I've been viewing several videos from the UB88 the past two months and kicking myself for missing out on the good conditions. The best visibility I had seen on the German submarine was ten feet, until today.

The ocean was a giant millpond as we motored toward San Pedro. We could see sea lions resting at the surface from a mile away. As we arrived onsite, the sun began to peak out just as we were entering the water. I had high hopes for blue water.

It was pretty clear as I descended, getting darker as I neared one hundred feet. Suddenly, the visibility opened to forty feet as I reached the school of Squarespot rockfish that hover above the wreck. Temperature at depth was a nice 54°, only three degrees cooler than the surface.

Several species of rockfish were out and about today. I saw my first adult Starry rockfish, Sebastes constellatus. I found a juvenile at White Point a few years ago, but this guy was large and in charge. He dwarfed the numerous Honeycomb rockfish on the sub. Only the Vermilions were larger.

I looked for some of the wolfeels, but they had gone into hiding. I checked out the metridiums on the net before joining Mid-water Merry in the salp soup above the wreck. I have never seen so many pelagic squishies as I did today. Carrying a wide angle lens and monster dome port, I left the tiny critters to Merry.

• Re: Rockfish aplenty on the UB88 DonS 14:23:47 03/24/13 (0)
• Re: Rockfish aplenty on the UB88 Brad 08:30:03 02/05/13 (0)
• Re: Rockfish aplenty on the UB88 Kevlar 22:18:50 02/02/13 (0)