brentwoodbayferryterminalreef

The marine chart and satellite image show some shallow rocks just South of the ferry terminal in Brentwood Bay. The chart shows the depths dropping off to about 50' or so on the far (West) side of these rocks. There is a short public access path down to the water from Brentwood Drive. I came here for a dive on Dec. 20, 2020.

These surface photos were taken after the dive when the tide was lower. When I first showed up, the steps ran down underwater about 2' deep.

Because of all the rain lately, there was a stream flowing down over the rocks and into the water in a small waterfall. This made the top couple of feet milky and hazy.

I swam out towards the rocks. There are a few buoys warning of this shallow area between them and the ferry/marina.

There were lots of oysters in the shallows. They've probably managed to survive here since it's illegal to kill them due to shellfish sanitary closures. Ironically, if the area was cleaned up and the marine environment was pristine, shellfish would probably be quickly wiped out.

Between the shore and the rocky area there was a plain of eelgrass. I reached some rocky reefs. The top of these rocks was about 10' deep.

On the far side of the shallow reefs, the rocky bottom dropped down to about 50-55' deep. There wasn't much obvious life. I saw maybe 2 small copper rockfish and a few perch. The muddy bottom at the base of the rocks had lots of bottles scattered around. A few had tiny octopus living in them. Visibility was about 40'.

I swam out from the base of the rock reef over the silty sand. My maximum depth out here was 70'. I saw a few smaller rocky areas and the remains of some sunken boats. I've never seen a sidescan image of the Brentwood Bay area, so I don't really know what there is to find out here. On a clear day like today, swimming around randomly in the bay, stumbling across surprise reefs and wrecks would be an interesting way to spend a dive.