Happy New Year

I'd like to wish everyone a happy and healthy new year and thank everyone for the excellent year I have enjoyed. I have been lucky enough to work with some of the best charter operators and dive professionals in the industry today. These people have helped me obtain images and experience adventures that I had only dreamt about before. I had the honor this year to be published a number of times and make the cover of a magazine. I have to specifically thanks all the divers that came out for my West Coast Shootouts and am looking forward to continuing these monthly dive trips into 2011. I also have to thank Jessie Kunce from Pinnacle Scuba Adventures for providing me the access to many new and exciting dive sites and helping me get some of the best images I've ever produced. I have many new projects planned for the new year and am really looking forward to what may come.

All the best and thanks

Scott

West Coast Shootout #12 - 2010 Finale

The plan for the final West Coast Shootout of 2010 was to dive Saanich Inlet with Pinnacle Scuba Adventures. One dive was to be at Sananus Island and the second was planned for Repulse Rock (The White Lady). The day began with the remnants of the torrential down-pour from the previous day breaking, and all that was left was the fresh water runoff clouding the surface of the water with a thick brown cast so bad that a number of the divers on board were very skeptical of how the dives were going to turn out. These condition did not discourage me because of all of my previous dives in Saanich Inlet, the water colour on the surface is not a good indication of what the visibility is below and I wanted to push on. Sananus Island is an amazing dive site: this small island just north of Brentwood Bay is one of the only places on Southern Vancouver Island to have cloud sponges accessible at recreational limits making it a great spot for all divers including tech divers and underwater photographers.

As everyone returned from the first dive they were ecstatic about the cloud sponges, but most importantly how great the visibility was once everyone descended below the initial 15 ft (3 m.) of brown fresh water. The water at this depth completely cleared up and visibility was around 50 – 60 ft. (17-20 m.)! We then motored towards our second dive destination, Repulse Rock, but the wind began to pick up as we got closer to the dive site to the point where we were unable to dive safely. The consensus with the group was to dive McCurdy Point, which was much more protected from the nasty weather. The topography as we approached the site according to the sounder looked very favorable for the divers. Everyone returned even more excited from this dive than the one at Sananus Island: the life and visibility they reported was beautiful and everyone wanted to return to both locations to spend more time exploring on a future trip.

Everyone on board was so pleased with the day of diving and this was a great conclusion to 2010′s West Coast Shootouts.

Scott


 
Additional images from West Coast Shootout #12 link

The Ogden Point Reef Ball Project featured in the Time Colonist.

The Victoria Times Colonist in conjunction with UVic knowEDGE will be featuring a story about Valerie Mucciarelli and the Ogden Point Reef Ball Project at the Ogden Point Breakwater. The December 26, 2010 issue will feature the story written by Peigi McGillivray with underwater images from Scott Stevenson of Pacific Marine Imaging.

Whites Fusion Drysuit Photo shoot

Here are some of the images from the photo shoot I did with Whites Manufacturing back in September. These suits made their debut at DEMA 2010 and now that Whites are going to be selling them to the public in the new year I am able to post some images from that shoot.

Scott

Addition Images

New Fusion Drysuit Images posted on Whitesdiving.com

Whites Manufacturing has posted some of the images on their website from the Fusion Drysuit photo shoot I did for them back in September. Now that the new Fusion Drysuits have been showcased at DEMA, I am able to share some of the images from this photo shoot.

Scott

Dive Weekend Part 2 - Race Rocks and the Bedford Islands

Day two of our little mini adventure we planned visit to Race Rocks and Church Island. We left the marina on time with the forecast looking excellent for our dives to come. As we exited the mouth of Pedder Bay it was clear, calm, and crisp. We had a full boat with a total of 8 divers on board, all of whom seemed thrilled for the day’s adventures! After a vote on whether to visit the sea lions or West Race Rocks, it was unanimous that the Sea lions at Helicopter rock were the choice of the day. The dive went perfectly the sea lions where as playful as ever and I was able to get some great shots of them frolicking in the shallows and interacting with the other divers. After the dive everyone on board the boat were sharing stories of their encounters and ready to visit the next dive site. Jessie turned the boat west towards Church Island for our second dive.

