Beautiful Santa Barbara Island
Our last trip to the Santa Barbara Island was amazing. We had good conditions both above and below the water. Nice, sunny day and clear blue water with 60+ feet visibility! This is the sight that greeted us underwater - morning light filtering in through the canopy of the beautiful amber forest. As we swam through the kelp forest, an inquisitive male California sheephead approached to check us out. A sheephead can live for up to 20 years in favorable conditions, and can grow to 91cm (3ft) and weigh up to 16kn (35lbs).
Appreciating the Biodiversity of Coral Triangle
So many varieties of coral, sea fans, sponges, tunicates, fish… The beauty and biodiversity of the Tubbataha Reef was simply stunning.
Dive Trip Report 4/7/19 – by Megumi Itoh
Location: Oil Rigs – Eureka and Twin Rig Ellen & Elly
Charter Master: Thomas Templar, staff: Megumi Itoh, Haruka Ito, and Taylor Davis
Boat: Asante, San Pedro Harbor
We gathered at San Pedro Harbor bright and early on a nice, clear April morning. This was our first dive trip to the oil rigs this year.
After a short boat ride we arrived at the first oil rig, Eureka. The captain moved the boat close to the structure and we jumped into the water one after the other. What you can see of the oil rig above water is not exactly welcoming. It’s a cold, metallic structure. Under the water, however, it’s a completely different scene. Once you descend below 10-15 feet, practically every inch of the structure is covered by invertebrate marine life. You would think the structure is made of sea anemones, mussels, scallops, brittle stars, etc. The rig is also home to a variety of fish. On this dive we saw several garibaldis, calico bass, sheepheads, and surfperch. When you approach the depth of 90 to 100 feet, you will usually start to notice the white giant-plumos anemones (Metridium giganteum). Aside from being beautiful, they provide a good depth indicator.
For the second dive, we moved to the twin rig Ellen & Elly. On this dive, one of the sea lions decided to join us underwater. The playful sea lion swam through the pillars and showed off his agility. I always wonder if they look at us underwater and think how awkward and slow we are. As we descend down we saw more garibaldis and sheepheads around the pillars, and an aggregate of surfperch slowly swam through the center of the structure. When we ascended to shallower depth for our safety stop, we were visited once again by the sea lion. Back on the boat, we compared notes on what we saw on the dives as the boat sped back to the harbor.
One More from Yonaguni
One more image from Yonaguni Underwater Monument. Whether you think it is completely natural, natural formation modified by men, or man-made, you have to agree that it is majestic.
Natural or Man-Made?
We just got back from our Philippines-Okinawa trip. Yonaguni Underwater Monument in Okinawa was such a stunning dive site. The pounding waves reveal the amazing and majestic landscape. Is this a remains of ancient man-made structure or natural formation? What do you think?
