Sydney's Swim Log
In Memory of Sydney
June 5, 1992 to February 19, 2003
Sydney, the Golden Seal, and I swam the Cove-to-Shores route many years predating this webpage. In fact, we made the trek so often that if you stand at the water's edge and look out to sea, you might note a slight indentation where we engraved a line in the water from one shore to the other with our countless kicks and paddling. Sydney's favorite activity was swimming, and her favorite place to be was in the ocean. She is irreplaceable. |
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| © 1999 Judith Garfield | ||
| During the summer, Sydney, my golden retriever-husky and I regularly swim in the underwater park. It’s another way to enjoy the park and check out the conditions and marine life over territory that covers the shallow parts of the ecological reserve. Below are Sydney's observations. (Hey, she's the leader; I just follow her.) | ||
Date: 10/5/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to Buoy A and back to the Cove
Time: 7 am
Visibility: 20+!!!
Comments: Scores of tiny juvenile blacksmith under the kelp and kelp paddies. Bit older loose schools of juvenile blacksmith as well. Juve senoritas and a bunch of garibaldi fish loping around each's individual territory. Clear and blue. Go out today 'cause it won't last.
Date: 10/4/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to Buoy A and back to the Cove
Time: 7 am
Visibility: 20+
Comments:Flat,flat, flat and blue, blue, blue. Barely there surge. Sun is out and today's the day to get wet in one way or another as long as a facemask is in the picture, as it were. Juvenile golden giant kelpfish glide in and out of the amber giant kelp. Clusters of tiny purple and yellow juvenile blacksmith hang under the giant kelp. Feather boa kelp is easy to see all tangled up on the ocean floor or standing up but somewhat in a stooped position. Top smelts, zebra perch, rocks, boulders and the like are waiting for you to take a peek at them. Don't disappoint them...or yourself!
Date: 10/2/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to Buoy A and back to the Cove
Time: 7 am
Visibility: 5-10'
Comments: Brrrrrrrrr. Churned up inside the Cove becuase of surge. Head out to the kelp for bluer water and better vis. Don't ask about cool stuff. Everything from here on out is cool...or cold.
Date: 9/30/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to Buoy A and back to the Cove
Time: 7 am
Visibility: 5-15'
Comments: Due to some turbulence inside the Cove, the vis was not available but out in the kelp, lots of topsmelt, kelp bass, senorita, and blue water (if a bit murky). Also, it being the time of year, there's lots of buoys to swim to if I get tired of the big, yellow one (guess if it's lobster season?). I just love my swims but the icing on the Milkbone this morning was someone saying that I was "...the best dog in the world!" That even beats last week when someone commented that I "...must be the happiest dog in San Diego." I am a lucky puppy for sure.
Date: 9/29/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to Buoy A and back to the Cove
Time: 7 am
Visibility: 15'
Comments: A rainbow!! Aren't I lucky to have seen it. There's an all-day swimming relay going on and I don't want to get schmooshed so I only went to the buoy. Could see all the way down to lots of stands of feather boa kelp. Acres of giant kelp riddled with kelp bass, juvenile senoritas, and halfmoons. Really blue and warmer than several days ago. Can't wait until tomorrow when I get my own personal playground back to me.
Date: 9/23/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to ???? and back to the Cove
Time: 7 am
Visibility: 15'u/w; 5't/s
Comments: It's a pathetic thing when there's better vis u/w than in the air. I decided today that I am NOT a fog dog.
Date: 9/22/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove
Time: 7 am
Visibility: 10-15'
Comments: Oh, oh, oh, the water temp dropped!!! Maybe 62 inside the Cove and 64 or 65 outside. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Not to worry. Touch my skin and it's still warm. Too bad we can't say that about my swim bud. Was it ever clear inside the Cove. Garibaldi dancing around, smelts, zebraperch, and all the plants and rocks and things look sharp not blurry. Enjoy if you can...but you may want to attach some neoprene to yourself first.
Date: 9/21/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove
Time: 6:30 am
Visibility: 10-15'
Comments: At least it's still warm. Oh boy, saw a stringy piece of a siphonophore. I tread gently around those things. Otherwise, same stuff.
Date: 9/20/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove
Time: 6:30 am
Visibility: 5-10'
Comments: Swell up and a bit of turbulence. Saw the baracuda school and a school of senoritas but nobody else. Came across one bat ray. Haven't seen them in a while. Nice and clear at the Shores but then again, why not, since its so shallow. Water still warm and worthwhile.
Date: 9/18/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to somewhere and back to the Cove
Time: 6:30 am
Visibility: 10-15'
Comments: Everything started out well. I waded in and started my swim just like usual. The zebra perch were right there at the shore's edge, along with a black surfperch. I skated over some kelp and noted a Norris' kelp snail suctioned onto a strand. Past a school of senoritas then by a buoy with lots of halfmoon fish. Dum de dum...and then I spied it! Haven't been faced with the Black Death since my first two swims in May. Harbor seal!!! I swam toward it to defend my territory but it disappeared only to return seconds later somewhere else. Enough was enough. With my ears flat back against my head and eyes as big as saucers, I swam to my dive buddy--crying. My swim back to the Cove was worth watching. If you think it's a neat trick to see a dog swim like I do, you would be even more impressed to see me RUNNING on the surface of the water. I will recover but it will take time.
Date: 9/16/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove
Time: 6:30 am
Visibility: 5-15'
Comments: It sure helps to have the sun out. Unfortunately, I didn't get its benefits until the end of my swim. Lots of schools out there still: opaleye, salema, baracuda, sargo, senorita. Best vis off the Caves.
Date: 9/15/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove
Time: 6:30 am
Visibility: 10'-15'
Comments: Dark! Not much to scream about. Same deal as yesterday. Best vis directly at the Shores and off the Caves.
Date: 9/14/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove
Time: 6:30 am
Visibility: 10-15'
Comments: Dropping vis. Oh well. Maybe due to some swell and choppy water. Could still see schools of baracuda, opaleye, salema, and sargo.
Date: 9/13/02
Location: a Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores
Time: 6?30 am
Visibility: 15-20'
Comments: Like yesterday. Gee, let's start a trend for clear water. Surface a little choppy. School of baracuda followed me a good distance north over sand. The school was made up of 1.5 to 2 footers. Enjoy!
Date: 9/12/02
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores
Time: 6:30 am
Visibility: 20+
Comments: What a fun swim. Still feels warm. Few leopards, diamond stingray, large school of full-sized baracuda, loose school of salema. Lots of kelp (feather boa and giant) and fewer kelp paddies. Small well-spaced islands of eel grass. Big school of juvenile senoritas, which is a hallmark of fall. Sigh.
Date: 9/11/02
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores
Time: 6:15 am
Visibility: 20'!!!
Comments: Night and day. Yesterday vis was night and today it is day. The water seems to have warmed up a bit. At the Shores, there was a big butterfly ray and lots of yellow-fin croakers and even a couple of leopard sharks. Swimming toward the Cove and back, I saw a big, loose school of salema and a small school of sargo. Overall, a fantastic morning for a swim.
Date: 9/10/02
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores
Time: 6:30 am
Visibility: 0-5'
Comments: Not much to scream about here. The Shores was clear until Devil's Slide and I hit a wall of brown water. Think there's still some runoff effect going on? I saw I think one fish.
Date: 9/7/02
Location: backyard
Time: whatever
Visibility: all the way to the fence
Comments: Rain >> runoff >> water pollution >> drydocked for 72 hours
Date: 9/6/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to Buoy B and other places, then back to the Cove
Time: 6:30 am
Visibility: 5-10'
Comments: Definitely better out at the kelp (Buoy B). The water is kind of murky but blue. Inside it's green and creepy. Something fantastic happened this morning but it wasn't under water. It rained. I just love rain. It really brings out the scents of everything and, you know, we dogs live by our noses. Watching the rain hit the water had the same look of water drops hitting a hot skillet. Then, at 8 am (I checked), a double rainbow appeared. The upper one was partial and faint but the one below it grew bright and arched from the Cove all the way to the the northern border of the Ecolgical Reserve. Wow! What a sight. What a morning.
Date: 9/4/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove
Time: 6:30 am
Visibility: 5-10'
Comments: Nothing to write home about.
Date: 9/3/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove
Time: 6:30 am
Visibility: u/w 20+'; topside 5'
Comments: No kidding about the topside vis. Unbelieveable fog. Fortunately, I have canine radar so such inconveniences are nothing to me. We set out in flat, flat water. But of course, it must be. The only way fog can hang around is if there is no wind. In no time, we were enveloped in a gray coat of calm. The sky and water meshed together. Spooky cool. Came across 2 black sea bass (60-80 pounds). One was spotted and the other slate silver. The spotted one had several senorita fish cleaning its hide. Swirling around them was a school of salema. It doesn't get better than this. TGIOver..Labor Day weekend, that is. Now it's up to us, the small, select group of locals and tourists, to enjoy the riches of the ocean for ourselves. Don't worry about the chill of the water. It's beyond worth it for the experience.
Date: 9/1/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to Buoy A to the Caves and back to the Cove
Time: 6:30 am
Visibility: 10-20'
Comments: Get thee to the kelp! It's blue out there, if a bit murky. A big, fat seal reared its black head in the distance, and I made a beeline for it to defend my territory. If only I could have found where it disappeared to, I would show it who's in charge. At least that's what I'd like to think. Oh well, there are plenty of birds to go after. Saw a small school (20?) of fish I've never seen before. They looked the shape of Pacific Sierra but I couldn't make out any gold spots on the side. About 1 1/2 feet long, they were silivery blue fast swimmers that made a pass in front of me in the distance. It looked like they had longitundinal blue stripes on the side. Could that have been a reflection of their scales? Anyway, a fleeting glance and then they were gone.
