Northwest Dive Club

While following a dive buddy, a seal swam from below her, literally passing between her legs unnoticed. When I told her after the dive she lamented that she had never seen a pinniped while diving. Some people are kicking too hard to see things.
- Curt

Kriss: I hope your birthday found you well enough to dive. I need to get back to Keystone and see some of the things you and Karl told me about. - Curt

Jan: I see you are still publishing magnificent posts, so you must not yet be well enough to dive. I remember after returning from a day of diving in the Philipinnes in 1967 burned by sun and coral. Coveralls became the preferred dive clothing. Not only was my dive gear primitive by current standard...

My buddy Jim started scootering recently and modified his BC. In his email he stated "I put a D-ring on my butt and got a two-inch crotch strap". My wife reads this email and asks,"What are you and Jim into?" Context. Context.
-Curt

I would like to tighten my spring straps for my fins. In looking at them, I think I could cut off a couple of coils and bend the wire around the metal pin on the clip. Before I screw everything up, I want to know if anyone has tried this.
-Curt

Keith: Since I have other expenses which compete for my limited resources (wife, grandkids, sailboat), I dive on the cheap. I had pretty good success with my Intova before I lost it at Mukilteo. Its one second delay irritated me. I bought a Nikon L22 with an Ikelite housing new for about $350 as a r...

Mike: Exquisite video. A beautiful site under great conditions. The carpet of strawberry anemones exceeds my memory. Wonderful. I especially liked the bed of brachiopods which surround the Christmas anemones. I wish I had been there.
- Curt

Congratulations. It goes to show that any dive has the potential for being spectacular. I, on the other hand, have been on many "manta ray dives" and have yet to see one. This is great. I hope you have more spectacular encounters.
- Curt

You guys are right. When I zoomed in I saw I had screwed up. Live a clean life and someday you will be an old man too. Sorry for my error.
- Curt :shootself:

I was about to delete this picture of Urticina crassicornis from yesterday's dive, when I noticed an appendage sticking out of the stalk. What's going on here?
- Curt

I'm sitting in my favorite Muk coffee shop, still wet from my last dive. I entered at the low slack and visibility was poor, less than five feet. Even at depth it wasn't much better, maybe 15 or so. Regardless it is a marvelous spot. The GPO still sits on eggs under the boat . octoeggs2.JPG The wolf...

Jan: Another great post. Just minutes ago, I was watching four gray whales feeding near Hat Island (Gedney island). All larger organisms, whales, trees, humans, serve as hosts to a large number of species that normally go unnoticed. I heard a nematode specialist brag that if you could remove every l...

Dusty: Great job finding the ID of this worm. I find the statement "These pop up all the time" curious. I have never seen one and we have some pretty good observers of nature on this forum that were stumped as well. I think Jeff had a real find. I am impressed.
- Curt

Kris: I hope to see you there. It should not be a wasted trip. Several gray whales have been feeding in the area for some time now and they could well be visible from the shore. I just saw two this morning. I plan to get a quick dive in the am and get home to take Mrs. Johnson to Seattle for a date....

Greg: You're amazing. I love these mystery organisms, in this case known only in its larval form. Perhaps soon, someone can capture these larvae and nurture them to maturity.
- Curt

Jan: Right now I am looking at the sun setting over Whidbey Island. You don't have it so bad. Nor do I.
- Curt

I tried this in Belize. I only dared to do it with a small shark. Curt aka oldsalt

Bob: Outstanding! But that is what I expect from you.
-Curt

Benthos, Nekton, Plankton
Sponge Bob, Patrick, Squidward, Mr. Crab
Abyssal, Hadal, Bathyal

Just the thought saddens me. My wife and I spent our first married years in a small waterfront home on the west coast of Honshu. That was a magical time. Watching the wave pull houses like ours out to sea pained us. We could only think of our neighbors, generous and gracious, and pray. As the homes,...

Rich: I still plan to motor or sail over to PT. Your photos are exquisite.
-Curt

Huge river runoff from the Snohomish River caused the visibility to be really rough at Mukilteo today. You can see all of the sediment in the water even at the depth of The Man. The octopus was still under the boat sitting on eggs. I was on the end of my NDL and didn't want to take time to get a pic...

Jan: The way I heard the story is that the long-lived anemone sat for nearly a century as a low maintenance experiment. Someone, not realizing this was a longevity experiment, dumped it (him/her?) out to use the container. I live in constant fear that someone will do the same with me. I'm not useles...

When people say "Save the Planet", I tend to remember that the earth has gone through at least four massive extinctions in the past, when as much as 90 percent of the species were wiped out. Each time the earth rebounded with new creatures to replace them. The planet will to fine. The conc...

Thank you very much for the compliments.... Yes I had current the whole time for some reason? Even though it was supposed to be slack Slack is difficult to predict there and the current seems to be driven by long periods of winds. e.g. the southerly wind we have been experiencing would produce a no...