Fried Egg Jellyfish [See Video Below]:

Shark Diving Protocol: UC Santa Cruz

Although we do not have the problem with Great Whites [knock on wood] that they do up in the Monterey Bay are, I thought it was interesting the Protocol for Diving in an Area Where Sharks Have Been Seen, as developed for UC Santa Cruz Science Divers.

Note: all…

Kelp Bass Investigates a Moon Jelly

Lion Nudibranch Feeding

What the Heck is a Nudibranch?

For non-divers unfamiliar with the term, a nudibranch is simply a sea snail without a shell.

Nudi [not surprisingly] is Latin for ‘naked,’ and ‘branch’ means ‘gill,’ so, nudibranch just means ‘naked gill.’ It’s pronounced ‘nudi-bran-K’ with a hard ‘k.’ Their gills are often…

Scenes from a Kelp Forest on Anacapa Island

The following shots taken in a kelp forest in Anacapa recently were so beautiful, I just had to post them, with the permission of their author, Scott Gietler, a Los Angeles County diver, because they show scenes very similar to what we saw in Monterey…

Monterey, California

Great White Scare at The Pinnacles, Carmel, CA

Dive #1 [Actual: #718]

Date: 9/9/07

Location: Carmel, California

Venue: Charter Boat Dive

Site: Inner Pinnacles

Time: 9:30 am

Dive Length: 45 mins

Conditions: water: flat, sunny skies

Surface Temp: 57 F

Depth Temp: a chilly 50 F

Viz at…

Close Up of Baby Horn Shark, La Jolla Shores, CA

A Hilton’s Aeolid, Checking for the Scent of His Much Larger and Cannibalistic Cousin, the Navanax [Click to Enlarge]

Mikey and a Fried Egg Jelly

Baby Red Abalone, Pt. Loma

Remarkable Experiences Underwater

A good friend of mine, and an excellent underwater photographer, I might add, was recently confronted rather unexpectedly underwater when a Pacific Torpedo Ray [Electric], came at him head on, at Farnsworth Bank in Catalina. Torpedo Rays can deliver a considerable…

Limbaugh’s Cadlina

Moray Eel

Late Post: Mini Night Dive: Wens.

Date: 9/20/07

Time: 7-ish

Surf: Negligible: 1–2 ft. [pre-storm surf]

Dive Length: 45 mins

Max Depth: 60 ft.

Bottom Temp: 55 F.

Viz: well beyond range of lights: 30 ft. +

Mix: 32%

Critters Seen: Two large Halibuts [Grandson and Big Grandaddy],

numerous juvenile…

Angel Shark at La Jolla Shores [Click to Enlarge]

Seals Playing in the Kelp

Storm? What Storm? 30 ft. viz on the Yukon Today!

Date: 9/22/07

Location: Yukon, Wreck Alley

Time: 11-ish

Dive Length: 45 mins

Max Depth: 100 ft. 

Surface Conditions: 1–3 ft. wind waves, occasional white cap

Viz at Depth: 30 ft. +

Temp at Depth: 55 F.

Currents: at surface only

Mix…

A Ceratasoma tenue [Nudibranch] with an Imperial Shrimp Riding Along: Can You See It? [Click to Enlarge]

Whoa! Head’s Up, Kevin!

Black Surperch in the Kelp

Stills From Our Recent Monterey Trip — Video To Follow — Click to Enlarge:

Hydroid Close Up [Click to Enlarge]

A Salp Suspended in the Water Column

Great White Shark

Octo at La Jolla Shores

Saturday Yukon Dive [w/Video Stills]

Date: 9/29/07

Time: Noon

Dive Length: 45 mins

Viz at Depth: 12–15 ft.

Temp: 54 F

Max Depth: 100 ft.

Mix: 36%

Critters Seen: Blacksmith, Senoritas, Painted Greenlings, CA Sea Cucumbers, White and Medtridia Senile


Motored out under lead-grey skies with ‘Iron…

The Photographic Talent You See Here…..

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the tremendous photographic talent of Kevin Lee, Scott Gietler and Mike Bartick, the divers whose amazing closeup shots of the underwater world you see here on my blog on a regular basis.

They bring the…

Kelp Forest Scene II

Proliferating Anemones

Pacific Grove, CA: Harbor Seal Plays Frisbee w/Moon Jellies

Date: 9/7/07



Location: Coral St., Pacific Grove [just South of Monterey]



Time: 1:15 pm


Dive Length: 70 mins


Max Depth: 45 ft.


Max Depth: 40 ft.


Viz at Depth: 15–20 ft.


Temp at Depth: 55 F


Surf: Negligible: 1–2…

Head on with a Torpedo Ray [Electric]

Kelp Forest Scene

Pt. Lobos Preserve, Monterey, CA

Date: 9/6/07

Location: Pt. Lobos, Monterey

Dive Site: Whaler’s Cove,

Time: 9:30 am

Dive Length: 55 mins

Viz in Cove: 5 ft.

Viz Outside Cove 15–20 ft.

Temp: 54 F

Mix: 32%

Critters Seen: Black Perch, Blue Rockfish, Olive Rockfish, Bat Stars, Giant Spined Starfish…

2 Science Dives w/Reef Check

Date: 9–1–07

Location: Hill St., Ocean Beach

Dive Times: 11:30 am/1:30 pm

Surface Conditions: 2–3 ft. SW swells; not as bad as predicted

Surface Temp: 68 F

Bottom Temp: a c-c-c-cold 55 F

Surface Viz: 30 ft. +

Bottom Viz 20 ft. +

Max Depth: 47 ft.

Dive Purpose: gather…

Note: This is Not the Fin We Saw from the Boat…..Just Gives You an Idea of What It Looked Like……

Fried Egg Jelly

2 Science Dives with Reef Check

Dive #1: [Actual: #719]

Date: 9–15–07

Time: 10: 57 am

Location: Hill St., Pt. Loma

Surface Conditions: calm, with small surface swells….

Bottom conditions: surgy and murky

Viz at Surface: 20 ft. +

Viz at Bottom: 4–6 ft.

Dive Length: 44 mins

Max Depth: 34 ft…

And, Here It Is: Head On View of Torpedo Ray: Comin’ At Ya!

A Devil or ‘Mick Jagger’ Fish [See the Resemblence? Click to Enlarge]: Lembeh Straits, North Sulawasi, Indonesia

Tube Dwelling Anemone, La Jolla, CA