With rain most of the day yesterday and lightning crashing near our house we played it safe and worked in the backyard until the downpour arrived. I expected runoff, wind and horrible conditions today but the ocean was a mill pond this morning. We raced around the peninsula looking for someplace to get in the water.

Little Reef had dark green water so we headed six hundred feet offshore to Hawthorne Reef. There was a bit of surface current but the water looked clear enough. We jumped in to find at least twenty feet of visibility on the reef.

Not many fish were on the reef since our last dive here, but there are always nudibranchs to find. After an enjoyable dive we putted back to Little Reef where it had cleared up considerably.

We found the usual critters on the rocks below. As the dive neared an end Kevin Lee found a pair of Trapania velox. I took a few shots before heading toward the boat. Just as I swam over the top of the reef I spotted a large moray eel in a crack. Kevin and I finished up our dive snapping away at the eel.

The water had warmed to 58° after months of 53° temperatures.

http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x384/MaxBottomtime/Hawthorne%20Reef/Hawthorne%20Reef%2019_zpslgymsnzv.jpg

• Re: Between Pacific Storms Chris 21:23:09 07/26/15 (0)