Dive #385 - Video

Date: May 25, 2009
Time: 6am
Location: Shaw's Cove
Depth (feet): 37
Dive Time (minutes): 63
Surf (feet): 1-3
Surge (feet): 2-5
Water Temp (fahrenheit): 61
Visibility (feet): 5-8
Visibility Description: Poor
Notes and Highlights: Dove with Len - first beach dive since Dec 10th - and only the 3rd for the year...felt great to be in the water regardless of conditions! The tide was very very low, and the 1-3's were breaking consistently...avoidable. Dropped down and spent some time inside the main passage to Crescent - too much surge to go all the way through comfortably, so we stayed outside the reef for the rest of the dive. Some Hopkins Roses, Spanish Shawls, a Cabezon and medium-sized bat ray were the highlights. Too much surge for very good macro, and too little vis for good wides. Said hello to Shelly...and basically enjoyed a leisurely dive in and around the reef. Was so happy to get back in the water that I kissed the sand on our exit...well...it may have looked like I stepped in a hole and face-planted...Mother Nature's "welcome back!". Overall a good time had by all, sandy gear included...and a short video clip to enjoy.

Dives #374, 375, and 376 - with Video

Date: July 20, 2008
Time: 10am-2pm
Location: Starlight/Indian Rock
Depth (feet): Max 51
Dive Time (minutes): lots
Surf (feet): 0
Surge (feet): 0-2
Water Temp (fahrenheit): 64-68
Visibility (feet): 15-30
Visibility Description: decent - could have been better
Notes and Highlights: Dove with Josh and Len on the Magician. First Catalina dive this year, and second for video (also brought the still camera). First two dives were at Starlight - enjoyable difference between the more open sandy areas and the healthy kelp over the rocky reef areas. On both dives we found one bat ray - video of one is below. Not a lot of animal life in general for all the dives - visibility wasn't stellar - a lot of particulate and general "murk"...but still a step up from beach diving recently. Water was generally warm, with some very distinct and bone-chilling thermoclines. Third dive was Indian Rock - again a lot of great kelp and the regulars - garibaldi, lobster, blacksmiths, etc - but none of the leopard sharks I've encountered in the past, and was hoping to get some footage of. Another nice, long and easy dive wrapped up an enjoyable day - smooth ride out and back...and a good time was had by all.

Dives #372 and 373 - Video

Date: July 16, 2008
Time: 5:45pm/8:15pm
Location: Shaw's Cove
Depth (feet): 41/39
Dive Time (minutes): 67/73
Surf (feet): 1-2
Surge (feet): 2-3
Water Temp (fahrenheit): 64
Visibility (feet): 5-7
Visibility Description: bad - murky
Notes and Highlights: Dove with David first and then Steve, David and Tom. First dive was still daylight - bad visibility though. Brought the video camera for the first successful video dive of the year. Housing held up for both dives...looks like it's gonna work. Too much surge in the crevice to spend much time - unfortunate as I found a Porter's Chromodorid, but I doubt anything of it will come out video-wise...too much surge at that spot. Hopkin's Roses and Spanish Shawls were also available for some macro shots. David found a nice moray eel - should have some footage of it to work with. Nightime produced a lot of octopus, rays and Steve found a plainfin midshipman - a different one than I've seen at Shaw's in the past. Camera is soaking...looking forward to reviewing the first 2008 footage, and overall a good time had by all.

Encounters2: Redux

I have republished this video with the divx codec - wasn't happy with Google compression.


Video includes a Turbot, Spanish Shawl, Porter's Chromodorid and Sea Lions...Enjoy!

Bula! - Fiji 2006: Redux

While I was "off-line" for a few months, I had the opportunity to re-visit my Fiji footage, and here is the result. Special thanks again to Alain Lecante and Mangrove Productions for the permission to use the wonderful music of Black Rose for the soundtrack. Their website is www.mangrove.ws, and is a great place to experience some of the incredible sounds of the South Pacific. The embedded video will require the Divx codec. Enjoy!


Scuba diving in Nadi Fiji, and several dive sites by the Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort near Savusavu, Fiji. Video includes sharks, lion fish, octopus, beautiful coral and much more. Footage was shot during day and night dives.

Dive # 351 - "Encounters 2"

Date: July 14, 2007
Time: 6:00am
Location: Deadman's Reef/Seal Rocks
Depth (feet): 45
Dive Time (minutes): 74
Surf (feet): 1+
Surge (feet): 2-4
Water Temp (fahrenheit): 59
Visibility (feet): 15
Visibility Description: still pretty murky
Notes and Highlights: Dove with Josh. We decided to spend some time on Deadman's, and then head over to Seal Rocks to finish out the dive. On the way over the sand to Deadman's, we found several skittish sanddabs, and a medium-sized, more photogenic turbot. On the reef it was Spanish Shawl city...and Josh found a Porter's Chromodorid - the second Porter's Chromodorid that I've seen. I was attacked by our orange-clad state fish...grabbed by the thumb pretty good while I was focussed on shooting a sheep crab...I was shooting really close on the crab, and the first thing I thought was that it had gotten a claw on me. As we were near the top of the reef - we broke the surface and swam over to Seal Rocks to conserve air. We hung around the north/west side, and there was a small group of sea lions that provided some entertainment and video opportunities...but overall they weren't as cooperative as I've seen in the past...perhaps they aren't as inquisitive in the mornings...we'd get flashes of them around us, and then they'd head off for us to find again. Overall a truly enjoyable dive...and a good time was had by all.

"Encounters" - New Video

Video footage from 2 scuba dives on June 27, 2007 in Laguna Beach, CA. Includes bat rays, blennies, nudibranchs and a moray eel.

New Video - "A Closer Look - Part One"

The maiden voyage of my new macro lens...a night scuba dive in Laguna Beach, California. Video includes Spanish shawls, Moray Eel, Octopus, Hopkin's Rose, and a small California Scorpionfish.

Swimming "Nude"

My first encounter with a free-swimming nudibranch