A transformer had blown up, causing King Harbor to be in pitch darkness – I hope it was not an attack by Al Qaeda.

Luckily, we were prepared for darkness, so that did not stop us on our mission to liberate some lobsters.

Last Sunday, divers dug three lobsters out of the rocks during the day at Terranea Resort – probably in depths no greater that 40 feet.

I talked to a free diver a couple of days ago who caught lobsters in Palos Verdes in 15 feet of water, only a week ago.

Commercial traps look like they’re still in 40 to 60 feet of water.

So, are the bugs deeper yet?

We had to find out.

Instructor John and I set out in his 14 foot inflatable yacht to a secret deep location off of Redondo Beach – or was it Manhattan Beach?

We anchored in 75 feet of water.

Logged SCUBA Dive #363

SECRET LOCATION: 4f 66 66 20 6f 66 20 74 68 65 20 53 70 61 6e 69 73 68 20 52 65 64 20 42 65 61 63 68 2c 20 64 69 72 65 63 74 6c 79 20 6f 75 74 20 66 72 6f 6d 20 74 68 65 20 4b 69 6e 67 20 6f 66 20 48 61 72 62 6f 72 73 2c 20 74 68 65 72 65 20 69 73 20 61 20 66 61 72 6d 20 74 68 61 74 20 67 72 6f 77 73 20 6f 6e 6c 79 20 70 69 70 65 73 2e, Redondo Beach (I think), CA

Solo Diving, SoCal Buddy Diving

In With: 3000 psi
Out With: 500 psi
Max depth: 80 feet
Waves: Wind chop on the surface, slight current going South
Visibility: 20+ feet
Water Temperature: About 58 degrees, slightly colder at depth
Total Bottom Time: About 22 minutes

The water was pleasantly sort of warmer than I expected – especially after I peed in my wetsuit.

I followed the anchor line to the ocean floor.

This area is covered with little man made reefs – pipes, concrete boxes and miscellaneous construction crap that was dumped here years ago when the breakwater was completed – which breakwater, I’m unsure of – it could be Pearl Harbor for all I know.

I literally saw dozens of short lobsters within the first few minutes of my dive.

I came across a section of pipes and looked inside – monsters!

Huge six to ten pound bugs!

It was almost 9 PM, it had been dark for almost four hours – why were they still hiding in the pipes?

Maybe I’ll bring some cat food next time?

I came across a short section of a pipe with a monster lobster in it – the back was open and I was about to put my expert lobster liberating skills to use.

I shined the light at the bug, and with my light mounted gauge, hit one of his antennae.

He flew backwards as I turned my light off and swam to the other end of the pipe’s opening.

I turned the light on, and there he was, sitting on the gravel, right out in the open.

I went for the pin and got him!

His carapace was soft enough so I could maintain a good grip before putting him in the lobster liberation bag!

I checked the gravel and did general reconnaissance of the area – yes, there are lobsters deeper now.

But like I stated earlier, there seem to be plenty still left in the shallows.

John surfaced with one bug.

This monster will no longer terrorize the seas!

You can catch them deeper now, however, your bottom time to hunt is significantly reduced.

Thank you to all the Veterans that have served, and are serving, the armed forces of this country, to preserve the precious freedoms we still have left.

Having to work today, and being so broke that I would have had to miss the Disabled Veterans’ Charity Dive trip regardless, Instructor John, Instructor Ron and I headed out in the mighty zodiac – now to be forever referred to as “The Red October” – to liberate more lobsters.

I met two commercial lobstermen in the parking lot of King Harbor.

They said, “This season is great! We pulled up 400 pounds over the weekend and two hundred pounds yesterday and the day before.”

Great, that’s who’s getting them!

Riding over light wind chop, we made it to our secret area fairly quickly.

There was no full moon; if the moon was out at all, it was behind the clouds.

Hoop netters were in our last spot – maybe someone actually cracked my secret location algorithm?

