Lucas our leader is an avid diver and has a special affinity for the cold Monterey waters. When diving near the city, you can see old plumbing, which was once in use, just lying on the sandy bottom. The life is colorful, abundant, and nutrient rich from cold Arctic waters that constantly go through this area. You won't see this amount of life anywhere else in the world.
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| One of the major considerations for diving in the ocean is your gear. Not only just for it's quality, but because the salt water is very corrosive and will deteriorate the metal gear. It is very important to take special care of your gear against the corrosive nature of salt (ocean) water. |
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| At any time you are dropping into the ocean it is a good idea to look around, first, for jellyfish! On this occasion we noticed a huge gathering of jellyfish. There must have been over a thousand ranging in size from having 1 foot long tails, up to 16-20 feet long. Once I pointed them out, we stopped the boat and I jumped in! Of course this isn't necessarily recommended, but I had to get a picture of some. |
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| Dropping down under the canopy of a "kelp forest" is so amazing. The life under these canopies is very diverse and unique. |
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| Metridium fields, like the one above, are just one of the things that make Monterey diving such a fun experience. The cool surging waters of the Central California coast are what bring such nutrient rich waters and feed such a diverse and breathtakingly beautiful underwater life. |
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| This is the perfect life for the sea anemone, surging waters bring an abundance of food their way. |
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| The variety of colors of anemones, within just a short distance of each other, is simply amazing. |
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| As you descend towards the sandy bottom of the Monterey Bay, you will oftentimes see a group of tube anemones filter feeding. |
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| As with many underwater creatures, the colors for the tube anemones also vary quite a bit. |
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| This sunstar was over 3 feet in diameter -an amazingly large creature. My picture does not do this large creature any justice. |
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| One of the neat things about diving is that it is kind of like a treasure hunt (and life) if you don't slow down you will miss so many things, like this decorator crab. |
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| ...Or this 4-foot long Lingcod, hiding among the kelp. |
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| Here is a colorful sculpin, and just behind it in the crevasse is a white abalone (barely visible). |
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| On this occasion, my brother and I were diving just outside the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This is the intake filter for the aquarium. They have massive water pumps that draw in the salt water, filter it, and then pump this through their large plumbing pipes to feed the aquarium's many tanks and exhibits. Then it is all pumped back out to the ocean here. It is more formally known as Hopkins Marine Life Refuge and is only accessible by boat. This is the site of active research by scientists, so take care not to disturb anything here. |
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| Here is a pint sized nudibranch that is no bigger than my pinky. It just shows how extremely delicate our oceans are. |
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| No matter where you are at, though, trash is an issue. We really need to do our part to clean up our environment and world. I will often fill up the pockets on my BCD (Buoyancy Compensating Device) during a dive. |
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| The real fun is on night dives. The creatures that come out at night are so amazing. This nudibranch is just one of the unique creatures that you can come across while diving at night. |
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| Of course the octopus is such an intelligent and wonderful creature. We typically will find them hiding on the sand by the various old plumbing pipes that run perpendicular to the beach around Breakwater. |