Date: 8/31/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove
Time: 7 am
Visibility: 10' or less
Comments: Holiday weekend!!! Can't stand crowds. Just want to get in and out. I'm adjusting to the chill. After all, the water temp's only going to go downhill from here. Nothing to scream about but at the Shores, I found a purple olive snail clinging to some surf grass strands. So what, you say? Snails are usually vegetarians (was it snacking?) but before this time, I'd always only found them in the sand. Glad to see they get around. By they way, no sharks buzzing below me. Hmmmm. Fall is here.
Date: 8/28/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove
Time: 7 am
Visibility: What vis?
Comments: Cold, dark, windy, blown out. What month is this again, December?
Date: 8/27/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove
Time: 7 am
Visibility: 5-10'
Comments: It's hard to know if my eyesight is declining or if the water is as dark and dreary as it looks to me. I couldn't see much of anything but here's something interesting: Close to the Shores, something came to the surface twice, splashing quite violently both times. Because it was too far away and the vis was poor, I was not able to determine what it was or what was going on. I think I now know after a bat ray zoomed under me. I bet it was a bat ray doing who knows what. The other insident happened as I was coming back into the Cove. I noticed a camera flash going off street side. Yep, someone was taking pictures of me. You know, it's happened several times before. My fans just can't get enough of me. I'm sorry to say that I doubt she will have a good result because flashes don't do any good past 10 feet. No problem. Come back another morning, and I'll be here.
Date: 8/26/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove
Time: 6:15 am
Visibility: not good
Comments: Everything in decline but the water temp. Dark water and the air has a chill.
Date: 8/24/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove
Time: 6:30 am
Visibility:5-10'
Comments: Murky, murky water. Still warm though. Go out to the kelp. Found white snail with some kind of isopod on it. Senorita fish and the usual cast of characters.
Date: 8/23/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove
Time: 6:30 am
Visibility:10'
Comments: Poor vis today. Little surgy inside the Cove. Little bit bumpy swim. Sharks at the Shores. Couldn't see much. Maybe the kelp is a bit clearer.
Date: 8/21/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove
Time: 6:3045
Visibility: 15' and murky
Comments: A 2' long halibut swam by me practically at the beach at the Cove. Really murky today. The water seems even colder because of the dank, dark environment on land. School of halfmoons at the first white buoy from the Cove. Only saw one bat ray today. No big numbers of leopard and sand sharks at the Shores. Plenty of white sand though. Kelp paddy with a small holdfast. Don't see that often in our local kelp paddies. If I sound sluggish, it's because of the weather. But really I did have fun as usual.
Date: 8/15/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove
Time: 6:15 am
Visibility: 15'
Comments: Dark and fall-like. Booo! I think the few squid rolling into the beach are stirring up the marine life. Before putting a paw into the water, a leopard shark swam past. Into the drink, active garibaldi, zebraperch, smelts, senoritas, kelp bass, swam about. With the sky so dark, it was hard to make out much except that the vis was still good if not as good as the last few days. At the Shores, leopards and a couple shovelnoses. Back to the Cove, schools of salema, opaleye, baracuda, circled. Someone heat the water up a bit.
Date: 8/14/02
Location: La Jolla Shore to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores
Time: 6:30 am
Visibility: 20+'
Comments: And what a morning it was. Pawing past the wavelets, I spied leopard sharks swimming off the bottom, shovelnose guitarfish, and some pale, yellowfin croakers nosing around on the bottom. Before I could calm down from the sight of crystal clear waters, a 40- to 50-pound black seabass ambled by. Then I saw a school of about 30 midwater-swimming fish that I don't recall ever seeing before. They had a white background with a black sort-of jigsaw pattern all around their back--definitely not zebra stripes or bars. Hope I see them again tomorrow. They may have come in with the few squid that washed in today at the Cove. Schools of baracuda, sargo, croaker, and salema still going strong. A senorita fish was cleaning a couple of grateful sargo. Inside the Cove, there was a gray smoothhound shark and a leopard shark. I'm sure they were sniffing around for squid. Came across a kelp paddy made up of giant and feather boa kelps, surfgrass, eelgrass, and a chunk of dead man's fingers. Wow! The funnest surprise was a single strand of surfgrass with a short, thread-thin strand of surfgrass intertwined. Nope. It was a 2" long green pipefish. Some swims are hum-drum, others like today are action packed.
Date: 8/13/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove
Time: 6:30 am
Visibility: 15-20+'
Comments: Fabulicious!!! Clear and flat from the Cove to the ankle-slappers at the Shores. I can tell you that everything is still down there because I could see it. What a great time to get into the water. As an added bonus, the smell of fresh seafood is in the air. Just ask the seabirds. A few more jumbo flying squid, Dosidicus gigas, washed in at the Cove today. Schools of baracuda, sargo, little juvenile and adult senoritas, baby blacksmith, black croaker. Inside the Cove, garibaldi, zebraperch, and smelts took up space with giant kelp, feather boa kelp, and surfgrass. Without any current, the kelp stood straight up and down. At the Shores, leopard sharks, shovelnose guitarfish, bat rays, and yellowfin croaker nosing around on the bottom. Isolated islands of eelgrass stood out as dark, oval patches made up of swaying hula-skirtlike strands against the bright-white sand bottom. Is this a great country or what?
Date: 8/12/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove
Time: 6:45 am
Visibility: 5-15'
Comments: Well, the upwelling is complete. The water temp is universally down. Murky water until the shallows at the shores (~8' deep). Found a tiny circular egg mass attached to a floating strand of surfgrass. A few salema, sargo, senoritas, kelp bass, leopard sharks, shovelnose guitarfish. Inside the Cove, a school of tiny blacksmith.
Date: 8/11/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove
Time: 5:45 am
Visibility: murky 10-15'
Comments: Uh oh, the water temp seems to be dropping. I feel the thermocline at the tips of my paws. The inside of the Cove was nippy as well. Although not clear on the Cove end, nice clear water at the Shores. I'm sure things will improve when the sun comes up higher. Found an empty salp body stuck to the underside of a plant paddy.
Date: 8/10/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove
Time: 6 am
Visibility: 10-15' and murky
Comments: Really clear inside the Cove. Maybe going out so early means less vis because the sun isn't out. How about that fog? Still, lots of juvenile senoritas along with adults. Kelp is inside and just outside the Cove, which doesn't happen every year. Lots of comingling of giant kelp with feather boa kelp. Quiet over at the Shores. A bat ray glided by underneath me, and I was terribly sad to see a long piece of fishing line trailing behind its tail.
Date: 8/9/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove
Time: 7:15 am
Visibility: 10' to very murky 20'
Comments: Just when I thought it was going to be merely a glorious swimming day but with murky water, I found two surprises. At the Shores in the surfzone, I spied a number of baby bat rays swimming just below the glassy surface. All of a sudden, one jumped out of the water, did a flip-turn and a twirl, then demonstrated a eye-catching splashdown. Wow, was that ever cool. The show went by so fast that most of what I saw was black (its back), then white (its underside), then black again...with lots of water spray. Also at the Shores, I came across a pipefish (about 6" long) hanging vertically in the water just below the surface, nose toward the surface, and barely moving. At closer inspection, something was on (or came out of!) its ventral area. What was it? Was it an injury, and its guts were coming out? Geez, scary. It looked like there was something brown and curled (like a worm) with some blob of pinkish stuff. I thought it might be some parasite but I'm not so sure. The pipefish sank down slowly in the same orientation it was hanging, then came back to the surface, touching its snout to the undersurface of the water. I've had stomach problems myself (but not like that, thank goodness), and somehow I don't think it was well. I've heard that some Beverly Hills vetinernary clinic opened a submerged satelite hospital in the Underwater Park to aid the residents, and I hope the pipefish takes itself over there for a checkup. Maybe you've heard of the place? I believe it's called "The Vet to the SeaStars."
Date:8/8/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove
Time: 6 am
Visibility: murky 10-20'
Comments: What a difference a day makes. Murky water everywhere. Could make out the bottom but not see much of what's going on. The wind came up so if you went out later on (8 am and beyond), I bet you had to lean into it. Ah well, there is still stuff to see, and you can't beat the water temp. Saw my first little schooling cloud of baby (1/2" long) blacksmith just outside the mouth of the Cove. Boo hoo. Fall is just around the corner. Just the usual: zebraperch, opaleye, bat rays, senoritas, sargo. Inside the Cove, the smelts had their "wings" out (okay, their pectoral fins but I like metaphors) for a few moments before they drew them back in and continued to swim.
Date: 8/7/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove
Time: 6 am
Visibility: 20+
Comments: Oh baby. Today is a good day to be in the water. Glassy and clear inside the Cove. I can see bottom all the way from the rocky reef, through the kelp, to the sandy-bottom Shores. Lots of broken kelp and other vegetables from the sea floating on the surface. Sea gulls, cormorants, and pelicans circling and dive-bombing the water. The only thing that unnerved me was mysterious bubbles on the water's surface. I climbed aboard my swim bud for protection...but against what? A surfacing submarine? Nope, just a couple of divers who would have been equally surprised to see my furry fours had they the consciousness to look toward the surface. Schools of barracuda, opaleye, sargo, few bat rays, senoritas, garibaldi, and then too soon I reached the bleached surfgrass at the water's edge inside the Cove. Can't wait until tomorrow.
Date: 8/3/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove
Time: 6:30 am
Visibility: 10-20+'
Comments: Looking better inside the Cove. Can see zebraperch, topsmelt. Lots of congregating garibaldi just past Take-off Rock. Halfmoon, kelp bass, senorita fish (lots of juvenile senorita fish, too). Bat rays cruising, leopards at the Shores. Still murky and slightly green. If the cloudiness could only clear, the vis would be outstanding.
