What is rare in PNW diving? What have you seen?

gcbryan · Post by **gcbryan** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 10:00 pm

It occurs to me that only after having done several hundred dives does one realize in hindsight which observations/experiences are really rare. I thought it might be interesting/educational for anyone with quite a few dives to summarize the highlghts of what they've seen here in the PNW on only a few of their dives.

For me, I've seen a lot of Sixgills but three sightings were especially memorable. I saw two 10 footers at one time, I saw one with a broken jaw and therefore it's mouth was stuck wide open exposing all the teeth, and I saw one and only one swimming around faster and more erratic than the typical Dogfish.

I've seen many G.P.O.'s but most were under logs or in dens. Of those sightings where they were out in the open and where they were aggressively hunting or very active in some other way there have been less than 10 occasions. Lynne, I know you have a G.P.O. story since I saw the same G.P.O. that night!

It's been the same with Wolf Eels being out in the open hunting.

I've seen Opalescent Squid mating in the dozens but on only one ocassion have I seen hundreds mating.

I've only seen one larger male Sea Lion while underwater (Bob, you've probably got other Sea Lion stories but I remember you were on this particular dive as well).

I'm wondering what have been the more memorable and rare events that some of you other more frequent divers have experienced. It might give us all an idea of what might be possible to experience on our next dive (s).

I know a few of you have Sunfish and Electric Ray stories and there must be others out there!

CaptnJack · Post by **CaptnJack** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 10:18 pm

I was actually "attacked" by a GPO once on Sares Head wall. Came right at me past my 2 buddies and climbed all over my head ripping my mask off. My reg stayed in my mouth fortunately. My buddy Veronica got it to let go by pinching its skin and it swam off. Unusual, although I have heard the occasional 2nd or 3rd hand story that they can be aggressive.

gcbryan · Post by **gcbryan** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 10:25 pm

CaptnJack wrote:I was actually "attacked" by a GPO once on Sares Head wall. Came right at me past my 2 buddies and climbed all over my head ripping my mask off. My reg stayed in my mouth fortunately. My buddy Veronica got it to let go by pinching its skin and it swam off. Unusual, although I have heard the occasional 2nd or 3rd hand story that they can be aggressive.

Maybe it was something you said.

lamont · Post by **lamont** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 10:47 pm

first 6-gill sighting was a 14 footer at night.

saw a large 4-foot or so skate north of cove 2.

saw one GPO out in the open that quickly found cover.

saw a baby sixgill.

Burntchef · Post by **Burntchef** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 10:59 pm

dive number 30ish saw a 14 foot 6-gill, then another about 50 dives later.

skate between cove 1 and 2

plenty of octos in hiding and a few baby ones out in the open.

too many seals!!!

Zen Diver · Post by **Zen Diver** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 7:10 am

-LARGE skate at Redondo (~4 feet across)

-HUGE GPO out in the open, once at Redondo, once at 3 Tree, once at Cove 2

-Ocean Sunfish at Redondo

-Pacific Electric Ray at Redondo

-Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker, once at Redondo, once at 3 Tree (only 2 sightings ever in over 1000 dives)

-Birds diving underwater on 3 occasions

-Trivalves

-Valerie

Grateful Diver · Post by **Grateful Diver** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 7:45 am

Hagfish in Barkley Sound (with Valerie) ... oh, and Valerie what was that weird thing we found in Cove 2 a couple years back coming up from the I-beams?

Found a lumpsucker at TTN just last week (that was pretty cool). I've also found them at Day Island Wall, Sunrise, and the Edmonds Oil Dock ... but that was before I started carrying a camera.

Numerous birds, including one at the I-beams and a whole flock of them swimming through a huge school of pile perch at Harpers Ferry.

Been buzzed by sea lions twice ... the one I saw with Gray had a tatoo on its back. And I recently had a close encounter with one at Lobster Shop Wall with CaptnJack (Richard) and Snowbear (Ursa).

Saw a sturgeon swimming up the boundary line at Cove 2 once with Uncle Pug (Ron) ... it was about 5 feet long.

The biggest skate I've seen yet was at Edmonds UP with Bob Lew ... it was maybe six feet wingtip-to-wingtip.

Candy-striped shrimp ... I spent years looking for one ... even accidentally photographed a couple ... before finally seeing one. Once I discovered how to look for them, I realized they are actually pretty common in some places.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

John Rawlings · Post by **John Rawlings** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 7:49 am

Three large adult male Giant Pacific Octopuses....out in the open....each one missing between three and five arms....being followed around by a rather "full" looking Sixgill Shark - Hood Canal.

Gray Whale - Possession Point. It was like have a wall swim past us!

In both cases I was with buddies, but....NO CAMERA!

- John

dsteding · Post by **dsteding** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 7:52 am

gcbryan wrote:
Maybe it was something you said.

Most likely . . .

dsteding · Post by **dsteding** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 7:56 am

Gray,

That GPO out in the open in October of '06 at Cove 2 was pretty incredible. That is up there for me in terms of amazing sights. Was with Lynne, Bob, and Scott L, just coming up from the I-beams to the Honey Bear. I noticed something moving under the stern of the HB, it came out and proceeded to move downslope, we followed it for a bout 5 minutes. Very cool.

Zen Diver · Post by **Zen Diver** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 8:14 am

Grateful Diver wrote:Hagfish in Barkley Sound (with Valerie) ... oh, and Valerie what was that weird thing we found in Cove 2 a couple years back coming up from the I-beams?

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I forgot about the Hagfish! And the weird thing was the Quillfish, which I also forgot about. Thanks for the reminder Bob!

