I was actually planning to dive somewhere else today (May 29, 2009), but the wind and waves were stirring up the Esquimalt-to-Trial Island waterfront, the current was running at maximum in the Oak Bay/Ten Mile Point area and the plankton was in full bloom in Saanich Inlet. So I came here, which worked out ok since I haven't been here in a while and I've been meaning to have another look. It was low tide and the shallows in the bay were full of stirred-up silt and stringy plankton bits. Fortunately, the visibility cleared up outside the bay, but it was still only 10-15 feet, which is about all you can expect in this area (especially in May). I followed the rocky reef out around the right-hand point, eventually making it down to about 60 feet before I had to turn around. The muddy bottom and much of the rocky reefs were covered with shrimp. I also saw several medium-sized great sculpins. I lost count eventually. They seemed to be perched on the rocks and the mud wherever I looked. They would sit still on the bottom when I swam close to take a picture, but they couldn't resist quickly gulping down the shrimp that jumped in front of them. It's strange that in the first 10 years or so that I've been diving, I never saw any and now lately, they seem to be common. There were also the usual nudibranchs (mostly clown and alabaster), urchins, scattered plumose anemones and California cucumbers. Other than the great sculpins I saw a few large cabezon. I couldn't get close enough to them for a decent picture. Sometimes the first thing I would see was a cloud of silt and them charging off in the distance. I also saw a few white-spotted greenlings, some copper rockfish and a group of small vermilion rockfish at the deeper end of the reef. I still don't think this place is worthy of "famous local dive" status, but it's interesting to visit once in a while.
