Jaysun1327
Registered
Being relatively new to New England diving, started diving here in July 2010, I get to experience a lot of “firsts.” This weekend saw a lot of those firsts come to pass.
Saturday, July 2nd, 2011 – Nubble Light, 2 tanks
Time in 12:38pm/BT 53 min/ depth 38 ft/water temp 54 ⁰F/ vis 15-20 ft
This was my first dive in the state of Maine and hence first at Nubble Light. It was an absolutely beautiful day with 74F air temp and blue, sunny skies. We even lucked out and pulled right into a parking space close to the entry point. For the first dive we dropped down and swam over to the right wall, along the right wall, back across the cove to the left wall, and along the left wall back to the entry point. Surface temp was 66F dropping to 54F at depth. Viz was pretty decent around 20ft. Cunner and what I’m guessing are juvenile Pollock were everywhere. Some of the cunner are getting pretty big. We saw three sea ravens including my first bright yellow sea raven. The color in this thing rivals anything you will find in the Caribbean. Unlike most other sea ravens I've encounter this guy was pretty shy and swan away before I could get any good close up shots or switch to video. Other species seen: grubby sculpin, couple winter flounders, jonah crabs, lobsters, and northern seastars. We over shot the entry/exit point and surfaced at the mouth to the channel between the island and the mainland.
Time in 2:36pm/BT 58 min/ depth 25 ft/water temp 61 ⁰F/ vis 10-15 ft
For the second dive we decided to do the right wall because that seemed to have more interesting topography. The tide had gone out quite a bit by the time we entered and entry was a little more challenging than the first dive but manageable. We descend and immediately notice the visibility dropped considerably. We poke along in the direction we think the cool ledges and wall we saw on the first dive should be but never find them. Buddy indicates to surface. Surface conversation:
Buddy (girlfriend): “Where did the cool wall go?”
Me: “I don’t know”
Buddy (girlfriend): “Which way should we go?”
Me: “I don’t know”
I then remind her that this is the first time I’ve dove this site as well and that I know just as much about the underwater topography as she does. This was not the answer she was looking for. We decide to keep following the boulder line we’ve been following and descend, got the underwater cold shoulder for the rest of the dive. Even though we didn’t find the wall/ledge we were looking for we did stumble into some pretty interesting large boulders. Again lots of cunner and Pollock were around but the highlight of the dive was a spider crab all decked out in his best seaweed, another first sighting for me.
[video=youtube;bNS5agdtmEM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNS5agdtmEM[/video]
Other species seen: Two rock gunnels, couple of winter flounders, jonah crabs, lobsters. We again surfaced at the mouth to the channel between the island and the mainland and had to swim back the exit point. We’re going to have to learn to recognize where the exit is.
We decide that this was a pretty nice dive site and add it to our list. I’m also informed by my dive buddy that our dive flag is goofy and she feels like a dork towing it.
On the way home we’re stuck in traffic on Long Beach Ave, soon I see the reason why: a gentleman does not agree with three officers that he should calm down and go with them. Instead he is of the mindset that they should just let him be. As they discuss their various points of view one of the officers shows the gentleman his can of pepper spray and demonstrates how it works. This excites the gentleman so much that another officer decides to show the gentleman his Taser and demonstrates how it works. The demonstration of the Taser ceased all discussions pretty quickly. That was the first time I ever saw someone get Tasered, so that was interesting.
Sunday, July 3rd, 2011 – Folly Cove (Left side)
Time in 9:44am/BT 66 min/ depth 53 ft/water temp 50 ⁰F/ vis 10-15 ft
Although the air temperature was similar to the day before at 72F the skies were overcast and threatening rain. We entered a coupled hours after low tide and surprisingly it wasn’t that bad. The surface temp was 66F and dropped to a chilly 50F at depth. We swam about midway out to the point and dropped down. As we made our way along the wall green crabs and cunner were everywhere. We reach the point, round it and are buzzed by a large striper. This is the first time I’ve made it to the point at Folly cove and also the deepest I’ve been in MA waters. I was struck by how large the boulders are out there and by how dark and gloomy it was, definitely a different feel than closer to shore. On the way back we ran into a school of Pollock that were rushing out to sea and passed through a thermocline at 20 fsw that seemed to never end, that was wild. Other species seen: two radiated shannys, two sea ravens, two grubby sculpins, several winter flounder, longhorn sculpin, jonah crabs, and lots of northern sea stars.
