Deep, Dark and Delightful...

It was great to get a note from James Young earlier this week inviting participation in what might be a final dive of the season on the Munson. It was even better to discover that it was an evening that I could actually get out on the water. So, to cut a long story short, Dianne, Marc-Etienne, Todd and I joined a small group heading for the site last night. Unsurprisingly, it was a night dive, and the near full moon was delivering little light through a high, overcast sky. That just made the descent on the Munson's large line more inviting. At depth, the visibility was pretty good, likely in the order of 35-40 feet. The temperature, although slightly colder than in recent days, didn't plummet at depth. Most divers reported 50℉ (10℃). One little treat for the early visitors was to see some short, slim, silver-coloured fish hugging the bottom. Positive identification wasn't achieved, but candidates include Walleye Fry, Emerald Shiners or maybe Rainbow Smelt. None of these particularly common. It may have been a little cool on the homeward run, but the mood of the divers was very positive. Many thanks to James and Nancy for making this dive possible.

Oh what a night..!

On Marc-Etienne's suggestion, several of us made a night dive this evening from the ramp by the Marine Museum. Six divers had fun venturing out to the barge in rather limited visibility and then returning to tour the logs. The predominant fish species seen, if you ignore the overwhelming number of Gobies always present, was Catfish. Many of them were swimming around in the rather murky water. A couple of decent Walleye were also spotted under the ramp supports during the final minutes, and many pretty large Perch were around too.

It's been a while since I've been out to the barge and it was good to see that the line is intact and the wreck itself makes an interesting tour. Somehow, by night it seems larger.

Todd had a chance to try out his new light, which is an LED model with three 'bulbs'; very bright and effective - no missing him in the water. Total dive time about 40 minutes.

Another Diver Advances...

Todd celebrated Canada Day today with his final adventure to complete his Advanced Open Water certification. We went to Morton's Wharf and enjoyed many encounters with marine wildlife. Several Carp visited us, a large Catfish, at least one magnificent Walleye and, of course, lots of Bass and Gobies. Visibility was not too good and there's a huge, shifting mass of bright green algae on the top of the Wharf. Otherwise, the dive was a lot of fun and allowed both of us to exhibit good buoyancy control as we moved up and over the wall several times.