Fox Island

Tell us your tale of coming nose-to-nose with a 6 gill [--this big--], or about your vacation to turquoise warm waters. Share your adventures here!
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cardiver
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Fox Island

Post by cardiver »

I met up with Keith, Tom, Rob and Elise for dives at east and west wall today. The dives were great and the nudi's were the size of footballs. I still can't get the timing for slack at east wall down so that was an "interesting" second dive.
We topped it off with dinner at The Blazing Onion in Gig Harbor.
Thanks to everyone that showed up for a great day of diving!
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-Ron T.
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eliseaboo
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Re: Fox Island

Post by eliseaboo »

I didn't get much for photos either. There was one octo that I saw, but I have so many pictures of octos in dens by now that they all look the same! If I hadn't gotten so terribly lost in Bremerton looking for the dive shop (yep, the one that it turns out you can SEE from 3-S...) I could have made both dives probably. It was still nice to get in the water, and the Blazin' Onion was fantastic!! That burger was everything I had hoped it would be and more...

Before we got in, we saw a couple of harbor seals and what I think were a few families of river otters. The way they were swimming I was at first like "oh my god, porpoises!" but then that didn't really make sense...I wish they had come to investigate us! Now, photos...

I imagine this guy looking longingly out, singing a Disney song or something:
Image

Ooops! Too close!!
Image

Hudson's Dorid??
Image

We thought this might be a leopard dorid, but now looking at the picture I'm thinking it looks more like a white Monterey?
Image

I've also gotten much better at taking nudi photos with the gills out! Proud moment...I'd like to try Fox Island again sometime, when I'm not hanging on to the wall! I can see how it would be a great site if you could get deeper than 30 feet without being blown away!
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Tom Nic
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Re: Fox Island

Post by Tom Nic »

These were a fabulous two dives!

Really.... I had so much fun at Fox Island West Wall. It's a bit of a silty dive, and the wall is not spectacular, but there was so much life out and about that I just clicked myself into a happy frenzy taking pictures.

There were a good dozen Giant Nudibranch's, along with their abundant prey, Tube Dwelling Anemones. A couple of them were the largest I have ever seen - truly impressive. My point and shoot couldn't frame them well because they were too large. I was wishing for a "depth star" rig and dual strobes! I photographed two of them doing their "Dragon Pounce" on their hapless Tube Dwelling victims - didn't shoot video, but got a great sequence of photos. There was lots of silt in the water so the pics aren't as sharp as I'd like, but they are still fun!

Keith pointed out a Diamondback Tritonia, and I was shooting it I noticed it moving closer to a juvenile Orange Sea Pen. It sized it up, got centered, and faster than it takes to tell the story it SUCKED IT IN! I shouted in surprise and joy into my regulator. What a wonderful experience to witness... There were only a couple of mature Orange Sea Pens, but the Juvi's numbered in the 100's.

And those are just the highlights of FIWW.... so much fun!

Fox Island East Wall is a pretty impressive structure - easily 40' from top to bottom. There isn't as much life as Sunrise - I think it's more exposed so gets more "scoured", but there are still a ton of subjects to photograph if you take your time. Current was ripping, and it wasn't the most "relaxing" dive or easiest as far as photography goes, but it was a new site and we handled it well and still had a great dive - thanks Keith for being a great dive buddy!

All in all, two of the funnest dives I've done in awhile! Thanks everyone for a great dive day!

I'll post some pictures later...
More Pics Than You Have Time To Look AT
"Anyone who thinks this place is over moderated is bat-crazy anarchist." -Ben, Airsix
"Warning: No dive masters are going to be there, Just a bunch of old fat guys taking pictures of fish." -Bassman
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Tom Nic
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Re: Fox Island

Post by Tom Nic »

Some of my Fox Island West Wall pics are here.

Here is a "Dragon Pounce" photo sequence:

Noticing his prey...

Image

Zeroing in...

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Beginning his "Dragon Stance"...

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Rearing up...

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Higher....

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Still Higher....

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The Pounce!

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Back to normal... "URP!"

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"Anyone who thinks this place is over moderated is bat-crazy anarchist." -Ben, Airsix
"Warning: No dive masters are going to be there, Just a bunch of old fat guys taking pictures of fish." -Bassman
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CaptnJack
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Re: Fox Island

Post by CaptnJack »

Damn that is impressive. How long did that take? <1min?
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Dusty2
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Re: Fox Island

Post by Dusty2 »

eliseaboo wrote:I didn't get much for photos either. There was one octo that I saw, but I have so many pictures of octos in dens by now that they all look the same! If I hadn't gotten so terribly lost in Bremerton looking for the dive shop (yep, the one that it turns out you can SEE from 3-S...) I could have made both dives probably. It was still nice to get in the water, and the Blazin' Onion was fantastic!! That burger was everything I had hoped it would be and more...

