Last time I was here (2 days ago), I looked at a large rocky area about 150 meters off the shore. Today (Dec. 28, 2020), I wanted to explore another rocky area closer to shore just North of the entry-point cove. Visibility seemed a bit better today (15-20') than it was 2 days ago. I swam out on the surface to the Northern point of the tiny bay and descended there.
Below about 30' deep, there were lots of red urchins. This species is thought to live around 100 years and 200 year lifespans were found to be common in colder waters in B.C. and Alaska. Despite seeing lots of urchins that are potentially older than Canada, I very rarely see juveniles. I don't know if this means that they reproduce very slowly or occasionally, but today I saw one of these tiny juveniles.
I followed my compass straight out from the base of the rocky slope near shore (50' deep). There was a gentle slope of sand with rocky reefs scattered around. The farther out I swam, the more "currenty" the marine life became. My maximum depth was around 75'. Out here, the rocks were covered with giant barnacles and tunicate colonies. I saw a few patches of encrusting hydrocoral and on one of them I saw a tiny purple ring-top snail. These used to be common around Ten Mile Point (and other areas with hydrocoral). In 2016 when the small white barnacles invaded Ten Mile Point (and many other areas in B.C.), the hydrocoral disappeared. Since purple ring-top snails are associated with hydrocoral, they disappeared too. Since then, the hydrocoral has returned, but I still haven't seen any of the purple ring-top snails. Hopefully the baby one I saw today means they are returning.