Date:8/2/02
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:7 am
Visibility:10-15'
Comments:Whooeee!! Time to hit the water. Will it last? Don't know but it's trying to be clear and very blue everywhere but inside the mouth of the Cove, where there is poor vis. Nice to look down and clearly see a bat ray piloting itself midwater, while clearly seeing below to the bottom to the algae and white sand. Out to the kelp is blue. Saw a juvenile giant kelpfish (golden colored) skimming over a frond. Big unpolarized (that's what we ocean experts call schools that are loose in their formation) school of opalyeye. Polarized school of salema. A small tight school (4) of sargo met up with a larger sargo school (15) and moved on together. Lots to see but to do so, you gotta be there.
Date:8/1/02
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:7 am
Visibility:up to 20'
Comments:Things are picking up in the vis department. Clear as a bell at the Shores, zero inside the Cove, and somewhere in the middle, well, in the middle. Lots of leopards, butterfly and torpedo rays, bats wizzing in and out. Off the Shores, the water is blue but murky. Came across a large kelp array and mingling among its fronds was a fish mix of opaleye, halfmoon, sargo, kelp bass, and I'm not sure what they were. They were elongated, wrasse-type fish, yellow with wide, dark bars draped over their back. If you find out, let me know. I hate being in the dark or in dark bars.
Date:7/31/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove
Time:6:30 am
Visibility:0-10'
Comments:Zippo vis inside the Cove. Ya think the occassional sets rolling through may have something to do with it? Outside where the kelp is, the water is blue if murky. Nothing revolutionary but that it's summer and the water is warm. Schools of opaleye and salema. Senorita fish trailing a bat ray for cleaning.
Date:7/30/02
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:7 am
Visibility:10'
Comments:Ahhhhhhhhhhh. Remember how I mentioned the slight drop in degrees the past few days? Well, make a U-turn! The water is in the heavenly 70s. Just like a bathtub--but who wants to get into one of those nasty things? The vis at the Shores is quite good. Lots of leopard sharks, one diamond stingray and butterfly ray each. Schools of barracuda and opaleye and salema. Bat rays of course.
Date:7/29/02
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:6:30 am
Visibility:5'
Comments: Nasty out there today. Cold, windy, surface ruffled from wind chop. The water was warmer than the air. Not much to see most of the way but a good excuse to put my ruff (or should that be "rough?") water swimming abilities into action. Supprisingly really clear inside the mouth of the Cove...and flat. Lots of pieces of white squid flesh. Really brought out the natives who obviously don't mind leftovers.
Date:7/27/02
Location: La Jolla Shores to west end of La Jolla Caves and back to the Shores.
Time:6:30 am
Visibility:5'
Comments:No way was I swimming near to the Cove. The water is milky from the decaying squid carcasses. First I walked down to the Cove and, interestingly, I noted that the birds only eat the tentacles; they leave the bodies alone. All those decapitated squid! I did take a taste of a tentacle, and it was crunchy. Aw, come on, it was only a taste...and then I got screamed at. Jumping into the water at the Shores, I only swam as far as the outer water from westernmost cave. Once there, I turned south and headed toward the cave, then hugged the coastline back to the Shores. This was nice for a change. Close in to Devil's Slide, saw 3 big black croaker (12' long) in shallow. To bad the vis is so poor. It's not supposed to be this way. We're supposed to get one of two situations: cooler water and great vis or warm water and zippo vis. The past few days: cooler water (66?) and what vis???
Date:7/26/02
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:7 am
Visibility:5-8'
Comments:Gee, the water has gotten a bit more, er, refreshing the last day or two. I personally don't mind the slight downturn in temp but my backseat driver seems a little tense. Anyway, the Cove smells just like in my dreams when I'm standing in line at Point Loma Seafoods and planning my order. The catch-of-the-day is definitely squid. These aren't the Loligo species we see (for the most part) during winter. These are younster versions of a giant squid that, when alive, have an amazing flying ability. They can grown to 12 feet long and hundreds of pounds, which means that getting hit by an adult would be like getting hit by a plane. I don't think so. Also, they have hooks on the sucker-part of their tentacles to sink into their prey. Gives me the chills. These didn't have hooks formed yet, but raised protuberances. No way would I have snacked on sharp hooks. The hilarious and sad part this morning was the arrival of City's "hazardous materials" team, who came to "clean up" the "trash" on the beach wearing their white jumpsuits. What were they thinking with this type of order? There's hardly any food in the ocean as it is. Once they removed 8 truckloads (collecting from 6:30 am to 1:30 pm!!), they hauled the squid to the landfill. If they felt they needed to do something, too bad they didn't just bring a boat in and and make several hauls a few hundred yards to the canyon and dump it down there. Why can't people understand that when it comes to nature, there is no such thing as waste?
Date:7/25/02
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:7 am
Visibility:5-8'
Comments:Your best bet today is to stay in the surfzone at the Marine Room. There you will see piles of gray smoothhound sharks, groups of shovelnose guitarfishes, and hords of leopard sharks with an occasional butterfly ray and misc. fish floating around. About the only life out there moving around offshore is the bat rays. Otherwise, I recommend the beach at the Cove where scores of jumbo flying squid are being beached. Better get out there quick before all the birds hit the buffet of carcasses. Don't know what this is about because unlike the pelagic red crabs, these squid are very capable swimmers...not these, though, as they are all washing in dead.
Date:7/24/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove; La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores
Time:6 am; 5:30 pm
Visibility:5'
Comments:Aren't I the swimmer? This morning it was what was topside that was worth talking about. A long strip of orange sat just on top of the hillside right before the sun came up. The water's surface was smooth, the swim quiet and tranquil. Visibility was poor so not much marine life to scream about. It was certainly a hot day. What a relief to hit the water in the evening. In the surfzone at the Shores, there were piles of sharks: gray smoothhounds, leopards, shovelnoses. Also some bat and sting rays. Vis was even less (if you can imagine that).
Date:7/23/02
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove
Time:6 am
Visibility: Yuk! 5-8'
Comments:If you recall what I wrote the last couple of days concerning the inside the Cove, it appears that the poor-visibility germs have spread. Now the whole region has tanked! I wondered about the wind swell we had yesterday morning. Was that ever a slap-in-the-face swim. Today, I could barely see anything. School of sargo, bunch of bat rays, a few blacksmith, some floating plastic trash. Returning from the Shores to the Cove was fairly thrilling with the good-sized west swell rolling through. Well, there's always tomorrow...
Date:7/22/02
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time: 6 am
Visibility:25+'
Comments: Put my face in and immediately saw a 3 1/2' halibut who decided I was too close for comfort. Easy come, easy go. Once the dust settled, I spied a small butterfly ray who wasn't so impressed by my furry fours. It didn't budge. Swimming over the sand with such great vis, I was able to easily see many island of eelgrass. These meadows are spreading like like Bermuda grass. Floating just under the surface, I discovered a chain of salps (Thetys vagina). On one of the otherworldly plasticlike beastly floatsum, there was a tiny, orange creepy crawler insect. It had a flat, topedo-shaped body with lots of legs. Hurry, get the Raid!!!!!! Also, nearly ran into small fragments of Apolemia uvaria, a siphonophore. I just love being able to enjoy the panoramic landscape: Trees (kelp)interspersed with low-lying vegetation (other algae) and relief (rocks and a few boulders) with a collection of native inhabitants of various shapes and sizes (congregations of orange garbaldi, colorful male sheephead, loose schools of opaleye and baracuda, tight schools of sargo, streamlined schools of salema, and a gray smoothhound shark). A sargo fish oriented its body nose down while a senorita fish cleaned its body. Why can't we just live here fulltime?
Date:7/21/02
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:7 am
Visibility:25+'
Comments:Now this is more like it. Why can't it be like this all the time or most of the time? I launched myself into the big, blue sea at the Shores and was immediately greeted by leopard sharks, diamond stingray, bat rays, and a shovelnose guitarfish or two. From the Shores to just before the entrance to the Cove, it is Windex clear but watch out for the inside of the Cove. Geez, who mucked it up? Otherwise, saw rock wrasse; garibaldi fish; schools of perch, opalye, salema, barracuda, and sargo. Peeking just below the surface, there were strands of miscellaneous algae, surf grass, occasional eelgrass, and of course kelp. The way the thin strands of surf grass and individual kelp fronds with attached air bladder hung down from the surface reminded me of my last birthday party where we had streamers hanging down from the ceiling. How festive! It's just like one great big multi-ethnic party out there with a good mix of revelers from myriad backgrounds.
Date:7/19/02
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:7 am
Visibility:20+++
Comments:Well, let me just say, Hallelujuh!!! I say the vis is 20 feet but if I swam over to the yellow buoy, which is in 35 feet of water, I betcha I'd see the bottom. It was clear and blue and today I could make out the algae. It's amazing how much life is down there when you can see it. There was a whole loose school of walleye surfperch. I don't recall seeing that before. Also, small school (30-35) barracuda. School of salema. Few clusters of sargo. Put my face in the water at the Shores and there was a 3 1/2 foot halibut...right near a diamond stingray. Lots of batrays and leopard shark at the Shores and even one leopard swimming over the surfgrass at the Cove. Lots of garibaldi. It's so cool to see the line attached to the buoy and be able to see it all the way down to the bottom, including the anchor. Today, if it's out there, you should be able to see it. Since these conditions happen only occasionally, jump in...
Date:7/18/02
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time: 7 am
Visibility: 15'
Comments:So there was visibility but not clarity. What do you mean, I don't make sense? It does in my canine cranium. I could see the bottom clearly when there was sand or sand patches. In the places where there was only dense kelp and other algae, I couldn't because it was just darkness. If a sliver of white (sand) came into view, I could tell there was plantlike material below me. So you see, I'm smarter than you thought. Same schools as yesterday but it was so nice and flat and smooth and calm. Need I tell you, these are my favorite conditions? Mornings are best for your water adventures. In the evening, there is choppy water and the vis is vastly less. Trust me.
