Monterey conditions. (let's keep it going )

[g1138]

Good day at Monastery North as well.
Lots of rip currents, but the waves weren't powerful enough to tumble you.
56F water to 60ft, sunny all day. Lots of kelp.

Called a dive at Butterfly house, because we didn't want to compete with kayak fishermen and spear fishermen. (plus that walk down to the entry is a lot more dicey after the rain)
Called out Carmel River too. Waves near the natural breakwater were a bit too big for my liking.

At Monastery we saw a few headless market squid carcasses, a dead mola, lone sea lion, an angel shark.
Also saw the edge of Carmel Canyon for the first time. I didn't know it sloped so gradually, always thought it was just a shear drop off.

One thing that's got my mind though was a school of transparent pipefish; you could their internal organs and skeleton. They were feeding on a swarm of mysids. Anyone know the ID?

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

One thing that's got my mind though was a school of transparent pipefish; you could their internal organs and skeleton. They were feeding on a swarm of mysids. Anyone know the ID?

My ID books are down at the dive shack, but likely needlefish.

Chuck

 

[3D diver]

Tubesnouts, maybe?

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

Tubesnouts, maybe?

That is another possibility.

 

[Jak Crow]

Dove Eric's Pinnacle and the Shales last night. Viz was good in both spots. Probably 30ft+. Better at the Shales. Got buzzed by a school of squid but my strobes were set to low power so I didn't get a good shot of them as they went by.

 

[g1138]

I could only find the Belonidae needle fish, definitely not that. The fish had a mouth similar to the sea horse and pipefish family. I think Tubesnout is correct. I saw orange which I believed to be the inner organs but it must have been the orange coloration on the silver body. Thanks!

On another note, did a Basic checkout dive @ the Breakwater. Viz was 0-3' depending on the foot traffic. Temp: 57F above 40ft.
Very cold and windy in the morning. Some dive ops decided to call the dive because the high tide had waves crashing up the stairs. Things mellowed a bit and the sun came out by noon.

No surge to speak of once you got 10ft away from the wall.

 

[Jak Crow]

If the pictures of the tubesnout I've seen are correct, I've seen these fish every now and then. I saw some at the metridiums a few weeks ago.

 

[3D diver]

Dove the Metridiums yesterday. Just enough surf (1-3ft) to warrant a fins-on entry, get tripped up & play turtle on my tank 'til the next set floated me off. Viz about 10-15 feet. Lots of jellyfish---hard to avoid. 51F according to my computer.

 

[Adobo]

Dove the Metridiums yesterday. Just enough surf (1-3ft) to warrant a fins-on entry, get tripped up & play turtle on my tank 'til the next set floated me off. Viz about 10-15 feet. Lots of jellyfish---hard to avoid. 51F according to my computer.

Fins on entry? I imagine having fins on only makes entering the breakwater more difficult. Under any conditions.

BTW, 60+ ft of vis at Hole in the Wall and Lone Metridium early yesterday. 80+ ft at Three Sisters.

 

[GregSaiz]

I played hooky to dive Lobos with my buddy, David who had Veterans Day off. Halfway from San Jose, he remembered to mention "oh yea, they didn't have HP 100's yesterday so I picked up LP 72's". It was a quiet ride for the next few miles.

All was forgotten on dive #1 when we could see bottom features during our surface kick just past hole in the wall. As we descended, I though "wow, that's a fat ling cod". It was a harbor seal made unfamiliar by seeing it at such a distance. Both dives were a "Purple Haze" of underwater topography almost distorted by the kind of visibility you only get a few times a year. We made it out to Sea Mount with my buddy staying 20+ above me. I could look up and nearly read his SPG.

By the second dive, conditions deteriorated a but it was still 70+ in spots. If you need further proof, I lost a stainless double-ender on dive #1 and found it in the cove on dive #2. Yes, in the cove! I was going to take next weekend off from diving, not after today. Get out and dive!