Harper's Ferry & Fox Island West Wall

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 8:30 am

A couple of emergencies have prevented me from being in the water this month until yesterday, and it was good to get wet again!

Bnboly & I went exploring and headed over to Harper's Ferry. We had heard a couple of reports and wanted to check it out. Water was calm and the tide was high, so we grabbed our gear and scrambled down the rocks. (Is there an easier entry at this site?)
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The water didn't look bad in the shallows, so we had hopes for decent viz, but alas, it was maybe 10' and murky. We swam out to the dolphins, followed the lines to the sunken boats, and generally checked things out. I must say we were a bit disappointed. This is the first dive I've ever been on when I did not see a fish. Not one. Narry a fin. Zip, Zap, Zippo, Nada. It was kind of weird, actually. I know it is Winter, and there aren't as many critters typically, but I was still surprised at the lack of life. Other than a couple of kelp crab and a few anemones the place was barren... and I looked! We finally found a couple of lost Nanaimo Dorids to at least give me something to take a picture of after 60 minutes of underwater searching!
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We had a cup of coffee and pleasant conversation with the gal at the coffee stand. The reports of them being unpleasant that I've read on another web site were not true for us.

So, we finished our coffee and loaded up our gear and headed for Fox Island West Wall. I've only dove this site one other time, going too deep and missing the wall. The field's of Orange Sea Pens and the Striped Nudibranchs were fun, but without finding the wall it hadn't been too interesting, so quite honestly I wasn't too hopeful to find or see much.

Boy was I wrong! Following some of the great advice we've gotten on this board we went out to the buoy line and dropped, angling downslope to between 45 & 50 fsw. We ran into the wall within a couple of minutes. I would guess it is about 75' long, give or take, and is definitely rock, not clay. There is a nice wall that goes from 4 to 10 feet high, with jumbled rocks at the base. Since the site is not current swept you get a bit of silt accumulation, and viz was around 10' here as well, (not a good day for pictures) but that was OK, as the wall was Octo city! We found 3 GPO's in deep dens along the wall. Only one was easily visible, the other's were so far back you couldn't take a picture of them, but their feeding debris was everywhere! It was not a good place to be a Red Rock Crab!
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We covered the wall twice in a relaxed, 60 minute dive. On the way back we found two different Giant Nudibranchs, Dendronotus iris. One of them was HUGE! They are the most amazing looking critters IMO, and I think they make the work of the greatest science fiction artists pale in comparison!
<a href="" title="CIMG7541 by thomasnicodemus, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2156/211 ... c8b0ef.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="CIMG7541"></a>
<a href="" title="CIMG7534 by thomasnicodemus, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2230/211 ... abd9cd.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="CIMG7534"></a>

We found a dozen or so Brown Rockfish on the wall as well. The weird thing, (at least weird to me) is that they were not suspended. Everyone we saw was either back in a cave, or tucked down between some rocks. In this case they were really "Rock" fish! I've seen this behavior on Day Island Wall, and I thought it might be because of current or to protect themselves, but there really isn't any current to speak of here, so...

I've seen them do this at DIW in an octo cave to feed on scraps... in fact, getting so aggressive that you literally had to push them out of the way if you wanted a pic of the octo, but these weren't just in dens. Anybody know anything about this behavior? Here's a pic (not a good one) to give you an idea.
<a href="" title="CIMG7492 by thomasnicodemus, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2186/211 ... 505ed5.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="CIMG7492"></a>

I also found my first Pink Tritonia, Tritonia diomedia. I know they are not uncommon, but somehow in over 220 dives I've never stumbled on one. I was excited! I spotted it just as it was coming up to feed on a small White Sea Pen, who wanted no part of the nudi and retracted in a blink!
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<a href="" title="CIMG7549 by thomasnicodemus, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2145/211 ... 61faaa.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="CIMG7549"></a>

On the way back to the entry Bill spotted two different swimming Hooded Nudibranchs, which was a real treat.
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And finally in the shallows I found the cutest, smallest Lewis Moon Snail I've ever run across!
<a href="" title="CIMG7569 by thomasnicodemus, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2038/211 ... b9c328.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="CIMG7569"></a>

All in all, a great day diving... thanks Bill! Poor Bill's camera fritzed on him

...frustrating! It wasn't a fantastic day for pics, but the few pics I uploaded are here and here if you're interested in taking a peek.

LCF · Post by **LCF** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 8:57 am

Thanks for the report on the Fox Island West Wall. I've only tried that site once, and we missed the wall and had a rather uninspiring dive, although the fields of clam siphons were pretty. Sounds like I ought to give it another try.

Love the pink Tritonia picture. I've never seen one of those.

Zen Diver · Post by **Zen Diver** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 9:52 am

I haven't done Fox Island West Wall in a long time, I'm going to have to get out there again. Thanks for the reminder Tom! (and great pix, btw

)

-Valerie

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 10:05 am

Thanks Val and LCF!

This was only the second time I've done FIWW. It is a nice site for a second dive... perhaps when current only lets you do one at DIW or Sunrise.

