These photos are from Nov. 10, 2019. This time I wanted to swim straight out East from the islet since the marine chart showed a steep drop there to around 100' deep.
I took a compass heading on the surface so I wouldn't get turned around underwater and swam down the rocky slope. The rocky base of the islet ended about 45' deep and then there was a very gradual silty-sand slope. I followed it out for quite a way, but I only reached a depth of 60' and didn't see any more rocky areas. There were a few nudibranchs on the sand, but not much else. Visibility was about 30'.
I gave up on the East side of the islet. I swam back to the base of the rocky slope and followed it South to the area that I usually dive.
Much of this area was pretty lifeless. Most of the rock surfaces were covered with the empty shells of dead barnacles. I assume these are the remains of the barnacle infestation that hit the B.C. and Washington coasts a few years ago. The last time I dove here was in 2011 and there were no sign of the barnacles then. I did remember that the rocks seemed grey and silty. Today, they still seemed grey and silty. There were some areas with lots of swimming scallops.
I finally reached the good part of this site. This area has a great variety of adult rockfish, including black, yellowtail, copper, quillback, vermilion and canary. The first time I dove here I saw an adult wolfeel out in the open. Today, I saw a much smaller juvenile looking out of its den. There are also lots of plumose anemones on the boulders.
I swam back up to the islet. The rocky reefs and boulders were such a maze, I had to use my compass to find my way back to shore.