-Valerie

enchantmentdivi · Post by **enchantmentdivi** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 8:20 am

Pacific Wingfoot Snail....two, both at Redondo, about 4 years apart.

CaptnJack · Post by **CaptnJack** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 8:34 am

Murres diving for herring along the Salt Creek area shoreline after having to bail on the Diamond Knot.

LCF · Post by **LCF** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 9:27 am

Yes, that enormous octopus that crawled out from under the Honey Bear was an amazing treat. I've seen a bunch of little ones out in the open, but never one anywhere near that size.

The hagfish we found coming up the boundary line in Cove 2 was a one-of.

We had the joy of being buzzed by a playful sea lion while we were doing a 20 foot stop, coming up from the Possession Point ferry.

I've only seen one skate so far, so I don't know if they're uncommon, or if I just don't dive the places where they tend to be.

No six gill yet . . .

Sounder · Post by **Sounder** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 10:09 am

Saw 8 huge GPOs and about 14-16 wolfeels in one dive drifting DIW from one end to the other... that was a busy dive for Tom.

Huge "Big Skate" at Cove 2, 30fsw, during an instructor training class, about 5' across.

Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker (bright pink) at DIW in the shallows also with Tom Nic - still my most special critter sighting ever.

A baby sixgill at 3TN

... and one REALLY lucky diver who's always in the right place, at the right time, WITH a camera!! (Valerie)

Not a bad list for a little under 250 dives! $\:D/$

airsix · Post by **airsix** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 10:15 am

It's fun to read this thread and know that I could dive Puget Sound for the rest of my life and still not see all there is to see. We really are blessed to have such an awesome hobby, aren't we?

-Ben

gcbryan · Post by **gcbryan** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 2:19 pm

Great posts! It makes me remember a few more as well. One Lumpsucker sighting and that was because Jeff Kruse said he could usually find them and he did! I've had probably 5 dives with diving birds and I've seen 1 Quilfish in 700 dives.

I'd love to see a Grey Whale underwater. Still no Candystripe Shrimp or Orange Peel Nudibranch.

Plenty of Skates and a few very large ones as others have described. Lynne...gotta dive in those boring, flat silty areas!

Grateful Diver · Post by **Grateful Diver** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 2:54 pm

The key to finding the candystripe shrimp is looking under and around the right kind of anemones ... and realizing that what you're looking for is usually very small (less than an inch ... sometimes half that). They're common at several sites in the San Juans, including Sares Head, Northwest Island, and Strawberry Island (among others).

Orange peel nudis are fairly common at Sekiu Jetty ... I've seen one there probably half the times I've dived there (gotta get back up there soon, too) ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

gcbryan · Post by **gcbryan** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 3:02 pm

Grateful Diver wrote:The key to finding the candystripe shrimp is looking under and around the right kind of anemones ... and realizing that what you're looking for is usually very small (less than an inch ... sometimes half that). They're common at several sites in the San Juans, including Sares Head, Northwest Island, and Strawberry Island (among others).

Orange peel nudis are fairly common at Sekiu Jetty ... I've seen one there probably half the times I've dived there (gotta get back up there soon, too) ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I'll remember those tips regarding Candystripes. Sekiu is one of my favorite dive sites and I've been there many times but no Orange Peels, plenty of Sea Lemons however! I'll have to keep looking. Now if I can just find a Rock Greenling!

With all of your dives, I'm curious as to the size range of Sixgills that you've encountered. I keep hearing about sightings larger than any I have seen and larger than the Aquarium has seen in their research.

Grateful Diver · Post by **Grateful Diver** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 3:16 pm

gcbryan wrote: With all of your dives, I'm curious as to the size range of Sixgills that you've encountered. I keep hearing about sightings larger than any I have seen and larger than the Aquarium has seen in their research.

I don't have nearly the number of sixgill sightings that you do ... only about a half-dozen or so. Largest one I've ever seen was maybe 10 or 11 feet.

I don't go out of my way to look for them ... and I usually do my dives fairly early in the evening. So when I see one, it's really more dumb luck than anything else ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Zen Diver · Post by **Zen Diver** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 6:18 pm

Well, today I had a first happen. I was hunkered down with my nose in around a tire reef at 3 Tree, happened to see a dark shape immediately beside me and nearly jumped out of my suit when I realized it was a diving bird! I don't know who was more started, me or it, but I know Bob (Lew) was chuckling away. Apparently the bird had dived down while I was looking inside the tires, wriggled its way underneath the structure and beside me, and we both saw each other face to face at the same time. Wish I could have seen it from Bob's perspective!

-Valerie

lamont · Post by **lamont** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 6:24 pm

I took a picture of a diving bird at EUP one time...

I found a juvenile yelloweye on posession point wall, which seems fairly rare...

DiverDown · Post by **DiverDown** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 7:03 pm

Lets see, I saw a big skate at mukilteo and the GPO a few years back out from under the boat.

Six gill at sunrise 6' plus

Puget sound king crab in the sechelt inlet 8" across

candy stripe shrimp in the San Juans.

Sig Saur 9mm pistol in Lk Stevens, And a Jennings .380 auto in the same week.

2005 chev yukon in Lk Washington.

The most important thing I found was how humbling a bad diving experiance can be in the narrows.

Sounder · Post by **Sounder** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 7:10 pm

ooh - I forgot! I've had countless HUGE PS King Craps raining down on me as they "jumped" off the rocks above us. VERY cool crabs.

airsix · Post by **airsix** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 7:36 pm

Sounder wrote:ooh - I forgot! I've had countless HUGE PS King Craps raining down on me

Well, it is sewer-overflow week in the Sound after-all.
-Ben (jk!)