As we approached the West side of the island it was clear that although there was little wind, there were still 3 meter swells crashing into the west side of Church Island. Jessie first priority is the safety of the diver and after observing the conditions moved us to a different location. We made our way towards the more protected Island of West Bedford for our second dive. If visibility is good, this site has some great topography and offers a beautiful dive. Unfortunately, the visibility today was below average due to the high winds and surge the day before. The nice thing about diving around BC is that even if the visibility is low you can still have a great dive. We were lucky enough to encounter a Giant Pacific Octopus just resting on one of the rocks. It was just awesome because a number of people in the group had never seen one out in the open. I was able to get a number of great images before the octopus crawled away.

Two great day of diving! Thank you to Jessie, and everyone from Seattle for a great weekend. 

Scott

Race Rocks dive site link / images
Bedford Islands dive site link

Dive Weekend Part 1

I was invited out with Pinnacle Scuba Adventures for a weekend of diving and help Jessie showcase our wonderful dive sites to a group that had come up from Seattle, Washington for the weekend. Unfortunately the weather doesn't always cooperate and the 20-25 knot Southwesterly wind and swell prevented us from visiting Church or Swordfish Island on this trip as we had originally planned. So as all good captains do, we changed our plans and decided to dive at Albert Head. Albert Head is a great dive site that can be dove when the conditions are unworthy on the west side of Vancouver Island. The wall is always covered in life and during the summer months there is a large kelp forest that is home to a large number of rockfish. Once back on the boat, the folks from Seattle were extremely please to have seen a number of different nudibranch species as well as some Northern Abalone. I was able to get some great images of large colonies of Hooded Nudibranchs that were spawning all over the kelp in the shallows.  It was really nice to have the opportunity to showcase a dive site to divers that would not normally have the chance to dive the area, and who were both accommodating and enthusiastic throughout the trip. The great dive site and even better company made the day a success for all.


Scott

   

Albert Head dive site link

Additional images from Albert Head link

Whites Manufacturing Fusions Images at DEMA

Here are some of the images from the Whites Manufacturing booth at DEMA. The images where used for posters at the both. I shot the images for them of the new Fusion Drysuits they will be releasing to the public in the new year. These suits are awesome and I can't wait to show off more of the pictures.

Scott

  

It’s Sea lion time once again

Every winter I have the opportunity that only a few lucky other divers get to experience. When the Sea lions congregate at Race Rocks, it is one of those magical times that every diver should have the opportunity to experience. Diving with these huge beasts parallels jumping in the water with other enchanting ocean inhabitants such as whale sharks in Roatan, turtles and dolphins in Hawaii, hammerheads in the Galapagos, and the sardine run in South Africa. These fun loving, and very curious creatures amaze and entertain new and experienced divers alike, while soaring through the water with the greatest of ease. Every diver has a bucket list: you know the one, that list of all the places you want to dive or all the creatures you want to see before you stop diving. Race Rocks when the Sea lions are present needs to be on that list. For me, it’s just a short boat ride away. For the rest of you it may be a little further, but it is truly worth the journey.

The Sea lions generally stay around Race Rocks from early November through to mid February. The photographic opportunities are endless and the reefs and wrecks around Race Rocks are worth checking out if you tire of the Sea lions. Stellar and California Sea lions, as well as Harbour and Elephant Seals all inhabit the rocks in the area. Remember, Race Rocks is a marine park so please be respectful of all the creatures.

Scott

     

Additional Sea lion images - link

West Coast Shootout # 8 - The Barkley Sound Adventure Part 3

Day 3: Pure Exuberance

                  Our last day in Barkley Sound: sad, but we were excited to continue diving, and to see so much more!  Day three began much the same way as day two: beautiful blue skies and very little wind. We had decided after much deliberation to dive three unique dive sites that day rather than returning to one we had done on the previous day. We want to stretch out a bit to cover more area around Barkley Sound to not only look for a six gill, but to discover some memorable dive sites as well.  The plan was to do two dives in the morning, head back to camp for lunch, and head back out early in the afternoon for the last dive so that we would have time to drop everyone off in Bamfield and motor back to Port Alberni before it got dark.

