Deception Pass - Sunday, Feb. 13

[H20doctor]

try doing it from shore ... LOL glad everyone had fun today

[whatevah]

Here's a few of mine from today. I also did not get any from the dive in the Pass. I had my camera but was being tossed so much, I never got a chance to take a picture.

Well done on the very cool sub-adult Yelloweye sighting Georgia! It was fun to wave a hello to you today.

[Grateful Diver]

I'll have some pics to post this evening. Deception Pass has been on my bucket list for a long time, and despite the less than stellar conditions I'm really glad we managed to do it. The current and vis made the dive a bit exciting, and although I had my camera I found myself wishing I'd left it on the boat most of the dive ... it's tough to think about taking pictures when the current's turning you every which way but loose. But I didn't break anything, so it's all good.

Strawberry Island was a blast. Rich and I had fun finding candy-striped shrimp ... and I think I got a couple nice pics to post.

Overall a very nice outing with a great group of friends ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[citycatred]

A few pics from Strawberry Island. I didn't have the guts to take the camera with me on the dive at the Pass. Please forgive my "newbie photographer" skills.

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Citycatred, ace dive buddy...

Great pictures and now I have a new avatar

[spatman]

glad you guys had a good time. i really wish i could have made it up there. maybe the next one...

[Grateful Diver]

Great pictures and now I have a new avatar

... me too ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[WylerBear]

Well done on the very cool sub-adult Yelloweye sighting Georgia! It was fun to wave a hello to you today.[/quote]

It was great to see you, Pete! It's been a long time.

[WylerBear]

Great pictures and now I have a new avatar

... me too ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I was hoping you'd use that! You are too funny!

[gutholmj]

It was a great day of diving especially having lots of great company. My friend Don, not on the board, managed to snag the last spot which meant that I did not have to drive all the way up to Anacortes by myself. We left Olympia at 5 AM and had a nice uneventful drive.

As those who were there know, it turned out to be a beautiful day on the water. I've never dove Deception Pass before and other than seeing some of the gorgeous photos and videos posted here, I had no idea what to expect. Don had done the pass once before, about 30 years ago from shore, timed it badly and had to hike out. Not really knowing what I was in for I elected to leave the boat anchor on the boat and take the little A640 for some video instead.

Phil gave a briefing of the site and positioned the boat, waiting for the right time to hit slack. My understanding of the briefing was that we would get in, get pushed one way, the current would slow, turn, and then we would get pushed back. Phil said to expect about a 30 minute dive and in my mind I imagined that all within 30 minutes, the current would reverse and we would be wanting to surface as it was getting just as strong as it was when we went in.

We dropped as soon as we were both in the water and boy was it ripping. As you were swept horizontally along the wall, you would cross vertical crevasses and points that had upwellings and downwellings so I was constantly adjusting my buoyancy. At times I felt like I was having to dump all the air in my suit just to keep from shooting up. For the first 15 minutes of the dive this is pretty much what it was like. It was beautiful for sure but also not my kind of dive. I was thinking to myself that I was glad I got a chance to see it once and would probably not be back. Then all of a sudden, the water went almost totally slack. The change was dramatic and I didn't know what to expect next. I gave Don one of these and signaled to turn thinking that the current was going to turn. But it didn't. We spent the next 30 minutes casually working our way back along the wall. I was really regretting not taking my camera. Finally 45 minutes into the dive, the current was starting to pick up again and we headed for the surface. After a total of 51 minutes, the current was still manageable but I'd guess another 5 minutes and we would have been moving pretty fast. So will I dive Deception Pass again? Absolutely. Now that I know what to expect, I'll just go with the flow and wait for the slack water.

Our second dive at Strawberry Island was an excellent way to finish off the day with lots of cool little critters to see. It was quite a camera-fest on board. Did anyone not have a camera? I can't wait to see A whole bunch more great photos.

I'm thinking Dendronotus albus. They were everywhere at Strawberry Island.

Not a great pic but these little cucumbers were in the thousands. In places they were covering the rock so much that you could not see the rock.

This was the only Diaulula sandiegensis that I saw but the cool thing in the picture is the little green tentacled things living in the holes around him.

I just love the small things you find after the fact. Any ideas on what these are?

This guy was so tiny, I couldn't tell what it was other than I'd have a bright orange surprise when I looked at the pics.

More Dendronotus albus? I was trying to get an angle where i could get both of them in focus but the small one is just too fuzzy to make out.

There were also quite a few of these. The part pictured was about 1 cm. The stem anchoring it to the rock was about 10 times the diameter of the top part. Any ideas?

I just couldn't resist capturing this pose. It reminds me of a bunny for some reason.

Thanks again everyone for a great day of diving and thank you Bob for putting the charter together.

