After news of giant squid attacking divers down in San Diego and being seen as far North as Orange County, I decided to dive off of the Redondo Canyon to hunt down and kill as many giant squid as possible.

Ok, actually it was really hot today in the ghetto of Long Beach and I just wanted to cool off and stay away from home; I haven’t been to a Wednesday evening dive in a while.

The parking lot was crowded, but I was lucky enough to find a spot.

I geared up and was in the water by 5:30 PM; I brought my light just incase, but I really didn’t need it in retrospect.

Veteran’s Park

Solo Diving

In With: 3100 psi
Out With: 600 psi
Max depth: 83 feet
Waves: Manageable two to three foot swells at the shoreline
Visibility: 5 to 10 feet at best
Water Temperature: 66 degrees at the surface, 54 at depth
Total Bottom Time: 30 minutes

The beach during the Summer can get pretty crowded.

Once submerged, I had to adjust my equipment; when everything was situated, I grabbed for my camera strap that was roped around my wrist… and it was gone!

Fuck!

Where’s my camera?

It floats, so I (carefully) bolted to the surface from 20 feet of water and looked.

I always meant to put a little note in my camera case that stated, “If found please return to…”

But, of course, how would I ever lose my camera?

I floated on the surface thinking about all the recent pictures – diving, the fourth of July and homemade porno – that will now fall into some stranger’s hands.

I looked over where I thought the current was moving, and I spotted it!

Phew!

My dive continued…

The water on the surface was warm and the vis close to shore sucked.

I headed down the canyon…

Muscle shells; maybe the victim of an octopus.

Humans have punching bags, crabs have clawing spools.

I tried to find “The Monument” or “Blocks” but they have apparently moved to 70 feet and are now more covered in sand.

Sort of an uneventful, plain old Redondo Canyon exercise dive – of course I say that now, since I recovered my camera.

Photo by Rolando

The Divevets welcomed me back by peeing on my car.

Dan fires up the outdoor stove for a Summer evening barbecue as we were treated to the Village People’s hit, “Macho Man” from another diver’s stereo.

The sun sets at Redondo Beach.

Debriefing continued into the night; we talked about many off beat topics including how the group can get more single women and whether or not we should buy a foreign kid “for adoption and exploitation.”

All in fun, but they have a tendency to corrupt new divers.

High surf is expected this weekend, so I’ll have to see what this weekend brings.

SAN DIEGO – Thousands of jumbo flying squid — aggressive 5-foot-long sea monsters with razor-sharp beaks and toothy tentacles — have invaded the shallow waters off San Diego, spooking scuba divers and washing up dead on tourist-packed beaches.

The carnivorous calamari, which can grow up to 100 pounds, came up from the depths last week and swarms of them roughed up unsuspecting divers. Some divers report tentacles enveloping their masks and yanking at their cameras and gear.

Stories of too-close encounters with the alien-like cephalopods have chased many veteran divers out of the water and created a whirlwind of excitement among the rest, who are torn between their personal safety and the once-in-a-lifetime chance to swim with the deep-sea giants.

The so-called Humboldt squid are native to the deep waters off Mexico, where they have been known to attack humans and are nicknamed “red devils” for their rust-red coloring and mean streak. Those who dive with them there chum the water with bait and sometimes get in a metal cage or wear chain mail to avoid being lashed by tentacles.

“I wouldn’t go into the water with them for the same reason I wouldn’t walk into a pride of lions on the Serengeti,” said Mike Bear, a local diver. “For all I know, I’m missing the experience of a lifetime.”

The complete article can be found here.

An MSN video about these squid can be found here.