Dive #1 :

Date: 10-4-09

Time: 11:49 am

Dive Length: 53 mins

Max Depth: 89 ft

Viz: 50 ft. vertical [no joke!] 30 ft. horizontal

Mix: 32% [Ahhh....Nitrox again!]

Marine Life Observed: Male and female Sheephead, Blacksmith, various species of Rockfish, Black Surfperch, Rubberlip Surfperch, Senoritas, Spiny Lobster, CA and Warty Sea Cucumbers, Brown and Red Gorgonians, Macrocystis and Elkhorn Kelp, Spanish Shawls, Hermissendas, Porter’s Chromodorid, Yellow Sponges, Orange Sponges [ISIFS: I'm Sure I'm Forgetting Something....]

Photos: awaiting upload by Scott McGee…….stand-by……..

Highlights:

–spectacular 40-50 vertical visibility, 30 ft. horizontal viz, with shafts of sunlight poring between the fronds of kelp, creating a ‘heavenly’ vision underwater….

–lots of marine life

–Scott and Barb had a ‘target rich’ environment, as far as marine life to photograph and video

–I had fun exploring the ‘Lazy Days’ wreck and then rejoined Scott and Barb up a bit higher on the upper part of the reef, where the rest of the wreck lies…

–certainly it was some of the best diving conditions I have seen in nearly 10 years of diving in Pt Loma…..nearly tropical in its beauty.

Dive #2:

Location: ‘Broomtail Reef’, about 100 ft. East of ‘Lazy Days’

Time: 2:28 pm

Dive Length: 52 mins

Max Depth: 58 ft.

Viz: 8-12 ft.

Mix: 32%

Marine Life Observed: male and female Sheephead, Senoritas, Surfperch, Calico Bass, Spiny Lobster, Keyhole Limpets, Brown Gorgonians, Macrocystis…..

Highlights:

–the visibility on this dive was not nearly as spectacular, dropping down to around 2 meters on average on Broomtail, only a few hundred yards away

–nonetheless,  we were able to locate a large ‘mushroom structure’ and Barb and Scott were able to amuse themselves taking video and photographs in that area…

–the return to the boat was fun, making our way through extremely thick kelp which completely surrounded the boat, making getting back on the boat a challenge…I had to remove my BC and tank, climb up the ladder and haul it back onto the boat by hand.

But, all in all, a great day of diving!

Dive #1

Date: 10/3/09

Dive #2

Location: Broomtail Reef, Pt. Loma

Photos (mostly wide angle):

http://underpressurephoto.com/Dive-Reports/20091003-Scuba-Pt-Loma/

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First dive was absolutely spectacular.  Visibility was awesome, with crystal clear blue water in the top 40 feet.  >From the boat, we could see down about 30 feet into the kelp.  At the bottom, I found my first MacFarland’s chromodorids (I’ve been looking for one of these for a long time).  There were four or more of them on the reef at about 70 ft, but I had my fisheye lens on and couldn’t get a pic of them.  I spent the dive shooting the kelp, gorgonians and following Mikey and Barbara around.

- On the second dive, I switched to macro and we headed east to shallower water and Broomtail Reef.  Visibility was less and once we got to the bottom, the surge was pretty strong (2-3 feet in both directions).  After searching a small pinnacle for life to photograph, Mikey brought me to a giant structure that was full of life.  Unfortunately, I was at my turn around pressure and had to head back after a quick pass.  There were lots of Porter’s chromodorids on this structure, but no MacFarland’s.  I had taken so many photos on the first dive (~300), one of my strobes died at this reef structure.  The second one died while I was ascending and taking pictures of kelp.  Coming back to the boat from underneath at about 30 feet, I could only tell that I found it because there was a roughly boat shaped mass of kelp.  Conditions topside had started to change for the worse as the sky was full of clouds, the wind had picked up and swells were increasing in size.  We all got back on board, careful not to slip on the kelp as we climbed the ladder, very grateful to have witnessed the spectacular conditions before the storm cancelled diving for the rest of the weekend.