Veteran’s Park, Redondo Beach, CA

Solo Diving

In With: 3000 psi
Out With: 600 psi
Max depth: 85 feet
Waves: Small surge with some waves to pay attention to.
Visibility: About 5-10 feet or so
Water Temperature: 53 degrees
Total Bottom Time: 40 minutes

It was a gloomy morning; but, I hadn’t been under the water since the end of lobster season several weeks ago.

Diving conditions over the last couple weeks have been reported as “cold with crappy visibility.”

Plus, I was suppose to dive the Palawan with the Divevets who were accompanying a Daily Breeze reporter – the trip I was suppose to be on was canceled due to conditions and secretly rescheduled without me.

So, I feel cheated by that group, but oh well; I guess I’ll see April 20th when the story comes out as to who they picked to go over me.

The Vet’s parking lot was sparse with divers, but I did recognize a few faces.

I geared up and was in the water around 9:45 AM.

I submerged to 20 feet and headed West, down the shelf.

Vis was 10 above the shelf, but over the shelf it got really dark and really cold.

I tried to find the “monument” or “the blocks” at 65 feet, but I couldn’t.

I still had plenty of air and was determined to find something of interest.

The first thing I did to ensure I would get some interesting pictures is take yet another self portrait …

I trolled for a bit at 85 feet or so and was looking for something besides myself to photograph.

A starfish gives Jiu Jitsu to a conch.

A crab guards the last of the squid egg sacks on the bottom of the canyon.

I fumbled with my camera for a while, trying to figure out how to turn the flash back on.

I made sure I was still paying attention to my air and bottom time; you don’t necessarily have to be hunting to be distracted.

I swam back up the shelf and almost ran in to a gigantic human eating crab that was guarding the edge of the canyon…

I slowly swam in, taking my safety stop on the “stroll.”

I dove with my newly acquired computer, but aside from the depth and temperature (given in the metric system!), it really doesn’t seem to tell me anything that the tables don’t tell me before I hit the water.

I came across a patch of loose kelp and I looked close…

Oh yeah!

Lobsters are really stupid creatures, but they’re smart enough to know when lobster season is over!

Two lobsters were hiding under kelp that was sloshing around in 20 feet of water.

These stupid creatures were smart enough to hide and survive during lobster season, but didn’t have a problem with taking a daytime walk now!

I made an easy, but cautious, exit as the surf was kicking up.

I watched a few newbies, probably students, enter through the surf…

Thankfully, no problems with their entry or my dive.

I debriefed for a little while with Budweiser and Clamato juice – an excellent breakfast beer – while I showed a student my spare air.

It feels good to get in the water again!

Public beach access at Old Marineland (aka Long Point, Terranea resort) is closed “temporarily for 30 days” while construction near the coast takes place.

The last time Old Marineland was closed for 30 days, we didn’t have beach access for almost three months.

Diving has really sucked for the last one or two weeks; cold water (52 degrees), swells, and shitty vis (0-3 feet) has been reported in all the areas around Palos Verdes and Redondo Beach.

With that being said, I finally sat down and compiled my “Lobster Hunting Recap For The 2007 Season.”

Number of Lobster Hunting Dives: 25
Total Number Of Lobsters Caught: 37
Number of Trips that I limited on: 1
Number of trips I got skunked: 1
Average lobsters caught per dive: 1.48

All during lobster season, I always took a bag with me in hopes of maybe running across a lobster.

However, I only considered a “lobster dive” if it was at night and I went just to look for lobster; I never was lucky enough to catch a lobster during a casual dive.

As far as the quantity of lobsters caught this season?

It was not as plentiful as in previous years.

I’ve heard that the hoop netters caught most of the lobsters, not leaving many for the divers.

I find that hard to believe

In talking to some friends who work at Quality Seafood at the Redondo Beach Pier, even the commercial lobster trappers had a hard time this season.

At the beginning of the season, lobsters are pretty shallow – 15 to 40 feet.

As the storms and swells approach at the end of the year, the lobsters move deeper.

For a while this season, it didn’t seem that there were any lobsters off shore at all.

A tech diver told us that the lobsters were all at 270 feet when he dove the Sacramento wreck – a depth that hoop netters and recreational divers can’t safely reach.

I think with the bugs that deep, it gave us the impression that the lobsters were scarce.

Late season storms, I think, drove the lobsters back deeper again.

Next year, in addition to a fishing license and ocean enhancement stamp, we will be required to carry a “lobster report card.”

But, I have good hopes for next season.

The bugs were scarce this season, but by next year, the “almost legals” will be legal and the ones hiding deep hopefully will come back shallower.