dive number 59!

[gmonkey42]

I went diving today with two friends from school! The forecast was for pretty big swells and we went as the tide was going out (otherwise we would've had to wait until the afternoon) BUT the conditions turned out really nice.

Cool things I saw:

• A cormorant swimming! I haven't seen one up close before.
• Two sea lions! Little ones. I've heard the big ones play chicken with you (seriously) so it's just as well.
• A big nudibranch; possibly Hermessinda but I'm not sure.
• humongous sheep crabs (they are slightly less horrifying cuter IRL than in that picture) and sunflower stars. The sunflower star was like two feet across, it was crazy.
• Fishies! A smallish lingcod (small for a lingcod, anyway; maybe 12-18in), some pile perch, what I think was a vermilion rockfish - I just glimpsed it as it swam away but it was bright red-orange, and two schools of maybe a couple dozen striped perch.

Then after diving we had brunch at El Torrito :D

And while looking for fish photos on the Reef Check site, I found these photos of the class when I got certified! I don't think I'm in any of them, though I might be - they're really small. Anyway, that's where I was. See Meghan, THAT was the bridge I meant to point out ;)