What have you seen underwater that you'll never forget?

[6Gill]

One of the strangest things I've seen was on a recovery dive in Lake Washington. I was looking for a night watchman at a local logging boom operation near Renton, WA. He had disappered during the night. They for some reason walk on the logs that are in the water using a pike pole for balance. We spent about an hour searching the bottom under the boom with no results. I was standing on the dock after the dive having a cigerette (I smoked in those days.) when I saw a white spot about a foot under the surface. I jumped back in without my SCUBA and was suprised to see the watchman's body suspended upright in the water with the pike pole in his hands. The white spot that has drawn my attention was his bald head. Apparently the pike pole and perhaps air trapped in his clothing had helped to keep him suspended there.

I also saw an large Octopus off the old boat house at Alki that was caught later and was a world record 150 Lbs. (Frank Wolf who used to run the LDS at Alki had brought this one up.) When I saw it I was hunting there and stuck my head under the steel plates to see if the were any big ling cods hiding there and saw some suckers that looked like dinner plates. (Boy did I back out of there fast!)

 

[Donnie]

Bob,

The Stellar Sea Lions are HUGE!!! and unfortunately for me... I seem to be easily intimidated by wild animals that outweigh me "10 to 1" The Stellar Sea Lions' would show curiosity in our fish... but would never try to take any. One day, I was helping the guys feed fish (we fed up to 9 tons of food per day!) when suddenly... I felt the system "shake". I looked over the system and saw one of the guys running away from a Stellar Sea Lion that hauled itself up onto the system. The Stellar was not interested in my co-worker... rather, he was looking over his shoulder at the water. A Killer Wale swam into the channel and was slowly swimming past our pens!!! We (my co-workers, the Stellar, and I,) just sat there and watched the Killer whale swim buy!! (WAY COOL!) The Stellar stayed on the system with us and sunned himself for about 3 hours, before going back into the water. (Can you blame him?)

On the other hand... the Northern California Sea Lions would get very aggressive around our pens. They would push their way into a net and grab a salmon by the belly and suck out their guts, leaving the fish to die. They wouldn't try to rip their way through the nets, rather... they would simply bite a salmon through the net and get what they could. We lost 56 salmon one day, while we took our 1 hour lunch break in the office. (Which was on shore.)

Your experience in the Eel Grass had to be awesome!!! The only Dog Fish that I ever swam with were those who would get into our fish pens. Your description of "Sparks" caused by the luminescent, is very accurate. I have seen where our salmon would create the same effect. It is truly AWESOME!

As I mentioned... I would pick to "Morts" (Short for "Mortality" otherwise known as "Dead Fish") from the bottom of the pens. If the Morts weren't picked "daily"... The Dog Fish would come off the bottom and chew on the "Morts", through the net. Eventually... they would "accidentally" gnaw a hole in the net and get in. They never bothered the living fish, and would only eat the dead fish that settled to the bottom of the net. BUT!... the hole they left behind would allow some salmon to escape. So... you have heard of "Underwater Basket Weavers?"... I was the "Underwater NET Weaver!"

Have a great day!

Donnie

Gee!... I guess I'm beginning to babble!... (Sorry Folks!)

 

[ScubaStan]

First, a week after being certified at Monterey Bay, CA, I went for a dive to La Paz, MX. Ascending to the boat, a large group of small hammerheads congregated near the anchor line. I was in awe at the magnificent gracefulness of the sharks.

Second, diving at Santa Cruz Is. in the Channel Islands off of Southern California last spring, I was descending on the anchor line to a planned dive at 70' when about 20' below the surface I cauight a glimpse of something big and white..wait 2 big somethings. I turned toward them thinking "great white" and saw the funkiest and wierdest fish I have ever seen in my life, 2 very large Mola Mola cruising past. Saw 4 more on the same dive as well as a ~150lb Black Sea Bass.

I get a kick out of seeing underwater wonders, especially when I see something new each dive.

 

[Cudabait]

Utila...November, 2003...two octopi mating.
regards,

 

[mania]

2 giant morays hanging and mating in the blue. I've been told by the marine biologists that this is a very rare thing to see....
mania

 

[chiara]

Joee, a female diodon who lives around the Rocher du Diamant in Martinique.

Porcupine fish are well known for puffing up when disturbed.

Joee not only does not puff up, she swims happily towards divers whenever they come her nick of the woods.

This happens more or less every day.

I thought that friendship between man and fish were close to impossible, now I'm not so sure anymore.

On a big scale, my very first shark, and a hammerhead at that, in Ras Mohammed, Egypt, back in November 2000.

 

[dutch-scuba-kid]

Coming from Holland, I mostly dive in Holland. And you wouldn't believe the things you won't see. The most impressing thing I ever saw over here were a couple of cattlefish. That's like the no. 1 thing there is too see over here.
I've also been to the Philippines, but everything impressed me over there. I can't really pick one particular thing.

 

[annie]

Lots of things . .. came across an enormous guitarfish during a night dive in Western Australia once, it was at least 2.5m. Sea snakes. Manta Rays. Napoleon Wrasse.

 

[flw]

a barn door skate, whilst pootling around a shallow local reef on my own after work one day, he was huge, just sat there until he got bored, then rose up on his tail and waved his wings at me.
On a scenic dive off Gaarda Stack, locally an archway within the leg of a bigger archway, was a patch of soft corals, sponges and anenomes of every variety I could think of, oranges pinks, yellows whites in a basin like depression in the rocks, a nearest to the garden of eden I could imagine possible, a small nudibranch of a variety I've not seen before, about an inch long just last week, there's always something new

 

[love2godeep]

a barn door skate, whilst pootling around a shallow local reef on my own after work one day, he was huge, just sat there until he got bored, then rose up on his tail and waved his wings at me.
On a scenic dive off Gaarda Stack, locally an archway within the leg of a bigger archway, was a patch of soft corals, sponges and anenomes of every variety I could think of, oranges pinks, yellows whites in a basin like depression in the rocks, a nearest to the garden of eden I could imagine possible, a small nudibranch of a variety I've not seen before, about an inch long just last week, there's always something new

flw, in what part of the UK do you see sights like these????