Northwest Dive Club

Very curious of this fishy found by Katie Downs off Ruston Way today. My dive buddy Phill actually shot this picture since it was a bottle collection dive and didn't bring my camera. Looked like a cod/shark mutant. Side of the poor fella was injured, and viz was cloudy cuz we were collectin treasures. Waynne F, Phill and I have never seen this fish in our combined total of 6000+ dives.
WHAT IS IT?!? I can't wait any longer!

Wow! Hard to tell from the picture.. did it have an eel like body or definable dorsal and anal fins? How big was it? Any chance it could of been a Brown Cat Shark?

Looks like a Pacific Cod. Side view would be something like this:

Only the one I have there is a juvenile, and yours looks like an adult. Others have seen adult Pacific Cod in the last year and have some great shots.

- Janna

my thought was Pacific Cod also, with that long barbel.

It was pretty icky viz at Katie Downs yesterday but after doing some checking yeah it' seems pretty clear it was a Pac. Cod. I'd never seen one and this guy was hanging out in a log, he looked terribly beaten up and didn't move much at all.
When I found a picture in an ID book the pic was a near exact match. Though this guy had many white splotches (like a salmon get's towards the end of the spawn run) all over it's back and sides, you could see that the flesh was deteriorating.
Poor fishy!

Thanks for the help everyone
Here's a picture I found

Last Sunday I did a fun dive off "Down Time" at Rosies Ravine. After skirting the top of the deep wall I started a zig-zag pattern up slope. At ~80ft, I came across this guy. Like Janna, I have seen what I believe to be Juveniles, but I have never seen an adult until now.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVwj0u_8fC4[/youtube]

-Mark

Nice find!!! Love how he rests his whisker right on the rock. Like a little whisker shelf. Yup.
- Janna

My own experience has been that Pacific Cod just weren't around to be seen for a while (friends tell me they were quite abundant in certain places up until about the mid eighties) - but I've seen a few recently and I'm hearing more reports like these from other divers, too. Do y'all get the sense that these fishies might be back "in town" to some degree?

whatevah wrote:...(friends tell me they were quite abundant in certain places up until about the mid eighties)

I was told that as well. Just south of the Hood Canal Bridge was a hot spot.

whatevah wrote:....Do y'all get the sense that these fishies might be back "in town" to some degree?

Not sure but I can tell you that I have seen a fair population of what appear to be Juveniles off Port Townsend during certain times of the year. Late spring, early summer IIRC.

-Mark