Date: 11/29/08

Location: Key Hole, North Island

Times: 11:47 pm/ 2 pm

Max Depths: 99 ft./59 ft.

Visibility: 50ft/’only’ 30 ft.

Mix: 32%/30%

Surface Conditions: calm

Current at Depth: Strong

Boat: private/26 ft. Blackman w/220 Horse Volvo engine

Marine Life: 4 Seals, Red, Gold and Brown Gorgonians, Purple Hydrocoral, Blacksmith, Senoritas, Sheephead [juvenile and adult], Gerabaldis, Keyhold Limpets,Opal Eyes, Purple and Red Sea Urchins….[ISIFS]: I’m Sure I’m Forgetting Something

Remarks:

OK, I’ll admit that when NOAA Jim told us earlier in the week that he had arranged for me and Barb to go out on his friends, Kathy and Bob’s Blackman boat to the Coronados Islands, to myself, I was like: “Ah…….OK. No Biggie.’

To be honest, although it has been a while since I’d been out to the islands, I’ve never been particularly impressed with the diving there, having done Lobster Shack and the little yacht there, which, while pretty, was just never particularly impressive….maybe it was the shallow depths, maybe it was just me.

Today was a different story. Jim’s friends Kathy and Bob are experienced boaters and divers and knew exactly where to go to find the Purple Hydrocoral and I was impressed, let me tell you. It rivaled some of the best dives I’ve done on Scripps……and the 50 ft. viz didn’t hurt either.

Bob and Kathy’s 26 ft. Blackman with the 220 horsepower diesel Volvo engine made good time out to the North Island and before we knew it, we were at Key Hole and the Lois Ann had, amazingly, beat us out there, so we had to wait for them to pick their divers out of the water, before we could drop anchor, right next to the Key Hole itself.

Now, NOAA Jim had given us an excellent, detailed pre-dive briefing before we went in: he said we would not be diving the Key Hole itself, but following the drop-off leading South and East towards the other islands, visible in the distance.

The idea was to follow ridge down to around 90 ft and then across the ‘crevice,’ to the other side, where the Purple Hydrocoral lay. He made it clear that there were strong currents at that depth and if we were to run into them, to not fight them, but just go as far as we could, and then come up before burning through our gas and Bob would pick up up in the open ocean. Fighting the open ocean currents would exhaust you.

His advice was right on. I’m glad we followed it.

What we didn’t know was that, on his scooter, he would be providing taxi service for us all.

Unable to rent a scooter for myself in time for this trip, I splashed in, along with Barb and the ‘VW’ [High Def Video Cam in the Gates Housing], with Kathy and Jim taking the lead, since they had the most experience diving in this area.

First thing we noticed was the beautiful 50 ft. visibility up ahead. The second thing we noticed was the spectacular
granite wall on our right, dropping away into 100 + ft. of water.

How do I know the viz was 50 ft? Because from 50 ft., we could see the bottom below us at 100 ft. True, vertical viz tends to be better than horizontal viz, but you’ll have to take my word for the fact that horizontal viz was just as good as the vertical.

So, these huge granite walls on our right were covered in gorgeous, lush Golden and Brown Gorgonians, some of them 3 + feet across, waving gently in the current.

It was like soaring through the Grand Canyon in an airplane on a clear day.

Huge schools of Blacksmith fish and Senoritas flitted back and forth in front of us as we swam South/South East, towards the ‘Crevice.’

And, to our delight, not one, but 3 seals had decided to come down to play with us, and zoomed back and forth in front of us, playfully charging us and then banking away at the last minute. What a treat!

So, as we made our way down towards the bottom and SE, it became apparent what a large distance we had to cover: the wall seemed to stretch endlessly in front of us, out into the open ocean.

I looked behind me and saw Kathy making her way slowly along the way and then looked ahead for Barbara and she was nowhere to be seen.

Where had she gone? Then, about 60 ft in the far distance, I saw Jim on his scooter towing her away from us.

Cool, I thought: he’s towing her towards the Hydrocoral. Nice touch!

Kathy and I kept swimming along the wall and I dropped down towards the sand at around 100 ft. to check out the large Rockfish that were swimming along the bottom as well as shine our lights into all the nooks and crannies along the way, home to Giant Keyhole Limpets and the occasional lobster.

Then, I heard the telltale sound of Jim’s scooter in the distance, growing louder as he approached.

Looking up, I saw Jim approaching at a rather high rate of speed towards me and then do a ‘U-Turn’ and cut around so that he was coming up fast behind me.

The next thing I knew, he was holding out his hand and I knew to grab it.