                  Sanford Island Reef was our first stop, and what a spot it was! This reef is located on the south end of Sanford Island. This is not a particularly deep reef, only reaching 50 - 60 ft. (15 – 18 m.), but is quite spread out over a large area. Sanford Island is south of the Deer Group, and is a favourite spot for kayakers and campers as it has a number of small sheltered bays and beaches. Where the reef is located is about a kilometer or so from the island, which makes it susceptible to the large ground swells coming in from the open Pacific Ocean. We decided to drop anchor and use it as our decent line because of the surface current and because we weren’t sure about how good the visibility was going to be. We dropped below the surface only a few inches and WOW, clear beautiful water along with a kaleidoscope of colour. The bottom resembled rolling hills covered in invertebrates, anemones, hydroids, corals and fish. This site is definitely comparable to dive sites in Port Hardy and Quadra Island. The only real issue with this site is the ground swells: even at 50 ft. (15 m.) everyone was being pushed around by the surge. These conditions are not for inexperienced divers as the lack of control could create problems if you have not yet mastered your buoyancy. These conditions also posed a great deal of challenges for those of us with cameras! Swirling around in the water trying to focus on a subject tries the patience of even the most seasoned photographer.

About three quarters of the way through the dive, my shooting was interrupted by Ken and Jason frantically waving their lights at me to follow them. As I approached the area that they had lead me to I could see Andy focusing on a bit of the sub strait and his strobes were flashing away, although I couldn’t initially see what he was photographing. It isn’t often that I see Andy snapping away this intensely unless it’s something truly wondrous and this definitely was: Jason and Ken had stumbled upon a Starry Skate! The waters along the BC coast have one common species of skate: the Big Skate, along with three very rare, and very deep dwelling skates: the Longnose Skate, Sandpaper Skate and Starry Skate. Skates are a type of elsamobranch (sharks and rays), most closely related to rays and have a worldwide range, while living mostly in temperate waters. This was an unprecedented opportunity for Andy and I as we now had the chance to photograph a new and unique species for both of us. Most scientists we have talked to since had no idea that Starry Skates even came this far north. Not only did we get to see this animal for the first time in the wild, we were able to get some great images. Looking back on that moment I feel so lucky to have seen this creature, and to have been able to share the experience with my friend. Once we were back on the boat everyone was ecstatic: smiling and laughing. WOW, what a first dive!

                  Our second dive of the day was at Meade Shoal. The shoal is located just off of Meade Islets in Imperial Eagle channel. If you can imagine a cliff underwater, this is what made up the west side of Meade Shoal. The visibility was great and as we dropped down the anchor line it was clear that this could be another perfect spot to look for six gill sharks. The rocks were covered with invertebrates, and rockfish swam all around us. Tiger, Quillback, and China Rockfish seemed to be the most common species along the wall, but huge schools of Silvergreys and Yellowtails were also all around. Once again we encountered numerous Ratfish throughout the dive at all depths. The top of the wall started in about 20 ft. (7 m.) and plummeted to a depth of 140 ft. (42 m.) With the excellent visibility and natural light, you could see well below 140 ft. (43 m.) as the rocky bottom stretched on down into the darkness. This was a great dive for anyone who loves lots of life and amazing topography. Unfortunately still no luck finding a six gill!

                  For our last dive of the trip, we returned to a place close to Tyler Rock for one last attempt at finding this elusive six gill shark. Muntine Point is located just east of Tyler Rock on the Vancouver Island side, just at the entrance of the Alberni Channel.  We chose this site at the recommendation of Rendezvous Dive Lodge. We had stopped in at Rendezvous to check out this amazing location, and to see if we could get some information on some of the local sites. Rendezvous is an amazing place and if you’re in the area please look them up for an adventure in Barkley Sound. Muntine was a very interesting wall dive. The life here is not as prolific as the other spots we had been to in the area, however the top of the wall sitting in 50-60 ft. (15-18 m.) was littered with Ratfish egg casings. We were lucky enough to have a sea lion encounter as well, as we descended down to reach the main wall. The wall itself was covered in invertebrates and large Plumose Anemones along with a multitude of rockfish species hovering close to the wall.  Unlike other spots, the Ratfish here were not as inquisitive as others we had encountered. 

