Date: 3/2/07
Dive Location: OML 120 Reef
Buddy(ies): Jimmy – The Bagman
Time: 9:37 pm.
Bottom Time: 55 min
Max Depth: 48 fsw
Vis: 10 feet Max
Wave height: 1 feet
Temp at depth: 51F Brrrrr…
Surface Temp: 56F

I met up with I met up with Jimmy this morning at OML to find the whole coast line has been fenced off. I can’t believe they actually have a barrier from the cove to the point. To enter the point, you have to make your way down the slope and to the right skirting the fence till you get close enough to the point where you will have to either cut the orange plastic fence or, go over it. To enter the cove, one of the guys cut an area out of the fence so we can have access to walk down the paved road to Cobble Beach.

Today was beautiful. The sun was shining and the water looked glassy and calm. We decided to try the 120 reef and then make our way into the HUGE kelp forest area. It’s amazing to see how the kelp is growing so well in the cove. It’s a much different picture as compared to last year.

Entry at Cobble beach was a piece of cake. We kicked out and dropped down past the rock point. The visibility was not as good as the top side conditions made it out to be. Max visibility was about 10 feet. We made our way out to the end of the reef and worked our way back to the kelp forest. Before we reached the kelp forest, we came across the biggest Halibut I have ever seen. As we go to about 20 – 25 feet we were about 50 minutes into the dive and we both had about 1400psi left (We both started with fills at 3,000psi). I figured that we would just hang out in the kelp and have a relaxing tour. This was not to be. As soon as we entered the kelp, we were immediately molested by a cute Harbor Seal. Being bombarded by a seal is both fun and disturbing. After all, this is a wild animal. For some reason, this guy had NO FEAR of us. He kept trying to hug our legs or fins. He especially liked the white tips on Jimmy’s black Atomic fins. At one point, he actually went in Jimmy’s lap when he turned around to see what was behind him. We surfaced in the kelp to talk about the seal but the seal kept coming after us. We began to make our way back across the rock point to Cobble Beach and he finally left us alone about 50 yards from the beach. Over all, this was an amazing experience.

Most of my pictures today turned out super crappy for some reason. Below are some highlights from the dive:

Fence Across OML
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Brittle Star

Orange Sponge

Tube Anemone

Clu Tipped Anemone

Short Spined Star

HUGE Halibut

Halibut Face

Kelp (With Backscatter)

Harbor Seal In Kelp Forest (Lots of Backscatter)

When Harbor Seals Attack......lol

Later Dude

• Re: OML 120 Reef & Harbor Seal Attack 3/2 PATRICK 16:26:49 03/02/07 (2)
  • Halibut faces Chuck Tribolet 16:58:32 03/02/07 (1)
    • Re: Halibut faces PATRICK 17:55:38 03/02/07 (0)