Sunday, July 3rd, 2011 – Folly Cove (Right side)
Time in 12:01pm/BT 56 min/ depth 32 ft/water temp 54 ⁰F/ vis 10-15 ft
I was a little concerned about the buddy after such a long, chilly dive and no sun to warm her up, but she was a real trooper and was eager to get in for the second dive. On the surface swim out I see my first Northern Puffer. Giddy with excitement I attempt to descend to photograph the critter only to be reminded of the operational limitations of a snorkel. By the time I get a regulator in my mouth I’ve lost sight of the puffer, oh well. The rest of the dive was all about winter flounders, they were everywhere: buried in the sand, sitting on a rock, two by two swimming by me, you couldn’t go very far without seeing one. Other species seen: lots of cunner, Pollock, grubby sculpin, juvenile spotted hake, several winter and little skate, jonah crabs, lobsters.
Monday, July 4th, 2011 – Loblolly Cove
Time in 1:00pm/BT 50 min/ depth 17 ft/water temp 52 ⁰F/ vis 15-30 ft
We got up to Cape Ann a little later than usual since high tide wasn’t until around 2pm. Being the Fourth of July I figured parking was going to be a nightmare. I was right. We dropped the gear off and then I found a spot at the top of the hill on South Street, not sure if it was legal but I didn’t get a ticket, and rode the mountain bike back down to Loblolly. This was another gorgeous sunny day with air temps in the 80s. We entered the water and followed the sand/rock interface out a little bit before cutting over to the point. Visibility on the way out was the best I’ve seen so far in New England and there was so much color in the cove, not much fish on the way out, but tons of color. I must have had water in my camera housing because it fogged up and gave all my photos I nice little fish eye affect. There was a lot going on out at the point in terms of underwater hydrodynamics. We had a thermocline, the surge from the waves above, and what I’ll call a whirlpool affect. Seaweed and other material in the water column was going all over the place. On the way back in visibility dropped but we started see the fish. Lots of little cunner out in the sea weed, a school of Pollock picking off a bait ball of sand eels and this searobin
[video=youtube;RCzTTHB3Z80]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCzTTHB3Z80&NR=1[/video]
This was my first searobin sighting and I was pretty bummed my camera was fogged up. Although I think I got some decent shots. After leaving the searobin and following the sand/rock interface back in, I saw an eviscerated lobster tail, a crab running off with a lobster claw and another crab running off with a leg. I though a Wolf Eel might be in the neighborhood, but never found one. Other species seen, grubby sculpin, juvenile spotted hake, two winter flounders, jonah crabs, lobsters.
Saturday, July 2nd, 2011 – Nubble Light, 2 tanks
Time in 12:38pm/BT 53 min/ depth 38 ft/water temp 54 ⁰F/ vis 15-20 ft
This was my first dive in the state of Maine and hence first at Nubble Light. It was an absolutely beautiful day with 74F air temp and blue, sunny skies. We even lucked out and pulled right into a parking space close to the entry point. For the first dive we dropped down and swam over to the right wall, along the right wall, back across the cove to the left wall, and along the left wall back to the entry point. Surface temp was 66F dropping to 54F at depth. Viz was pretty decent around 20ft. Cunner and what I’m guessing are juvenile Pollock were everywhere. Some of the cunner are getting pretty big. We saw three sea ravens including my first bright yellow sea raven. The color in this thing rivals anything you will find in the Caribbean. Unlike most other sea ravens I've encounter this guy was pretty shy and swan away before I could get any good close up shots or switch to video. Other species seen: grubby sculpin, couple winter flounders, jonah crabs, lobsters, and northern seastars. We over shot the entry/exit point and surfaced at the mouth to the channel between the island and the mainland.
Time in 2:36pm/BT 58 min/ depth 25 ft/water temp 61 ⁰F/ vis 10-15 ft
For the second dive we decided to do the right wall because that seemed to have more interesting topography. The tide had gone out quite a bit by the time we entered and entry was a little more challenging than the first dive but manageable. We descend and immediately notice the visibility dropped considerably. We poke along in the direction we think the cool ledges and wall we saw on the first dive should be but never find them. Buddy indicates to surface. Surface conversation:
Buddy (girlfriend): “Where did the cool wall go?”
Me: “I don’t know”
Buddy (girlfriend): “Which way should we go?”
Me: “I don’t know”
I then remind her that this is the first time I’ve dove this site as well and that I know just as much about the underwater topography as she does. This was not the answer she was looking for. We decide to keep following the boulder line we’ve been following and descend, got the underwater cold shoulder for the rest of the dive. Even though we didn’t find the wall/ledge we were looking for we did stumble into some pretty interesting large boulders. Again lots of cunner and Pollock were around but the highlight of the dive was a spider crab all decked out in his best seaweed, another first sighting for me.
