Dave-I miss my light Robert- we saw wolf eels, octos and finished my book Lois-That was cool, I love the Wolf eels, they’re so ugly they’re cute Lee Ann- I just love those wolf eels, they’re like a bulldog, so cute Oleg- Nature didn’t create everyone equal, some creatures have two hands with twenty fingers, […]
Read MoreYYAAAYYYYYHHHHH. Excellent diving and thoroughly enjoyed it. That’s it for right now. Michelle Many anemones, king crabs, coral – I love bull kelp – it’s all great so far. 7 Tree is my favourite so far. Urs. Excursion trips were great. Saw 2 black bears from up close today. First Nations burial caves in Browning Pass were amazing. Ruth […]
Read MoreStrawberry fields forever. My favourite dive. It was magnificent. Rebecca (note from Mike – had 3 great dives today including a sureal dive with the strawberry anemones in Tahsis Narrows). Mike, you said strawberry anemones but holy crap. I was expecting the appetizer but got the entree instead. Dave We are renaming this dive site from Tahsis Narrows (which is […]
Read MoreIt is always a pleasure and a good time having Captain Phil Sammet, his lovely wife, beautiful daughter and all his friends onboard the Nautilus Explorer. Through his many scuba diving charters on the Nautilus, Phil has steadfastly stuck to 2 traditions (a) he will paint the toenails of any anybody that he is able to sneak up on if they are having a nap on a couch in the main salon (b) every trip must conclude with a game of Nautilus Jeopardy with questions based on the many (interesting?) facts presented during my various dive and natural history briefings throughout the trip.
Read MoreThe intense invertebrate life on Browning Wall is so thick and prolific and colourful that you cannot see the underlying rock at all. Until you’ve actually seen the brilliant reds, oranges, yellows, whites and all the amazing colours of the soft corals and other inverts, it is almost impossible to imagine how fantastic coldwater diving is. The tiny pinnacle of Dillon Rock is a story onto itself with 6+ wolfeels hiding in cracks and crevices, numerous giant pacific octopus, rarely sighted vermillion rockfish, a lovely kelp forest at the west side of the rock teeming with black rockfish, and dozens of chimera (ratfish in the shark family) cruising around on the sand bottom just off the rock. Great diving and a lovely day was had by all. Even the black bears cooperated with multiple beach appearances.
Read MoreOur scuba divers loved it as they found every imaginable sort of nudibranch and “muck” creature. I was a bit skeptical when they surfaced and gleefully told us that it was fabulous British Columbia muck diving but everyone seemed to have a great time. One diver even found the steel hull of a shipwreck on one side of the island. We staged dives 2 and 3 at slack in Quatsino Narrows and very good dives were had by all.
Read MoreI have to state for the record that I stand corrected on all the scuba diving briefings that I have given on this site over the years. Ratfish are indeed a member of the shark “family” as I thought. My mistake was in thinking that the sexual organ of the male ratfish is on it’s forehead (which kind of makes sense in a bit of a twisted way). There is definitely “something” that extends and retracts on the forehead of male ratfish but it turns out to be a “third clasper.” Like other sharks and rays, the male ratfish has 2 claspers underneath and close to their stern. Unlike any other cartilaginous fish, the ratfish has a 3rd clasper on it’s forehead that it apparently uses to latch on to the pectoral fin of a female during mating. One of the guests on this trip has the photographic evidence that clearly shows this. I stand corrected – the male ratfish has a clasper used to facilitate sex on it’s forehead. The sharks’ sexual organ is in the regular place.
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