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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Diving on a Boeing 737

By on June 11th, 2007 in Archive, Captain Mike

Today we got to go diving on a Boeing 737! How often does that happen?! This tired old worn-out Canadian Airlines 737 series 200 (which is the 2nd evolution of the “thirty-seven” and far more fuel thirsty than the 737’s currently flown by the major airlines) was stripped down by a salvage company and then donated to the Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia. Peter Luckham (49th Parallel Dive Charters) organized an effort to plop the jet down on top of 4 “stilts” in 95 feet of water just off Chemainus and it is an interesting dive site.

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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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