For our friend Mark’s last dive before he made his way back to England, we decided to head to Deep Cove. We had been hearing from other divers that they had seen Opalescent Squid there along with other areas in Saanich Inlet. These creatures are something that I’ve wanted to photograph for a while and was really hoping to see some on this particular dive.
Deep Cove is a popular dive site for many people because of the barge that is sunk in the marina. This wreck is great for training and is a haven for rockfish, and is actually one of the best spots to photograph Brown Rockfish. These curious little fish blanket the whole area around the wreck, along with a multitude of other rockfish species, nudibranchs and invertebrates.
Mark and I had planned however, to bypass the wreck, and instead enter the water facing into Saanich Inlet since that is where the reports of the squid had been seen. Similar to our dive at Henderson Point, the visibility was quite low and there was a mild current flow down into the inlet. We swam out from the point hoping that the visibility would clear up as we ventured further out, but this was not the case at all, it was actually getting worse. However, much to my delight around the 30 ft. (10 m.) mark we came across a clutch of Opalescent Squid eggs! I only managed to capture a few images before the current picked up and dropped the visibility to almost nothing. We decided to cut the dive short and headed in realizing that we could barely see each other let alone a squid that might swim by. Hopefully I will be able to head out again soon to the Inlet to catch a glimpse of this elusive creature.
Scott
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