Date:7/17/02
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:7 am and 5:30 pm
Visibility:am was 10-15' and pm was 5-10'
Comments:Bat rays and more bat rays. Saw a senorita fish in cleaning mode, making its way through a small sargo school. Found a golden juvenile (1 1/2" long) giant kelpfish near the surface hiding among the giant kelp fronds. Kelp and mixed-algae paddies floating. Large school of opaleye and school of barracuda. Usual summer salema school. A convention of garibaldi outside the mouth of the Cove.
Date:7/16/02
Date:7/14/02
Date:October sometime
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:6:30 am
Visibility: 15'
Comments:Wow, I can really see stuff today. It's quite clear inside and outside the Cove where stands of feather boa kelp and Calif. giant kelp are anchored. Orange garibaldi are easily visible and abundant. Is there more than one school of salema? They are nice and densely packed together as is the school of sardines hanging around near the Shores. It's good to see blue water for a change. Looking down I see white sand patches intermixed with dark patches made up of plant life attached to rocks. Senorita fish, black perch, and topsmelt. The bat rays are floating, soaring, and acting as a carpet atop the sandy bottom just outside the seawall off the Shores. I did see a diamond stingray with fishing line attached and trailing behind it. Cruel. Let's all watch out for illegal fishing activity in our precious Ecological Reserve and report the bozos.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:6:30 am
Visibility:a surprising 10-15'
Comments:So much to tell now that we finally got the computer working again. I am thrilled that my winter forecast for this summer is coming true. I believed that the water would warm up sooner than usual and stay warmer for longer. Instead of beginning my swims sometime in June, I was able to make my first round-trip dip this May 26th. It was 67 degrees on the surface...positively balmy. You'd never know I hadn't been swimming for months. I slipped in as confortably as slipping on an old pair of slippers (if I wore slippers, that is). The sea lions vocalizing on the rocks by the Caves presented my only trepidation. As to the underwater world, back are the leopard sharks, barracudas, salema, and a huge (several hundred) tightly packed school of beauiful sargo fish. By early June, we had 70 degree water and some surf, which brought the vis to a near halt. As we moved into the end of June (June 23rd to be exact), on my evening swim I spied a green turtle over by Devil's Slide. In spite of the mucky water, there was no mistaking that turtle for anybody else. Presently, I've been making once or twice-a-day swims again. To be honest, I did have a slip-up early on. I got struck by a stingray mid-June. You should have heard me scream and seen me run up and down the beach on 3 legs. Appalling!! But I'm back to being me again like nothing happened. To date--as we are now into July--the vis has been markedly poor with little to see or even imagine below the greenish veil. However, this morning, we had some relief. The water seems to have cleared. At the Shores, leopard sharks, gray smoothhounds, and soaring bat rays abound. In fact, the a bat came so close to the surface, I nearly scraped its back with my feet. Schools of salema, a small school of sargo, small school of good-sized (~6" long) sardines. I did see one soupfin shark. Closer to the Cove, lots of feather boa kelp and giant kelp climbing toward the surface just like Jack's beanstalk. In some areas, we could see bottom (~15' deep).
Location: Clairemont
Time:24-7/01
Visibility:several miles
Comments:Landlocked. Seems like I must end my swims for the year (sniff, sniff). The water has become downright frigid early, and my dive buddy can't stand it. For now, if you want to see me, you'll have to get up frightfully early as I will be running over Mt. Soledad until the water temperature become more pleasing...at least for some people. I myself am not picky. Water is water...unless we're talking about bath water. That's a whole other beast. :-(
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:7 am
Visibility: 10-15'
Comments:Whew! It's been a long time since I've filled you in on my adventures. Since my last entry, saw that guy fishing yet again off the white house on the seawall. I called the Dept. of Fish & Game once again and barked at 'em but so far they haven't called back. The water is looking quite blue off Devil's Slide today. On Labor Day weekend, I met another great swimmer. This fabulous female was a human who was going to swim the Catalina Channel. Heard she was successful. Bet I could do that. Well, maybe. Took her 12 hours. On second thought, nope. I couldn't be away from guarding the house for so long. Don't expect to hear from me for a few days. I'm drydocked. Yep. Got hurt on my neck and it has to dry out I'm told. How depressing. Don't anyone go in without me!
Date:8/27/01
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:6 pm
Visibility:5'
Comments:When will this surf calm down? I tell ya, it's incredible how I can swim through all this rough (or should I say "RUFF?") water. Some of those were real slammers but the scariest thing I experienced was not water. It was a man FISHING OFF THE BALCONY OF THE WHITE HOUSE ON THE SEAWALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You know the one. It's off the Marine Room. Half of the house is at the top of the cliff and the other half is at the beach. I was stunned. How can people who live essentially IN the Ecological Reserve and MUST know better do such a thing????????????????????????????????????????????????
They should be stewards not poachers. You know what I did? I sniffed around and got their address on Spindrift, then went to the lifeguards and growled at them to drive to the house and and speak to them. I will have Judith follow up on that. Then I went home and called 1-888-DFG-CAL-Tip (yep, the Dept. of Fish & Game) and barked at them to go over and knock on their door. I bet those people have had a windfall of "guests." I will let you know what happens when I get a call-back from the DFG. Oh yes, marine life...Vis still too low to fill you in much. I noticed that each of the buoys has a seagull perched atop it. This only caught my eye because one wanted to land but couldn't because there was no vacancy. It flew to another buoy. Same problem. It flew to another. Same problem. Seems like housing in San Diego is a problem everywhere.
Date:8/24/01
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:6 pm
Visibility:0-5'
Comments:And a swell swim it was. I do mean swell...ranging from 2-3'!!! By the by, a bad day to swim at the Cove. However, an interesting day to surf the Cove.
Date: 8/22/01
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:6 pm
Visibility:5'
Comments:Still warm since this morning's swim. Swim, swim, swim...
Date:8/22/01
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:7:30 am
Visibility: 5'
Comments: Wow! I saw 3 dolphins just outside the surf zone at the Marine Room. What strange dogs. I don't know what that thing was sticking off their backs but they were a little scary. I admit I started shaking. I'm a very sensitive girl, ya know. But I have a short memory and before long I set my sites on the Cove. Saw 3 fish. I wonder if there's any life underwater...
Date:8/20/01
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:7 am
Visibility:5'
Comments:Few leopards at the Shores. Few topsmelt here and there. The only thing I could see the entire swim was the
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Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:6 pm
Visibility: 0-5'
Comments:Nope, I didn't mix up the dates. I scored 2 swims today!!!! The water is trying to be blue in some places. A big bull sea lion sits on the rocks by Goldfish Point barking and barking. Something else to worry about... Also saw 2 leopard shark at the Shores. I wonder when this wind swell will go away. We've had it since last Sunday. But I must admit that I feel like an ocean explorer getting pummeled in the surf zone. Ahhhhh, it's nice to cool off.
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back to the Cove.
Time:7:30 am
Visibility:0-5'
Comments:Know it's been a while since I logged in but I've had nothing to say. I saw 4 fish yesterday. This morning I saw a clump of bat rays. You know they are coming into mating season. The time to watch out for is the end of August. Of course, you have to have the vis to see anything. Water still green but I'm not complaining. I'm swimmin', and life is good.
Location: La Jolla Cove
Time:8 pm-ish
Visibility:bioluminescent
Comments:It's the annual Night Owl Swim!!!!!!! Yes, I'm an honorary member of the La Jolla Cove Swim Club. We attach cyalume lights (different colored glow sticks) to some part of our anatomy and swim a course en masse. Onlookers get to see streaks of light as we power across the water. I was fearless swimming at night and with all those people. And guess what? I came in first in the canine division. Okay, so there's no canine division, and I was the only dog so of course I came in first but who cares about the details. As we say, "Next year at the Cove!!!!"
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove, the Caves, and back to the Shores.
Time:6 pm
Visibility:0-3'
Comments:Pea soup water but may be getting slightly clearer. Had some close calls with 2 sea gulls dive bombing me the last couple of days and today. Just figured out why. Mom and dad are carefully supervising their two youngsters who were standing on some rocks below the east end of Goldfish Point. Guess they're practicing their aerodynamic ballet moves. The kids are fully fledged but squeeking and staying close to their parents none the less. I must admit the fuzzy little gray things were kind of cute. However, mom and dad are another story.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:7:30 am
Visibility: 0'
Comments: What's up? Surf's up!! It was a little hairy (furry?) getting out but I made it. A northwest swell moved in. Hope it's gone by tomorrow. Water still green, and that white foamy stuff on the surface forms a long line off Alligator Head. Someone once told me it was a carbohydrate that comes from the breakdown of the giant kelp. I prefer to think of it as the foamy head on a beer. Now doesn't that sound more refreshing?
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove, around the caves, and back to the Shores.
Time:6 pm
Visibility:0'
Comments:Finally something to talk about. The water is no longer that rusty orange. There's still no vis but it's now murky green. Maybe we're only a step away from murky blue and a few steps away from true blue. Please King Neptune, let me see what's under my paws once again.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove to Yellow Buoy A, then back to the Shores.
Time:6 pm
Visibility:)0000000000000000000'
Comments: At least the water is tropically warm. Yum. It's weird but the water being thick with red tide makes swimming in it feel like I'm swimming in molasses. Must be some kind of optical illusion.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:7 am
Visibility:0'-0'
Comments: Red tide thick as rust-colored pea soup. Appetizing, huh? The only marine life I saw was a sea lion who popped up too close for comfort. You'd be surprised at how fast I can swim under certain conditions...By the way, did I that I wrote my first newspaper column for the La Jolla Village News? I did? Well, it's quite magnanimous of me because by telling you, I risk not having enough extra copies for me. Darn, I hate being so honest!
