Archive for the ‘wolfeels’ Category
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
Anacapa marine reserve, Channel Islands, California, USA
Giant Black sea bass.
We are getting very excited about our upcoming Guadalupe great white shark trip next week. First trip of the season. So after been over in a very windy but extremly rich San Miguel with tons of Abolon and even a wolf eel. We arrived in a calm sunny Anacapa.
We got in to a kelp bed and watched Giant 200 pounder Black Sea Bass. Just enorm!! It does not work to rusch towards them , It is like being in the forest looking for an elephant or big game. Sneeking up on it behind the kelp and the rocks and trying to hold your breath. Really fun and really exiting to see this giants.
Surface conditions: Temp 25 C sunny and calm until afternoon when weather picked up.
Underwater conditions: 61-63 F around 16-17 Viz from 10 m 30-35 ft. No current.
Dive guide Sten
San Clemente , Channel islands , California USA
Harbour seals and Mola Mola in dense kelp forest at San Clemente.
This morning the vizibility was really good , water was blue and it was a real joy to get in to the water first meeting bat rays swimming in the border of the sand and the kelp. Viz got a little bit less but compensated us with a clear blue sky and sun. James one of our guest spotted a mola mola down at 90 feet, and several of us played around with harbour seals in the kelp , really curious quiet thing!
San Clemente gave us a lot of playground in looking at cracks and holes. there seems to be langustins every where! As well the soup fin shark or the Tope shark was vizible as last trip , but not as common as we had them last week. Some of the divers came over an old wreck that we did not knew about a surprise. It was probably one of the most apriciated dives of this week. We just have enjoyed Enriques pasta and are soon on our way back to land Ensenada. The seas are mild, so the crossing seems like it will get smooth. We will be back next week for sure!
Surface conditions: sunny 25C calm weather deep long swell.
Underwater conditions: to start a 5-60 ft viz that went down to 30 ft in the day. A bit surgy. temp colder then last week , down to 54F 11 C
Dive guide Sten
I had four hours to pack, find my passport and convince my wife that this was a good idea. The phone call I’d received was brief – I knew the Nautilus Explorer was in drydock somewhere in Ensenada Mexico and they needed help as Transport Canada sprung a huge task list on them without any warning. They were apparently in the process of cutting holes in the outer hull to allow access to void spaces and such. One ferry, a cab, three flights, a bus, a trolly and one Mexicoach ride later, I found myself walking through Ensenada. I could smell the ocean from the bus stop so I trusted my nose (and not my terrible Spanish) to find the harbour. As luck would have it, there she was. The Nautilus Explorer – high and dry. Not knowing what I was in for, I proudly marched up to the vessel and announced my arrival. Two weeks and countless hours of back breaking, sweat wrenching, muscle aching work later, the ship was finally relaunched and I saw her float for the first time. During the refit I had seriously considered (more than once) the option of walking away from all the hard work and enjoying a cervessa and a beach somewhere in the sun. But now I felt proud of what I had helped accomplish. And as an unexpected reward, I was asked to join the next charter as a crew member in order to help finish what had not been completed while “on the hard”. Although the days at sea were still long and filled with hard work, the experience was something very special. Our first day out, we were completely surrounded by whales! I had never seen so many whales at one time and so up close! A few days later I swam with dolphins! Now, nearing the end of my second week at sea, I am training and working as a deckhand. I’m told that the novelty of the job will wear off sooner or later but I honestly can’t see how. So with just a few hours notice, I left home for what turned out to be a month. I’m glad I did but next time – I will pack more socks.
Xander
Tags: Channel Islands, dolphins, Ensenada, mexico, mola mola, Nautilus Explorer, San clemente, san miguel island, tope shark, whales
Posted in Animals, Captains Log, Channel Islands, Destinations, Ensenada, Guadalupe Island, Nautilus Explorer, San Clemente Island, San Miguel, dolphin, mexico, mola mola, tope shark, whales, wolfeels | No Comments »
Monday, August 17th, 2009
Dave-I miss my light
Robert- we saw wolf eels, octos and finished my book
Lois-That was cool, I love the Wolf eels, they’re so ugly they’re cute
Lee Ann- I just love those wolf eels, they’re like a bulldog, so cute
Oleg- Nature didn’t create everyone equal, some creatures have two hands with twenty fingers, others have eight with eighty suckers. Time will show who’s stronger.
Deb- Peaceful, zenlike and amazing! Never knew the power of a big octopus before.
Chris and Jacqueline- Our trip has been successful,we saw grunt sculpins, ratfish, wolfeel, octopus and a black bear
Tags: Black Bears, Octopus, ratfish, wolf eels
Posted in Animals, Black Bears, Destinations, Guest Blog, Nautilus Explorer, Vancouver Island, giant pacific octopus, octopus, wolfeels | No Comments »
Monday, July 27th, 2009
Laura – The crew is fantastic and exceeded all my expectations and imagination of what a crew would be. My big wish when I came on Nautilus Explorer was to see a Wolf Eel and I was just blowwn away to see one so up close and personal. They really have big heads. I was so thrilled I wasn`t even cold.
