The Yukon is a 366 foot long ship. Nearly twice the length of the Mahi. It is a really large wreck. It went down a little prematurely when they were preparing it for sinking and it rolled and landed on its port side, so the top surface is actually the starboard side.
Today was the first time that we had sunshine for the entire trip. Once again, I was the Divemaster for our group. I briefed Dewey and Ken on what we would do. We were tied off to the observation tower just forward of the aft gun turret. This was the first time either of them had been below 60 feet. They were just happy to follow along and get to see this first-hand. We dropped down the mooring line to the tower and then on down to the bottom. Maximum depth for the dive was 96 feet and minimum temperature was 48 degrees. It was frigid even in a 7 mil wetsuit with my hooded vest. I was glad we were as limited on time due to depth as we were.
We checked out the aft gun turret and then swam slowly to the stern of the ship. I tried to take a few photos of the Plumose Anemones and other interesting things, but the camera was fogged due to the extreme temperature difference. I kept the fogged photos in the slideshow at the end of this post just for kicks. The Plumose Anemones are at least a foot long and the open heads are about a foot across. They are stark white and really pretty. Most of the interior of the wreck has now been colonized by Club-Tipped Anemones. It is pretty spectacular to see.
We swam up and across the stern and back along the keel of the ship to where the tower is located. Ken was at 1000 psi when we got back to the tower, so we began our ascent back up the mooring line. When we got to 48 feet, we paused for a two minute deep safety stop and then we went on up to 15 feet. While we were doing our three minute safety stop, a comb jelly came floating by. I managed to get a couple of photos of it before it drifted off. It was similar to the one I saw and photographed in Hawaii last year, but I got much better photos this time. It is a Leucothea pulchra / Phylum Ctenophora / Order Lobata / Family Leucotheidae.
Comb Jelly (Ctenophore)
We finished the safety stop and and completed our ascent and got out. The water on the surface was like bathwater after the chilly dive.
During the surface interval, we moved over to the mooring on the wheelhouse. The second dive was pretty much the same as the first. The main difference was that we covered more ground and I was colder then the first time down. We only descended to 90 feet and the low temperature was 50 degrees, but we had lost enough core temperature the first dive that it just felt colder.
We dropped down the mooring line to the wheelhouse and swam back along the deck of the ship to where we could see the observation tower and then turned around an swam back to the wheelhouse. Both guys still had pretty good air left, so we swam along the deck clear to the bow and then came back along the top edge of the ship to the wheelhouse. When we got back, I discovered that the camera had cooled off enough inside the housing that it was no longer fogged. I got a few photos and when Ken was down to 1000 psi, we headed back up the mooring line.
White-Plumed Anemone (Metridium)
Leather Star
Red Gorgonian
Club-Tipped Anemone
Once again, we ascended up the mooring line and did a two minute deep stop at 45 feet and then a three minute stop at 18 feet. The surface water felt so good again!
We tried to tie up to the Ruby C, but broke the mooring line twice. The Captain finally abandoned that and we dove the NOSC Tower again for our final dive. It was colder on the bottom today, but much clearer and better viz. The cold fogged my camera again and drove us up to the top of the structure. When it unfogged I managed to snap a few photos. When Ken had 700 psi left, I bailed and we ascended.
Plumose Anemone
Calico or Kelp Bass
Senorita Wrasse
1 comment:
Even fogged some of those pictures are pretty cool! I'm glad that you are having such a good experience.
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