We had 3 awesome dives at Anacapa on the spectre. $78, fills and lunch (after 2nd dive) included. Breakfast, bottled water, coffee extra. vis was outstanding. barbecued chicken lunch was tasty. 20 divers on board (max capacity 40), so it was quite roomy. Many new divers on board, 1 student, no hunters. Ted, Dennis (DM), and Nathan worked the boat, along with the Chef (Christie I think). Hot fills were to 3000PSI, sometimes 3300. Top-offs after letting the tank cool were not allowed.

The boat left around 8:15AM due to 2 last minute arrivals.

First dive was at Cathedral cove, on the northeast side of Anacapa. Bottom temp 66 degrees, max depth 51ft, 64 minutes. At least 50ft vis. Excellent site, nice kelp. A few bat rays here. A school of sea lions swam by us.

Kelp Rockfish

Female Sheephead

Tube Anemone

Black Sea Bass. We saw a total of 3 black sea bass on this dive, but no one else on the boat saw them.

Black Sea Bass

Female Sheephead

Male Sheephead

Black Perch

Treefish, Sea cucumbers

Second dive was at "canyons", which was near Cathedral Cove. A nice site with lots of fish, kelp, and great vis. Bottom temp 68, 50ft vis, max depth 45ft, 58 minutes. We saw many bat rays, many huge lobsters, and several harbor seals here. Surface interval 0:49, a little short.

school of Sargo

Unknown Pelagic (salp?)

Harbor Seal
7

Army of Lobsters

Surface interval

Third dive, the boat was anchored between "channels" (shallow) and "underwater island" (deeper). this site was on the southwest part of anacapa, just east of Coral Reef. we chose underwater island, and it was great. Excellent vis, thousands of brittle stars, a nice wall, and an adult black sea bass. Only 2 other divers went to underwater island, and they also saw the black sea bass. max depth, 62ft, 50min. Bottom temp 59 degrees. Other divers who went to "channels" did not seem impressed. Surface interval 1:11. as we were leaving I saw the vision anchor at the deeper part of Coral reef, I would have liked to dive there.

Brittle stars

Swell shark egg, brittle stars

Brittle stars covering a gorgonian

Cabezon, brittle stars

Zoanthid Anemone

Penny and her new friend, a Cabezon

After the 3rd dive I went into the hot tub for a little bit, then took a nap at the table. We returned around 5:05PM. We would have returned at 4:30 except the anchor was stuck at the last dive site, and dennis had to go underwater and sort it out. The drive home through Malibu was fast and scenic.

• Re: Anacapa 7/26 Report/Photos (saw 4 GSB!) Rockinghorse 01:13:56 08/02/06 (0)
• Re: Anacapa 7/26 Report/Photos (saw 4 GSB!) Brad 16:20:47 07/29/06 (0)
• Re: Anacapa 7/26 Report/Photos (saw 4 GSB!) Jason 12:17:04 07/27/06 (0)