Dave – Two very enjoyable dives on Dillon Rock.
Lee – The Transpac was my highlight. Just coming down to 85 feet on such steep terrain and then seeing the huge bow come out of the darkness. Then swimming over to the bow off such a steep drop off was great; when I hovered over the bow I had such a cool sense of weightlessness. The visibility was so good too. The pilot house door was open and I could look in to see all the fantastic stuff.
Mike – A few days ago I said that the moon jelly dive was the highlight of my diving life. I have to take that back. Today I was hugged by a 12-foot Giant Pacific Octopus. Dillon Rock has always been one of my favorite sites, and I was looking forward to seeing the ratfish that are always there. The conditions were perfect, and we descended with high hopes. Not five minutes later, while out in the sand looking for ratfish, I saw the octo. Just sitting there. I hovered in front of him, taking a good look. A few minutes later he extended a tentacle, wrapping it around my safety sausage. Then another went around my dive computer. Over the next five minutes he came closer and closer, tentacles wrapping around my legs and one snaking up and around my neck. Apparently deciding that I wasn`t good either for eating or mating, he hung on for a while before letting go and settling back into the sand. I waved goodbye and continued the dive, thanking the sea gods (and Cappy Mike) for another unforgettable undersea encounter. PS: On the second dive at Dillon my dive buddy Lynn and I saw four octos, although none of them decided to hug us.
This has been the most exhilarating and relaxing vacation I have ever been on. But the best part is waking up to the smell of Enrique’s fresh coffee and breakfast every morning.. Anne
Guido: Heute war der Tauchgang fuer Makrofans. Die zwei Tauchgaenge am Dillon Rock waren unglaublich. Es gab Giant Octopusse, Seewoelfe, Chimaeren und Nacktschnecken ohne Ende. Der Tauchplatz besteht aus einem kleinen Eiland, auf dem ein Leuchtfeuer steht und um den man im Bereich von 3 bis 25 m relaxed herumtauchen kann. Im Flachwasserbereich laesst man dann den Tauchgang im Kelp ausklingen.
Tags: moon jellie, Octopus, wolfeels
Posted in Animals, Destinations, Dillon Rock, Guest Blog, Nautilus Explorer, Octopus, moon jellies, wolfeels | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
Point Adolphus and Icy Strait, southeast Alaska
I saw a wolf eel on a wall today. And when he left his spot he went phhhssssshhhhtt straight down. Howard
I saw 3 orange peel nudibranchs in a row that were the size of footballs. My computer showed 42 degrees but Captain Mike doesn’t believe me (I figure 44 degrees minimum - Captain Mike). I had a single sole moon jelly accompany me on my safety stop. And then I saw a puffin on the surface. Ann
The wolf eel was a pretty amazing thing because it was a dark wall with the wolfie laid out in a serpentine fashion in a light bowl that fit him perfectly. After he posed for Howard for 5 or 6 minutes he took off straight down the cliff past a lingcod that had patiently been waiting for us to shoot him. And those stellar sealions tossing salmon around everywhere and torn into pieces. Wow. Dave
Humpback whales, sea otters, stellar sealions, bald eagles, grizzly bear and ……….a grunt sculpin. Jeff.
I saw loads of humpback whales today. Boy, were they close. We saw lots of sea otters but you can never see too many. Kandy
The stellar sealions were great if you could stand the smell. Rod
Whales with breakfast. Sea otters for lunch. And gigantic gregarious stellar sealions before dinner. It was a very, very, very full day. Jacqui
Sealions, blue wolfeels, pink wall, breaching humpbacks, sea otters. WOWWWWW. Michele
Tags: bald eagles, Grizzly bear, grunt sculpin, humpback whales, Icy Strait, Lingcod, moon jelly, orange peel nudibranchs, Point Adolphus, puffin, sea otters, stellar sea lions, wolf eels
Posted in Eagle, Grizzly bear, Guest Blog, Humpback Whale, Icy Strait, Lingcod, Point Adolphus, moon jellies, sea otters, sealions, wolfeels | No Comments »
Monday, June 15th, 2009
YYAAAYYYYYHHHHH. Excellent diving and thoroughly enjoyed it. That’s it for right now. Michelle
Many anemones, king crabs, coral – I love bull kelp – it’s all great so far. 7 Tree is my favourite so far. Urs.
Excursion trips were great. Saw 2 black bears from up close today. First Nations burial caves in Browning Pass were amazing. Ruth
Non-divers walking on the beach saw more wolf-eels today than even the
divers. Duncan.
