The Humboldt Squid (Dosidicus gigas), also known as Jumbo Squid, Jumbo Flying Squid, or Diablo Rojo (Red Devil), is a large, aggressive predatory squid found in the waters of the Humboldt Current in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. They are most commonly found at depths of 200-700 meters (600 to 2300 feet), from Tierra del Fuego to California. Recent findings suggest the range of this species is spreading north into the waters of Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Alaska ~ Wikpedia
We got the best of the days this weekend for our New Years Dive. We held our breath and watched the weather reports and waited...... Morning arrived as did my ride. Time is a relative thing ....we weren’t late. That is a good thing. 9AM is a civilized time to set sail.
The parking lot at the Belmar Marina is in the midst of repair and refurbishing. Unfortunately some precious parking spaces have been lost to the beautification and improvement process. Take note for next year.
My first Jersey boat dive of this year was on the Stingray, so it is apropos that my last one should be. There were seven of us and the good Captain this morning, Mark and myself, Steve (SteveR), Ernie (theRookman), Bob (PIR8), Jeff, and Sean (Martini), ready for whatever was in store for us. There was some frost this morning, and the skies were a bit gray but the heater was roaring and the Scuba Gods smiled on us with near flat seas and occasional wide troughed roller. We were headed for the Northeast Sailor. This site was on my list of places to revisit since my dive there earlier in the season was cut short. These are all good things.
This wreck lies in 75 feet of water and is the remains of an unknown wooden sailing ship. The absence of towing bits is an indicator that this was probably not a schooner barge. Low lying wreckage remains along with a huge anchor pile and some machinery and boilers. Ernie had predicted 42F water with 15-20 foot viz. I contemplated the calm water and incoming tides as I geared up. My last dive of the year, I was hoping not to be disappointed. I rolled in and came up in a bit of current, swimming like crazy for the line at the back of the boat. Mark followed and we headed on down. There were chunks of particulate in the gray green water as we went down but light was filtering through and as the strobe on the chain came into view I smiled.
Mark tied off a reel and we set out to look about. There were a few issues with the reel and he wrestled with it as I looked about. I had my reel but he was determined and so we continued. We followed some ribs out and looked about and then poked around the chain pile looking in the dents and holes. While filled with swimmy guys, they were all rather small, some barely worth poking. I grabbed an occasional tail or two for fun as we moved along looking about. Steve passed by us with his spear gun in tow just as I spied a nice sized fish tucked into a hole in the chain. I looked up, ready to signal Steve with my light, but he was too far passed, so....................I poked it.
As we continued to look about the reel was still behaving badly and so we turned around to head on up. There was still the occasional starfish lying about, some rather large, and lots of shells and Ernie was wrong. While we had the 15-20 foot visibility, the water temperature was 44 F not 42F. That is a good thing.
On the surface there was no one to greet me at the ladder.....it was a wee bit cold topside and everyone was taking advantage of the heater and I managed a respectable climb up on my own before Ernie came out to help. My first time up this ladder this year I did not fair so well. It wasn’t pretty. As I end the year, I am getting better. And that too is a good thing. We snacked and traded stories on the surface interval. There were many lobster on this wreck but they were all small or females with eggs. The wreck is known for its deep holes and several large sets of claws were tucked waaay back. Unfortunately Bobs suit leaked, he looked like he jumped overboard without it and he was sitting the next dive out.
We headed for our next site, a new one for me, the Spring Lake Wreck, an unidentfied turtled schooner barge named for its proximity to the town of Spring Lake. A buoy had been left on the site from earlier in the year and Ernie went down the line to check things out as we got ready. Just before we were ready to splash in he appeared on the ladder ranting and raving and carrying on. Apparently there was quite the current on the bottom....and the visibility was only 5 feet......and it was cold.....and there were no fish....and the chain moved....and he had a hard time......and there were sharp bars crisscrossing the interior of the wreck..... There were some fish but that was the only redeeming quality of this wreck.... it was the worst dive of his life. Jeesh Ernie...tell us how you really feel.
The seas were picking up and we could see the promised foul weather coming in as we rolled over the side, with Jeff joining us Since Bob was remaining on top. The current was considerably stronger here as Ernie had mentioned and as I swam against it for the line I was having my doubts about making it. I could see me spending my projected 30 minute dive time kicking my heart out and swimming in place. We descended we had to watch for fish hooks caught on the line and unceremoniously arrived on the bottom. Not running a reel, we ran along the side of the wreck looking about and checking the wildlife hiding inside. The metal hull of this barge was slowly disintegrating and left many pieces having rusted and fallen to the sand below and the current was fairly strong so we stayed low to the sand as we moved about. As we swam along I suddenly spotted it. At first it looked odd and I couldn’t imagine what it was, it looked like long tentacles hanging below the ragged edge of the wreck, As we swam it moved down the line of the wreckage and Mark pointed so I knew he saw it too. Before I could move he stuck out his hand and grabbed for it. That’s my boy! I taught him well. We continued along peeking about but never encountered it again. We swam about and I poked at the occasional fish just inside the barge, and rescued two sinkers caught in the debris, and picked up my final shell for the year. While the water temp was just one degree colder we felt it and headed on up.
Our stop on the line was chilly but I took the time to consider the past year of diving and all that I saw and did, even on this last dive of the year. As we arrived on deck we quickly broke down our gear and headed into the warmth of the cabin.
I was telling Ernie about the tentacles we saw . I think it was a squid, maybe a Humboldt Squid, really, it could be. But I saw Mark shake his head. I guess he didn’t think it was a Humboldt, probably thought it was just a regular old Longfin Jersey Squid. Doesn’t matter.....it surely wasn’t just some algae, so it will forever remain in my mind as the giant squid on the Spring Lake Wreck.....this is a good thing....really.
We arrived back at the docks, safe and sound. Not the best of conditions. Not picture perfect dives. Jersey dives, typical Jersey dives....you know....the ones we all know and love. And that is a good thing.