San Ignacio Gray Whales
Extraordinary Interaction & Experience
Location: Tahsis Narrows, Nootka Sound, west coast Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada Oh my. I had forgotten how the strawberry anemones of Tahsis Narrows are more like a wild crazy fantasy and dream than anything in real life. These beautiful little red anemones don’t even stand half an inch high but they literally blanket and carpet everything at […]
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 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 MoreEureka Platform sits in around 500 feet of water which makes it an oasis in the ocean desert. After getting permission from the platform thanks to the help of Captain Mike (is it a rule that all Captains get renamed Mike?) of the supply vessel Isabel El, we staged two dives here and the general consensus was that it was well worth the skiff ride. There is a very definite vertical line as you descend where the mussels leave off and the anemones take over at about 30 feet. There is also a marked difference between the life on each of the legs which presumably is due to differing light conditions and water movement. Some legs were covered in strawberry anemones, others in the white metridium. In amongst the anemones were barnacles and small amounts of kelp, sponges and corals.
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