Date: 7/25/08
Dive Location: Vets
Buddy(ies): Angelique
Time: 8:59 pm.
Bottom Time: 57 Min
Max Depth: 83 fsw
Vis: 20+ GREAT VIS!
Wave height: 1-2 Feet
Temp at depth: 54 F
Surface Temp: 69F

Last night, I met up with Angelique at Vets. A few friends went the night before and reported stellar vis so we thought we might go on an off night regarding the crowds. The surface conditions were not too bad. There was a little wind chop with small waves but over all, things looked good.

After learning a bit more about her Suunto, Angelique finally figured how to set her computer correctly and tonight was the first test. We headed towards the middle stairs, entered the water without issue and started to kick our way out to the end of the pier. The plan tonight was to go no deeper then 80 and look for critters.

On the way down the slope of the canyon we started to run into nudis and pipefish but I waited to start shooting till we reached depth. Vis in the shallows was not too bad but as we worked our way down the canyon it was EXCELLENT!! Right now, conditions are optimal. Get out there now before it changes!!!

As we tooled along enjoying the scenery, we came upon the large metal drum at around 80. There was a huge crab at the back end and there was also a colony of shrimp hanging out behind the crab. I guess they felt safe having the big fella near by. There were a bunch of small Hermessends in the area and a few small Triopha Maculata. As we started to make our way back to the slope we ran into a GIANT cluster of life at around 55. There were at least 10 Triopha Maculata and a ton of Black Dorids. The Triopha Maculata were gathered in groups of 2 and 3 and some were so big that I could not get them into frame. I have never seen this many at one time ever at Vets. Basically, it was one of those great nights that most likely will not happen again. We also ran into a Navanax. This clump of kelp was the mother load of life. It was a great night for critters but my pictures for some reason were just OK. Too many options at one time can drive you crazy…..lol. Another critter we ran into was a Brown Top-Snail. It might be a juvenile Blue Ring Top-Snail so correct me if I am wrong.

After we noticed that we were both running out of air, we decided to make our way to the top of the slope. On the way up we ran into some decent sized Halibut and many small to medium sized flat fish.

Enjoy it while you can folks. This might not last long.

Below are some pictures that in my opinion are not my best work. Enjoy!