Day Two - Santa Barbara Island

Day one at Catalina had been overcast. Day two at Santa Barbara Island was beautiful, warm sunshine and clear skies. California diving weather at its finest.

Our first stop was at Sutil. Visibility was excellent. I didn't see a lot of fish life but the landscape was beautiful. I saw several bat rays. I also noticed small fish living inside the egg yolk jellyfish, impossible to capture with the wide angle lens..

Next we went to Cat Canyon. This dive was a little more challenging as there was current coming up over the wall. We used the bow entry and the anchor line to make the descent. About 20 yards to the left of the anchor was a fun little swim though. I hung around this area my entire dive. My favorite part was when I was at one opening and Brayton was at the other. A sea lion zipped past me and into the tunnel. From our opposite vantage points, we watched his rear fin dangle as he poked around in the roof rocks - he must have been checking on his lobster stash. I backed off a bit hoping that when he made his exit he would choose my direction. What a cool photo that would be, sea lion in the foreground, diver with a flashlight in the background. I couldn't quite pull it off though, a tough shot to set up in the dark. Sometimes it is the photos that you don't get that make a dive site memorable.

Everyone got prepared for the next dive at the Rookery.

The Rookery is famous for its population of frolicking sea lions. For two dives they swooped, twirled, and blew bubbles for us. I don't think that anything can make you feel as slow, bulky, and clumsy as a dive with lots of young sea lions can.

The last dive was at a shallow site around the corner from the Rookery. I was getting tired so I mostly sat and watched a Garibaldi tending his nest on this dive. The golden area in the red algae patch is created by the growing Garibaldi eggs. The blurry sea lion photo shows I was tiring.

Most people opted for doing this last dive in the hot tub. Some serious technical partying began and soap suds leaped out onto the deck.

Later that night, the crew made everything ship shape again for what was to be a rough ride to Anacapa Island.

Return to the Hot Tub or contunue diving at Anacapa Island