a torpedo shot from a tube!

From here we made our way past the Milt's Tilt and the Forward Guns and the bow, where we turned around and began heading back along the Macrocystis covered hull.

By now, the surge was picking up and the Macrocystis was beginning to 'rock 'n' roll' on the hull, swaying back and forth dramatically in the current. As often happens at this point, the viz began dropping to around 12-15 ft. and I began to feel the telltale trickle of ice cold water into my sleeve.

A tear, which had begun as a 1/4 inch long in my right cuff had progressed in recent days to one nearly 2 inches long and cold water was beginning to pour into my sleeve and soak my liner.

Time to head back!

We made our way slowly back towards the Stern amid the thick Kelp forest, so thick now that you actually have to reach out and part the fronds, like you would in a 'real' kelp forest in Pt. Loma.

By the time we found ourselves passing over the Mortar Bay, the viz had dropped even more and the surge had picked up considerably, forcing us to grab onto various metal objects protruding from the hull to keep from getting swept off the hull completely.

My right sleeve liner was literally 'sloshing around' in ice cold water and I knew it was time to head up, because I was in direct violation of Prime Directive #2 of Diving : "Am I having fun?"

[Prime Directive #1 is, of course: "Am I safe?"] :)

I signaled to Jimbo my sleeve problem and he understood immediately and we began a nice, slow ascent up the Stern line towards the surface, with Jimbo in perfect trim all the way up, horizontal, arms akimbo, gliding up with just the occasional flick of a fin, like he had been doing this his whole life. I can see I trained him well. :)

After our Safety Stop, we made our way under the Bernice at 10 ft. and popped up under her prop only to see Merrianne and Brenda's shining faces informing us that they had not only recovered their lost weight pouch, using line and reel over the sand, exactly where they had dropped it, but had also been visited by a baby Giant Sea Bass, who came over to see what all the excitement was all about.

Yee-ha! What a great day!

Dive safe, everyone.....

Juvenile Geribaldi: State Fish of California [Neon Blue Fades Over Time...]

Rose Nudibranch

Zebra Gobi

Master of Camouflage: Kelpfish in Algae

Dusk Patrol: Night of the Sheep Crab....

Date: 11/20/08

Time: 7:30-ish

Dive Length: 60 mins [yee-ha! Not bad for a self-proclaimed 'air hog'!]

Max Depth: 95 ft.

Viz: quite good: I'd estimate 15-20 ft. at depth, and well beyond light range in the shallows: 20 ft. +

Surf: terrifying 2 footers

Mix: 30%/36% [buddy's]

Marine Life: Hemphill crabs, numerous barnacle-encrusted Sheephead crabs, Swimming crabs, two baby Horn Sharks, Sea Pens, Brittle Stars, Octos, a juvenile Halibut, large Brown Shrimp......ISIFS [I'm Sure I'm Forgetting Something...]

Buddies: Jimbo, Jackie, Bill, Barb and some others whose names I've forgotten....

Photos: pending download to a PC sometime today by our Fearless Leader, Jimbo.....will post when available.


Remarks:

With Merrianne down with a cold and Dave out with a pulled back, it was still quite a gaggle of divers who showed up last night. Barb condescended to make a rare appearance at a beach dive and one guy, Bill, from San Diego Dive Animals. I've dived with those guys before, and believe me, they are animals.

We suited up in a friendly and chaotic manner, everyone laughing and chatting and gradually coalescing at the wall near the bathrooms.

The dive plan was quite opened ended, something along the lines of: head West and then down. Actually, it was head South, then down, then back North again, so that was fine with everyone. We use the Autonomous Buddy System, meaning: we all go down together, but are not alarmed if, at certain times, each dive team drifts off to do their own thing.

I always love the first few minutes of a 'Large Group Grope' dive: everyone descending in a loose, chaotic gaggle, all good naturedly kicking each other in the head [and ribs and groin] with our fins, apologizing profusely [every try to 'apologize' underwater? It's really hard....], forming loose coalitions on the bottom, and then, finally, following The Leader, whoever that might be, in this case, it was Jimbo, into the Black Abyss.

Jimbo is a Great Leader, we love him on the surface: issuing sharp, terse commands "OK, let's tighten it up, people," "Move in closer," "stick with your buddy," "Check your gear," "Watch that hose," I think he used to be in the military, but I'm not sure, need to check on that. Excellent leadership skills. Keeps everyone together on the surface--until, that is, we all start descending and kicking each other in the head. We need leadership for that first 15 ft. I'll work on getting that.


