Dive Site: LJ Shores - Secret Gardens
Max Depth: 139 fsw
Bottom Time: 91 minutes
Vis: 30-40 feet below 30 feet

Max and I met up at LJ Shores for a doubles dive. We geared up and kicked out past the blue buoy to drop down into 30 feet of water. After about 20 feet we hit the canyon. We saw a 4 foot Halibut and a mini-me Halibut right next to it(a small identical Halibut). After a few pics, we slowing made our way across the crack down to see the sea lion and baby corpses. Ronquels were all around the carcass, with a nice sized fringehead right next to them. We then saw the hundreds of squid eggs covering the bottom from 90 fsw down quite a ways. We saw a few divers comming into the canyon, but a few minutes later they were gone. I guess they headed for the North Wall. We slowly checked out the secret gardens going down to the deeper and further southwest sites. We didn't stay too long and headed along to the south. We hit 139 feet after about 15 minutes swimming south. The area reminded me of the Cabezon Cruiser but with a few flat fish here and there. After hitting our turn-around we headed up to a lesser depth. At 95 feet we encountered another spot with a few gorgonians, and a few octopus, big and small. We slowly headed up the wall and explored the sand as we decompressed. A storm of baitfish and Herring came through the area with dozens of fish running into us. It was quite an amazing experience having dozens of fish hit your at high speed. After that we saw indivudual baitfish and some shrimp and moonsnails. We ended our deco and headed into the beach. We encountered several round rays, and at the very end of our dive we came to an area with 3-4 round rays, 1 thornback ray, and a 3-4 foot shark swimming by. After checking a guide I think it was a Soupfin. He was swimming by gently. We saw him maybe 20-30 seconds. We exited just north of the lifeguard tower. Sadly no pic of the shark!

Sean in SD

• http://gallery.scubapost.net/v/seand/2005scubaphotos/ljssecretetc08232005/

• very cool pictures Chris 15:11:36 08/24/05 (0)