This September’s International Coastal Clean-Up Dives were organized by Aquarius Dive Shop in Monterey.
We met at Lover’s #3, just around the bend from Lover’s Cove, on the more exposed area of Lover’s Point, across from Borg’s Motel. There was a bit of confusion as to the meeting time since I had thought we were meant to be in the water between 8 and 9 am, but when Mark and I arrived just before 8, no one else was there. Of course, that made us a bit worried that we were in the wrong place, etc. I knew some of the other members from ScubaBoard would be there, so we waited to see if we recognized anyone. Eventually we met Albert who was there for the dives and who informed us that there were several people who were at the Dive Shop and they were going to be making their way over to the site shortly. After they arrived, we had a dive briefing, explaining how we could conduct the trash search and recovery and were assigned our “locations” from the shoreline as to what area of the bay we’d be searching. Afterwards, we were left to our own devises to kit up and get into the water.
Returning to the car, I quickly discovered that Mark and I had left a crucial part of our gear behind – our wetsuits. Not only are they important from the standpoint of keeping you warm, etc – but they are, in a sense, “intimate” pieces of gear. The only thing that really sticks to your skin. Plus, in Monterey, dive shops only rent 2-piece “farmer John” set ups which, while providing tons of exposure protection against the cold, also are a pain in the backside to wear, restrict your movement and are generally a nuisance. Being 2+ hours away from our home, I realized that we were, in essence, condemned to wear this set up if we were to dive that day….and I was, in no uncertain terms, not happy in the slightest about it.
Well, with some strong arming and a bit of tenderness, Mark triumphed and we were suiting up, overheating and struggling to get our gear down a stone set of stairs to the rocky shore below. The waves were soft on the shore and all the other divers had long since gone into the water to begin their search for hidden (or not-so-hidden) trash. Finally, we were set. Andy, the photographer who joined us for the Clean Up snapped two photos of Mark and I, and we entered the water. Soon we were doing the short surface swim out and dropping down, through the strands of kelp the sandy and eel-grass bottom below. The water was GORGEOUS! Not too cold, great visibility and just perfect.
As Mark navigated, I searched for garbage, mesh bag trailing empty behind me. Over rocky ledges covered in sponges, kelp, crabs, starfish, bat stars, anemones and other life and vegetation, we moved out, and back towards shore, making u-turns at appropriate intervals. No trash. Schools of fish – perch, senoritas, krill, and even my first cabezon! But still, no trash. We surfaced to take a compass heading back to our entry point on shore, only to find out we had covered substantial territory while underwater. Taking the compass heading, we returned back, surfacing only a few feet off from our original point of entry – not too shabby.
Beautiful surface interval – talking with the other members of ScubaBoard as we waited for our opportunity to go back in. Visited by a man on a horse (we are still wondering about the legality of the entire exercise!) – and soon we were kitting up for dive #2 for the day.
Again, out we went, not particular heading in mind, just with the goal of spending time in the kelp cathedrals just under the surface of the water. Dropping down, we landed right in a beautiful spot – beautiful, long strands of kelp, at least 15’ long reaching to the surface of the water and gracefully creating a canopy under which swam tons of black and red surfperch and a bunch of senoritas. We found rocky outcroppings just covered in life – sponges, sunflower stars, short-spined sea stars, algae, bat stars, anemones – strawberry anemone, green anemone and what I think was a rose anemone. Even a moon jelly and some more crabs. As always, we emerged somewhat puffed, but happy and feeling successful about our dives – even in the face of the rocky start (no pun intended!)
Dive Stats:
Dive #33 – Sunday 9/15/07: Lover’s Point #3 – Monterey, California. 10:22 AM. Max depth 20 feet, bottom time 45 minutes (1200 PSI remaining at end of dive with Al80). Rocky beach dive, water temp 63˚, vis approximately 20-25 feet.
Dive #34 – Sunday, 9/15/07: Lover’s Point #3 – Monterey, California. 12:23 PM. Max depth 30 feet, bottom time 35 minutes (1300 PST remaining with Steel 74). Rocky beach dive, water temp 55˚, vis approximately 20-25 feet.
[Sorry, I didn’t take the camera along with me this time. The photo above was taken in April when we were down in Monterey and were checking out Lover’s. It is a representation of the site although the conditions were quite different on Sunday.]
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