My speed quickly doubled and we were off like a shot, towards the end of the Crevice, far up ahead, at least 100 yards.

X-Scooters are designed to tow up to 2 divers at a time.

Before I knew it, “NOAA Jim’s Underwater Taxi Service” had pulled me far ahead, much faster than I would be able to swim by finning alone, and had deposited me right on top of a huge granite plateau at around 85 ft., covered in gorgeous bright purple Hydrocoral, where Barb was happily filming away with the VW.

I alighted next to Barb and marveled at this huge field Purple Hydrocoral, stretching as far as the eye could see.

It was absolutely stunning.

Next thing we knew, Jim was off like a shot, to pick up his next ‘customer,’ Kathy, who, through no fault of her own, lagged far behind along the wall, simply because of the underwater distances involved here, at least several hundred yards.

In just a couple minutes, we could see “Jim’s Taxi Service” approaching, with Kathy in tow and gently deposit her next to us in this gorgeous Purple Hydrocoral Garden.

The 3 of us swam slowly around this Purple Hydrocoral ‘Garden’ for a few minutes, filming and admiring its beauty, before it was time to begin heading back. We knew we had a long distance to cover and at this depth, we needed to get started.

As soon as we began heading back Northward towards the boat, we hit the ‘headwind’ that Jim had warned us several times about.

It grew stronger and stronger, the further Northward along the wall we swam.

Telltale sign: the beautiful, lush Golden Gorgonians embedded along the wall, which we had admired on the way over, were bent down, vibrating like a blur in the current. Not good.

As we kicked forward, none of us were moving an inch and we had several hundred yards to go to get to the boat.

Jim’s warning was coming to pass.

I looked up ahead and saw him making headway against the ripping current in his scooter: he did a U Turn and began coming back towards us: I pointed to Kathy and told him to pick her up first and he understood immediately.

He zoomed around, held out his hand, she grabbed it and they were off, in the direction of the boat.

By now, I noticed I was starting to ‘huff and puff’ against the current and I knew this spelled trouble.

I remembered Jim’s words: “Whatever you do, don’t fight the current. It will win every time. Come up if you have to and Bob will pick you up in the boat.”

That was fine with me. I immediately slowed my pace and moved over next to the wall and began latching onto rocks and pulling myself hand-over-hand along the way. This immediately calmed my breathing and reduced the danger of CO2 build up.

Then, I heard the sound of Jim’s Taxi Service again, as he zoomed by me to pick up
Barb, who was lagging far behind me, pushing the bulky VW in front of her. I was concerned about her and the monster video camera, trying to make headway against this wicked current. It turned out later, my concern was justified.

He picked her up and zoomed off ahead of me, leaving me to continue making me way back hand-over-hand, along the wall.

I slowly made my way past more Gorgonians, their ‘heads’ bent down in the current, until I was past the 85 ft. mark, where it seemed to lessen a bit and I was able to finally let go of the wall and head back out into open water, towards the boat.

I was really glad I had brought my HP 120 with a ‘fat fill,’ because I was going through gas at a prodigious rate and knew I could never have made it using a 100, like Kathy and Barb.

Jim buzzed by one final time, after having dropped off Kathy and Barb near the boat and I signaled that I was OK and didn’t have any further need of his ‘taxi’ service and he signaled ‘OK’ back and zoomed back off in the direction of the boat.

But, I’ll tell you, I was still breathing hard when I finally got back to the boat and when Barb climbed aboard, she was immediately struck down with a crippling CO2 Headache, followed, if you can believe it, by a migraine–man: talk about one-two knockout punch– man, that must really hurt!

We immediately put her on pure 02 that they had on board and she took the migraine medication she had brought and wrapped a towel around her head and was OK after about 20 minutes.

I was sure she was done for the day, but to her credit, the double headaches subsided enough after an hour for her to actually make a second dive with us.

Dive #2:

Our second dive was basically right under the boat at Key Hole, at around 50 ft., and consisted of me, Kathy and Barb just cruising around between the giant boulder here and admiring all the Purple and Red Sea Urchins, Key Hole Limpets, Senoritas, Opal Eyes and cute baby Sheephead and Garibaldis that swarmed all around us.

Jim had burned through most of his twin 72s shuttling everyone back and forth along the wall at 90 ft. with his scooter on the previous dive and wisely decided to sit this one out.

After about 50 mins underwater, the sun was beginning to get low in the sky and it began to grow dark on this side of the island and we collectively decided to start heading towards the surface, after being joined to by a couple of the same seal that had joined us on the first dive.

