sund rock 5.24.09 - a great day of diving

[spatman]

Penopolypants and i arrived a little after 9am to find the site deserted. the day was starting off cool and slightly cloudy.

[thumb]87[/thumb]


we geared up and headed over to the south wall. tide was really low and a lot of the beach was exposed. we did our our buddy check, then swam out a little ways and dropped.

dive #1 - max depth 57ft, total run time 73 minutes

we practiced a quick OOA at 15', and then sorted ourselves out and continued our dive.

viz was pretty bad at first, maybe 5' until we hit about 30fsw. there also was a noticeable thermocline at about 15', which made our safety stop on the way back much more comfortable than usual.

we meandered along the wall to the south...

[thumb]90[/thumb]

...and within the first 10 minutes, P spotted an octo on eggs. the eggs were right up along the edge if the hole.

[thumb]88[/thumb]
[thumb]89[/thumb]

there were lots of nudis out, many different kinds. at one point we saw a giant nudi in the water column, swimming.

[thumb]91[/thumb]
[thumb]92[/thumb]
[thumb]93[/thumb]

we found a few wolf eels, including a pair close to the entry. here's the male:

[thumb]95[/thumb]

there were also lots of jellies, including several egg yolks jellies and lions manes. tons of small moons were in the first 10' near the surface.

[thumb]98[/thumb]

we also saw shrimp molting:

[thumb]94[/thumb]





dive #2 - max depth 80ft, total run time 66 minutes

on this dive we went down the north side. i was slinging my 40 for only the second time after making some adjustments. it's still a little loose and floppy, and i need to work on it some more.

viz was really bad down to 65' or so. we checked out the critters in the silt and then hit the sea whips at about 75', which were shallower than usual due to the really low tide. it was actually pretty dark down there and swimming through the ghostly sea whips was actually a little creepy. maybe i was narked.

[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/4828696[/vimeo]

there were also lots of red flabellina nudis down that way, as well.

[thumb]96[/thumb]
[thumb]97[/thumb]

spent a while offgassing at 20' looking at small critters. we found 3 gunnels near a dead crab. one of which was actually inside the crab. the pic isn't the greatest, but you can sort of see the gunnel in the shell:

[thumb]99[/thumb]


we also practiced handing off the 40 to each other which went very well.



dive #3 - max depth 57ft, total run time 50 minutes

this dive was awesome. and of course, my camera batteries died in the first couple of minutes.

we basically repeated the same profile we did on dive #1. the tide was back in so the depths were a bit deeper, accordingly. we saw the same octo on eggs, but P found yet another octo with eggs. we saw lots of the same nudis and critters as earlier. about 15 minutes in, i felt a sharp tug on my left fin. what the...??? P was to my right, so it wasn't her. was it the other diver i had seen behind us a few minutes ago? i turn quickly to see a SEA LION sitting in the water column, eyeing me! we looked at each other for 3-4 seconds and it turned and swam off into the murk. i flashed my light at P and she came over to find me obviously wide-eyed and excited. she looked at me like i was crazy. i took my reg out and tried to yell "sea lion!" but she couldn't understand me, so i pulled out my wet notes and wrote: "seal bit my fin!"

that made an awesome day just a little bit more awesome.

we hit our turn point and made our way back to the entry. we found yet another wolf eel with some damage to his lower lip. he had a small section of exposed gums and a couple teeth. not a happy looking wolfie.

when we came back to the shallows, we swam right into the tentacles of a lions mane. i got a small sting on my face, just below my mask. it stung for a half hour or so, but was fine after that. one of the other divers who showed up later in the day had just gotten out of the water with several stings all over his face. ouch.

all in all, and absolutely fantastic day of diving with my favorite buddy, despite the crappy viz and jellyfish sting!

[lizard0924]

A sea lion, totally cool!

Great report and photos/video. Thanks for sharing. I can't wait to get back to Sund Rock to dive when the viz improves.

[olyvtx]

Great pics!

I also just learned from your post that this site has a Gallery! :smt038

[spatman]

Great pics!

I also just learned from your post that this site has a Gallery! :smt038

glad you like them!

sockmonkey put together a helpful howto for the gallery.

[Diver_C]

Great pictures and report!

[WylerBear]

Great report and great pix. The "opalescent nudis" are not, however, they are red flabellina, btw.
Valerie & I may be going there next week so hope to check out the GPO's on eggs if we do.

[spatman]

The "opalescent nudis" are not, however, they are red flabellina, btw.

oops. thanks, georgia. i corrected the original post...

[no excuses]

hit sund several times this weekend and had a great time, Viz varied, first dive today had around 15' while tide was still going out, when tide started coming back in dove the wreck and North wall and viz dropped to around 3'. What a great weekend of diving

[Dusty2]

Awesome pix on the octo and the first two nudies! Incidently the white guy is a California side gill one of the few nudies we have up here that actually has a shell inside

[FlyinV]

We made the trip up there Monday and our first dive on the south wall (once we got under the gunk layer) was pretty good.
Vis was a lot better in places then I thought it would be. I think we got lucky and the diving gods gave us a break since we drove 2+ hours to get there

Our second dive on the north wall area was a lot worse vis wise but it was still an excellent day to hit the water!

[Penopolypants]

It was indeed a fantastic day to be in the water in spite of the viz. That last dive was especially loaded with critters.

On all of the dives I saw a nudi that was new to me, but I didn't have a camera. It was yellowish/orange, darker orange than a heath's dorid, with iridescent looking tips on it's bumps. Anyone have an ideas as to what it might have been?

[spatman]

On all of the dives I saw a nudi that was new to me, but I didn't have a camera. It was yellowish/orange, darker orange than a heath's dorid, with iridescent looking tips on it's bumps. Anyone have an ideas as to what it might have been?

i think these are the nudis P's referring to:

[Gooch]

Nice post, Spatman....the story and pics are great....-gooch

[Gooch]

nice report spatman. I liked the pictures and writeup.....plus I watched your video about NW diving in the winter...the "is it worth it?" one....it was good....

[Gooch]

oops duplicate ---sorry

[spatman]

nice report spatman. I liked the pictures and writeup.....plus I watched your video about NW diving in the winter...the "is it worth it?" one....it was good....

glad you liked it, gooch. when are you guys diving next?

[Gooch]

San Juan's ; we leave tomorrow am and will be there till monday.....I cannot wait. I will be my 100th dive while we are there. Its part of a shop dive with 7C's but we stretched it for me, wife and Cary and his wife at the shop....rented a place to stay. Should be good

[spatman]

San Juan's ; we leave tomorrow am and will be there till monday.....I cannot wait. I will be my 100th dive while we are there. Its part of a shop dive with 7C's but we stretched it for me, wife and Cary and his wife at the shop....rented a place to stay. Should be good

sounds awesome. have a great time and tell us about it when you get back.