I think I could do 2 dives here. One profile might be to go a bit deeper, perhaps 60 - 70 fsw and look for the Sea Pen fields to the left of the entry perhaps covering a hundred yards or so. It was really pretty cool floating over dozens and dozens of bright Orange Sea Pens last March, and there are always Striped Nudi's and Diamonback Tritonia's out hunting.
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The second dive would be to go specifically to the wall and go back and forth on it a couple of times, then hunt around in the shallows for other cool stuff.

I wouldn't dive here weekly like some of our more popular sites, but it is definitley worth visiting.

Penopolypants · Post by **Penopolypants** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 10:24 am

That's too bad about your experience at Harper's Ferry....when I went there I saw many schools of fish. Hm. I wonder if the recent weather scared them away? Anyway, there are "stairs" in the rocks that you can climb down, although I imagine they are hard to find at high tide. They are near the pier on the coffee shop side.

I also had a great experience with the coffee shop people, they were very friendly.

I still haven't done Fox Island yet, looking forward to that one.

I too have never seen the pink nudibranch, good find!

bnboly · Post by **bnboly** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 12:02 pm

Although Harper's Pier was devoid of almost all life - it was still great to be in the water! FIWW does deserve more dives - the next time I'll have a working camera! Just ordered the Casio 1080 w/housing - should be here in time for next weeks dives!

Maverick · Post by **Maverick** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 12:10 pm

Tom shoot me a pm whenyou dive it again, i have never dove that site it looks great.
BJ

Crystaltear · Post by **Crystaltear** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 1:47 pm

Nice photos Tom, the hooded nudibranch is beautiful.

White Sea Pen and Tritonia and moon snails, are they common in the area?

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 1:57 pm

Crystaltear wrote:Nice photos Tom, the hooded nudibranch is beautiful.

White Sea Pen and Tritonia and moon snails, are they common in the area?

Thanks! Yes, the hooded nudibranchs are beautiful. They are one of a couple of species that "swim" by undulating back and forth (come to think of it, not much different than divers!) Interestingly enough, another species that "swims" by undulating is the Giant Nudibranch, Dendronotus iris, that is pictured above. It's quite an impressive sight, given their size!

The three critters that you mention are somewhat common at this dive site, and other sites with sandy bottoms.

The White Sea Pens are generally somewhat common... although I don't think I've noticed them as much. I've seen the Orange Sea Pens more.... a bit larger and more impressive. You will see the Diamonback Tritonias more often than the pinks (at least where I dive!), and Lewis Moon Snails are not uncommon either. Most of those named critters inhabit sandy open bottom where they live or hunt.

Puget Sound has SO MANY wonderful dives that can be done from shore. It really is a great place to be a diver!

Crystaltear · Post by **Crystaltear** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 3:08 pm

Wow, now I'm really excited about the up coming dives in WA.

Nudibranchs are my favorite photo subject. I thought I've seen quite a few of them in different colors and a variety of Dorids, some Giant and Hooded Nudibranchs, but never come across any a Tritonia of any kind. Seen pictures of moon snails, but haven't been able to seen one myself. And Sea Pen, I never realized they come in colors other than orange!

Well, I guess you can say I'm narrow minded. It's going to be an interesting trip for me, with lots to learn and experience

G.

Jan K · Post by **Jan K** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 10:35 pm

Tom, very nice assortment of critters. In all the dives up here, I have seen the Pink Tritonia only once.. And they are not rare I am told, go figure

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 11:18 pm

Jan K wrote:Tom, very nice assortment of critters. In all the dives up here, I have seen the Pink Tritonia only once.. And they are not rare I am told, go figure

Thanks Jan! Hmmm... if YOU haven't seen them often, either we're diving in the wrong places or "THEY" might not be as right as we've been giving them credit for! :rr:

gcbryan · Post by **gcbryan** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 12:20 am

Nice pics. I've only seen one Pink Tritonia as well.

Regarding the Rockfish. It's common for them to not be suspended and rather to be sitting on rocks. Why the one pictured is vertical I don't know.

I've only been to Fox Island West Wall once and don't remember seeing much other than hundreds of Sand Dollars.

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 7:18 am

gcbryan wrote:Nice pics. I've only seen one Pink Tritonia as well.

Regarding the Rockfish. It's common for them to not be suspended and rather to be sitting on rocks. Why the one pictured is vertical I don't know.

I've only been to Fox Island West Wall once and don't remember seeing much other than hundreds of Sand Dollars.

Thanks GC! I guess I'm hearing that the Pink Tritonia isn't as common (at least where we dive) as some of the books that I've read have led me to beleive!

If you don't find the wall or the Orange Sea Pen Fields there's not alot there. I didn't even see Sand Dollars this time. There was one unusual specimen, however...

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I guess I shouldn't think the Rockfish behavior strange. I've seen them sitting in the open on rocks plenty of times as well. What I thought was a bit strange was that these guys were just "hidden" in crevases and back in caves, and none of them were out at all. If it had been nighttime I would have thought they were sleeping or resting. I've mainly seen Brown Rockfish do this. It's probably quite "normal"!

spatman · Post by **spatman** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 10:37 am

great pics, as usual, tom! please keep me in the loop for the next outing to Fox Island. i have off from work from dec 22 - jan 1, and no set plans. it would be great to dive with you again!