Posted by jlyle on May 30, 2005 at 10:36:16:
Over Memorial Day weekend, we took the Popeye Maru out to dive Santa Monica Bay. A red tide was in full bloom, staining the water the color of coffee. We decided to make a run to the northern part of the Bay, to the wreck of the Star of Scotand, in hopes of finding better conditions. Passing LAX, going North, we noticed that the brown color of the wake changed to a promising blue/green.
I dropped on the wreck first, to check the conditions; it was cold (~50 degrees), with marginal visibility (~10 feet). Not a great day for wide-angle photography, but nice for macro. We did two dives on Saturday and went back on Sunday to try again. Alas, the brown water had creeped further north and vis was about half of what it had been on Saturday. We did one dive and call it a weekend.
Here are a few pics from our dives:
Acorn barnacle
Angel shark
Facelina stearnsi nudibranch & tube worm
Strawberry anemones
Rock scallop and Spanish Shawl (can you see the scallop's eyes?)
Keyhole limpet (looks like an eye!)
More about the Star of Scotland wreck:
[url]http://dive.scubadiving.com/members/tripreports.php?s=2766[/url]