[gutholmj]

Bric, that last pic with the sponge is really great. The lighting, composition, everything really comes together. The others are of course very nice too but that one just catches my eye.

[deep diver]

sounds like a fun trip
nice pics

[whatevah]

Phil gave a briefing of the site and positioned the boat, waiting for the right time to hit slack. My understanding of the briefing was that we would get in, get pushed one way, the current would slow, turn, and then we would get pushed back. Phil said to expect about a 30 minute dive and in my mind I imagined that all within 30 minutes, the current would reverse and we would be wanting to surface as it was getting just as strong as it was when we went in.

We dropped as soon as we were both in the water and boy was it ripping. As you were swept horizontally along the wall, you would cross vertical crevasses and points that had upwellings and downwellings so I was constantly adjusting my buoyancy. At times I felt like I was having to dump all the air in my suit just to keep from shooting up. For the first 15 minutes of the dive this is pretty much what it was like. It was beautiful for sure but also not my kind of dive. I was thinking to myself that I was glad I got a chance to see it once and would probably not be back. Then all of a sudden, the water went almost totally slack. The change was dramatic and I didn't know what to expect next.

Haha! Not in the South Sound or Hood Canal anymore Glad you stuck with it and got to feel that magical direction change. When you dive there on a day when the reversal happens in half or a third of the time it really gives you an insight into the power of tidal flows - it can be running really hard and the wall is going by in a blur, and seemingly a moment later you stop and get to say hi to some Scalyheads. Then you see the particulates start to shift back the other way ever so slowly, and a moment later you're moving right along with them. You hit the nail on the head - it is "dramatic" and also inspiring.

I gave Don one of these and signaled to turn thinking that the current was going to turn. But it didn't. We spent the next 30 minutes casually working our way back along the wall. I was really regretting not taking my camera. Finally 45 minutes into the dive, the current was starting to pick up again and we headed for the surface. After a total of 51 minutes, the current was still manageable but I'd guess another 5 minutes and we would have been moving pretty fast. So will I dive Deception Pass again? Absolutely. Now that I know what to expect, I'll just go with the flow and wait for the slack water.

Getting the best timing and location for maximum time with the camera can be difficult there for sure. Where Phil put you all in was a pretty good starting spot - there is a slight cut into the island and a bench at 30fsw or so - the current is not as heavy there and you can collect yourself before dropping off the wall - at that point you just have to go with the flow and try not to damage the fragile invertebrates. Once you start to get to the east end of the island you get into the lee and if you timed it right the current is also slowing. In my experience the current tables tend to be very close to exact for the north wall of Whidbey. The south wall of Pass Island tends to run a little later. Of course, the river outflow tends to shift things some, as does any east or west wind component. When you've been there a bunch of times you get to know the layout and the way the water moves - you can get in a little early and hole up in out of the way spots as needed to ensure you get to your targetted photo area at the right time. The north wall of Whidbey is much more forgiving and the flows are generally much closer to laminar. From the SE corner of Pass Island there is a spur of sheer wall that continues on out to the east and juts further out into the pass itself. If you got to the huge expanse of Northern Featherduster Worms coated in yellow sponge and neon pink Proliferating Anemones you need to go further on out to the ESE and down to about 85fsw to drop over the lip of the wall. If you get it just right that wall is one of the neatest areas to explore but it takes ideal timing. I dove the other side of Pass Island in Canoe Pass - I'm yet to figure out the pattern there but I got the timing pretty darn close to perfect on Sunday. I started the dive just as you guys were moving into position and by the time I came up Lujac's Quest had just rounded Urchin Rocks and had set course north.

Our second dive at Strawberry Island was an excellent way to finish off the day with lots of cool little critters to see.

Aaah. You dove the _OTHER_ Strawberry Island (there is a Strawberry Island just inside Deception Pass also). Y'all took off out of there and I figured you were heading for Sares Head for sure. When we got out past Deception Island we saw you pass right on by heading up towards Burrows Bay and I wondered where you were headed. Judging by the critters it looks like you dove the inside? Some nice photos here so far. I think that all the Dendronotus nudibranchs posted are actually D. diversicolor rather than D. albus, BTW.

[citycatred]

Since I don't have an underwater housing for my new camera I decided to be that annoying person who walks around the boat snapping pictures while most people aren't paying attention

My amazing dive buddy :)

The amazing Bob

[whatevah]

Sorry - meant to comment more on your questions about critters you saw...

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Those are Black Sea Cucumbers - they are fairly specific to certain areas it seems. Lots of them on the east side of Burrows Island and on Skyline Wall, north end of James Island, but otherwise they are kind of patchy.

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Those are Dodecaceria concharum (worms) - they're pretty much everywhere around the San Juans. If you pay attention you'll see them almost every dive - they are usually encrusted with coralline algae.