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:6 pm
Visibility:0'
Comments:The water is bathtub warm again. No vis but I do have something to mention before it's too late. I wrote my first article for the La Jolla Village News. It came out this past Wednesday. The picture of me is stunning, if I do say so myself. It's not to late for you to pick up a free copy in downtown La Jolla. Let me know what you think.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:5:30 pm
Visibility:0'
Comments:Either there is no vis or there is nothing in the water. I prefer to think the former. The red tide is burning up the waters right now but the temp is fine, and the view from out at sea is exceptional. Our red tides aren't toxic so jump in and enjoy! Our plankton blooms don't smell bad either. Of course, that's not an issue for me 'cause, for the most part, dogs don't make value judgements out of smells.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:6 pm
Visibility:0-0'
Comments:Well, it looks like the fishing line incident isn't going to kill me after all. What a break. What can I say about today's swim except that it was wet. I keep thinking the red tide is over but someone out there must be setting up some kind of fan to blow it back in. Meanwhile, it's nippy...not at all the summer conditions I was hoping for. Fortunately, my canine short-term memory won't allow me to remember today. Tomorrow we begin anew.
Location: La Jolla Shores
Time:9 pm
Visibility: dark and dangerous
Comments: While out innocently taking my evening constitutional, I was lured (no pun intended) to a long piece of fishing line with a 1-pound weight attached. It smelled of fish, and I couldn't resist. I swallowed the end where the fish bits were. I guess that's when I shrieked. I ended up in the ER getting X-rays and throwing up. We still aren't sure I purged all the fishing line. At least there was no hook attached. Hope so. I will lie low for a couple of days. My doctor told me that the fishing line could cause serious injury and even kill me if it had to go through my intestines. I didn't do this on purpose. I just didn't know better. Will you please help protect me and all my canine cousins? If you see ANY fishing line ANYWHERE, please pick it up, and throw it in a trash can. The life you save may be...mine.
Location: La Jolla Cove to the buoys and back to the Cove.
Time:6 pm
Visibility:blue water and 15'
Comments:Decided that the Cove was safe from pollution so hung out in the kelp forest. Lots of senorita fish and blacksmith, kelp snails, garibaldi, halfmoons, big zebraperch, and of course kelp bass.
Location: La Jolla Shores
Time:all day today and tomorrow and maybe the next day too
Visibility:doesn't matter
Comments: The city purposely dumped polluted water into my swimming pool. Sigh. I'm soooo depressed. The orange polluted water signs are posted. Be careful.
Location: La Jolla Shores to Emerald Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:6 pm
Visibility:0-5'
Comments:Wow! Tons of white water. I had to wait for 20 minutes to get out. Even then, there was lots of swell and chop. It was kinda spooky because I kept thinking the swells would break on top of me. I was sure tired out when I finally reached shore. Bad time for snorkeling if you want to see stuff or if you get seasick easily.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:6 pm
Visibility:see bottom all the way!
Comments:Incredible. Are things back to being good again?? Blue water. I guess the wind that ruffled the surface sorta broke up the plankton bloom. A school of sardines (~ 4" long) just rolled in. Found a tiny limpet clinging to a strand of floating surf grass. Of course, lots of swimming bat rays and the usual sand sharks. At the Cove, I saw a senorita fish cleaning an opaleye fish, and a garabaldi guarding his nest filled with lots of yellow eggs. The big-deal siting was 2 black sea bass. Top that, I dare ya!!!
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:6 pm
Visibility: Don't bother asking
Comments: With the underwater fan blowing the brown plankton bloom over the entire area, I saw zip. The one thing I was glad I missed was something I was told about only after I got out of the water. Apparently, as I was only a few feet from returning to shore, a seal swam by under water in front of me. Thank goodness I didn't know. Those weird dogs send me into a panic. Like some kind of a gray bullet blasting by, and everything feels completely out of control. Just gives me the chills.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:6 pm
Visibility: mostly murky 10'
Comments:
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:6 pm
Visibility:0-2'
Comments:Worried about the vis because of the red tide? Worry no more. There is no vis. As I swam through the tide, I was surrounded by a billowing rust-colored cloud of plankton that seemed to move in waves with the surge. Yuk! I did manage to see the shovels and a few leopards close to shore but that's about it for marine life. There was a plug of blue water (about 2 yards) that I happened upon off the westermost cave (Sunny Jim). That was interesting. I could see a big school of fish below so I'm confident that there is still marine life under all the brown stuff. Apparently, life goes on...
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:7 am
Visibility:0-10'
Comments:The reason you haven't heard from me the past few days is that my swim bud got nailed by a sting ray. Remember last year when that happened to me? In fact, I do believe that was the very first entry into my swim log. Check it out. Now we are back into the, er, swim of things. We have a plankton bloom going on but it was clear as a bell in the shallows at the Shores. It got progressively murkier until the caves, where I threw in the towel on trying to see anything. At first splash, entering the water at the Marine Room, I was greeted by layers of marine life: First there were the leopard sharks, then hundreds of shovelnoses (with one butterfly ray mixed in), then the bat rays. Off Devil's Slide, all the schools smooshed together in a cacophany of fish shapes and styles: sargo, salema (huge numbers!), topsmelt, baracuda. It was weird. Plus, I saw something that reminded me of the tropics. There was a bat ray with a few "pilot fish" (actually senoritas) swimming just underneath like pilot fish under a manta ray. They must have glopped on to do some cleaning. The best part was on the way back to the Shores. A hulking black sea bass came almost up to the surface to inspect my paws. Whew! I'm glad it realized that I'm NOT a snack. (Notice how I saved the best for last?)
Location: La Jolla Shores to Devil's Slide, round and round, and back to the Shores.
Time:6 pm
Visibility:15'
Comments: In the sandy, shallows, a big stew of shovelnose guitarfish, grey smoothhounds, bat rays, leopard sharks, topped with one diamond sting ray and one large (3-foot-long) butterfly ray. Over the rocky reef area, I saw below me a swimming halibut. Also, there was a banded guitarfish (that El Nino really got them moving to and fro from Pt. La Jolla). Schools of salema, big (foot-long) topsmelt, and a small school of sargo with one zebraperch tucked inside. Well, why not. They are about the same size, and sometimes you can be openminded enough to hang out with anyone. As I was watching this display, suddenly 2 other small schools of sargo came into view and merged with this school. So, my hypothesis was right...to be modest. That hulking sargo school I've run into a couple of times is a board meeting of several groups hanging around in the neighborhood. I wonder what they talk about? Just below the surface, I saw a comb jelly (Leucothes pulchra) about 4 inches long off, where else, Devil's Slide, the the harbinger of weird stuff. By the way, does anyone know what those schooling fish are that are about 6 inches long with mucho, thin stripes going vertically over the entire back and with a yellow tail? Help me out, here.
Location: La Jolla Shores to the Caves, Devil's Slide and back to the Shores.
Time:6 pm
Visibility:15-20'
Comments:It was soooooo clear off of Devil's Slide that it doesn't get much better. Zillions of shovelnoses, leopard sharks, gray smoothhounds and a good-sized (100?) school of sargo fish. Wimpy schools of baracuda and sardines. Saw 2 yellowtail. Ahh, I'm a swimmin' fool...
Location: La Jolla Shores to Emerald Cove, the Swim-through, the Caves, and back to the Shores.
Time:6 pm
Visibility: 15'
Comments:Shovelnoses schmuvelnoses. I saw a TURTLE!!!!!!!!!! Yep, it's true. Well, first off, saw all the shovels, bats, and leopards. Lots of stingrays in the shallows. Then a small floating piece of giant kelp literally covered with baby barnacles. Inside the Swim-Through is where all the juvenile garibaldi fishes are hanging out because I sure haven't seen them anywhere else. Also, white anemones and bright yellow sulfur sponges. Then out in front and around the Caves, gray smoothhound sharks. Of course, small grouping of sargo fish, and a school of barracuda plus garabaldis galore but THE TURTLE. It was a small one, right underneath me--a green turtle--right off Devil's Slide. 'Nuff said.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:6 pm
Visibility:10-15'
Comments:Boo-koo (this is how dogs think of French) bat rays. On the way over to the Cove, they were hovering underneath me like spy planes out on a maneuver, then on the way back to the Shores, they were splayed on the ground like they were back at the hanger. The shovelnoses are mixing it up with the leopard sharks. Yep, the leopards are moving back in, and I saw some actually swimming off the bottom, which you know is unusual for these bottom dwellers. I'm thrilled to report that I once again saw the ball of several hundred sargo fish. Love it!!!! And under them was a small school of salema fish. Good thing the plankton bloom is breaking up. I can see!
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:6 pm
Visibility:huh?
Comments:Looks like someone got out the blower and swept the smog layer...okay plankton bloom...all the way from the Cove to the Shores. Don't expect to see much but you can at least bask in all the warm water. Oh, and watch out for the swimmers. It's a freeway out there. Still zillions of shovelnose guitarfish in a few feet of water at the Marine Room. And appearing as ghosts through the thick rust-colored screen, numerous bat rays soared below me.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time: 6 pm
Visibility:0-15'
Comments:You were smart if you didn't go in off the Cove today. Somebody swept the red tide so it covers Devil's Slide to the Cove. Lovely yellow-brown water. However, it was true blue off the Shores. There were scads of shovelnoses. Only saw one measly leopard shark but that was probably because there was no room on the bottom because the shovelnoses took up all the space.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:6 pm
Visibility:10-25'
Comments:Saw a swimming halibut, baracuda school, clump of sargo fish but that's not the best part. Saw 2 about-to-mate bat rays but I, er, interrupted them when I almost ran into them. Excuuuse me.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time:7:30 am
Visibility: see bottom all the way!
