6/11/2012 - June Gloomy Mood

It's been a long time since I dived. It's been even longer since I had a fun dive. After dragging anchor in wind and waves a couple of months ago I told Merry we had to stop diving in the afternoons. After two dry weekends, I relented today.
We beat our way through pounding waves and wind for a short run to the Redondo Artificial Reef. I wasn't expecting much, but we found better than twenty feet of visibility on the bottom and warm water for our safety stop. It was the usual 53° below the thermocline, but a toasty 66° above.
Among the denizens of the concrete reef were three octopus on the same rock, a few nudibranch and several juvenile rockfish.

Metridium farcimen

Yellow crab, Cancer anthonyi

Lingcod, Ophiodon elongatus with copepods

Cadlina flavomaculata

Doriopsilla albopunctata

Roughpatch shrimp, Pandalus stenolepis

Juvenile Blue rockfish, Sebastes mystinus

Juvenile Calico rockfish, Sebastes dalli

I'm not sure of this one. It may be a juvenile kelp rockfish or Silvergrey rockfish.