[video=youtube;bNS5agdtmEM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNS5agdtmEM[/video]
Other species seen: Two rock gunnels, couple of winter flounders, jonah crabs, lobsters. We again surfaced at the mouth to the channel between the island and the mainland and had to swim back the exit point. We’re going to have to learn to recognize where the exit is.
We decide that this was a pretty nice dive site and add it to our list. I’m also informed by my dive buddy that our dive flag is goofy and she feels like a dork towing it.
On the way home we’re stuck in traffic on Long Beach Ave, soon I see the reason why: a gentleman does not agree with three officers that he should calm down and go with them. Instead he is of the mindset that they should just let him be. As they discuss their various points of view one of the officers shows the gentleman his can of pepper spray and demonstrates how it works. This excites the gentleman so much that another officer decides to show the gentleman his Taser and demonstrates how it works. The demonstration of the Taser ceased all discussions pretty quickly. That was the first time I ever saw someone get Tasered, so that was interesting.
Sunday, July 3rd, 2011 – Folly Cove (Left side)
Time in 9:44am/BT 66 min/ depth 53 ft/water temp 50 ⁰F/ vis 10-15 ft
Although the air temperature was similar to the day before at 72F the skies were overcast and threatening rain. We entered a coupled hours after low tide and surprisingly it wasn’t that bad. The surface temp was 66F and dropped to a chilly 50F at depth. We swam about midway out to the point and dropped down. As we made our way along the wall green crabs and cunner were everywhere. We reach the point, round it and are buzzed by a large striper. This is the first time I’ve made it to the point at Folly cove and also the deepest I’ve been in MA waters. I was struck by how large the boulders are out there and by how dark and gloomy it was, definitely a different feel than closer to shore. On the way back we ran into a school of Pollock that were rushing out to sea and passed through a thermocline at 20 fsw that seemed to never end, that was wild. Other species seen: two radiated shannys, two sea ravens, two grubby sculpins, several winter flounder, longhorn sculpin, jonah crabs, and lots of northern sea stars.
Sunday, July 3rd, 2011 – Folly Cove (Right side)
Time in 12:01pm/BT 56 min/ depth 32 ft/water temp 54 ⁰F/ vis 10-15 ft
I was a little concerned about the buddy after such a long, chilly dive and no sun to warm her up, but she was a real trooper and was eager to get in for the second dive. On the surface swim out I see my first Northern Puffer. Giddy with excitement I attempt to descend to photograph the critter only to be reminded of the operational limitations of a snorkel. By the time I get a regulator in my mouth I’ve lost sight of the puffer, oh well. The rest of the dive was all about winter flounders, they were everywhere: buried in the sand, sitting on a rock, two by two swimming by me, you couldn’t go very far without seeing one. Other species seen: lots of cunner, Pollock, grubby sculpin, juvenile spotted hake, several winter and little skate, jonah crabs, lobsters.
Monday, July 4th, 2011 – Loblolly Cove
Time in 1:00pm/BT 50 min/ depth 17 ft/water temp 52 ⁰F/ vis 15-30 ft
We got up to Cape Ann a little later than usual since high tide wasn’t until around 2pm. Being the Fourth of July I figured parking was going to be a nightmare. I was right. We dropped the gear off and then I found a spot at the top of the hill on South Street, not sure if it was legal but I didn’t get a ticket, and rode the mountain bike back down to Loblolly. This was another gorgeous sunny day with air temps in the 80s. We entered the water and followed the sand/rock interface out a little bit before cutting over to the point. Visibility on the way out was the best I’ve seen so far in New England and there was so much color in the cove, not much fish on the way out, but tons of color. I must have had water in my camera housing because it fogged up and gave all my photos I nice little fish eye affect. There was a lot going on out at the point in terms of underwater hydrodynamics. We had a thermocline, the surge from the waves above, and what I’ll call a whirlpool affect. Seaweed and other material in the water column was going all over the place. On the way back in visibility dropped but we started see the fish. Lots of little cunner out in the sea weed, a school of Pollock picking off a bait ball of sand eels and this searobin
[video=youtube;RCzTTHB3Z80]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCzTTHB3Z80&NR=1[/video]
This was my first searobin sighting and I was pretty bummed my camera was fogged up. Although I think I got some decent shots. After leaving the searobin and following the sand/rock interface back in, I saw an eviscerated lobster tail, a crab running off with a lobster claw and another crab running off with a leg. I though a Wolf Eel might be in the neighborhood, but never found one. Other species seen, grubby sculpin, juvenile spotted hake, two winter flounders, jonah crabs, lobsters.