Comments:The water's turning more bluish, and I prefer that. If you recall the sargo fishball I saw yesterday, I didn't see it today. I did see two small schools (~18 and ~25) of sargos. Maybe they just got together for a group conference, and now they're back to hanging out in small committees. I'm really interested in the blacksmith I'm seeing. It's weird because I don't seen much of them around these parts. They are not really a school as much as a small, scattered number hanging out on the edge of the rocky area over the sand. Hmmmm. I'm going to be paying attention to see what they do. A little ways outside the mouth of the Cove in about 15 feet of water, I saw a banded guitarfish just sitting on the bottom. That big school of salema are still around as is a small school of topsmelt (~9 inches long) and a small school of baracuda. At the outer end of the seawall off the Marine Room, tons of shovelnose guitarfish are back in for the summer. Of course, there are the usual bat rays hanging around between there and Devil's Slide.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time: about 7:30 AM
Visibility: see bottom all the way!
Comments: For those of you who are squeemish about making the swim because you don't know what's under you, today is your day. You can know for sure because although it was, shall we say tinged, "spring green," you can see everything below you. But I digress from the big siting so I'll get right to the point: A big school of about 300 sargo fish right off the east end of the caves area. In fact, it was more like a ball than a school because the fish were so tightly pack together. I can't remember when I saw so many sargo together at one time and packed together like a swarm of locusts. Whew! Right after that, I saw that big school of salema I've been seeing, a smattering of baracuda, a few floating bat rays, and a handful of leopard sharks at the Marine Room nearly crowded out by the scads of shovelnose guitarfish. Yawn. Just another uneventful swim in the reserve...
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time: 6 pm
Visibility: 0-8' (8' only inside the Cove)
Comments: You recall that spotty plankton bloom I commented on yesterday? Well, that stuff is like some kind of bad rash, and now it's everywhere! 0' of vis and green-brown water. Ick. The only life I saw was inside the mouth of the Cove. Plants and garibaldi on nests. Could see the garibaldi grooming their nests and even saw a patch of yellow eggs. So that's what I saw...garibaldi and a plankton bloom.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time: 6 pm
Visibility: 0-10'
Comments: Yes, my fans, I have been swimming but with all the summer parties, who has time to write? This evening, the big threat to my life was a bunch of swimmers (triathletes?) who obviously started at the Cove and bore down on me en masse. Geez. They would just as well swim over me as past me. How uncivil. Well, you can be assured that I held my ground, er, water and maintained a direct heading to the Cove. Plus, I was also faced with a plankton bloom, which has begun to rear its ugly head in a few spots of brownish-green water. Otherwise nothing else marred my swim. Saw big school of salema fish, 2 halibut zipping around, and only one leopard shark. Off the end of the seawall, the bat rays are swarming in a schooling mass. At the Cove, garibaldi were evenly spaced around the rocks and each guarded its nest. Clear as a bell at the Cove. So fabulous to be swimming. Everything interests me. And when I got out of the water, a giant purple jellyfish was schmooshed up on the beach.
Well, yes I have been swimming from time to time, although you'd never know it from looking at my log. I've decided that I will wait until next summer to continue my swimming exploits. It's not worth the risk to my health due to nearshore pollution from all this storm runoff. Now that I'm a celebrity, I owe it to my fans to stay in peak health. If you want to catch me, you'll have to get up really early. I'll be the only dog running in the dark over Mt. Soledad.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time: 5:15 pm
Visibility: 20'
Comments: It is cold and clear. Clear green water or clear blue water depending where you're at. The big treat today was a soupfin shark off the caves. I haven't see one in a long time. I figured they went south for the winter. Those pesky seals and sea lions are hanging out by the caves again. They just scare the bejesus out of me. I hate that they appear and then disappear before I can get over to them. Just shreds my nerves.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time: 7:30 am
Visibility: 15-20'
Comments: Now do you see why it's so worth it to go out every day? Consider the following the evolution--from pea soup to look-at-all-the-stuff-down-there. When I got to the Cove, a kelp bass jumped so high out of the water, it had time to pull off a full-on pike before spashdown. I'd give it a 9.98. I'm into high drama and the splash was BIG. What a show. Also there were hundreds of birds, especially corrmorants, sitting on the surface and diving in the area off the yellow ecological reserve "A" buoy.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time: 8:30 am
Visibility: 10'
Comments: Getting better. The area off the Shores is clear and bluish, the area off the Slides is greenish but clear, and there is basically no vis off the Cove. Take your pick. At least the seaweed is mostly washed away from the surfzone. Ran into my role model, Bob, who swam the English Channel. He said he just saw a big white seabass. Oh well, missed it. Anyway, I'm glad to see that the ecological reserve boundary buoys have been properly placed again. You can thank me for that. Hey, it's part of my nature to defend my territory.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time: 8:15 am
Visibility: 0'
Comments: Pea soup all the way. At least I can say I got wet and got some exercise. I actually got a good workout before I started swimming because there is about 4,000 pounds of kelp in the surf zone so it was like wading through the La Brea Tar Pits.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time: 7:15 am
Visibility: 0'
Comments: Well, what do you expect after a storm? By the by, we can kiss the warm summer water goodbye. I wish I could do the same for the seal that scared the living daylights out of me. Honestly, if I need to be on a leash, why shouldn't they?
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time: 5:30 pm
Visibility: 5-20'
Comments: Of course I'm still swimming. I have so many things to do, I don't always have time to write even though I'm a multitasker: eating; snoozing; pestering; guarding; barking at the mail carrier, the Sparklett's water truck, the UPS truck, the blimp, etc. Whew, don't you just get tired thinking about my days? As to this afternoon's swim, there was finally something worth screaming about--A big yellowtail about 3-feet long! Just one but WOW! Of course there were the usual schools of barracuda and opaleye but that yellowtail made the whole swim. Keep on swimmin'...
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time: 5:30 pm
Visibility: 5-15'
Comments: Lucky me. TWO swims today. Murky tonight. What a change from this morning. Because the tide is high and it's dead-flat calm, I went through the Swim-Through. Cool! I highly recommend it for all you thrill-seekers.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time: 8 am
Visibility: 25+'
Comments: Even after the rain last night, the vis is good. I could see the bottom until I got to the Cove where it got murky. Still warm water but I only care because my swim buddy does. Saw a teeny-tiny flatworm (I've heard they're called polyclad worms but what do I know) that was no longer than 1/4" long. It was "swimming" about 3' below me. Now for the part that upset me. There were 4 people, each in their own rental kayak (from that place that rents them at the Shores) FISHING!!!! In the Ecological Reserve!!! Can't they read the signs?? Told them about the fine and they pulled up their lines. Ooooh, that makes me so mad. I not only have to guard my house but the reserve too. Too much stress.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time: 5:45 pm
Visibility: 5-10'
Comments: Cloudy water, poor vis. Glad I experienced the vis-of-the-year yesterday. Nothing much to see and thought I'd get skunked but then 2 big juicy yellowtails cruised underneath me. Yippee!!!
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time: 5:30 pm
Visibility: 30+'
Comments: Can you believe it???!!! Saphire blue water. Best vis in months. Gin clear. I can't say enough about tonight's experience. It's like having a relious moment if I knew what religion was. It was so clear that it was one of those days where the entire ocean floor revealed itself to me. Hightlights were a horn shark and...a 60-lb. grouper. Stunning, stunning, stunning. If you missed this evening--you missed it.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time: 7:45 am
Visibility: 0-5'
Comments: All murky from the Shores to the Cove, no vis. Schools of barracuda loitered between Devil's Slide and the Caves.<
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time: 7:30 am
Visibility: 5-15'
Comments: Clouding up at the Shores but beautiful at the Cove. School of barracuda kept me company from the outside edge of the seawall to Devil's Slide.<
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time: 6:45 am AND 5:30 pm
Visibility: 5-15'
Comments: Scored 2 swims today. In the morning I got freaked out by a seal and this evening, I got to swim with gray smoothhound sharks that came to the Shores. Is the water warmer or does it just seem that way because the air is like 95 degrees? Okay, I exagerate but after all, I am wearing a fur coat. font>
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back to the Shores.
Time: 5:45 pm
Visibility: 25+'
Comments: It sure was beautiful and warm this evening. I bet the water was 70 degrees. Saw a 2-foot-long halibut and lots of different schools of sardines. Those baby blacksmith are popping up everywhere: Schools of the tiny things buzzing under kelp paddies and hovering near buoys. Sigh. Must be fall.
Location: La Jolla Shores to the yellow buoy, to the caves to the Swim-Through to Emerald Cove to La Jolla Cove to the 1/4 mile buoy to the Shores.
Time: 7:00 am
Visibility: 25+' and vertical vis at the buoys extended all the way (35')
Comments: Welcome to Sydney's Tour of the Ocean. More photo shooting. Okay with me as I got to swim for 2 hours. Nope, I don't get tired. The folks swimming around me always say "That dog looks so relaxed." I don't know who they're talking about since I'm NOT a dog. Anyway, the baby sea lion was still resting on the rocks by the Swim-Through. I'm sure we could become friends if only I was allowed to go over and say Hi! Vis is still great. Lots of bat rays off Devil's Slide, the leopard sharks and shovelnose guitarfish have come back and are hanging out in front of the Marine Room. Clear as a bell off the yellow u/w park buoy and the 1/4 mile buoy. The Cove is a little murky and is much colder than outside the mouth of the cove. All in all, another perfect day.
