since Phil was unable to muster up the courage to dive today (just kidding phil!), I find myself having to take over his semi-daily OML report. No charge phil!

Penny and I showed up at Marineland at 11:30 expected a large barbecue, well it turns out no one dove due to surf/swell/whatever you want to call it. (you don't actually get real surf in the cove at OML).

A few people were still around barbecueing, including shannon, dan, mirek, don, Al, doug, karen, and others. Penny and I shared some food, then I started suiting up for a dive (penny wasn't diving due to a cold).

Low tide was at 8AM, which would have made for a nasty entry. Tide was much higher at 12 noon. I didn't even look at point, and opted for a cove entry. since the water gets deep fast, entry was not bad, going in during a lull. Still, you could defintely feel the power of the surge.

Reports of vis at the 120 reef was 3-4 feet, so I decided to swim towards the point. After 5 minutes (a mild current was in my favor) I was about 1/3 of the way there, and I thought the reef might be starting soon, so I dropped down. Sure enough after swimming at 40ft for 1 minute I hit the start of a nice reef.

vis was quite low, 5ft, with heavy sand/particles in the water, so photos were mostly very back-scatter heavy. Still, I managed to get a lot of closeup-photo practise in, and I can't wait for some clear days at OML.

At 1000 PSI I turned around and headed back for the cove. I had to fight a mild current but its power was greatly diminished at a shallow 20ft depth. My air lasted longer at this depth also, and I just had enough air to surface right in front of where I entered. Penny, Don, and Terry were there waiting for me, how nice!

Surge was strong upon entry, and I had to carefully take my fins off without getting carried too close to shore. I picked the right moment to run up the rocks, and exited without a hitch.

Hope you enjoy the photos, and lets hope the vis clears up!

Corynactis

Starfish

Blacksmith

Hermissenda

This was a large structure, part of a pier maybe? It sort of looked like a huge ladder. could it be the old platform?

Acanthodoris lutea

Unknown nudibranch

Zooanthid Anemone

Lemon Dorids (Diaulula nobilis)

Light bulb Tunicates

corynactis and Algae

more Corynactis

Monterey dorid (Archidoris montereyensis)

Anemone

Perch

Terry, Don, Cyber, Penny

Bob (private areas blurred)

• Re: Marineland Report/Photos Chris 21:35:23 07/16/06 (0)