                  This trip was not only an amazing experience for all of us, but it provided us with the opportunity to gain some necessary experience when we head back for our next trip to Barkley Sound. I would like to thank Jessie and Shawn from Pinnacle Diving for all of their hard work to make this trip happen and to everyone who came along: Jason, Robert, Kelli, Andy, and Ken. This trip couldn’t have happened without you guys. For those of you who dive, and want to experience an extraordinary adventure, head out to Bamfield and the Barkley Sound area. Who knows, maybe you will even spot the six gill we spent two days searching for!

Scott

  

     

West Coast Shootout # 8 - The Barkley Sound Adventure - Part 1 / Part 2

Adventure Day Recap

Beechy Head and South Bedford Island (Wreck of the Swordfish)

Wow its a little cold out there! Although the thermometer read -4 Celsius the team was assembled and ready to commence with the days adventure. Jessie had prepared "The Pinnacle" for the day’s adventure ahead, and I was very optimistic with what lied ahead. Getting to the first dive site took a little longer than usual, as the cold seems to slow everything down one way or another. We arrived none worse for wear to our first dive site, The Wreck of the Swordfish. It was an Iron Hulled sailing  ship that sank in 1877 after striking the Southern reef off South Bedford Island. It was a great day for current: between 11am and 3pm there was nothing over 1.5 knots and none of us had any problem finding parts of the wreckage in the kelp forest. This dive site was covered with a great variety of life from wolf eels to sponges and anemones.  Pair the abundant sea life with the history behind the wreckage, and you have a first class dive site.

Although we had three dives planned, the wind had begun to pick up, however we did manage to squeeze in our second dive at Beechy Head, which was a stellar dive. The wall is covered in life and painted in an array of colour that cannot be described, as you must experience it first hand. Anemones, sponges, and rockfish adorned both the wall and surrounding water, making for dive that filled all senses.  As we surfaced from the dive the snow had begun to fall. Back on board we all sat in the heated cabin and talked about everything we had seen on the two dives and how epic the day had been. 

Scott

Adventure Day

This Sunday I am head out for Pinnacle Scuba Adventures "Adventure Day." Elasmo-man Andy Murch, Extreme Diver Chris Vanderford, Aqua-model Ken McAlpine and myself are stoked for some adventure. We are going to explore some lesser known west coast dive sites. These sites include the current swept reef off of Beechy Head, the historic Wreck of the Swordfish just off of South Bedford Island, and the majestic O’Brian Point. I plan to take tons of great images and share them and the story on the blog when we get back!


Scott

Some Cool Dives!

Saturday’s trip to Swordfish Island and Race Rocks was great! We had pretty good weather and the visibility was 30+ feet. I went out with Pinnacle Scuba Adventures and on board was Paul Kennell from cooldives.com, along with some other divers. I had wanted to meet Paul for quite some time and really wanted him to experience how great race Rocks and Swordfish Island really where. 

Swordfish Island proved to be a great first dive. The visibility in the tunnel was great and everyone really enjoyed the amazing life that thrives in that unique environment. Dive number two was at Helicopter Rock located in the middle of Race Rocks which provided some of the best Sea lion interaction we have had this year! I was so stoked on all the images I was able to get. Paul and the other divers where ecstatic about the two dives and Jessie proved once again to be a great host. 

Scott






Check out Paul’s account of the days adventures link
Race Rocks images link
Swordfish Island images link
Sea lion images link 

Clean Bin Project Movie Screening

The Clean Bin Project is a feature documentary film about a regular couple and their quest to answer the question "is it possible to live completely waste free?".  Partners Jen and Grant go head to head in a competition to see who can swear off consumerism and produce the least landfill garbage in an entire year. Their light-hearted competition is set against a darker examination of the sobering problem waste in North American society.  Even as Grant and Jen start to garner interest in their project, they struggle to find meaning in their seemingly minuscule influence on the large-scale environmental impacts of our “throw-away society”.  Featuring interviews with renowned artist, Chris Jordan and marine pollution expert, Captain Charles Moore, The Clean Bin Project presents the serious topic of waste reduction with optimism, humour, and inspiration for individual action.
Grant is an old friend of mine, we go back all the way to elementary school. I want to get the word out about Jen and Grants great work. There is a screening of the film coming up in Victoria as well as multiple other screening on Vancouver Island and around B.C. Please come out and support a very good cause.

