On the surface I had inquired whether Matt had any critters on his must-see list, and he replied that he hadn't seen an octopus out in the open. I told him that I would see what I could do, but couldn't promise it would be a Giant Pacific. With that in mind, I left the tire area, and led us out among the wasteland, trying to spot an outside octopus. We came across a downed pole, and from the crack at the end poked a pair of eyes.
Showing off Driftwood
Showing off Driftwood
Matteo834092148 got in touch with me, and suggested that since he would be in the area Saturday, I could maybe show him Driftwood. He's done Keystone several times, but never Driftwood. I eagerly jumped on the opportunity and we met up right around low tide. There were probably eight or nine fisherman already standing on the beach, looking for salmon, but we found an opening between them and scooched down the slope. There was some current on the way down, but once we got to depth we found very little current at all. I led Matt to the first set of tires, and the first critter we found was a golfball crab. I waved him over and he came and looked at it. The crab got nervous at the attention, and sidled away, revealing the second critter of the dive. Poor Matt, the crab left, and then I started shining my light at the tire, and he was like, uh, what. I think I blinded him in my excitement, but this guy was very tiny.
Having browsed among the tires for a bit, Matt found a trail of crab shells, and waved me over to see a GPO he'd found tucked in a tire. Halfway over there, I stopped and began flashing him over to me. He's like, no no, over here, and I'm like, no, really, looky here! He left the octopus just in time for the juvenile wolf eel I'd found to swim out of the kelp and tuck himself behind a nearby tire. We then got to watch the eel get nervous and sidle away, disappearing into the curve of a mostly buried tire. We were pretty impressed that he managed to cram into the tiny opening, but with a bit of tuck and wiggle, he was gone.
On the surface I had inquired whether Matt had any critters on his must-see list, and he replied that he hadn't seen an octopus out in the open. I told him that I would see what I could do, but couldn't promise it would be a Giant Pacific. With that in mind, I left the tire area, and led us out among the wasteland, trying to spot an outside octopus. We came across a downed pole, and from the crack at the end poked a pair of eyes. I really have no idea whether that's a large red or a small giant, but he was a lot of fun. I tried to entice him to come out and play by waving a buzz bomb then dropping it closer and closer to him. Those eyes stuck out and just watched, so I turned us away and pretended to not be watching him. We circled the pole, and each glance back showed those eyes still sticking out, watching, watching. When we got back around to where we'd started, the octopus suddenly stopped watching and left his crevice, coming out to greet Matt, before being frightened by a crab and vanishing. At this point Matt was low on air, so we headed up. Topside, we discussed what a great dive that was, but when Matt suggested we go to Keystone and do the pilings for the second dive, I bullied him into doing another one here. In the time we had rested topside, the fishermen had multiplied, and now stood shoulder to shoulder up and down the entire beach. We squeezed between a couple of them, and found that the current had picked up. Once we got downslope, we just stayed together and went with the flow. This dive was less critter-intense but we did find a couple of things to look at. One was this baby eel who had found himself a lovely air filter to call home. Farther along I saw a fishie, and swung us around to investigate. I was very tickled, as I don't see these warbonnets often. It was a challenge to get a shot, since the current was pushing me away, and tugging at the camera when I tried to hold it before me. We saw a whole bunch of ratfish on our dive, and it was quite funny to come rushing up on them, as they just sat there grazing like little sheep, not disturbed by the current at all. I steered us closer to the wall, and we found the sunken boat. There was a great big octopus underneath it, but it didn't look like it was a very healthy color to me, but I couldn't see any evidence of eggs, so I'm not sure what was going on there. Looking around inside the boat, I spied a spotted head peering apprehensively at us, but we had to laugh when we realized his position. Talk about tuck and wiggle. I don't know the proper name for this part of the boat, but it was a whole lot smaller than the eel was, and he was hanging out both ends. Leaving the boat, we headed for the surface. We were quite a ways down from the cars, but we hiked over to one of the pullouts to put our gear down before walking back to get the cars. The second dive wasn't as exciting as the first, and I made a mental note to just stop taking people for second dives here :p but either way, I sure had fun! (Plus, I also added thirteen more buzz bombs to my collection!)
