A BC Classic: Port Hardy Scuba Diving

By on June 16th, 2008 in Archive

The 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.

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Our First Alaska Expedition and Dive Trip of 2008

By on June 14th, 2008 in Archive

We are enroute now for 2 days of scuba diving at Port Hardy (Queen Charlotte Strait, Browning Pass and Dillon Rock in Shushartie Bay), 1 day diving the wreck of the Transpac at Butedale and then it’s off to Alaska!

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Is the Male Sex Organ of a Ratfish on it’s Forehead or Not?

By on June 8th, 2008 in Archive

I 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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Diving the Beautiful and Famous Browning Pass

By on June 7th, 2008 in Archive

Dive #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).

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The Ratfish of Dillon Rock

By on June 16th, 2007 in Archive, Captain Mike

Yaayyhhh Shushartie Bay! It’s such a great place to visit. We are usually able to observe lots of black bears on the beach, the shore hiking is great (unless you run into a black bear!) and the kayaking is excellent. Dillon Rock is a famous dive site and is a pinnacle that barely breaks the surface at the entrance to Shushartie Bay. Regardless of the visibility, it is always a crowd-pleasing dive with lots of wolf-eels (7 at last count), lots of giant Pacific octopus (gpd’s to use the local vernacular), a beautiful kelp forest, rare vermillion rock-fish and loads of ratfish swimming around on the flats just off the rock. 

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Spectacular Visibility Diving Browning Wall

By on June 15th, 2007 in Archive, Captain Mike

Dive 2 was on what I call the Red Wall portion of Browning Wall. The red soft coral (gersemia rubiformis) is so thick and abundant that the entire wall looks red and there is not even a square inch of bare rock on which to push yourself off with your hand! Visibility was spectacular (maybe some of the best of the year?) and we were able to quite nicely enjoy the dive from the deck of the skiff. 

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Scuba Dive with the Wolf Eels at Dillon Rock

By on June 6th, 2007 in Archive, Captain Mike

Dillon Rock is a barely submerged pinnacle marked by a small green light at the entrance to Shushartie Bay and is surely the most famous place in the world to scuba dive with wolf eels. I have personally seen up to 7 wolf eels here on just one dive. This is also the only place that I have ever had the extremely rare experience of been bitten by a wolf eel (a male that I believe to be “alpha” came up behind me and latched onto my leg as I lay on the mud bottom taking a picture of another wolf eel). Being bitten by a wolf eel is virtually unheard of.

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