7pm Wednesday November 17th, 2010

Victoria Event Centre

1415 Broad Street (elevator access)

Doors open at 5:30pm

$10 suggested donation

Cash bar, local food concession, popcorn, Bubby Rose brownies, Wannawafels,  Level Ground Coffee, door prizes and more!

Help make this a waste-free event!

Please bring a mug for coffee, a bowl for popcorn and a plate and/or napkin for your pizza, brownie & waffle.

Website and blog: The Clean Bin Project

Follow the project:

      

West Coast Shootout # 8 - The Barkley Sound Adventure Part 2

Day Two: The Awesome Encounter

We awoke on the second day to a beautiful sunny morning: blue skies and no wind. This would be a perfect day to explore Barkley Sound.

  

     

Images courtesy of Kelli Meredith

Our first dive was at Tyler Rock. This pinnacle at the intersection of the Alberni Inlet and Trevor channel is one of the places where you can see six gill sharks, or so we where told. The top of the pinnacle sits in about 45 ft. (14 m.) of water. One interesting note about diving in this area is that there is no way to judge the currents. When diving at a place like Race Rocks or Browning Wall you depend on the current markers to tell you when slack tide is and what direction the water is flowing; Barkley Sound however is quite different. The sound is only affected by the open ocean currents, which at its highest point only runs at about 1 knot (we dove 5 different sites over two days at different time and experienced no current whatsoever at any of the spots, the only time we felt any was at Tyler Rock on the surface). This pinnacle has a distinct point and then drops down quite sharply to a depth of about 150 ft. (50 m.) on all sides. The bottom slopes further beyond this point to depths reaching 300 ft. (100 m.)  This site is suitable for just about anyone: there is enough life here to keep underwater photographers happy for hours and the depth and topography is perfect for tech and recreational divers as well.  Tyler Rock was home to numerous species of rockfish and greenlings, however this place was infested with Spotted Ratfish! For those of us in the group that had never seen one, it was an exhilarating experience. These strange little creatures seemed were curious about us, and many of them swam right to us. One of the most interesting attributes of ratfish is the way they swim: they flap their fins as they glide through the water almost resembling a bird rather than a fish.

              The second dive of the day was at a small group of islands known as Baeria Rocks, which are an ecological reserve. Above water these little islands are a sea bird nesting area and below the water, home to an extensive range of marine life. We decided to dive off the north end of the largest island; having no idea what we where about to encounter was very exciting for all of us. We hoped for an encounter with a six gill however what we found was just plain AWESOME! We entered the water to find very poor visibility in the top 20 ft. (7 m.) but once we descended below that it opened right up to almost 40 ft. (12 m.) The walls and rocks that made up the island were covered in invertebrate life: anemones, hydroids, and hydrocorals covered the majority of the substrate, and huge purple sea urchins dotted the rocks. Just after entering the water we spotted a Giant Pacific Octopus huddled behind a rock staring at us. Having an opportunity as a diver to interact with one of these magnificent creatures is truly a memorable experience. For almost the entire dive, this octopus was the star of the show, crawling across the bottom, changing colour, and every once in a while reaching out to feel what we were. Once the octopus had jetted off into the depths we returned our attention the surrounding area to check out more of what this dive site had to. This is a site that needs to be explored more. The topography and depths are fascinating and the diversity of the marine life is worth multiple dives.

             Our last dive of the day we returned to Tyler Rock, the theory was that if we went back later in the day we might catch a glimpse of the elusive six gill. Unfortunately luck was not on our side, more ratfish and rockfish and a great encounter with a beautiful wolf eel but no six gill. The great thing about the trip was that our spirits where high from all the creatures we had seen but our hope of encountering a six gill shark the next day was not fading like the sun. We headed back to camp for some much needed food and libation. Tomorrow would bring a truly great surprise and even more photographic opportunities.

Tyler Rock Underwater Images

  

       

Baeria Rocks Underwater Images

 

     

West Coast Shootout # 8 - The Barkley Sound Adventure - Part 1 / Part 3

Scott