Started today off with a “mystery dive” on a pinnacle just north of Green Islet lighthouse. There was a wee bit more current than I expected but the divers reported that the diving on the wall and tumbles on the backside of the pinnacle was excellent with loads of white plumose anemones and other typical pacific northwest life. Other divers wandered onto the flats and investigated under and around the large boulders with less success.
Read MoreDive #2 was on the wreck of the freighter, Vanlene. This poor old ship was well off course when it crashed into Austin Island with a full load of Dodge Colts. A lot of the cars were salvaged by Okanagan Helicopters but you can still see lots of remains of the Colts that got left behind. Everything from tires and engine blocks lying in the sand to an intact red station wagon with a sticker on the windshield in the front of one of the holds (at least, it was intact last time I dove on the wreck).
Read MoreIt didn’t take much convincing for me to stage another dive there today. Finished the day off with a shore visit to the old whaling station at Coal Harbour on the far side of the Narrows. Coal Harbour was originally a coal mining town (go figure huh!!). It became a coastal defense station during World War 2 with large hangars, over 700 personnel and a fleet of Stranraer flying boats and Canso (aka PBY or Catalina) amphibious aircraft as well as fleet of high speed RCAF air-sea rescue boats (the dinner charter boat Malecite which still works out of Granville Island was one of these air-sea rescue boats and somewhat famous for trying to rescue the crew of a Stranraer that crashed in open ocean in 1944).
Read MoreDive #1 was on Browning Wall with it’s densely packed populations of soft corals, sponges and invertebrate life. It is just as colourful and dense as the best of the south Pacific. Dive #2 was on Hussar Point. Dive #3 was on Snowfall where all the white plumose anemones were “out” (rather than being retracted).
Read MoreDive #2 was “off-slack” at Pearse Wall. The slipper cucumbers here are normally a huge hit but the very strong current was back-eddying the wrong way on the wall and the divers weren’t able to make it to the “hot” part of the dive site. Dive #3 was at the very aptly named Blowhole. Between 20 knot west winds and very strong currents, it’s easy to see why locals call this narrow little pass “Blowhole.” The site is beautiful with anemones and gersemia rubiformis (soft red coral) but the real feature is hundreds of basket stars including a canyon absolutely loaded with them.
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