FrankPro1
Contributor
With the forecast showing solid conditions for today, Charlie and I ventured to Christmas Tree Cove for some goat trail diving. From the top of the hill conditions didn't look bad but still nothing close to the lake-like conditions forecasted. Unfortunately one of Charlie's drysuit gloves ripped while suiting up, which left me solo diving for the day. Being the good friend he is Charlie opted to stay and give shore support rather then leave me alone. Much appreciated buddy! As I prepared to descend my Sunnto D4 flashed low battery and refused to go into dive mode. Without a depth gauge I decided to just stay in the cove and do a shallow 30min dive. Visibility was a surprisingly low 10ft with lots of suspended particles and moderate surge. I found a nice section of reef and spent 15 minutes or so hanging out with an island kelpfish who became more curious with my camera as time went on. While waiting to take more shots of him "he kept disappearing into his den", I found my first Berthella californica tucked under a small overhang. It was in a hard space to photograph but I at least got a couple shots to document the find. This was the first time I really stayed put in one area for that long and it was really cool to see the amount of critters drawn to my presence. At least two dozen or more Sheephead, Opaleye, Senorita and Garibaldi came to check out what was making so much noise. On my way in I found a sleeping Horn shark but the surge was so strong in that area that it was impossible to shoot. Though it wasn't the clear blue water CTC dive I was expecting, it was still great to get wet.
