The SeaHorse weekly dive made it to Redondo this week. The repaving that buggered up traffic last week is done, and four SeaHorse divers, dive leader Ed Gullekson, David Wakeley, Joe Sharp and Dane Dormedy, met to take advantage of the great visibility the Sound has been experiencing lately, and look for sixgills, along with all the other critters Redondo has to offer.
Ed and Dave went out for the early dive about 3:30 PM. Visibility was over 25 ft. at depth. I was going to join but suffered an equipment SNAFU which made me late. And what do you know? They, well, Ed, spotted a sixgill down by the carrousel boat on that first dive, at about 90 ft. and brought back photographic evidence!
Dane and I joined for the second dive. Ed and Dane buddied up and explored the shallow line to the north, while Dave and I went down to the carrousel boat to see if the sixgill was still hanging around. We had now luck, but on our way back, Dave found 3 grunt sculpins. I’d never seen one myself before, so this was a treat. Thank you Dave.
They were all under the big pipe at about 55 ft. I was following Dave’s lead, and I saw him stop and apparently start taking multiple pictures of the dirt on the bottom. After he moved on, I swam up closer and saw a tiny grunt sculpin, less than 1/2 in. long scurrying around the bottom. My first though on seeing my first grunt sculpin was, “I thought they were bigger.” I caught up to Dave as he was photographing a regular-sized grunt sculpin, and right after that, Dave found a 3rd one. Cool! We also saw a GPO on eggs, many types of sole, a red octopus and other local fishes. Ed and Dane were treated to a juvenile wolf eel.
It was a fun day with our SeaHorse buddies. You need to come on out.
About Weekly Dives
Weekly dives are all about getting out and doing that thing we love to do with our SeaHorse buddies. Don’t have a buddy? No problem. We’ll pair you up. And it’s a great way to explore unfamiliar sites, as there’s always somebody experienced to tag along with.
Remember if you’re coming out to RSVP
Dive leaders need to know that SOMEBODY is coming out. They often have long drives and need to know they’ll have at least one buddy, for safety. Plus if plans change due to conditions or other circumstances, the leader will know who to notify. There is an RSVP button right on the bottom of the calendar notice, or you can shoot the dive leader an email to say you’re coming (leader address available on the notice), or comment on the dive announcement on Facebook.
Next Weekly Dive: Mukilteo with George Barron
Wednesday Aug. 14th
George will be leading two dives at Mukilteo on Wednesday, August 14th. The first one, meet at 3:00, splash at 3:30. The second, meet at 5:00, splash at 5:30. See the event notice for details
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