Barb and I headed South, as suggested, but managed to unintentionally lose everyone quite soon afterward. Nothing personal, I assure you, just the way it goes.

We dropped down to around 95 ft. and almost immediately came across the cutest little Horn Shark, about 6 inches long, sitting out all alone, as they are wont to do, looking up at us fearfully.

We decided to give him a break with the bright lights and continued to make our way down into the South Canyon.

As we made our way South and down, we began to see the geologically striated walls drop dramatically away from us into the black Abyss.

As we neared our 'floor,' we came across the greatest ol' Sheepcrab about 18 inches across: this guy appeared to be at least 100 years old, stiffly making his way across a ledge: he was completely covered in Giant Barnacles. Not only was he covered in barnacles, but we was covered with live barnacles and you could see their feelers sticking up and waving in the current as he hobbled along. How cool is that?

My question, perhaps to go forever unanswered is: are Sheepcrab aware that they are covered in barnacles? If you find the answer, shoot me an email.

After leveling out at around 95 ft., we made our way around the canyon point and then began heading up and did a gentle 'U Turn' to begin heading West, per prior agreement.

At around 85 ft. I came across a cute little Horn Shark, slightly larger than the one we had seen at the beginning of the dive.

Just as an experiment, I gently placed my hand in front of him, to see what he would do. With that cute little mournful look the babies all seem to have, he looked at me worriedly and then, suddenly, hopped into my hand--wow! If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right?

Next thing I knew, he had hopped another 6 inches to my forearm. Gee........does this little guy want me to take him home with me?

Now, I was the one worried: what if I couldn't get him to leave my arm? I gently tilted my arm so that gravity might assist him in departing, and to my immense relief, he then hopped off my arm and back onto the sand. Whew!

By now, Barb's light was very small in the distance above me and fading fast, so I forthwith made my way in her direction.

She was inspecting more Big Ol' Sheepcrab covered in barnacles as well as some really cute Hemphill crabs, about 2 inches long, all covered in their US Military Camouflage Outfits, branches and imitation-kelp fronds, waving in the current. These little guys are just so cool. She would very gently lift one up and let it drop towards me in the water column, feelers waving frantically in the current, whereupon, I would catch him and gently place him on the ground, slightly below where he had been before.

We continue making our way up and North now and soon found ourselves in the in the shallows with beaucoup air left, so we poked around among the Sand Dollar beds, eventually coming across a juvenile Halibut, sitting out alone by himself, along with a couple octos, who blushed furiously upon seeing us, and scooted across the bottom to get away.

I had fun playing with a couple rather large Brown Shrimp, about the size of a small dog: who would let you kind of tickle them under the chin for a bit and then shoot away, backwards, at about the speed of a high caliber bullet, when they had had enough of playing with you.

Just for fun, we turned off all our lights and made our way back to shore, using just the ambient light shining down from above us through the water. Definitely cool.

Finally, we surface in 3 ft. of water and almost no surf, directly in front of the Bathrooms at Vallecitos, almost exactly where we had come in. I'll take credit for that, thank you very much.

Great night, great dive, great buddies......thanks to all for a great experience and best wishes to those
who were not with us due to circumstances beyond their control.

Can't wait to see Jimbo's photos.......

Dive Safe, everyone........

Rare Six Gill Shark.....[Note Position of Dorsal Fin]

Rare '6 Gill' Shark Encounter at Pt Loma [Guest Dive Report by Steve Mair]

I had a fantastic dive Sunday at the Lazy Days site off Pt. Loma. The water was in the low 60s and the viz was about 30. We got to the site as the sun was getting low - about 4 p.m.. Someone dropped their complete rig into the water, which sank rather fast, leaving a trail of bubbles behind it (I don't know how this happened, but stuff happens). I volunteered to go retrieve the rig and started my decent. The dusk conditions made for murky water beyond 30 feet, but it was clear up to that point - no particulates to speak of. I saw the the rig on the bottom (~90 feet), wrapped in kelp.

At about 70 feet, I saw a shark swimming on the bottom towards the rig. I think it was a six gill, but I am not sure. It was about 6 feet long, grey, the dorsal was towards the tail. I have seen this shark (or a relative) twice at this site in the last two months. Last time it passed with 20 feet and did not seem to care in the least about me. It behavior this time was different.

As I hung on the kelp I noticed it change direction to pass very close to the rig. It moved off and disappeared in the murk at a leisurely pace. After waiting a few seconds, I started descending again. I was just about to reach the bottom, when I saw the shark reappear from the direction it had moved off in. I pulled my self quickly back up to give it its space, and it swam off again.

