Pics: Seal dive report, Isles of Shoals Sun. 8/3/08

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dave4868

Old diver
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Location
Vero Beach, FL, USA
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Just a brief report as the pics of the seals say it all! This was a wonderful wildlife encounter affirming a feeling of true kinship with these beautiful animals!

We used of our dive club's favorite boat for diving with seals at the Isles of Shoals: the 45-foot Lady Patricia, Capt Bill's Charters out of Portsmouth, NH.

Deep Sea Fishing Charters from New Hampshire

Ten club members had the whole boat, which could probably accomodate twenty divers. It's a very roomy and stable boat.

The first dive was among the seals around Mingo Rock and Duck Island, two small steep pinnacles that barely poke above the surface.

The seas were pretty calm, current was moderate and water temps were from 60F above the thermocline to 50F at 100'. The predicted rain showers held off and the sky was bright enough for some decent pics. Air temp was a real pleasant 75 degrees with a light wind blowing.

Besides seals, another nice feature of this site is the steep slope on the south side of Mingo that has some impressive rocky drop-offs and crevices on the way down to 100' where the bottom levels out.

Then, like having two dive sites in one, the second half of the dive can be spent with the seals in the 20 to 30' depths along the northeast side of the islands.

That day, there were plenty of seals and all divers had nice encounters with them, including one gal who had a herd of six around her! As she swam back to the boat on the surface, a seal tagged along right behind her fins!

Of my several trips to this site, all with seal encounters, this day was particularly memorable in how docile and curious the seals were and how closely they approached!

The second dive was on a site with no seals on the lee side of Appledore Island, about a mile away. Some huge schools of maceral were seen, but not much else. Next time we'll ask to stay at Mingo for both dives!

Captain Bill was super, as usual, in letting us have extended dives of 90 minutes or more if we chose, which several of us did. This was his only charter for the day.

Pics of the seals and boat follow. Hope you enjoy them! :)

Dave C

On my ascent, I was first approached by a seal at 45':
P8030014_CCR_UnSM_Flt_R900.jpg


Some Aquabatics:
P8030038_CCR_UnSM_Flt_R900.jpg


At about 30', sitting quietly brought them in very close, often within two or three feet like this:
P8030028_CCR_Cl-St_UnSM_Flt_R900.jpg


He quickly got bored with me apparently:
P8030029_CCR_Cl-St_UnSM_Flt_R900.jpg


This might be a different seal on a slow fly-by:
P8030035_CCR_UnSM_Flt_R900.jpg


That day the seals were very curious and unafraid! A moment later, he gently bumped his nose into the lens port!
P8030030_CCR_UnSM_Flt_R900.jpg


In the surf zone, gliding by for a look:
P8030043_CCR_Cl-St_UnSM_Flt_R900.jpg


The 45-foot Lady Patricia (Capt Bill's Charters), anchored at the second site near Appledore Island; the most spacious dive boat I've been on:
P8030077_ACt_Ro_M-Cr_R900.jpg
 
Last edited:
Dave, Awesome shots!!!

Thanks, Chris! Seals are such "good people", they just composed the shots for me! :D

A side note you might appreciate, knowing the vagaries of equipment in a marine environment: I got home and found my memory card with these seal shots was corrupted and the files unrecoverable on two attempts with specialized programs! Major bummer!

Luckily, one of my dive club members is a highly skilled programmer who was able to retrieve the files with software of his own design!

Boy, was I happy! :D

Dave C
 
awesome pics!!!!!!

did you see anything interesting from 60' to 100'??

Thanks! I wouldn't say it was worth going deeper than 60', as most of the interesting rock structure is shallower as are the seals, but there were a few northern anemones between 85 and 100', including this one with its off-spring.

Dave C

Copy_of_P8030003_CCR_Flt_R900.jpg
 
Thanks for sharing! I'll be doing my first Isle of Shoals dive in a few weeks and your report was an exciting appetizer!
 
A side note you might appreciate, knowing the vagaries of equipment in a marine environment:

That's for sure, I've lost count of the number of research cruises I have had go wrong because of the "vagaries of equipment in a marine environment".

I'm glad you were able to recover those shots. It is amazing how well you got those seals to pose for you, makes me wonder if you didn't cover your camera in herring or something...... :D
 
Are these types of close up encounter with the seals typical? I just showed my wife the pics and she was all smiles, and saidwe need to do that. I just wonder if this was one of those "special" days.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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