Some underwater pics of yesterday's dive

[fnfalman]

[fnfalman]

The two massive fishies are the giant black seabass. These aren't black, but a lot of times they are black and that's the name of the species. They are massive, figuring about 7-ft length and maybe 600+ lbs. Very rare to see in California's water because they got killed off by trophy fishing, trophy spear hunting and just regular fishing. So they are currently on the protected list and they usually live in blue water and only come closer to shores during the summer. So it's quite a treat to see. My diving partner is 6ft3, 285-lbs and he looked tiny comparing to these fish.

The orange fish is the garibaldi. That's the California state fish (I believe), very territorial and not afraid of coming up and confront you.

The shot of the sea urchin is pretty sweet. The neon colored copies are numerous. They live on the rocks close to these sea urchins so they get protection from the spikes.

[ceo012384]

Whoa cool shots! I like this one:

Originally Posted by fnfalman

[the chi]

those are some pretty darn nifty shots!! I would be afraid that the big fish would eat me tho!! Whew!

[fnfalman]

Originally Posted by Rae

those are some pretty darn nifty shots!! I would be afraid that the big fish would eat me tho!! Whew!

Giant sea basses don't eat people, they're so gentle and amenable that you can almost touch them before they back away slowly. It's quite a rare treat to see them in California water nowadays. Thirty or more years ago, they were more plentiful.