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Those are Pink-Mouth Hydroids. The small balls you see are... well, they're balls (gonads, anyway). The various bright orange gilled aeolids we have in the area (Flabellina trilineata, Flabellina verrucosa) feed on them, and retain the toxins in their gills (it's why they're so bright red/orange) - they become a form of defense for the nudibranch.

[gutholmj]

Haha! Not in the South Sound or Hood Canal anymore Glad you stuck with it and got to feel that magical direction change. When you dive there on a day when the reversal happens in half or a third of the time it really gives you an insight into the power of tidal flows - it can be running really hard and the wall is going by in a blur, and seemingly a moment later you stop and get to say hi to some Scalyheads. Then you see the particulates start to shift back the other way ever so slowly, and a moment later you're moving right along with them. You hit the nail on the head - it is "dramatic" and also inspiring.

The current was definitely not Hood Canal. I'm really glad I had an opportunity to get out and do it on a boat and now that I see what it is like, I'd love to do it from shore. With someone who knows it really, really, really, dis I say REALLY, well.

I think that all the Dendronotus nudibranchs posted are actually D. diversicolor rather than D. albus, BTW.

Damn it Jim, I was trained as an Oceanographer, not a Biologist . But really, I've been trying to read up on this stuff and follow some of the keys on the inter-tubes. I am awed by those of you that know this ID stuff so well. What I could find indicates that D. diversicolor is D. Albus. The first reference I found on the topic was on the Sea Slug Forum and some more searching turned up a pretty recent publication on the subject. I've inly read the abstract at this point but here's the important quote. "Molecular and morphological evidence suggests that the taxonomic status of several eastern Pacific species of Dendronotus needs a reassessment. Dendronotus diversicolor and D. albus are synonymized due to lack of genetic variation in the 16S rRNA gene and of any significant morphological differences."

[gutholmj]

Sorry - meant to comment more on your questions about critters you saw...

DSC_1133.jpg

Those are Black Sea Cucumbers - they are fairly specific to certain areas it seems. Lots of them on the east side of Burrows Island and on Skyline Wall, north end of James Island, but otherwise they are kind of patchy.

DSC_1135.jpg

DSC_1135 - Version 2.jpg

Those are Dodecaceria concharum (worms) - they're pretty much everywhere around the San Juans. If you pay attention you'll see them almost every dive - they are usually encrusted with coralline algae.

DSC_1150.jpg

Those are Pink-Mouth Hydroids. The small balls you see are... well, they're balls (gonads, anyway). The various bright orange gilled aeolids we have in the area (Flabellina trilineata, Flabellina verrucosa) feed on them, and retain the toxins in their gills (it's why they're so bright red/orange) - they become a form of defense for the nudibranch.

Thanks for the IDs. More stuff start looking up.

[Jan K]

They are now all "white"

[Grateful Diver]

OK ... got my pix done.

My token shot from the Deception Pass dive ... I only took three pics, and this is the ony one I kept ... what the heck is it?



Strawberry Island was all about the small stuff ... we spent most of the dive peeking under anemones looking for candy stripers ... found some ...







Found a nice heart crab too ...



... and some tiny nudies clinging to hydroids ...





Nuthin' awesome, but those were my "keepers" ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[sandman98007]

Finally Got the pic's and video done .... though I dont think the quality of the video is very good .... but it is entertaining ... Here is the photo show link ...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandman980 ... 7961/show/

[whatevah]

Dendronotus diversicolor and D. albus are synonymized due to lack of genetic variation in the 16S rRNA gene and of any significant morphological differences."

They are now all "white"

Well wouldn't you know it... I go to all the trouble to figure out how to distinguish the differences in rhinophores and numbers of rows of cerata, and then those people with pocket protectors go and change the rules. So they're all the same species despite the variations. Interesting - thank you for the info!

Deception Pass dive ... I only took three pics, and this is the ony one I kept ... what the heck is it?

I would identify it as a Scalyhead Sculpin. And I might get away with it if Greg doesn't read this.

Nuthin' awesome, but those were my "keepers" ...

I think your third Candystripe shot is one to be proud of - they're not often cooperative subjects.

[Dashrynn]

Actually I just made plans with Diesel dude to dive it from shore and I dont want to bail on him. So looks like the spot is still up for grabs.

I wanna join the cool club....

[Agent 47]

Actually I just made plans with Diesel dude to dive it from shore and I dont want to bail on him. So looks like the spot is still up for grabs.

I wanna join the cool club....

He may be high and dry for a week or so. (went and hurt his foot at work) but I am working on planning a two day trip to salt creek for when he gets better, should be fun if your up for camping. Probably plan a lake cressent dive on the way home.