Monthly Archives: July 2009
Dive #863: Dusk Patrol, La Jolla Shores: Bat Rays, White Fungus and Golf Balls
Filed under Oceans
Date: 7-29-09
Time: 8:30 pm-ish
Location: La Jolla Shores, North Lot
Surface Conditions: 1-3 ft. surf; nothing unmanageable
Viz: 12-15 ft at depth/~8 ft. in shallows
Temp: Warm on surface: +/-70 F/ +/- 55 F at depth [sorry: forgot to look]
Mix: 27%
Max Depth: 118 ft.
Dive Length: 56 mins
Current: noticeable Northerly current
Overall Group: Prof. Charles, Merrianne, Dave H.
Dive Buddies: Prof. Charles, Merrianne, Dave H.
Marine Life Seen: Numerous Octos, Scorpionfish, Bat Rays, Round Rays, Decorator Crabs, Spotted Cusk Eels, Sea Pansies, Sea Pens, Lizardfish, Thornback Rays, Macrocystis
Inanimate Objects Seen: lots and lots of trash, plastic bags, cups and two golf balls retrieved
Photos: pending upload by Dave H
Highlights:
–due to having been cold on a recent Yukon dive, I stupidly ‘overdressed’ last night under my dry suit, adding a vest to an already thick liner and spent most of the dive sweating and fighting off the urge to crack a wrist seal ‘just a tiny bit’ to let in some cool water….
–as mentioned above, we ended up in some sort of ‘trash dump’ in our unsuccessful search for ‘Secret Garden’ and naturally, I had forgotten to bring my ‘trash bag,’ so I ended up futilely trying to pick up every Styrofoam cup and piece of plastic by hand, before finally giving up and settling on the two golf balls I had come across. I really hate coming across these underwater trash dumps at 115 ft.
–oddly, the flat layers Macrocystis here were covered with a strange white fungus—I need to contact someone at SIO or Birch and find out what this white stuff is. The flat layers of Macrocystis provided a thick, layered home to lots of marine life, such as Coonstripe Shrimp and Octopi…..
–on the way back up into the shallows, came across a really cute little Decorator Crab, complete with green algae and barnacles growing out of him—am hoping Dave’s photos of him came out
–spotted 2 Bat Rays: one large adult and one juvenile, on our way back into the shallows
Summary:
Despite the overheating and the omnipresent trash, nonetheless, it was an excellent dive!
Dive safe, everyone……
A Good Cause….
Filed under Sharks
What is Shark Rescue?
We aim to protect sharks from extinction by offering you unique educational products. With our stylish gear, you also get a way to send your thoughts to the leaders who can make a difference - we’re bringing you style, with teeth.
Our audacious goal
We want to see balance restored to the world’s oceans. And, since we started this in Hong Kong, our local goal is to see the city become a leader in marine conservation by the year 2020.
How will we do it?
Shark Rescue uses a three-pronged approach:
- Create stylish, meaningful products;
- Empower the community to call for change;
- Spread the word.
Behind the scenes, Shark Rescue is developing many unique and powerful education materials. We’re working hard to see that balance is restored to the world’s oceans.