Despite the ordeal of the rippin’ current and C02 headaches on the previous dive, we all surfaced happy as clams with the realization that we had had one of the best days of diving in recent memory–thank you, NOAA Jim for the great ‘taxi service’ and Kathy and Bob and your great Blackman boat!

Date: 11/28/08

Location: El Rey, Kelp Cutter, Wreck Alley, Mission Beach

Time: 11:30 am

Dive Length: 35 mins

Max Depth: 85 ft

Viz: 15-20 ft. depending on location on wreck

Mix: 30%

Marine Life: Red Algae, Green Algae, Laminaria, Strawberry Anemones, Grey Moon Sponge, Blackeyed Gobies, Blacksmith, Black Surfperch, Sand Bass, Spanish Shawls, Red and Brown Gorgonians….

Remarks:

With Barb locked into the Dr. Bill Syndrome of ‘Can’t-Dive-Gotta-Edit-Video,’ I gratefully accepted an invitation
to go diving with Jackie, Kathy, Marianne and Merrianne on The Bernice in Wreck Alley today.

At my suggestion, it was decided to we would check out the Kelp Cutter, the El Rey.

It was overcast and cloudy when they backed the boat into the water off the trailer, but the sun was peeking through the clouds as we motored out of the channel and into the open ocean.

With Jackie and Kathy on air and ‘near-air’ [24%], respectively, it was decided that that they would buddy up together, leaving Marianne to watch the boat and Merrianne D. and me as buddies.

Jackie and Kathy rolled in first, followed forthwith by me and Merrianne.

As is common in San Diego, viz is better in the top 20 ft. than on the bottom, so it clouded up a bit as we approached
the El Rey, but nonetheless remained a respectable 15-20 ft. on the wreck itself, depending on where you were.

The deck of the El Rey is covered with a kaleidoscopic blanket of Red and Brown Algae, Red and Gold Gorgonians waving gently in the current, with the Kelp Harvester section covered in pink and white Strawberry Anemones, making it glow brightly as you approach from above.

Closer examination reveals large, speckled sections of Grey Moon Sponge here and there on various parts of the superstructure.

Merrianne and I descended down from the Harvester section and made our way across the deck and explored the various nooks and crannies and cutouts we came across.

First Merrianne descended down into one of the holds in the deck, while I hovered above, then, after she popped out, I made my way over to of the adjacent holds and dropped down inside.

Inside the holds of the El Rey are not nearly as interesting or inviting as those of the Yukon or Ruby E.

As I dropped down into mine, I could see large piles of sand, piled nearly to the top of the hold itself, inviting a self-created ’silt-out’ for the unwary diver, with the occasional Red Gorgonian and lobster waving his anntenae.
Needless to say, I didn’t stay long.

From here, Merrianne and I simply made our way around the little ship along the sand, 4 or 5 times, checking out the
Sand Bass hiding underneath it and the Rock Scallops attached to the superstructure, followed by 3-4 passes over the deck.

Before I knew it, I was 5 mins from deco on 30% and it was time to start heading up.

I signaled to Merrianne and she agreed immediately and we made our slowly up the ascent line, pausing for a deep stop, followed by our safety stop and then headed under the boat, to pop up under then engine.

It was a nice, relaxing dive for all involved and due to Jackie feeling a bit hyperthermic in her wet suit, we all decided to just call it a day and head back in.

Tomorrow: conditions permitting of course, it’s out to the Coronados Islands in a private boat to get video footage of Purple Hydrocoral.

Dive safe, everyone……..

The California Department of Fish of Fish and game is currently in the
process of redesigning Marine protected areas all along California’s
1100 mile coast. In each of the five study regions a transparent
process invites public participation. Currently we are involved in a
public planning process for the south coast study region which includes
an area from point conception in Santa Barbara County to the California
Mexican border in San Diego.

Members of the public are encouraged to participate in the planning
process and if you have any interest in this issue now is certainly the
time to get involved. The initial step would be to visit the Department
of Fish and game website for the Marine life protection act which is
www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa .

The timeline for public involvement in the Southern California process
is running quite short. We are expected to begin development and review
of draft Marine protected area proposals beginning in January of 2009.
The time is short but you have an interest I would encourage you to get
involved.

As a stakeholder driven process, public input is critical to the
successful implementation of the Marine life protection act initiative.
There are a number of ways you can become involved including:

1. attending meetings, public review of documents or watch meetings live
or archived on the website

2. Comment on draft documents a Marine protected area proposals.

3. Add your name to the e-mail listserv at the MLPA website.

4. Send general comments by mail or e-mail.

The state is done a really good job with their web-based information
delivery systems and if you have any interest in this process the time
for you to get involved is now.

