Since June, 2016 I've seen small white barnacles taking over Ten Mile Point and other spots in the Victoria area. I came back to Spring Bay on Oct. 28, 2016 to see how things have changed here. Visibility was about 30', which is probably the best I've ever seen here. I swam around the rock point and down the boulder/sand/rubble slope.
I turned right and followed a rocky reef at about 50-60' deep. There were quite a few barnacles all over the rocks, but they weren't completely covering them. There were lots of whelks, which are a barnacle predator. I also saw a small sunflower star, which I think is the first one I've seen in this area since the die-off. There were also hundreds of baby yellowtail rockfish, maybe 3 or 4" long.
I turned around and swam North-West towards the rock wall/boulders where I usually dive when I come here. The small rocks I swam over also didn't have many barnacles on them.
I reached the steep-ish rocky area where I usually dive. This area (40-60' deep) was now completely covered with the small white barnacles.
I kept swimming North-West and the barnacles thinned out. They were still many more than there used to be only last year, but you could still see encrusting pink coralline algae on the rocks instead of just white. On a small urchin-covered reef there was a juvenile wolfeel and a grunt sculpin.
I turned around and swam back past the barnacle-packed area and up to the shallows in the bay.
