Thursday Evening Scripps Canyon 1/28/10

[doriopsilla]

All:

Last night was a good night for a lot of things - repairing storm damage, unpacking, running an experiment, or even flying to Palau. One thing that was not a good thing to do last night was to go diving at Scripps Canyon. Well, I might be too harsh. Even though the vis was for crap, the wall is still covered in all manner of beautiful invertebrate life. Still, when the highlight of your dive is getting repeatedly mooned by seals determined to wreck what little vis there is, it's hard to be optimistic. Having a seal do the Butt Dance in front of you when all you're trying to do is see anything can be demoralizing. There was not much surf to speak of, though.

On the other hand, it was not all one- to three-foot vis for the entire dive. I saw one moray, and Professor Charles saw two. And we did see two seals. I found a rogue lobster trap that had slid over the wall and we embedded about a third of the way into the sand. Try as I might to free the two or three legal bugs inside, I could not get the thing to budge. I hope I can find it again. Next time I dive I am taking some wire cutters with me, assuming I can find it again.

The damage to the shoreline from last week's storms and this week's high tides was in evidence all over the beach. The bottom of the ramp up to the parking lot is under a foot of mud. As we trudged along it, I eventually noticed what looked like a cliff off to the left. Closer inspection revealed that three to four feet of beach had been scoured away by waters both fresh and salt. Most of that sand seemed to be suspended in the water column at depth, too.

Sigh. It can only get better, 'cause it can't hardly get any worse.

George