Ben_ca
Contributor
Prime dive buddy Ted hasn't been in the water for a few weeks so in preparation for next weeks boat dive we went to the bunny slopes to knock some rust off.
It was overcast and a bit gloomy when we rolled into the BW at around 9 and amazingly we found parking on the wall (Ted: Dude it's October!)
There were plenty of classes going on and the water was almost glass. Very calm.
We dropped at the bend into about 5 ft fuzzy vis. Scootered out to the Barge and it opened up to 10. It was very nice at the Barge... still water, lots of critters to watch and a commerant who came down 4-5 times and we got to watch him hunt and catch small fish. It was amazing how easily he would just swim around and pay us no notice.
It was silly watching a bird at 65 FSW just go about it's business.
Once we got our fill of the Barge we pointed our rides toward the Metridium fields and hit the trigger... this is where it gets difficult. The vis dropped to less than 5 ft.... oh and the Sea Nettles were about. We had to dodge, duck, dive and dodge all the way to the fields. Between the Barge and Met fields there were a lot of squid eggs... huge mats... a couple large crabs feeding on them but other than that it was a lot of sand.
We hit a small outcropping of the deeper mets then had to turn to exit when I was heads down checking my spg or something when
*BAM*
Tentacles!!!
not just tentacles... I'm seeing the frilly lace panties of the inside of a Huge Sea Nettle! It must have been big because Ted said my head disappeared inside of it!
I was stunned... gritting hard on the mouthpiece and trying to break hard left to pull myself out of it... My whole face was enveloped and I could feel the pain from my left cheek to my upper lip and my right cheek and right forehead. After I was able to free myself I tried to calm myself and sit still for a while... but I was cursing thru my reg and wanted out of there... Ted took the lead and brought us back to the shallows and to the exit... Thanks to the guys at Aquarius for the Jelly first aid gel... it helped. I have welts accross my face and following the mask skirt and a fat lip from my close encounter
Lunch at the BW deli and got to chat with Don's Essentials class and some other friends. Passed on dive 2.
Lesson of the day? Unless you are a Jellyfish gynecologist, looking up a Sea Nettle's skirt will only get you a fat lip. :shocked2:
some pictures:
It was overcast and a bit gloomy when we rolled into the BW at around 9 and amazingly we found parking on the wall (Ted: Dude it's October!)
There were plenty of classes going on and the water was almost glass. Very calm.
We dropped at the bend into about 5 ft fuzzy vis. Scootered out to the Barge and it opened up to 10. It was very nice at the Barge... still water, lots of critters to watch and a commerant who came down 4-5 times and we got to watch him hunt and catch small fish. It was amazing how easily he would just swim around and pay us no notice.
It was silly watching a bird at 65 FSW just go about it's business.
Once we got our fill of the Barge we pointed our rides toward the Metridium fields and hit the trigger... this is where it gets difficult. The vis dropped to less than 5 ft.... oh and the Sea Nettles were about. We had to dodge, duck, dive and dodge all the way to the fields. Between the Barge and Met fields there were a lot of squid eggs... huge mats... a couple large crabs feeding on them but other than that it was a lot of sand.
We hit a small outcropping of the deeper mets then had to turn to exit when I was heads down checking my spg or something when
*BAM*
Tentacles!!!
not just tentacles... I'm seeing the frilly lace panties of the inside of a Huge Sea Nettle! It must have been big because Ted said my head disappeared inside of it!
I was stunned... gritting hard on the mouthpiece and trying to break hard left to pull myself out of it... My whole face was enveloped and I could feel the pain from my left cheek to my upper lip and my right cheek and right forehead. After I was able to free myself I tried to calm myself and sit still for a while... but I was cursing thru my reg and wanted out of there... Ted took the lead and brought us back to the shallows and to the exit... Thanks to the guys at Aquarius for the Jelly first aid gel... it helped. I have welts accross my face and following the mask skirt and a fat lip from my close encounter
Lunch at the BW deli and got to chat with Don's Essentials class and some other friends. Passed on dive 2.
Lesson of the day? Unless you are a Jellyfish gynecologist, looking up a Sea Nettle's skirt will only get you a fat lip. :shocked2:
some pictures:
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