Before we got in, we saw a couple of harbor seals and what I think were a few families of river otters. The way they were swimming I was at first like "oh my god, porpoises!" but then that didn't really make sense...I wish they had come to investigate us! Now, photos...



Hudson's Dorid??

We thought this might be a leopard dorid, but now looking at the picture I'm thinking it looks more like a white Monterey?
For shame! you need more ID work! :smt064
The first is a yellow margin dorid
the second is a Heath'd dorid.
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RoxnDox
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Re: Fox Island

Post by RoxnDox »

Dusty2 wrote:
eliseaboo wrote:I didn't get much for photos either. There was one octo that I saw, but I have so many pictures of octos in dens by now that they all look the same! If I hadn't gotten so terribly lost in Bremerton looking for the dive shop (yep, the one that it turns out you can SEE from 3-S...) I could have made both dives probably. It was still nice to get in the water, and the Blazin' Onion was fantastic!! That burger was everything I had hoped it would be and more...

Before we got in, we saw a couple of harbor seals and what I think were a few families of river otters. The way they were swimming I was at first like "oh my god, porpoises!" but then that didn't really make sense...I wish they had come to investigate us! Now, photos...



Hudson's Dorid??

We thought this might be a leopard dorid, but now looking at the picture I'm thinking it looks more like a white Monterey?
For shame! you need more ID work! :smt064
The first is a yellow margin dorid
the second is a Heath'd dorid.
Youse guys are just gonna have to come down and dive there again for practice (only this time pick a day I can make it). The Blazing Onion is within walking distance of my house and Fox Island is on my list of places to try...

Jim
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Tom Nic
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Re: Fox Island

Post by Tom Nic »

CaptnJack wrote:Damn that is impressive. How long did that take? <1min?

It really is amazing. To see it twice on one dive is such a privilege.

Once the Giant 'senses' the anemone he lines up and the whole sequence is maybe 30 seconds. The 'rearing up' is very deliberate, but the pounce is quite rapid. If the Giant gets it just right their mouth clamps down and as the anemone sucks into its tube the nudi is pulled along with it.

I'm not sure, but I don't think the anemone is completely consumed - seems more like a mouthful of delicious nematocysts, but someone above my pay grade would need to weigh in there.

The Tritonia slurping a sea pen is just as impressive from a speed standpoint. If you blink you'll miss it.
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"Anyone who thinks this place is over moderated is bat-crazy anarchist." -Ben, Airsix
"Warning: No dive masters are going to be there, Just a bunch of old fat guys taking pictures of fish." -Bassman
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Dusty2
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Re: Fox Island

Post by Dusty2 »

Ya wouldn't think a slug could move very fast. Congrats on being in the right place at the right time. Ya just have to remember the video button next time so we can see it too. :smt064
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eliseaboo
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Re: Fox Island

Post by eliseaboo »

I know, my ID skills on that dive were not the greatest. I was working from memory rather than a book when I posted them :P But yeah...sure enough, there is some yellow on that nudi. It sure as hell looked white when I took it!

I'm always game for a dive at the Blazin' Onion. Or Fox Island Wall, whatever. Weekdays are best for me to get off work.
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Tom Nic
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Re: Fox Island

Post by Tom Nic »

Dusty2 wrote:Ya wouldn't think a slug could move very fast. Congrats on being in the right place at the right time. Ya just have to remember the video button next time so we can see it too. :smt064
When they are motivated they can really crank. If you don't know what to look for you can pass right on and not realize what is happening or about to happen. Look at Ron's second picture of a Giant up above. He caught it as it is beginning to raise up to pounce on an anemone. You can compare it to the fourth pic I took and you'll notice the same pose.

These guys were huge... The largest had to have been close to 18 inches. I want to go back with a tape measure!
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"Anyone who thinks this place is over moderated is bat-crazy anarchist." -Ben, Airsix
"Warning: No dive masters are going to be there, Just a bunch of old fat guys taking pictures of fish." -Bassman
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cardiver
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Re: Fox Island

Post by cardiver »

I was really frustrated when I went to edit my pics in LR and found out that my version does not support the RAW format in my E-PL2.......
Trying to "fine tune" them in Picasa was an exercise in futility!
-Ron T.
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Dusty2
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Re: Fox Island

