Last Saturday May 19, 2012 the Sea Divers went to Catalina aboard the Magician.

Our first dive was on the Midnight Special wreck. It was a 65 foot purse seiner that sank about a year ago just Northwest of Eagle Rock near the west end of Catalina. It is laying on it's port side on a sand bottom at about 117 feet. The current at this site was about 1½ knots. The visibility at the bottom was about 30 feet. There are many small Sebastes miniatus (Vermillion Rockfish) using the area between the hull and the sand for shelter. There is only a slight hint of growth on the wreck. I suspect the wreck will be a much more interesting dive in a few years after the marine life takes hold.

Our second dive was at the deep pinnacle just West of Johnson Rock. The current here was about 1 knot. The visibility was about 20 feet and there was some surge as well. The place is covered with many invertebrates including many nudibranchs.

Our next dive was inside Johnson Rock. Here the hunters all scored some nice Kelp Bass. There was no current and the visibility was about 40 feet. As I went deeper the visibility got worse, however I found a Limaria sp. (Swimming File Shell).

Our last dive was at arrow point. There was no current and the visibility was about 30 feet. I saw both pick and green abalone and small brittle star Ophiura lutkeni that is not common.

We had four great dives. The service from the crew of the Magician was great! The chicken fajitas for lunch with freshly made guacamole hit the spot. It was another great Sea Divers trip.

Here are all the photos from the trip

©2012 Chris Grossman, diver.net

• Love that treefish! Brad 16:09:26 05/21/12 (0)
• Re: Dive Report: Johnson Rock/Catilina with the Sea Divers Max Bottomtime 04:16:00 05/21/12 (0)