On the surface I had inquired whether Matt had any critters on his must-see list, and he replied that he hadn't seen an octopus out in the open. I told him that I would see what I could do, but couldn't promise it would be a Giant Pacific. With that in mind, I left the tire area, and led us out among the wasteland, trying to spot an outside octopus. We came across a downed pole, and from the crack at the end poked a pair of eyes. I really have no idea whether that's a large red or a small giant, but he was a lot of fun. I tried to entice him to come out and play by waving a buzz bomb then dropping it closer and closer to him. Those eyes stuck out and just watched, so I turned us away and pretended to not be watching him. We circled the pole, and each glance back showed those eyes still sticking out, watching, watching. When we got back around to where we'd started, the octopus suddenly stopped watching and left his crevice, coming out to greet Matt, before being frightened by a crab and vanishing. At this point Matt was low on air, so we headed up. Topside, we discussed what a great dive that was, but when Matt suggested we go to Keystone and do the pilings for the second dive, I bullied him into doing another one here. In the time we had rested topside, the fishermen had multiplied, and now stood shoulder to shoulder up and down the entire beach. We squeezed between a couple of them, and found that the current had picked up. Once we got downslope, we just stayed together and went with the flow. This dive was less critter-intense but we did find a couple of things to look at. One was this baby eel who had found himself a lovely air filter to call home. Farther along I saw a fishie, and swung us around to investigate. I was very tickled, as I don't see these warbonnets often. It was a challenge to get a shot, since the current was pushing me away, and tugging at the camera when I tried to hold it before me. We saw a whole bunch of ratfish on our dive, and it was quite funny to come rushing up on them, as they just sat there grazing like little sheep, not disturbed by the current at all. I steered us closer to the wall, and we found the sunken boat. There was a great big octopus underneath it, but it didn't look like it was a very healthy color to me, but I couldn't see any evidence of eggs, so I'm not sure what was going on there. Looking around inside the boat, I spied a spotted head peering apprehensively at us, but we had to laugh when we realized his position. Talk about tuck and wiggle. I don't know the proper name for this part of the boat, but it was a whole lot smaller than the eel was, and he was hanging out both ends. Leaving the boat, we headed for the surface. We were quite a ways down from the cars, but we hiked over to one of the pullouts to put our gear down before walking back to get the cars. The second dive wasn't as exciting as the first, and I made a mental note to just stop taking people for second dives here :p but either way, I sure had fun! (Plus, I also added thirteen more buzz bombs to my collection!)
The student was ready.
it's nice to have low expectations, sometimes - lcf
I said keep going, not start whining -airsix
it's nice to have low expectations, sometimes - lcf
I said keep going, not start whining -airsix
Re: Showing off Driftwood
The little octo is a GPO. I love the bottom pic of the wolfie trying to fit in. He has such a cute expression.
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Dusty's Lights on facebook
http://underthesound.smugmug.com/
Dusty's Lights on facebook
http://underthesound.smugmug.com/
Re: Showing off Driftwood
Nice dive, are the folks fishing friendly or do they cast buzz bombs at you
Wet on Whidbey
Re: Showing off Driftwood
Thank you for being such a good tour guide! I had a great time looking around and seeing what was there. After salmon season closes we should go on another dive to collect the hundreds of buzz bombs that will surely be all over the bottom! It was great diving with you again and can't wait till the next time.
You breath like a girl! -Blaiz
I thought she was right until I dove with eliseaboo!
I thought she was right until I dove with eliseaboo!
Re: Showing off Driftwood
They weren't too bad. I didnt see any lines at all while underwater, although a couple of the boats out trawling sure sounded close. There may have been comments made, but I couldn't hear them with the hood on.philmatt wrote:Nice dive, are the folks fishing friendly or do they cast buzz bombs at you
The student was ready.
it's nice to have low expectations, sometimes - lcf
I said keep going, not start whining -airsix
it's nice to have low expectations, sometimes - lcf
I said keep going, not start whining -airsix
Re: Showing off Driftwood
I should come up some time this fall and have you show me Driftwood. It's a site I haven't dived; in fact, I'm not even sure where it is!
"Sometimes, when your world is going sideways, the second best thing to everything working out right, is knowing you are loved..." ljjames
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qrazydutch
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Re: Showing off Driftwood
blub, blub, blub......I miss diving.Q
Re: Showing off Driftwood
Yeah I need a map too!!LCF wrote:I should come up some time this fall and have you show me Driftwood. It's a site I haven't dived; in fact, I'm not even sure where it is!
Sounder wrote:Under normal circumstances, I would never tell another man how to shave his balls... but this device should not be kept secret.
Re: Showing off Driftwood
I'd be glad to show anyone around some time!
The student was ready.
it's nice to have low expectations, sometimes - lcf
I said keep going, not start whining -airsix
it's nice to have low expectations, sometimes - lcf
I said keep going, not start whining -airsix
Re: Showing off Driftwood
I'm game, just need a little notice, I go on On-call duty this week for my work but can get someone to cover with a little notice. I live and work in Oak Harbor.
Wet on Whidbey