Location: La Jolla Cove to Emerald Cove to La Jolla Shores, back to the Cove, then out to Buoy A (first yellow underwater park buoy)
Time: 7:00 am
Visibility: 25+' and vertical vis at the buoy is all the way (35')
Comments: If you didn't make it out today, boy did you miss it. Dead flat calm, blue, and clear. This is the icing on the ocean's cake and I lapped (no pun intended, I swear) it up. Today I was a model extraordinaire, I posed here and there. You will see pics soon on my web page. Meanwhile, because the water is so clear, you can see everything that's down there. It was really something so see a beautiful fried-egg jellyfish floating amongst the tall strands of giant kelp. I tell ya, we have a bumper crop of featherboa kelp, and it is strewn with abandon in wide areas along the ocean floor. In fact, there is so much that if you collected it all, it could probably fill the closets of all of San Diego's exotic dancers. Hmmmm, maybe I should grab a strand for my next photo session...
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove to Emerald Cove and back to the Shores
Time: 7:00 am
Visibility: 15'
Comments: It was a dark and stormy morning. Not to steal from my good bud, Snoopy, but it did rain on me and the clouds looked awfully dangerous. Still, it was totally flat and calm. I was in heaven. Went to the cove, then on the way back, stopped in Emerald Cove where I did my Queen of the World thing by standing on a barly submerged rock while surrounded by water. I tell ya, it really made my tail wag. Meanwhile, I was entranced by a very young sea lion resting on the rocks just outside the Swimthrough. Take it from me, some things are better left alone.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back
Time: 7:15 am
Visibility: 15'
Comments: Weird weather. Choppy battleship-gray water. I was rained on the whole way. Lots of bat rays off Devil's Slide. This is their mating time. Wonder if I missed it. It happens at night. Maybe that's when I should be swimming...nope, I don't think so.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back
Time: 7:45 am
Visibility: 20'
Comments: Just in time for fall, the vis has taken an upturn. Is upturn a dictionary word? It's taken a whole summer of my daily infusions of blue Rit dye to transform the green to brownish water but I finally have succeeded. No need to thank me. It was worth the trouble. Now I can see all kinds of stuff I forgot was there. The bat rays floating just below my paws off Devil's Slide, the mixed school of opaleye and zebraperch, and the hundreds of opaleye in a stationary school around a giant kelp plant. WOW! Lots of garabaldi at the Cove, and tons of featherboa kelp off the caves. Back at the shores, shovelnoses were lined up with their noses pointed toward shore. How organized is that?
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back
Time: 7:30 am
Visibility: 15'
Comments: Finally, things have gotten better to the point they are worth talking about. Thinking about going in? The water is beginning to clear up.......just in time for fall. I can actually see reef below me. There are plants and animals! So jump in for heaven's sake.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back
Time: 6:45 am
Visibility: 15'
Comments: Most memorable was the fried-egg jellyfish dramatically impaled on a floating strand of featherboa kelp. I thought they were long gone but once again, the ocean surprises me.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back
Time: 7:00 am
Visibility: 5'-10'
Comments: Saw (once again) humans fishing off of Alligator Head. I'm so tired of this so I called the Department of Fish and Game (1-888-DFG-CALTIP) and barked at 'em.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back
Time: 7:15 am
Visibility: 0'-5'-10'
Comments: Yes, of course I've been swimming but thanks for worrying about me. It's just that I haven't been able to tell you anything because the conditions are so terrible. I keep hoping things will get better but (at the risk of you never wanting to read my reports again) I must say that I'm not holding my breath. I will ring in again when there's something to report.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back
Time: 5:45 pm
Visibility: 5'
Comments: Yep. I scored 2 swims today. The water is in the 70s and for my evening swim, it felt like the mid-70s. The air was so hot--ooh, don't even think about touching my skin without a potholder...even when I'm in the water. Can't you just hear me sizzle? With the water temp like a jacuzzi, I decided to take the grand tour: Tour l'Caves, Tour l'Coves, Tour l'Buoys. Kinda got the whole place covered and even got a singular experience that I've only been able to dream about. For years, I've always tried to climb up on a kelp paddy or a buoy or sometimes (to the irritation of) my swim buddy, all in the hope of gaining a bigger bird's-eye view of my surroundings. Well, inside of Emerald Cove, I discovered a large barely submerged boulder and climbed aboard. Looking (and feeling!) like I was standing on water, I braced myself against the surge and stared out to see with a view to die for. I am a rock; I am an island.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back
Time: 6:00 am
Visibility: 0'-5'
Comments: Pea soup--both the sea and the air. What an adventure. The fog was so thick that it took me a long time to reach the Cove. I paddled in and out--couldn't see anything underwater and couldn't see any land. All that captured my attention was a flock of pelicans sitting on the water. Every time they moved, I moved with them, and my directions got all screwed up. I got too close the the cliffs, then swam too far out to sea. My radar (sea-dar?) is usually perfect but for those darned pelicans...so close and yet so far. Sigh. Anyway, decided not to risk trying to get back to the Shores via the waterway so I hopped out at the Cove and returned to the Shores by way of Torrey Pines Road. Gotta go with the flow.
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back
Time: 7:00 am
Visibility: 0-5'
Comments: (Yawn) More of the same...
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back
Time: 7:15 am
Visibility: 0-5'
Comments: Didn't I tell you I was doing a full-on swim this morning? Hey, I know how make things happen. But I don't know how to clear up the water for you. I really couldn't see much the whole way. It looked like there was a dust storm going on under the surface. The Cove was totally churned up. Offshore, the kelp that shot to the surface and the broken-up kelp paddies had seniorita fish and kelp bass schools. Not a single bat ray did I see. The water is warmer too. I tell ya, I feel so relaxed, the only thing I'm diggin' is the water. That should make at least one person I know happy.
Location: La Jolla Shores to somewhere in the Pacific and back
Time: 6:30 am
Visibility: 20'
Comments: Finally, the water has cleared up and is blue!!! Leopard sharks zipping around everywhere. Shovelnoses, schooling smelts and those bottomfeeders, the goatfish. It's about time. Unfortunately, the 66 degree water was a tad too tingly for my swim buddy so we turned back sooner than I wanted. I made my dissatisfaction clear after we got home. I dug a big ol' hole by the back door...to make sure it didn't go unnoticed. Which means you will be hearing about my full-on swim tomorrow. I guarantee it.
Location: La Jolla Cove to the yellow buoy (Rockpile) and back
Time: 7:15 am
Visibility: 0'-5'
Comments: I think everyone must have thrown all the ice cubes from their freezer into the ocean. It is positively freezing...and my swim buddy couldn't take it. I'd say it was between 64 and 66 degrees. Still some swell although it seems to be calming down. The hoopla down south is quieting down. No wind chop because, well, no wind. Can't complain about the overcast. It's the third morning this summer that there isn't any. I will end today's ramblings by borrowing from part of a famous quote: "What a long, strange summer this has been."
Location: La Jolla Shores to La Jolla Cove and back
Time: 6:00 pm
Visibility: 0'-5'
Comments: Woah! Such swells as I don't recall in some time. I was a bit worried they would break on top of me as I made my way to the Marine Room. The tide is very high, and the vis has dropped but the water is still blue if murky. Just when it looked like it was finally going to get good. Still lots of anchovies inside the Cove.
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back
Time: 7:00 am
Visibility: 10'-20'
Comments: I did not wait to pass go and collect $200. I ran in so fast and jumped through those waves to get to the pelicans. Darn, I can never get near enough, and all I want is a closer look...I swear. Saw some visitors I haven't seen in a while. There were 2 halibuts about 2 feet long each, a butterfly ray, and a gray smoothhound shark right at the Marine Room. The Cove is nice and clear with lots of garabaldi and, of course, more of those silversides.
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back
Time: 7:15 am
Visibility: 10'-15'
Comments: I know I eat some gross things but even I was disgusted by those 2 thin, tiny (1/2 " long) white worms slithering along just below the surface. Ick.
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back
Time: 7:00 am
Visibility: 10'
Comments: The usual flat and calm summer morning. Unfortunately, the vis refuses to straighten out. If it doesn't hurry, fall will be here. Well, you can still see buckets of anchovies hanging out under the pelicans.
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back
Time: 6:15 pm
Visibility: 0'-10'
Comments: Ya know, I really can't recommend snorkeling or diving in the shallows at this time of the evening. The wind comes up, the light from the sun is at a low angle, and the vis just goes away. Other than for pure refreshment, take your dip first thing in the morning or in the later evening. Yep, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it...and not just so as to get the place to myself.
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back
Time: 6:50 am
Visibility: 10'-15'
Comments: Dolphins! Jumping dolphins! I really don't know what dolphins are but it is so exciting to see other kinds of dogs and what they can do in the ocean. I sure don't know that trick. It was quite thrilling to watch, I must say.
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back
Time: 7:30 am
Visibility: 10'-15'
Comments: What's the deal with the tons of jumping, diving pelicans? Ah, I just found out. There are scads of tiny silvery fish (anchovies?) everywhere. There are so many that it's like an all-you-can-eat buffet--except only one type of food is served. Hmmmm, pelicans eat silvery food. That's different. My food is brown.
Location: La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores and back
Time: 7:30 am
Visibility: 5'-10'
Comments: Flat, calm and warm. I love warm water. I did have a drama with 2 seals. Well, I used to be quite afraid of them but I decided that they were not going to bully me anymore. When they popped up right near by, I started after them, and when I got close...they disappeared. I just hate that. Have you had that happen? It sure does make me nervous when they do that because I don't know where they are, and I don't know where they will pop up next. How can I be in charge if I don't know where they are? Just don't know about those dogs but I refuse to be intimidated. Did I convince you how brave I am? Good. Now all I need to do is convince myself.
