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Scorpion Anchorage: Santa Cruz Island July 2010 Report





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Posted by FrankPro1 on August 02, 2010 at 23:15:04:

Scorpion Anchorage has again blessed Charlie “SpKelpDiver” and me with an awesome adventure. We did 3 dives all at the closest Scorpion Rock pinnacle to the anchorage. It sits in 50ft of water and is home to a myriad of life. Since last years excursion a massive population of clown dorids has taken residence and the pinnacle itself seems to have been adopted as a Tree Fish nursery. Everywhere we looked there was another grouping of clown dorids and juvenile Tree fish of various sizes. The pinnacle is not just one structure but actually a series of smaller outlying reefs culminating on the center mass. These outlying reefs have lots of overhangs, crevices and a few mini arches. Visibility ranged from 20-25ft with some suspended particles for all 3 dives. On our first dive we were almost immediately greeted by a shy, yet curious harbor seal. While he did give us a wide berth he must have been unbothered by our presence because we observed him chasing fish and what appeared to be foraging the reefs for crunchy critters. There were a few male Garibaldi on the pinnacle defending their nests, which made nice photo subjects. Other notable sightings were a large Bat Ray taking a nap in some sea grass, a glancing view of a large Sea lion, our first Island Kelpfish and a healthy variety of nudibranchs. When we weren’t 50ft below the ocean surface, we spent our time kayaking through sea caves, free-diving distant coves and hiking various trails around the anchorage. Temperatures topside was fairly mild and actually sunny, which was a first for us. Water temps were 60 on the surface and 56 @ depth (Sunnto).


Here are some highlights:

Charlie “Spkelpdiver” video: [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msMmP7XvFys]YouTube - Santa Cruz Island, Scorpion Anchorage 2010 Scuba Diving/Kayaking[/url] “Watch in HD”

My video: [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCIehlFJOWo]YouTube - Santa Cruz Island, Scorpion Anchorage 2010[/url] “Watch in HD”


Pictures:
[IMG]http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii38/FrankPro666/IslandKelpfishwithHermitCrab.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii38/FrankPro666/WormCropped.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii38/FrankPro666/GarabaldiwithNestBlackandWhite.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii38/FrankPro666/TreeFishCrop.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii38/FrankPro666/ClownDoridCropped.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii38/FrankPro666/YellowDorid-2.jpg[/IMG]



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