The Color Red, California's Channel Islands with Truth Aquatics

Waterlogged Date: 8/26/97

" saw a beautiful goby! It was red, with electric blue vertical lines. It was small, about 1 or 1 1/2 inches long. What could it be?!!" I exclaimed to a crowd of dripping divers after my first dive at Catalina Island. "Oh, it's probably a Catalina goby." one of them said. During the next dive I felt foolish. The gobies were everywhere; hundreds of them sat and watched me from the rocks. One of them even watched me from the mantle of a two-spot octopus! The color red makes striking photos and is somewhat unusual in the warm tropical waters where I typically dive. In California's Channel Islands, I discovered that red is a common color for the creatures that live in the beautiful kelp forests of the area. It is a wonderful experience to be a beginner again, excited by even the common marine life I find diving an unfamilar area. This was my second trip on the Truth Aquatics liveaboard, Conception. Our 4 day trip took us to Catalina and San Clemente Islands, the most southern of the Channel Islands and farthest from Santa Barbara, Truth Aquatics' base. The brilliant red Catalina gobies were common around both islands. Fire-engine red crabs, the Southern Kelp Crab, are large and ferocious looking with their big claws, but were timid subjects that hid themselves among the cracks and crevasses at Pyramid Head, San Clemente. Their color is striking and unlike the brown and rust colors of kelp crabs farther north. With help from my sharp-eyed dive buddy (and instructor), Ray Simon, we found an enormous quantity of spiny red lobsters on our dives, most were small. Every crack and crevasse seemed to have a group of 3 or more lobsters peering wide-eyed out at us. Two spots on the lobster's carapace appeared to be eyes from a distance. Only upon close inspection could their tiny eyes be seen in front of the spots. At night the lobsters practically took over the sea floor. Red gorgonians, along with pink and golden species flourish on the walls and pinnacles at Pyramid Head and Pyramid Point. These dramatically beautiful San Clemente sites were in kelp forests, but not with the usual sandy bottom. Here the divers circumnavigated one pinnacle after another swimming through large crevasses beneath the kelp roots where a variety of creatures lived in the shadows. On each dive we followed the beautiful amber kelp down to the rocky bottom where we searched the cracks and crevasses of the rough terrain. The diversity of life was amazing. The dense kelp shades most of the area so Ray brought a light to help spot the creatures. Numerous octopi, several species of gobies, in-your-face garibaldi, and the interesting little Treefish were there. The Treefish wedges itself into cracks in the rock. Its attempts at camouflage fail. Even with its black and yellow stripes, its red lipstick (a concession to the other red creatures I suspect) gives its presence away. These sly little fish are ever so patient with divers. The one photographed here on a sheer wall, simply rolled an eye as I struggled to control my buoyancy in my new dry suit and maintain a position on my side in a slight current along a wall at a site "West of Fishhook". This site had an abundance of the bright orange garibaldi that came at divers en mass from their nesting areas around the rocky underwater cliffs that plunged from 20 to 100 feet. Visibility in the area was exceptional, especially early in the morning. A number of the divers chose to snorkle the area between dives and reported that it was as good or better than the diving. Red anemones and other invertebrates were not as common in the south as in the northern islands, except near Catalina Island at Farnsworth Banks where we dived a pinnacle that was alive with invertebrates! An exceptional spot for macro photography, this spot was covered with the rare purple California hydrocoral as well as with red strawberry anemones, starfish, lobster, sea cucumbers nudibranchs and anemones of several species. As at many prime locations in the world for critters, this spot has strong currents that can affect diving the pinnacle and is not a dive site for beginners. I spent the end of my dive hanging onto the anchor line like a flag in a stiff breeze and facing into the current so that my mask would stay in place. Kelpfish live and feed in the kelp and usually disquise themselves as kelp leaves making them difficult to spot unless they move. They came in colors of gold, brown and again, for some unknown (to me) reason, red. All seemed to have a personality. Some were shy, some bold, all had a sparkle in their eye and a sly grin. I made it a mission to photograph them and was rewarded with several kelp fish tails. At 10pm on Saturday night Ray and I were inside sipping a drink when someone out on the dive deck yelled "Seals are coming up on the dive platform!" I ran out to see and watched as five Seals came up on the dive platform, across the dive deck and right into the dining salon where they proceeded to drink a couple of beers before swimming away in the dark. On other boats this would have been a problem, but Truth Aquatics is set up for and allows dripping divers and even dripping Seals in the lounge. We had a difficult time imagining that they would swim 1/4 mile from where they had been watching us from the beach, through the kelp and cold water in the dark just to check out a dive boat. The Seals of course, are US Navy Seals from their base on San Clemente Island. The 1/4 mile swim was no problem to these well-trained and fit young men! I suspect anyone who doesn't like California diving has simply never tried it. I added a little red to my photo library and a little weight to my body (that Truth Aquatics food is great!) on my trip and a lot to my knowledge of cold water diving. Marine life in the Channel Islands is not all red. This Tale could just as easily been written about purple, orange or yellow, or done in black and white with the sea lions, seals, sharks and kelp in the area. California diving is an affordable adventure that can be a weekend getaway or tied in easily with a vacation or as an extension to a business trip. Contact Truth Aquatics or visit their web site, www.TruthAquatics.com for information on their 1-5 day trips, special charters and special photo tours on their 3 boats, the Truth, Conception and Vision. Ray Simon, PADI course director, can certify you to use a dry suit. He charters Truth Aquatics boats several times a year and can provide rental suits and gear as he did for me on my first trip. To get in on one of his trips contact The Scuba Center at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, Ca. Story by Deb Fugitt.

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