Post by Dusty2 »

cardiver wrote:I was really frustrated when I went to edit my pics in LR and found out that my version does not support the RAW format in my E-PL2.......
Trying to "fine tune" them in Picasa was an exercise in futility!
According to the help files Photoshop elements 10 supports your camera.
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cardiver
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Re: Fox Island

Post by cardiver »

Dusty2 wrote:
cardiver wrote:I was really frustrated when I went to edit my pics in LR and found out that my version does not support the RAW format in my E-PL2.......
Trying to "fine tune" them in Picasa was an exercise in futility!
According to the help files Photoshop elements 10 supports your camera.
I know. I'm just going to have to upgrade to LR 3 for 100.00 just so I can process RAW files.
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Dusty2
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Re: Fox Island

Post by Dusty2 »

You can do elements 10 for $50.00 full version :stir:
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Re: Fox Island

Post by Dusty2 »

eliseaboo wrote:I know, my ID skills on that dive were not the greatest. I was working from memory rather than a book when I posted them :P But yeah...sure enough, there is some yellow on that nudi. It sure as hell looked white when I took it!

I'm always game for a dive at the Blazin' Onion. Or Fox Island Wall, whatever. Weekdays are best for me to get off work.
Wouldn't matter. The Heaths can be anywhere from white to beige to yellow and even have freckles. It's the skin texture that is the giveaway. The Heaths is smooth with little bumps like frog skin. The Montery is very rough. with little spiky tubricles all over it and will always be yellow with the rinophores and gills the same color. The heaths is probably misidentified more than it is properly ID'd.
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cardiver
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Re: Fox Island

Post by cardiver »

Every time I plan a dive at Sunrise or Day Island I get in the water about 45 minutes prior to slack at the north end of the narrows. This has worked almost to perfection for me over the years and I expected it to be the same at Fox Island.
Both times that I have tried to dive east wall we have had some pretty bad current and both times I was using slack at the narrows as my guide. Yesterday we were getting in at 1500 to dive the slack before flood and the current was already ripping and had not let up a bit after 60 minutes in the water.
I've been poking around other dive related web sites and everybody seems to be in agreement within 15 minutes or so of when I would enter the water.
I would love to hear from someone who has been diving here more than a couple of times and find out the optimum time to get in the water.
-Ron T.
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olyvtx
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Re: Fox Island

Post by olyvtx »

Can't say i have a lot of experience at FIEW, but from this website, http://tbone.biol.sc.edu/tide/worldmap.html, slack on Thursday should have been at 1610 at Gibson Pt. (Gibson Pt. looks like it's right at the East Wall).
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cardiver
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Re: Fox Island

Post by cardiver »

I used X Tides and north end narrows was 1542 so we splashed at 1500 and it was already flooding pretty hard.
When I use the same correction at DIW and Sunrise we always have great dives. Maybe the next time I go I will splash 90 minutes before slack and see what happens....
-Ron T.
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Tom Nic
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Re: Fox Island

Post by Tom Nic »

That explains a lot! <face palm>

Just use a different tide station, I'm guessing.
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cardiver
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Re: Fox Island

Post by cardiver »

Tom Nic wrote:That explains a lot! <face palm>

Just use a different tide station, I'm guessing.
No it doesn't, because we were diving 70 minutes before slack after and ebbing current. If we were early we should have been drifting north, hit slack and then drifted south.
-Ron T.
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Jan K
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Re: Fox Island

Post by Jan K »

[quote="Tom Nic"]Some of my Fox Island West Wall pics are here.
"Dragon Pounce" photo sequence

WOW, Tom, you nailed it wonderfully ! :notworthy:
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BASSMAN
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Re: Fox Island

Post by BASSMAN »

Well I finally got a chance to download a few pics from these dives...
Fox Island 12-15-2011 001.jpg
Fox Island 12-15-2011 002.jpg
Fox Island 12-15-2011 005.jpg
Fox Island 12-15-2011 006.jpg
Fox Island 12-15-2011 011.jpg
This East Wall is huge!
This East Wall is huge!
And the walk up is a good work out
And the walk up is a good work out
Fox Island 12-15-2011 018.jpg
And Finally the last few steps up to the top!
And Finally the last few steps up to the top!
Hi, my name is Keith, and I'm a Dive Addict! :supz:
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gutholmj
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Re: Fox Island

Post by gutholmj »

Lots of great photos. What a wonderful sequence of the nudi Tom.
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Dusty2
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Re: Fox Island

Post by Dusty2 »

Are you guys cwazy? That hill is a killer. I'd never survive the walk down let lone that climb back up! :eek:
The only way I'd even consider that place is from one of the charters!

Is there a reason why you go with the north end current? I would say Gibson point would be your best bet for timing since it's right across from the east wall.
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