Everybody should read Northwest Dive News to see the article I am going to write about this trip. I can say it in one word. AWESOME. Rick.
I am always totally amazed each time I get on the Nautilus Explorer. What an incredible adventure it always is. Peter.
I love the diving here. Gary
The diving has been “interesting”. Carol (note from Captain Mike - I think Carol means low visibility). But the walls are still really beautiful and I can’t complain.
Awesome crew and guests. We’ll reserve judgement on the Captain for a couple of days. (I think she is joking but I’m not sure - Captain Mike!!!!). Cheryl.
Tags: Anemones, Black Bears, Browning Pass, bull kelp, coral, king crabs, wolf eels
Posted in Anemones, Black Bears, Browning Pass, Guest Blog, Puget King Crab, crab, kelp, wolfeels | No Comments »
Sunday, May 31st, 2009
Today was an incredible way to end the trip. I saw a giant wolf eel that wouldn’t stay away from my face. It swam out of it’s hole and I wasn’t sure if it was friend or foe. Because I didn’t have any snacks for it, I had to send it on it’s way. I also saw a ginormous lingcod. Many ginormous lingcods. It was absolutely fabulous. Wendy
Hooking up with relatives and visit time on the boat while docked in front of the Empress Hotel in Victoria harbour was fabulous. Absolutely great. The posing sealion and elephant seals on the rocks at Race Rocks acted just like movie stars in front of the paparazzi. I don’t know how to say this – I am a timid diver but Captain Mike made me feel very comfortable, relaxed and not rushed or pressured. Dawn
I can’t believe how fast 9 days can pass. We need another week. What do you with stowaways when you catch them??? Don
The crew was warm and friendly as always from the Captain on down to the deckhand. Don
Tags: race rocks, wolf eel
Posted in Animals, Destinations, Guest Blog, Lingcod, wolfeels | No Comments »
Thursday, May 28th, 2009
I found a new species of octopus. We’re calling it a 12 stiff legged fuscia pacific octopus. There you go (note from Mike – I think Barbara Ann is enjoying happy hour).
It was a superlative day for diving. Quatsino #1 had a predicted abundance of rockfish, lingcod, greenling, wolfeel. Dive #2 at the new site should have been called Quatsino Garden instead of Captain Mike’s wrong choice of Sea Clown Rock (note from Mike – named for the hundreds of sea clown nudibranchs discovered there). It’s hard to describe because everything is changing from site to site but there was just so much and every bit of topography was covered in life. The tour of the Quatsino Sound lighthouse topped off the day. Gordon
For those of us who missed the last 2 dives, the afternoon was fantastic with the visit to the lighthouse and the families that lived there. Very interesting people and very welcoming. Dave.
The lighthouse trip was fascinating. There are 5 kids total on the island and 3 of them were riding their unicycles up and down the boardwalk. It was great. Julia.
Tags: Greenling, Lingcod, Octopus, Quatsino Sound Lighthouse, Rockfish, wolfeel
Posted in Greenling, Guest Blog, Lingcod, Octopus, Quatsino Sound Lighthouse, nudibranch, octopus, wolfeels | No Comments »
Monday, July 14th, 2008
Location: Inian Island, Icy Strait, southeast Alaska.
I thrive on discovering new dive sites. There are no other liveaboard dive boats operating north of Santa Barbara, California, to speak of and as far as we know, there has never been a charter scuba diving diveboat operating in southeast Alaska. PERIOD! We have found some amazing dive sites up here but it is all been done by trial and error and my “gut feelings” (which have been honed by 16 years of diving in this area). It is a tremendous thrill to splash on a new site and realize that you have discovered a new “Browning Pass” – Browning Wall being the most famous of all of British Columbia’s dive sites and rated as the top dive site in North American 3 years in a row by Rodale’s Diving. So I am always up for trying 2 or 3 exploratory new dives on a trip if our guests are “up” for it. The folks on this trip are terrific sports and up for exploratory diving. We lucked out today with the discovery of a beautiful albeit current sensitive pinnacle loaded with invertebrate life including corals, sponges and anemones as well as a giant pacific octopus and wolf eel. I’ve got my shoreline transit marks (the tall green tree lines up with the crack in that rock) burned into my memory banks and I can’t wait to get out there and see the site for myself. I’m still not diving unfortunately as I promised faithfully that I wouldn’t splash until getting a clear chest x-ray showing the last of my pneumonia. Darn!!! Captain Mike
Weather: Nice summer day in Alaska with broken clouds, light winds and calm seas. Air temps in the high 60’s.
Water: Water temperature 46 degrees, visibility 20 – 25 feet.
