Hi Kenneth,
Man, you're so lucky to live close enough to Monterey to dive there
any old weekend! I've come to adore California diving - the Channel Islands
at first, then the Central Coast when I began diving dry - but getting out
there is a major production for me, living near the East Coast as I do.
I was out in the Monterey area back in August, where I ran into
fellow list-member John Hauer onboard the Monterey Express. You might have
seen his trip report here and a few comments of mine on the subject.
After that, I met up with Marc, a photographer acquaintance whom I'd
met on a previous CA trip, and we headed down to Point Lobos along with
another diver who brought along his RIB. Lobos is such an incredibly scenic
place; I can't believe I had missed it on previous trips. Anyone not
familiar with the park can check out http://pt-lobos.parks.state.ca.us/ to
see what I'm talking about.
We took the RIB to the Outer Pinnacles for a couple of dives, spread
over half the day. I was astounded at the profusion of invertebrate life on
the first two pinnacles - easily the largest cowries and nudibranchs I've
ever seen, and in incredible numbers.
The vis was excellent for the area on the first dive - roughly 40' -
but by the time we'd had lunch back at Whaler's Cove and returned for the
second, it had turned into pea soup. I even managed to lose my buddy on the
downline (long story). :-)
The second dive wasn't a total loss, though. I scoured the pinnacle
for fitting subjects for Marc's camera, but didn't find anything worthwhile
until I spotted a rockfish wedged into a crack and refusing to move. No big
deal, but something caught my eye as I started away. On second glance, the
fish seemed to have an octopus's arm stuck in its mouth (that's what I
assumed since it hadn't swallowed it after 30 seconds of observation).
I signaled Marc and zeroed him in with my light. He looked at the
rockfish for a few seconds, trying to figure out what the big deal was,
then - just as I began to feel like an idiot for wasting his time - began
clicking away. After the dive, Marc told me he shot the rest of his film
there over the next five minutes, and that the fish had the _entire_ octopus
in its mouth. It couldn't manage to swallow the whole thing, but it wasn't
letting it go, either. :-) That's kinda gruesome, isn't it?
Marc says he's heard of rockfish eating octopus, but he's never seen
it before. If it's as rare as he says, I'm glad I had the chance to see it,
and help Marc capture it on film.
I've added a few comments below.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kenneth Smith" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2001 23:49
Subject: Re: [SCUBA-SE] A statement! (Was: Re: [SCUBA-SE] Bob & Ken etc.)
> nudebranches of various sizes and colors traverse the mount as does a
> Vunderful Shinny GOLD and Purple snail of almost painted quality.. this
> latter life form like the kelp for its feeding.
Similar to this one?
http://www.lumigenic.com/photo/Images/CD042/Larges/386U35
> what you may see in an area
> not so far from here is the ugliest creature alive above or
> underwater--- the Wolf eel... with a face that would sink not only the
> Titanic, but the Enterprise as well... to encounter this Gray face,
> which is like 5-7 " high when looking into the cracks is a pure scare at
> first, but an excitement that stays etched in the memory... I have
> never seen the whole body. only the face and while I have seen many eel
> in my diving time in the Philippines.. this resident creature of the
> deep is surely the ugliest, yet the most endearing of them all...
http://www.lumigenic.com/photo/Images/CD043/Larges/425U10
And, just b/c I love this pic, here's a great shot of my favorite
nudibranch: http://www.lumigenic.com/photo/Images/CD042/Larges/382U28
> Well there is lots more, but not time now... except getting out of the
> surf zone at Monastery often requires what locally is called the
> 'Monastery Crawl' hitting the surf zone under water, zipping to the
> shore line and immediately starting to crawl on hands and knees up the
> steep course sandy beach in a hurry before the next set of waves come
> in... normally the only way out...but worth the effort..
I'm looking forward to trying Monastery the next time I'm out there. Up for
a dive or two?
Regards,
Steven
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