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Check out Dave's diving photos from the following "exotic" locations:
Gail and I have had some good trips, courtesy of the diving press. Heron Island, the Coral Sea, and so on.
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Cold-water diving off the west coast of Canada doesn't sound like everyone's idea of a good time, but a scene like the snow-covered docks at Beach Gardens Resort, Powell River is a perfect way to begin a day. The water temperature, summer to winter, is not too different (and with a dry suit, who cares?), but in the winter the water is very clear and a brilliant green.
Below the 'Emerald Sea', one can typically see an astonishing range of colours, as in the Burrowing Sea Cucumber. One reason the water is so green is the high nutrient content that the deep ocean currents carry. Also, the fast currents and low temperatures ensure a high oxygen content. The result is a feast for filter feeders like the Basket Star. Many of the animals in BC waters are huge. Sea Stars can grow to more than a metre across, and can excavate massive craters in the sea bed in search of clams. The Sea Lemon is a nudibranch that grows to 25 cm in length, shown here cruising past a couple of Basket Stars.
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| Winter diving | Burrowing Sea Cucumber | Basket Star | Sea Stars | Sea Lemon |
Plumose Anemones are a feature of BC diving. These large white filter feeders carpet the ocean floor in places. Get too close to one, and it will disappear inside its base. Note the tiny red crab near the base of a Sea Peach.
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| Plumose Anemone | Frightned Plumose Anemone | Sea Peach |
Another common character is the Sea Cucumber, pictured here in the hands of my dive buddy demonstrating how not to eat one. Funny thing about Sea Cucumbers: when threatened, they literally 'spew their guts' to discourage predators. And, that's just what happened just after I took this shot—Anna got a mouth full of Sea Cucumber guts. Sea Cucumbers are edible, but not like that. Fish watching is good fun. Although I love to eat fish, they have a lot more personality when they're not at the end of a hook. The Red Irish Lord and the Quillback Rockfish are good examples of a very approachable fish. Some fish, like the Ling Cod, seem to figure that just about any old kind of camouflage is good enough. Pity for the Ling Cod that they're so tasty. During the breeding season, the male Ling Cod carefully guards the nest and chases away any intruders. The white stuff on the right side of the image is the egg mass.
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| Sea Cucumber | Red Irish Lord | Quillback Rockfish | Ling Cod | Ling Cod nest |
Diving in currents is another feature of BC diving. The best areas for diving usually have massive tidal exchanges. On one trip we decided to dive a truly memorable spot. Nakwakto Rapids in Slingsby Channel is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as having the world's strongest currents (16 knots). There's a tiny island locally known as Tremble Island because you can feel the ground tremble when the current roars by. We didn't actually stand on the island to check that claim. However, it does look very odd to see an island with a bow wave (as if it was being towed through the water at 16 knots). The window of slack tide is very short: 5 minutes or so. We jumped in just before the tide changed and waited in a small crevice until the current stopped. In the few minutes time before the current started to run in the opposite direction, I saw a bottom scrubbed clean of just about everything except Feather Duster Worms. In some places, the rocks looked as if they'd been freshly cut from a quarry.
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We got paid for this? Yes. Gail was my underwater model and I was the globe-trotting photojournalist. Sometimes I miss it.
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