Tags: Alaska, British Columbia, Browning Wall Pass, calving glaciers, cold water scuba, coral invertebrate life, Dillon Rock, diving, giant pacific octopus, humpback whales, icebergs, Inian, Juneau, Ketchikan, Le Conte, nudibranchs, orcas, point Adoluphus, Port Hardy, sealions, Shushartie Bay, Sitka, Tracey Arm, Transpac, Vancouver, wolfeel, Wooden Island
Posted in Alaska, Animals, British Columbia, Browning Pass, Captains Log, Destinations, Inian Islands, giant pacific octopus, wolfeels | No Comments »
Friday, July 11th, 2008
Location: Port Alexander, Baranoff Island, southeast Alaska..
I’ve always wondered why wolf eels live communily??? They compete for the same food. There is not pack or hunting advantage when you are feeding on sea urchins. I am pretty sure that wolf eels mate for life. So why bother to live together with your “competition”?? Well, I have a new theory. I have come to think that the preferred habitat of wolf eels is between 60 and 80 feet in the cracks and crevices of current swept rocky structure. They need the current for good food sources. And they need cracks and crevices to avoid becoming sealion or orca bait. But the big thing is that I think they choose to live in areas of back-eddies where they have protection from the current at least half the time and can move about and find food. If they didn’t hang out in the back eddies, their foraging time would be very limited. So rocky structure with a prevailing back-eddy on either a flood or ebb tide is my new hypothesis on finding wolf-eels. We tested my theory on a scuba diving site I named Vancouver Rock (in honour of the legendary explorer of this coast – Captain George Vancouver - I’m a fan of his.) and sure enough, found 3 mated pairs of wolf-eels sitting in the back-eddy on the ebb tide. Whoooeeee. Went back to Vancouver Rock today for more exploration and one of our guests - James Negris from Seattle – spotted a total of 10 WOLF EELS on one dive. Way to go huh… Even without the wolf-eels, this is a great and colourful dive with lots of invertebrate life and the highest concentration of orange social ascidions that I have seen anywhere. Captain Mike
Weather: High overcast, calm seas, calm winds, temperatures in the low 70’s.
Water: Visiblity 20 feet, water temperature 46 degrees
Tags: Alaska, British Columbia, Browning Wall Pass, calving glaciers, cold water scuba, coral invertebrate life, Dillon Rock, diving, giant pacific octopus, humpback whales, icebergs, Inian, Juneau, Ketchikan, Le Conte, nudibranchs, orcas, point Adoluphus, Port Hardy, sealions, Shushartie Bay, Sitka, Tracey Arm, Transpac, Vancouver, wolfeel, Wooden Island
Posted in Alaska, Animals, Baranoff Island, Captains Log, Destinations, Eels, Orca, sealions, wolfeels | No Comments »
Thursday, June 26th, 2008
Location: Point Adolphus (across from Glacier Bay) and Inian Island, Icy Strait, southeast Alaska.
Our poor guests. I think I gave them too many options this morning and left them feeling somewhat frustrated. Started out with some great humpback whale watching off Point Adolphus. The bizzarely behaving solitary young adult that we observed last week frolicking and pretending to be a sealion is still here. But he was overshadowed by the sheer number of other humpback whales in the area. I ended up stopping the ship’s engines, drifing and watching groups of humpback whales swim past. Saw 1 group of 13 adults swimming together and kept my fingers crossed that they were forming up to start bubblenet feeding. No such luck unfortunately although the group did multiple course changes and chose to swim very close to the Nautilus Explorer on occasion. It was fantastic to see them chose to swim by incredibly closely. Eagles and stellar sealions were everywhere. A.J. skunked me once again and was first to spot 2 grizzly (coastal brown) bears on the beach. So I positioned the Nautilus Explorer close in to the beach to get a good view of the brownies. Our poor guests – some folks were on the port side of the ship watching the bears (which got especially interesting when the grizzlies spotted something further down the beach and got up on their hind legs to get a better view) while other guests were on the starboard side watching the fantastic humpback whale action. And some poor guests were running back and forth to both sides of the boat trying to watch everything at once!! I’ll do better next time and try to organize things so that our wildlife viewings are more spaced out.. Captain Mike
Weather: Overcast, light winds, flat calms seas, air temperatures in the mid 50’s
Water: Water temperature 45 – 46 degrees, great visibility 30 – 40 feet dive #1, lower vis dive #2, great vis down deeper
Tags: Alaska, British Columbia, Browning Wall Pass, calving glaciers, cold water scuba, coral invertebrate life, Dillon Rock, diving, giant pacific octopus, humpback whales, icebergs, Inian, Juneau, Ketchikan, Le Conte, nudibranchs, orcas, point Adoluphus, Port Hardy, sealions, Shushartie Bay, Sitka, Tracey Arm, Transpac, Vancouver, wolfeel, Wooden Island
Posted in Alaska, Animals, Captains Log, Destinations, Gulf of Alaska, Humpback Whale, Nautilus Explorer, Nudibranch, sealions, wolfeels | No Comments »
