Silt and Swells

Three to five feet swells at five second intervals. Not the kind of news you want to read before a dive, but we wanted to check out conditions before a big dive day tomorrow. We pounded our way around the peninsula, seeking any shelter from the SW swells. We tucked into the Garden Spot, a small reef between Marineland and Abalone Cove. The bottom here is silty, so any water movement makes for a difficult day of photography. Today was no exception. Most of my shots were nothing but backscatter, but I was able to clear up a few with the help of Photoshop.

Triopha catalinae with a Blackeye Goby buddy


Diaulula sandiegensis


Serpula columbiana


Mating pair of Mexichromis porterae


Flabellina iodinea with a small Diophorodoris lirulatocauda


Such a big name for a tiny nudibranch

Love the "FedEx" inspecting his diminutive colleague!

Wow, Phil! 120 nudi's at their finest. Beautiful shots all around. Did you stick around for the rest of the Spanish Shawl's hunt? Did he get the little guy?

Hmmmm

The East Garden is over looked! It can be challenging on occasion, but I've seen 3 to 4 foot "barn door" flaties out there on more than one dives. It's the "fifth" unique dive site available @ OML