4 dives last Thursday!

BASSMAN · Post by **BASSMAN** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 12:21 am

Tom Nic and I, dove Fox Island West wall and then I took Tom over to C.I. Shenanigans (Dry Dock) for a second dive.
We were unsuccessfull in finding the Giant Nudibrach's feeding on Tube Worms. in fact we didn't find any Giant Nudibranchs!
But some of the big Orange Sea Pens were there.

: Orange Sea Pen @ Fox Island West Wall

We had some of the strongest current I've ever felt at this site!

: Then Came the Current!

: A well Decorated Crab!

: all on the same rock as the crab

: Making Lepord Dorid, babies?

I didn't get any good pictures at the Dry Dock but we did see some fast moving Stubby Squid there.

For my third dive I met up with bucknaked and Rob3 @ Les Davis...

: Nice, Low Tide!

: Peek-a-boo, I see you!

: bucknaked found this nice Striped Nudie, at Les Davis!

Oh, did I mention Rob3's new camera rig takes great picture!

For my fourth dive of the day we headed back to C.I. Shenanigans again and Once again buck naked found a great find there
Too bad I couldn't get a good picture, he kept moving too fast.

: Bigest Lumpie I've seen yet!

I have some video, but cant post it from my work computer.
I think Rob3 might have gotten some good pics of him.

That Dry Dock dive, at C.I. Shenanigans has some great critters! Fun Dive!

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 8:59 am

How was viz at Les?

bucknaked · Post by **bucknaked** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 9:56 am

Rob3 when are we going to see some pics

Rob3 · Post by **Rob3** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 1:29 pm

Here are a couple from the dives at Les Davis and C.I. Shenanigans

BASSMAN · Post by **BASSMAN** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 5:18 pm

Vis was not as spectacular as I hoped for, with the low tide, but it was still 15 or 20 feet.
vis at Shenanigans was better.

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 7:04 pm

I really enjoyed the first two dives! Some pics from FIWW are here.

Fox Island West Wall had quite a bit of current in the shallows... it was less at depth, but had to be dealt with. I was a bit surprised to find NO Giant Nudis there after all that have been seen recently. There was one Red Dendronotid that was laying eggs, but that was it.

There were more Leopard Dorids and Berthella californica than I've ever seen on a dive. Here's one of the Berthella's...

There was one GPO tucked way back in a cave, and evidence of a few more. The Brown and Copper Rockfish at this site stay tucked away in one of the meagre caves on the wall. I suppose there isn't much cover otherwise.

All in all, a very good dive. Here's a few more shots, and I'll see if I can get some uploaded from CI Shenanigans later. I really enjoyed that dive, BTW. It is typical for the Ruston waterfront, but the left over dock is really cool and should really have more life on it than we saw!

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 7:52 pm

CI Shenanigans was an interesting dive... first time I've done this, but likely not the last. The pilings from the old dry dock are a great start to the dive, covered in Plumose Anemones, looking for all the world like there should be a TON of life in and around them - however there was not much. Not sure if it's because of Winter or just the generally nasty water of Commencement Bay.

A few pics from the dive are here .

Seeing the Stubby leaving his little ink trail was a treat!

There was a very pregnant Dungy being held prisoner behind the fence under the restaurant. Thought of mounting a rescue operation and then quickly thought better of it.

There are several large Painted Anemones on the rocks that form the foundation for the restaurant's sea wall. I only got to do a bit of exploring because my dive buddy was headed for shore! Maybe next time.

Scubie Doo · Post by **Scubie Doo** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 8:13 pm

Rob, nice shot of the shrimp. Those are very difficult to shoot. Looks like your rig is working out!

Rob3 · Post by **Rob3** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 8:25 pm

Thanks, I am trying to convince myself it would work so much better with another strobe.

bucknaked · Post by **bucknaked** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 9:31 pm

Very nice pics rob and tom

mpenders · Post by **mpenders** » Sun Mar 18, 2012 12:10 am

Rob3 wrote:Thanks, I am trying to convince myself it would work so much better with another strobe.

Have you tried using your older strobe for fill yet?

Nice shots all the way around, everyone!

Mike

LCF · Post by **LCF** » Sun Mar 18, 2012 9:52 am

Great pictures here!

Looking at the one of the entry at Les Davis reminded me that it's just about the only site I can think of I'd rather dive at low tide . . . That's the time you can SEE the rocks that are going to trip you!

Northwest Dive Club