We went further South and anchored in 60 feet of water.

Logged SCUBA Dive #362

SECRET LOCATION: 4f 66 66 20 74 68 65 20 67 61 74 65 73 20 6f 66 20 4d 61 72 2c 20 6e 65 61 72 20 61 20 68 6f 75 73 65 20 74 68 61 74 20 69 73 20 6c 69 67 68 74 20 74 68 65 72 65 20 73 69 74 73 20 61 20 68 6f 75 73 65 20 77 69 74 68 20 6d 61 6e 79 20 6c 69 67 68 74 73 2e, Palos Verdes, CA

Solo Diving, SoCal Buddy Diving

In With: 3000 psi
Out With: 500 psi
Max depth: 60 feet
Waves: Light wind chop
Visibility: 10 feet or so
Water Temperature: About 60 degrees
Total Bottom Time: About 35 minutes

I submerged off the boat and saw the ocean floor at 45 feet – where did the other 15 feet go?

I went South, staying between 45 and 60 feet – the water was sort of chilly at depth, so I had to pee in my wetsuit to warm up a bit.

I don’t know what it was, but I started to feel sort of narced for the first five minutes or so.

Visibility was better near the surface; the bottom was a little silty.

I moved slowly, panning my light from side to side – my lobster senses knew there were bugs nearby.

Five minutes into the dive, I pinned my first bug in 55 feet – it was legal by a few millimeters.

As a dive progresses and you don’t see any lobsters, even the puniest bugs may look like monsters; so grabbing a legal one right off is a good sign – now my frame of reference was geared towards legal bugs only.

There was a slight current going South and some strong surge in various places; coupled with the silty visibility, I wasn’t able to cover as much ground as I wanted.

Roaming a reef at about 50 feet, I spotted a junior monster out in the open – it backed up, preparing to flee when my light hit.

I held my light at arm’s length, backed the beam off and kept the bug’s silhouette in view.

It started to back up, but I was already behind it for the pin – Bam!

Another bug has been liberated!

I shook my first one down the bag and put the second one in – the thing was like pinning a Foster’s beer can, so there was no need to measure.

Not more than 10 yards away, I caught my third bug for the night – my bag was getting heavy.

I started heading back to the boat at 1200 psi.

I made a pledge to myself to start making my way to the surface at 600 psi and not look at the floor while coming up.

There’s a phenomenon that I call the “500 pound bug.”

It’s a ruse used by the lobster gods to kill SCUBA divers – I was almost a victim a few seasons back.

It works like this:

When a big lobster sees a diver start surfacing from 60 feet or deeper, the lobster assumes that he’s probably almost out of air – maybe down to 500 psi.

The big lobster will come out and start walking around under the diver, who is heading up.

When the diver sees his chance for one last easy lobster, he usually postpones his ascent and chases after the bug.

Once pinned, the bug puts up a good fight – grabbing the bag closed, grabbing the diver’s mouth piece, biting the diver’s fingers, if he can.

At 60 feet or deeper, 500 psi can go REALLY quickly when fighting a monster lobster.

Suddenly, it’s awfully hard for the diver to breathe – he looks at his air gauge, and he’s out!

Panicked, the diver drops his lobster bag and weight belt and bolts to the surface.

Shooting to the surface from 60 feet or deeper, he could have an air embolism, a heart attack, get the bends or, if he holds his breath to the surface, have his lungs explode.

That is how the lobster gods fight the lobster liberators – don’t let that happen to you!

Don’t become lobster food – when lobsters eat human flesh, I hear it makes their tail meat taste really strange.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings.

I made it back to the boat with my three lobsters…

I’m really not that fat – I think the weight of all that lobster gave me a hernia.

Instructor Ron caught one bug, Instructor John got skunked.

They had gone the opposite direction, instead of following an expert lobster hunter like myself.

The next lobster hunt is scheduled for next week in a significantly deeper spot.