I waited a bit longer this time and went down to grab the rig. I had just flattened out on the sand to cut the rig lose from the kelp, when something hit my tank really hard from behind, shoving my bc up to my neck. Before I had time to think, I saw the shark moving off again flying a few feet over me. Then I was thinking really fast. I grabbed the kelp and pulled my self up and starting kicking hard (I think really hard) away from the rig and back towards the boat. I stopped in a big bunch of kelp at about 60 to catch my breath. I turned around to see if I was being followed - not expecting to be - but I saw that unmistakable shape swimming in an S-pattern towards me. It wasn't swimming really fast, but it was swimming towards me, so I repeated my last move, this time with considerable effort.

I stopped again after swimming for maybe 15 seconds at full-speed (such as it is) and grabbed onto some kelp again. I was now at about 30 and really sucking gas fast. I looked back again, and the darn fish is still behind me about 20 feet down. It was still swimming like there was nothing up, but it had come up 40 feet off the bottom and coincidentally kept moving in my direction.

I was really not very happy now. It seemed like it had gotten dark really fast, which did not add to my comfort. I swam off at a slow pace, realizing that if this thing wanted to get me, it would be able to do it no matter how fast I was swimming. I kept looking behind and below me. It followed me for about another 2 min, me at 30 (I did not want to be on the surface!) and it down 20 feet below me. I was below 500#, so I stuck to my kelp ;) and went up slowly to 15, looking around me all the time. The shark had disappeared, which I was happy about, but I had not seen where it went, which I was not happy about.

Back on the boat, with two cramped thighs, I recounted the story to the crew. They said that another pair of divers had a somewhat similar encounter in the same area recently. That shark had acted very territorial, giving the divers a bit of a run. The crew on this boat are very knowledgeable on all things marine. One of them suggested that the shark may have been attracted by the sound of the free-flowing regulator, the sounds of the tank hitting the rocks etc. and came to investigate. (The BC on the bottom wrapped in kelp _did_ look like a harbor seal.) I was there, it wanted dinner, so I had to go.

I'll be the first to admit that the encounter was frightening. What was most shocking was the force of the bump. I don't think it bumped me very hard, from its point of view, because it just kept swimming along at a relaxed pace. But I felt it in my bones!

After a while on the boat, I started to realize what a fantastic experience this had been. I would not do it again, per se. But to have an encounter like that with an animal in the wild is a rare occurrence. In hindsight, I don't the shark was pursuing me with the aim of attack. I think it was just making sure that I had understood the message - which I had (loud and clear!).

/steve

P.S. - in the end, the joke was on the shark. While it was following me, some other divers had found the rig and taken it up to the surface.

Note: for more on the Six Gill Shark, see: http://www.seasky.org/deep-sea/sixgill-shark.html

Our Friend Mary Lynn Price: Diving Under the Ice in the Antarctica...

I invite you to check out the blog link at the top right of this page, above my photo, showing our friend, underwater videographer [Barb's mentor] and diver, Mary Lynn Price's footage, taken diving under the ice in the Antarctica.

Stern of Ruby E.

Bow of Ruby E.

Nice, Relaxing Sunday Dive on the Ruby E.

Date: 11/16/08

Location:  Ruby E., Wreck Alley, Mission Beach

Time:  10:30 am

Type of Dive:  private boat

Dive Length:  43 mins

Surface Conditions:   like glass; weather beautiful and sunny

Current:  a bit of one at depth

Viz at Depth: 12-15 ft.

Max Depth:  83 ft.

Mix: 32% [ppo: 1.5]

Marine Life:  Strawberry Anemones, Red Algae, Red Gorgonians, Greenlings, Blacksmith, Senoritas, Hermissendas, Spanish Shawls, Moon Sponge,  Orange and Yellow Sponge….ISIFS [I’m Sure I’m Forgetting Something]

 

Remarks:

 

With Barb down with a cold and the Scuba Do still in the ‘boat hospital’ having some work done on it, Dave H. and I gladly accepted an invitation from Merrianne and Brenda to go out on the Bernice to visit the Ruby E. in Wreck Alley.

We motored out from Dana Landing under beautiful sunny skies and totally calm seas that were like glass.  Out in the distance, towards Pt Loma, we could see smoke billowing up from a fire, but had not heard there was one over in that direction.

You could see the Coronados Islands in the distance, which are 20 miles away.

Upon arrival, we tied up to the mooring buoy and Dave and I were the first to splash in.

We arrived on the Ruby to find viz about normal for this time of year: 12-15 ft. Not spectacular, but good enough for our purposes. Dave had his ‘point and shoot’ camera and was looking for some decent macro shots.

