Monterey conditions. (let's keep it going )

[zf2nt]

Yes, the whales...and dolphins and sea lions and seals...were awesome Sunday. I went down to Yankee Point on a friend's boat and then on the way back north at the end of the day we stumbled onto them. There were more humpbacks than I could count just off Monastery, outside of Whaler's Cove. As we made a big circle around them, I saw a mass of seals heading out from Monastery toward the group of whales. There were literally hundreds of seals in this pack and they were very densely packed together. They locked frantic as they raced towards the whales. I don't think I have ever seen that many seals together in one place.

Sunday was a great day for diving, BTW. The seas were like glass. We went to Allen's Arch, which is a brilliantly colored archway at about 110fsw right off Yankee Point. The water wasn't very clear--maybe 20' visibility down deep. But with a bright light and all the color it didn't matter. It was a fabulous dive.

 

[Vegan Shark]

If anyone heads to BW in the next couple days lemme know how vis is. Am thinking of going Sunday before the seas get rough again.

 

[GregSaiz]

Lobos was only about 5' Saturday at HITW. Similar reports from scooter and boat teams who ventured much deeper. Picked a good day to do skills practice!

 

[Vegan Shark]

Has the kelp cleared out of Whaler's yet?

 

[GregSaiz]

Has the kelp cleared out of Whaler's yet?

Yup, just a few rafts of it yesterday.

 

[zf2nt]

Went out at S. Monastery today and it was a great dive. Very calm conditions, easy entry and easy exit. (Any time I can walk out at Monastery, I call it "easy"!) We went all the way to Mono Lobo and visibility was 15-20' at depth. Wesley and I both used HP80's, and we got 93' x 63 min. out of them. Afterwards, I talked with a group of 3 divers who went at N. Monastery about the same time we did and they said maybe 25'-30' of visibility. I wasn't there, so I can't vouch for that! Still later, I talked with Bob & Mary Jo about their Beach Hopper trip today and they said 3'-5', with lotsa nettles. Clearly, conditions were better in Carmel.

 

[uspap]

Dang Bruce that's a swim and a half. I hope to be out at Monastery tomorrow with Mubin. Looks like all week long is going to be calm. Now we need the vis to go with it. Did you shoot any video on the dive? I'd like to hit wharf 2 again if the sea nettles are swarming. Makes for great pictures.

 

[KRL1973]

Did 2 dives at Macabee yesterday. very easy entry. Vis was only 8-10 ft but still had an excellent dive including numerous nudibarch , sea hares, an octopus, dazzling schools of hundereds of senorita and a friendly close encounter with a harbor seal. On a more somber note, also noticed the disentigrating starfish issue throughout the dive. Nettles are thick once you get 100yds from shore but they hang mid-water so swimming under them no problem.-Ken Loomis

 

[jcaplins]

...Nettles are thick once you get 100yds from shore but they hang mid-water so swimming under them no problem.-Ken Loomis

What are you guys calling Sea Nettles? I had a discussion a few years ago with family on the east coast and It turns out there is a lot of different opinions as to what a nettle is? Some say any jellyfish, others say and stinging jellyfish, and other say certain species are nettles and certain species are jellys. Some say they terms can be used interchangeably and others say they can't.

To me nettles were those things you didn't see that stung the crap out of you in the Chesapeake/Potomac/Patuxent.

I'm interested in the local vernacular.
Would you call this a Sea Nettle and/or a jellyfish? (as a general term, not it's common or scientific name):



from breakwater Oct 5th, 2013

 

[zf2nt]

What are you guys calling Sea Nettles? I had a discussion a few years ago with family on the east coast and It turns out there is a lot of different opinions as to what a nettle is? Some say any jellyfish, others say and stinging jellyfish, and other say certain species are nettles and certain species are jellys. Some say they terms can be used interchangeably and others say they can't.

To me nettles were those things you didn't see that stung the crap out of you in the Chesapeake/Potomac/Patuxent.

I'm interested in the local vernacular.
Would you call this a Sea Nettle and/or a jellyfish? (as a general term, not it's common or scientific name):

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about this:

Chrysaora fuscescens (commonly known as the Pacific sea nettle or West Coast sea nettle) is a common free-floating scyphozoa that lives in the East Pacific Ocean from Canada to Mexico.

Your picture is of Chrysaora fuscescens, and us good ole local boys didn't just make up the term "sea nettle" for it.