Posted by Chris on April 07, 2002 at 22:21:57:
Yesterday, Saturday April 6, I went to Santa Barbara Island with the Sea Divers on the Great Escape.
It was so calm on the way out that while lying in my bunk I could not tell when we left the harbor.
Our first dive was on a wall to the west of Sutil Island.
Captain Tim laid the anchor over the wall with the boat sitting in 55 ft. of water.
You could clearly see the boat from the bottom.
The water was 54 °F.
I saw many different types of starfish, some small vermilion rockfish, a large sculpin, cabazon, bocaccio, and a calico bass.
This whole area was covered with brittle stars, which seem to be taking over the Island.
Someone on the boat wrote on the board that SBI stands for See Brittle star Island.
Our next dive was at black cavern.
Captain Tim dropped the anchor just 40 ft from the entrance.
The wind had picked up a bit, but it was calm and without current below the surface.
The next dive was on the south side of the island, near a small arch.
The last dive was in front of the cave that is between the rookery and the ranger station.
Here the water was like glass.
The sea lion movies are from here.
See the pictures at the link below!