Stolt Dagali 6-18-16

After a blown out dive to the Resor last week, I was looking forward to getting wet today and the weather forecast was calling for a beautiful day.  We headed out of the inlet on the Independence II for the Granite wreck which is known for lobsters.  After arriving at the wreck, there was a large fishing boat anchored to the wreck.  There was no room for us to squeeze in and share the wreck so we headed over to the Stolt Dagali.  I like to dive a variety of wrecks and while I just dove the Stolt a few weeks ago, I was more than happy to dive the wreck again.  I honestly just love to dive and generally do not care where we dive as long as the company is fun and I end up in my underwater world.

Once I was on the bottom, there was no way that you could not notice how much life has grown on the wreck in just a few weeks.  The wreck was covered with bergols, and the sea anemones have grown to cover more of the wreckage.  There were some large black fish hanging on top of the wreck and also some large winter flounder on the bottom.  I also noticed a few comb jellies which is a sign of warmer water coming in.  The visibility was great again at a steady 30' and the water was a bit warmer, about 50 on the bottom but, a warm 65 on the hang.  I did head to the bottom for a few minutes but, for photography, the light was much better at around 60-80' so I hung in this area and shot some photos.  I had a nice relaxing dive that lasted about 40 minutes and I called it a day.  On the surface there were a lobster or two and some fish speared too along with some mussels harvested.

I tried my hardest to locate some nudibranch's while on my dive but could not find any with my naked eye.  However, just like my dive on the Tolten a few weeks ago, I did capture a few in my photos.  I am curious as to why they have not moved onto colder waters since the water is warming but, I suspect this was my last chance to photograph them.

Nudibranch to the upper right of the mussel.

Three nudibranchs in the lower right of this photo.

I will be taking the next two weekends off from diving unless I can squeeze in a Friday dive out on the Dina Dee.  I plan to dive the Resor on July 9th and then it will be almost time for Deep Week!