The Thing You Thought You'd Never See ...

[txgoose]

There is a site off Palos Verdes California I call Golf Ball Reef. There are dozens of golf balls along the edge of the reef nearly 3/4 mile from shore. I have no idea how they got there.

Plate tectonics. I am a bit surprised that there isn't any evidence of the dust layer from the dinosaur killer off the Yucatan. Although, if the crabs have been cleaning them off this whole time........................

 

[Russell Bowyer]

A selfie taken within an air pocket on the Thistlegorm taken on the 70th anniversary of its sinking.View attachment 454704

Ah man, my favourite wreck - love the Thistlegorm! Really jealous. Do you know I also did my best ever night dive on the Thistlegorm and saw two of the biggest sleeping turtles on it. Will have to go back at some point.

 

[Russell Bowyer]

Mine are a couple of things that are great memories...

• Putting my naked hand inside a seals mouth and it gently nibbling it like a dog; This was in the Farne Islands in the UK.
• Counting over 30 seahorses on a single dive in Barbados was really exciting for me.
• Coming literally face to face only a few feet or so away from a hammerhead shark on the Elphinstone Reef in the Red Sea, when I swam over the edge as it was coming up from the deep...not sure who was most shocked, me or the shark!
• Feeding a turtle with bits of jelly fish in the Red Sea.

These are what come to mind right now.

 

[rabe]

I found once a big jar containing the ashes of someone.
Initially I didn't know what I was looking at, but then I've realised.

 

[scubadada]

I do much of my diving in SE Florida

Never thought I would see a manta, I did
Never thought I would see a Tiger Shark, I did
Never thought I would see a Hammerhead, I saw two
Never, ever thought I would see a dolphin, I saw two.

All you have to do is be there, look around, you'll be amazed at what you see

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

There is a site off Palos Verdes California I call Golf Ball Reef. There are dozens of golf balls along the edge of the reef nearly 3/4 mile from shore. I have no idea how they got there.

We had a golf ball boat at one of our local dive sites (Three Tree North). I was there when it got started. TTN is a shore dive, running alongside a residential beach. One of the homes belongs to a guy who uses his front porch as a driving range ... and the area in front of his house is littered with golf balls down to about 60 fsw. Several years ago I was diving there with a friend (another Bob) when I noticed him collecting golf balls and cramming them into his drysuit pocket. At around 40 feet was a fishing boat. Apparently it got away from someone trying to launch it, and that's where it eventually sank ... still attached to the trailer. When we got to it, Bob emptied the golf balls out of his pocket and into the boat. Some divers apparently thought it was a good idea, as the next time I visited the boat there were more golf balls in it. Over the years, it got quite a collection. And as winter storms took their toll, the boat eventually slid off its trailer and downslope, where it has been deteriorating ever since. And the bottom is still littered with golf balls ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Ah man, my favourite wreck - love the Thistlegorm! Really jealous. Do you know I also did my best ever night dive on the Thistlegorm and saw two of the biggest sleeping turtles on it. Will have to go back at some point.

That turtle on the bow is George ... he lives there, and he'll follow you right up the line back to the boat and sit on the surface watching as you get back on board ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[TMHeimer]

The appropriate time for the warhammer manoeuvre. (Google isn't your friend)

You mean you actually did see an appropriate time for the famous manure...er manoeuvre? I'll bet it wasn't in James Bay.....

I can't think of anything I've seen that I thought I'd never see because I never gave thought to the possibility of seeing something that I never thought I'd see.
I did see a full grown large Atlantic Deer Cowrie shell in an LDS in Panama City Beach years ago and thought I'd probably never find a live one while charter diving. A few years later I was off Alabama ascending from 120' over the deck of a barge wreck and there it was, sitting all by itself on the deck. The heck with a little sawtooth profile--I was down the 15-20 feet real quick to grab it.
But, it's not like I thought I'd NEVER see one................

 

[northernone]

You mean you actually did see an appropriate time for the famous manure...er manoeuvre? I'll bet it wasn't in James Bay.....

I can't think of anything I've seen that I thought I'd never see because I never gave thought to the possibility of seeing something that I never thought I'd see.
I did see a full grown large Atlantic Deer Cowrie shell in a shop in Panama City Beach years ago and thought I'd probably never find a live one while charter diving. A few years later I was off Alabama ascending from 120' over the deck of a barge wreck and there is was, sitting all by itself on the deck. The heck with a little sawtooth profile--I was down the 15-20 feet real quick to grab it.
But, it's not like I thought I NEVER see one................

Right you are.

No Panamanian fried chicken in James bay.... Cringing at the thought of a drysuit during such desperate urges... Removing a 3mm shorty was bad enough.

 

[TMHeimer]

Right you are.

No Panamanian fried chicken in James bay.... Cringing at the thought of a drysuit during such desperate urges... Removing a 3mm shorty was bad enough.

I read here about a woman who was in a desperate situation and unable to remove the drysuit of course. That would be an interesting video as well.