I was fortunate to be appointed as a recreational diving representative
to the regional stakeholders group for the Southern California MLPA
initiative process. This is my third time involved in the
implementation of the MLPA. initiative. The first two attempts to
implement the statute were suspended first for planning considerations
and then for fiscal reasons. In the course of the last eight years
trying to implement this initiative the department has come a long way
in designing a process that will yield a result which is both
politically and scientifically defensible. At the current time there
are over 58 members of the regional stakeholder committee. I must admit
that it is probably one of the best assemblages of Marine knowledge that
I have ever seen in one room. In addition to the regional stakeholders
group there is also a scientific advisory Council made up of the
scientific disciplines necessary to provide input to the regional
stakeholders group. The goal of this process is to come up with a
series of proposed Marine protected areas that can be presented for
approval to the fishing game commission sometime in late 2009. Between
now and September when the first Marine protected area proposals
complete their review and a preferred alternative is selected, we all
have the ability to affect this process.

If you want to get an idea of the size and magnitude of the changes that
are going to be proposed for Southern California the MLPA website
maintained by the department contains the after action reports for the
first two phases of this initiative process in central California. In
that process a little less than 20% of the coastline was designated as
some type of the four Marine protected areas with less than 20% of those
receiving full protection has Marine Reserves were no take is allowed.

Why is this important? This is the first time there has ever been a
comprehensive attempt to provide some levels of protection for species
and habitats on the California coast lines. Because of the overwhelming
costs, both political and monetary, the chances of something like this
ever happening again in our lifetime are going to be remote. The
changes wrought by this initiative process will be binding on our
children and possibly their children. If there is any doubt whether
this is important or not find an old SCUBA diver, somebody is old or
older than Dr. Bill (lol), and ask them what their thoughts are on the
health and vitality of the Southern California oceans over the last 40
years. When you couple the continuing decline of the productivity of
our oceans with the projected increases in human population and habitat
disturbances caused by coastal occupancy, you will understand why this
process is so important and why it is receiving the high attention to
getting it completed in this most dire fiscal time. There are going to
be severe economic consequences to some of the user groups and a
compaction of 100% of the effort into a smaller subset of available area
will stress the State’s enforcement assets to the breaking point. [As a
matter of fact it might break and since I think our enforcement is
already broken. As a separate issue I would urge all of you to write
letters to the director of Fish and game with a copy to the governor's
office asking for an increase in salary for the departments wildlife
protection officers to bring them up to the same level as the Highway
Patrol. We do not have enough game wardens and we do not pay them
enough to get by in a living wage in a coastal metropolitan areas. They
need our help, and we need their efforts to protect and preserve our
wildlife and fisheries]

In the middle of January we will meet to begin a process of reviewing
existing Marine protected areas and drawing lines on maps for new ones.
Since I don’t think there is a single square foot of coastline in
Southern California that is not someone’s best fishing hole or favorite
sunset retreat, we all have a stake in this process. If you have
something meaningful to add and a passion for getting involved in
designing how we and our children letter rack up the coastal marine
resources in the future, it is now or never for Southern California, at
least for the next few decades.

Stephen G. Benavides

steve@sgbcpa.com
949-474-7427

WASHINGTON – Marine archaeologists have found the remains of a slave ship wrecked off the Turks and Caicos Islands in 1841, an accident that set free the ancestors of many current residents of those islands. Some 192 Africans survived the sinking of the Spanish ship Trouvadore off the British-ruled islands, where the slave trade was banned.

Over the years the ship had been forgotten, said researcher Don Keith, so when the discovery connected the ship to current residents the first response “was a kind of shock, a lack of comprehension,” he explained in a briefing organized by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

See here for more:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081126/ap_on_sc/sci_slave_ship_found_7

All phytoplankton basically use the same resources: light and a medley of nutrients. All else being equal, if you have two species fighting over the same resource, the stronger competitor will win and the weaker one will go extinct. For 10 different resources, you would expect 10 species to be able to coexist. But the ocean is filled with thousands of species of phytoplankton that coexist though they all seem to fill the same niche—a phenomenon known as the “paradox of the plankton.”Among these paradoxical plankton is Trichodesmium (pronounced “trick-o-DEZ-mee-uhm”). Although they seem very similar, the six species of Trichodesmium live together, making the plankton paradox a tantalizing question to apply to these phytoplankton.

Meet Team Tricho—a trio of MIT/WHOI graduate students investigating the splendid diversity of a critical marine bacteria called Trichodesmium.

–Click below to read full article:

http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/viewArticle.do?id=53146&sectionid=1020