First images from West Coast Shootout #1

Here is a glimpse at the first images from the first West Coast Shootout of 2011. Check out more at 8arm.com.
 

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

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