I left Dave to work on his shots and finned down towards the Wheel House, where I made my way through the narrow  passageways here and re-discovered the principle which says that when  a current  funnels through a narrow opening, it picks up speed—big time!

Wheeee!  I  found myself  ricocheting around inside the Wheelhouse like a stray bullet: clang! I bounced off this structure…………clang! I bounced off that one…………what fun!

 

Finally, I was able to stabilize myself and make my way through the opening on the far side and pull myself through and headed over to the Bow deck, where I had left Dave.

Large schools  of both adult and baby Blacksmith fish seem to follow me as I glided across a deck all aglow like neon with pink and white Strawberry Anemones, Red Gorgonians , Moon Sponge and Red Algae.

Being careful not stir things up with my fins, I  dipped down into the Bow Hold and made my way down towards the sand and observed all the CA and Warty Cucumbers dotted about on the walls and deck, being careful not to create a Sea Cucumber ‘avalanche.’

A school of baby Blacksmith followed me into the Hold and then scattered when I started forward towards the Bow.

Soon, Dave joined me down in the Hold and we shone our lights here and there, checking out all the denizens of the inside of the ship.

Leaving Dave to get some interior shots, I slowly let myself glide up through the opening in the deck and made my way towards the Stern.

It was probably my imagination, but the same school of baby Blacksmith fish seemed to follow me as I headed towards the rear of the ship. It reminded me of that biologist in the 60s who got a gaggle of baby ducks to ‘bond’ with him after birth and follow him around, instead of their mother. I told myself it was my magnetic personality that was attracting them.

Upon arrival at the Stern deck, I observed that some wise-ass had taken one of the  white porcelain  toilet from the sand nearby and set  it carefully on the deck, where it stuck out like a…..well, a white porcelain toilet. Brilliant!

We should institute an IQ Test before allowing people to dive Wreck Alley, you know?

Dipping down into the Stern Hold, I observed that it continued all the way through a small chamber until it reached directly under the Wheelhouse, so I followed it until I was directly under the Bridge.

Although you could see numerous openings where sunlight streamed through, none of the holes were big enough to swim through, so you have backtrack your way out the way you came until you come to the opening you came in.

Large mounds of sand lay on the bottom and you have to use care with your fins not to give yourself a ‘silt-out’ while in there.

A large, dead lobster lay on his back, antennae waving in the current as I made my way back to the opening I came in.

Gently adding some air into my suit, I glided slowly up through the Stern Hold, and then proceeded to the top of the Wheelhouse, which is about 15 ft. above the deck and covered with large ‘leaves’ of red algae, gently swaying in the current.

From here, I dropped down and  circled the ship on the outside about 3 times along the gunwales.

After passing over the top of ship and back to the Bow deck, where Dave was still snapping away, I signaled that I was going to being heading up in  a little bit and he agreed.

On my way to the ascent line, I paused briefly to commune with the tiniest little Hermissenda I’d ever seen: about ¼ inch long, clinging for dear life to a piece of Red Algae swaying in the current  on the deck.  What a little cutie!

 

I had sucked all I could from my HP 100 and now it was time to ascend, with Dave following slowly below me.

I did a Deep Stop at 42 ft. for one minute and then at the SS, I tried to blow some bubble rings for Dave’s camera , as I have been doing lately on the Yukon, but the current was too strong and kept breaking them up.  Oh, well: that’s Life in the Big Bad Ocean!

Merrianne and Brenda surfaced shortly after we did and after a leisurely lunch, we all enjoyed a beautiful, slow ride back under gorgeous, sunny skies.

A perfect way to wrap up a weekend, and doing only on dive meant everyone got back at a decent hour, to boot.

 

I treated everyone to an ice cream bar at the Dana Landing store and everyone went home happy!

What more could you ask for?

Dive safe, everyone………..

Mikey

New, Remarkable Photos of the Deadly 'Bobbit Worm' from the Philippines....

Please join me in welcoming more remarkable photos taken recently by Mike Bartick in the Philippines, of the horrific 'Bobbit Worm,' on which the sci-fi Creature in the movie 'Dune' was supposedly modeled after.

Some have reported this worm attaining lengths in excess of 6 ft.

Watch as it waits [below] for a hapless goatfish to swim by and then, 'WHAM!' takes it in one gulp....

Mike said it gave him the willies just capturing this remarkable sequence.......

--Click on any photo below to ENLARGE....

The Creature in 'Dune'.....

The Deadly 'Bobbit Worm'.....

Wait for It......[Patience is a Virtue...]

Gulp! [Mmmm, mmmm.... Good!]