Baleana Time 2..6-25-17

I am starting to see a pattern similar to last year where I end up multiple times on the same wreck. However, I have grown to really enjoy diving the Baleana and am very intrigued by the history of this wreck. Today we headed out on the Independence II with Gotham Divers and could not have asked for better conditions.  The seas were flat calm and we even had dolphins join us on our ride out to the wreck.

Northern Red Anemone

The boat was packed so, I waited and dove after all the divers were already in the water.  I heard reports that the visibility was great and other reports that it was only about 10'.  I opted to take my camera in case the conditions were good.  The visibility as I descended down the anchor line was pretty good and I could see the strobe and divers on the wreck at about 90'.  Once on the bottom I thought the visibility was at least 20' and it seemed brighter than my last dive on the wreck two weeks ago.  This wreck sits at a depth of 154'-155' which was a whole debate on the boat since various dives sites indicate that it is as deep as 170'.  I personally never reached deeper than about 153'.  This wreck is covered in fishing line and lures and it was very evident at the tie-in.  I swam along the outer wall of the wreck and was not far into my dive when I spotted a Northern Red Anemone.  I had always wanted to find one of these and to photograph it in NJ.  I spent a long time photographing this lone anemone not knowing that there were more on the wreck.  This wreck does not have a lot of anemones at all and really is not very colorful since it is on the edge of the mud hole.

Clarissa photobomb!

 The Northern Red Anemone is very colorful and its tentacles are very thick compared to the common Frilled Anemones.   This anemone is known to range from the Arctic to Cape Cod and is not typically found as far south as NJ.  This is why I was so excited to see one today on the Baleana.  I finally, decided to proceed with my dive and continued along the wall of the wreck.  I only saw one lone bergol and did not notice any other fish.  Just as I was finishing my dive I spotted another Northern Red Anemone and this one was bigger than the first one I found.  I did take quite a few pictures of both these anemones and when I uploaded them to my computer I also saw some nudibranchs in my photos.  I didn't even see them during my dive!

I have no idea what this is??

Nudibranch on a piece of rope.

Brass!

The bottom temp this week I think was still at about 46 degrees, but the hang was much warmer, 66 degrees..Bill found a nice brass spike..others searched for the elusive dead eyes..

Brass spike

Hoping to jump on next weeks trip to the 56 Mile Wreck!!

Baleana 6-11-17

Last week I attempted to dive the Resor.  However, after I jumped in an struggled to get down 20', I determined that the current was just too much for me and I aborted the dive.  I truly get frustrated with myself when this happens especially on a wreck that I have had so many awesome dives on.  In the end it was the correct decision for me, as my shoulder was swollen from using my muscles so much trying to hold onto the anchor line in the current while going hand over hand and trying to get to the bottom.

Yesterday, we headed out on the Independence II to the wreck of the Baleana and the conditions in the water were so much better than last week on the Resor and the diving was outstanding.  I have dove this wreck several times, and typically it is cold, dark with little or no viz.  I dove it in 2012 and I had 30' of viz on it and was able to swim the whole wreck and learn the layout of it.  Well today was another day with great viz on this wreck, it was about 20' which I think is great!

This wreck is from the 1800's and it is believed to be an old whaling vessel.  It is loaded with coal that still covers the wreck today.  The photo below taken by Brandon McWilliams classically shows the conditions on the bottom with the well preserved wood and coal covering the wreck.

I did not bring my camera down today as I decided to just dive, We were tied in right next to the vat that used to be used to hold the blubber from whales, it rises about 30' from the bottom and is very recognizable.  I spent most of my dive checking out the wreck and dreaming of finding that dead eye that must be on this wreck somewhere.  There were quite a few baby lobsters on the wreck and there were actually scallops too!

When I first splashed I notices the waves of jellies all through the water column and I knew that the dive would be much warmer than last week, The coldest temp I had was 46 degrees on the bottom which sounds cold but, is much warmer than 42 degrees reported last week.  The surface temp was in the mid 50's.  I only turned my heater on for about 10 minutes as I was basically warm my entire dive.

Hey guess what, I actually dove with my husband, Bill today..well, at least we went down the anchor line together..and we both made safe dives!

Bill heading down to the Baleana, Photo by Brandon McWilliams

Till my next dive adventure...Be safe!