Location: To La Jolla Cove and back to La Jolla Shores
Time: 7:00 am
Visibility: 5'-15'
Comments: Here's my tip. The vis is really bad inside so if you want to see anything, you need to get out where the kelp is. Look for the yellow buoys. Yep, right around there. Lots of seniorita fish, kelp bass, and kelp snails suctioned onto the fronds of the kelp.
Location: To La Jolla Cove and back to La Jolla Shores
Time: 7:20 am
Visibility: 5'
Comments: Ugh! It's been months since I went swimming...hasn't it? At least it feels like it has. Guess what I found buried in the sand at the Marine Room? A credit card key for the hotel. That's my big marine life find for the day. So sorry we had to give it back. I could sure use some room service.
Location: To La Jolla Cove and back to La Jolla Shores
Time: 6:45 am
Visibility: 5'-10'
Comments: The kelp has sure gotten ratty. I guess it can't help itself since the water is so warm, and kelp starts to die when the water temperature gets close to 70 degrees. It's a little troublesome to be constantly faced with piles of the uprooted foliage. Quite frankly, it's more like a tease because I am sure I can climb onto it and get a breather and a better view but it NEVER happens.
Location: To La Jolla Cove and back to La Jolla Shores
Time: 6:30 am
Visibility: 0'-5'
Comments: Ah, a sunset swim. Sounds romantic, doesn't it? That's the commercial but the reality is that the sun is smack in my face for half of the swim. Still, I am lovin' it. Just when I reached the mouth of the Cove, all the pelicans perched on the onshore cliffs took flight directly over me. What a sight! There where at least a hundred and that's no fish story. Heck no, it's a bird story.
Location: To La Jolla Cove and back to La Jolla Shores
Time: 7:20 am
Visibility: 0'-5'
Comments: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've been swimming everyday. I just haven't felt like talking.
Location: To La Jolla Cove and back to La Jolla Shores
Time: 7:20 am
Visibility: 0'-5'
Comments: Maybe I spoke too fast yesterday. How can I put this? Ummm...well...ahh, Judith went surfing at the Marine Room this morning. Fortunately, while there were swells off the Cove, no waves were breaking so we went out over there. I saw yet another fried-egg jellyfish. How appropriate because I sure have egg on my face after yesterday's prediction. Just when I thought the really good vis was about to roll in, it turned out to be the surf instead. I'm not sure how to end this report so you choose: Give me a break (or not)! Let the good times roll!
Location: La Jolla Cove to the Shores and back
Time: 7:15 am
Visibility: 10-15'
Comments: Wow! It's time for you to get out to the Cove. Gin clear today. Lots of garibaldi. While the inside of the Cove is clear there is still that green tint around but areas of blue outside the Cove and toward the Shores abound. It's about time I can see something again. I was beginning to think it was me and that I needed glasses. Now I can see giant kelp, feather boa kelp, kelp bass, schools of sargo, and those creepy-crawler insects that clutch for dear life on the floating seagrass. Swimming is really great again. Yes!
Location: La Jolla Shores to the Cove and back
Time: 7:00 am
Visibility: 10'
Comments: Do I detect a clearing trend? It seems that there are pockets of good vis amidst the murk today. Now I can see some baracuda, opaleye, and salema. I sure would like to see the eagle ray (!!!) someone else just saw out here.
Location: La Jolla Shores to the Cove and back
Time: 7:10 am
Visibility: 5'
Comments: The marine layer is still hanging around, the swell is down, a little surf but less than the last couple of days. Shovelnoses are still here but can't see much marine life because of the murk.
Location: La Jolla Shores to the Cove and back
Time: 6:50 am
Visibility: 0-10'
Comments: Surf's up! No problem. I fought the waves and won. Ya otta see me. I'm really something in the water. But back to the water stuff that you really want to know about, I discovered if I swim out farther (making a wider arc), the water is blue. In fact, I saw a school of opaleye and a kelp bass came right up to the surface to check out a piece of rotting kelp. What a life.
Location: La Jolla Shores to the Cove and back
Time: 7:00 am
Visibility: 0-5'
Comments: What I would like to know is what was that commercial fishing boat doing anchored off next to Buoy A (between the Cove and the Shores). By the time I passed it on the way back, it had pulled anchor and was heading back out to sea. Can they do that? I felt very unsafe with that boat in my swimming turf. Meanwhile the red tide continues.
Location: La Jolla Shores to the Cove and back
Time: 6:30 am
Visibility: What vis?
Comments: No vis. Nope. Nothing. Nada. Zip.
Location: La Jolla Shores to the Cove and back
Time: 6:15 am
Visibility: 15-20'
Comments: Whoooo boy, I gotta drag myself up earlier. Did I hit pay dirt this morning. First off, just off the Marine Room and lined up with the outer end of the seawall, a juicy 60-lb. grouper circled below me. Upon closer inspection, I was charmed by the large freckles adorning both sides of his face. Just made me positively poetic, doncha think? The tons of shovelnose guitarfish were all lined up side by side and nose to tail with their noses pointed toward shore. What rigid and controlled lives they lead. No thanks. I like being an iconoclast. Then I came across a mixed-up school of both barracuda and salema fish. They were swimming in every direction because they were going crazy on a cloud of mysids. These are tiny shrimplike creatures that they like to eat. Personally, I need something way more substantial. Anyway, moving along, there were scads of swimming bat rays--an armada of bat rays! Whew, now I'm really cooking with my descriptions. Unlike ususal, I didn't seem to bother them as they soared close underneath me. The best part was when a battalian of sargo fish inserted themselves inbetween the bat ray armada. The sargos seemed to hold their position as the bat rays danced around them. What a sight. Just below the surface, my nemesis, those constant (and multiplying!) piles of floating seaweed debris have finally begun to attract life. I found a tiny golden pipefish and a flat-tailed isopod. It's an insectlike animal that you usually find on the bottom attached to a piece of seaweed or under a rock. It's a creepy, crawly thing. Ick. Enough said.
Location: La Jolla Shores to the Cove and back
Time: 7:00 am
Visibility: 5-10'
Comments: Yeah, I went, and it was great. Go see for yourself. I don't feel talkative today.
Location: La Jolla Shores to the Cove and back
Time: 6:30 am
Visibility: 0-5'
Comments: That wicked wind last night sure had an effect on my swimming pool. The water is positively lime green, and you know I'm no drama queen. Lots of chop and whitecaps. So much work. Couldn't see a thing except on the way back off the east end of Devil's Slide I saw 5-6 swimming bat rays. They were hard to miss since they were so close to the surface, I could practically run across their backs.
Location: La Jolla Shores to the Cove and back
Time: 6:50 am
Visibility: 5-10'
Comments: The less I can see, the less I do see. So what. I'm still lovin' the swim. In fact, after I got back to the beach, I turned around to head back out but you-know-who put a stop to it. Oh yeah, what did I see. Tons of swimming bat rays just outside the seawall from the Shores. I still haven't seen the turtle I've been hearing about. It sounds like a really interesting kind of dog.
Location: La Jolla Shores to the Cove and back
Time: 7 am
Visibility: 10'
Comments: Great vis for one day, then pffft. Easy come, easy go. So much feather boa kelp. And so much of it lying like fuzzy, thick, tangled rope on the ocean floor. I wish I could figure out what kind of fish I keep seeing. They are a couple of feet long, elongated but not slim, have somewhat pointed snouts, yellow tails, and a streak of yellow below their dorsal fin.
Location: La Jolla Shores to the Cove and back
Time: 6:45 am
Visibility: 20'
Comments: Wow! Now this is more like it. The vis has totally straightened out. I can see all the way down to the sand bottom from the Shores to the Cove. Awesome!! I love clear water because I can see so much more stuff. I tell ya, though, I think someone has unleashed some Agent Orange for all the floating seaweed I've had to wade through. I narrowly missed another jellyfish but this was one of those pinkish-brown ones. It's more beautiful than the others. I saw 3 of them. Also, those soupfin sharks are still hanging around. Small school of jack mackeral. There are hardly any juvenile topsmelt in the Cove anymore. Lots of orange garibaldi fish look picture perfect against a backdrop of emerald-green surf grass.
Location: La Jolla Shores to the Cove and back
Time: 6:45 am
Visibility: 5-20'
Comments: Well, what ocean is this? The water temp just dropped like a rock...a cold rock. It only affects me because it affects my swim buddy. Personally, I don't notice water temp at all. At any rate, the area close to the beach at La Jolla Shores and the area outside and inside La Jolla Cove were positively frosty. That may be why the vis is lifting a bit. There's still no good vis at the Shores but from the caves to the Cove, it's clear. I only saw one soupfin shark off Devil's Slide. But I did see 4 fried-egg jellyfish floating by with a few kelp bass poking their noses awful darn close. I was thinking I should warn them because I have lots of experience getting my nose into trouble. Well, maybe they had a hankering for breakfast. Hmmmm. Just add some toast and hash browns. Now I'm starving. Later.
Location: La Jolla Shores to the Cove and back
Time: 7:00 am
Visibility: 0-15'
Comments: I know it sounds weird but there was no vis at the Shores. However, by the time I got to the caves, it cleared up to 15 feet. That's when I saw 7 or 8 soupfin sharks and the small school of yellowtail fish. But the best part of my swim was inside the Cove. There were zillions of tiny topsmelt swarming like locusts. What a beauteus sight. I noticed on the way back that the big school of sargo fish I saw a while back (if you recall) is getting mighty small. I wonder who's snackin'.
Location: La Jolla Shores to the Cove and back
Time: 7:00 pm
Visibility: 0-5'
Comments: The ocean is breathing heavy today. That's what I always say when there are big swells. There is some surf coming in as well. There is no vis in the shallows but at least the water is warm and there was no surface chop. On my way back to the Shores from the Cove, a few kelp strands came into view along with some kelp bass and, are you ready, a black sea bass. Yep! Must have weighed about 60 pounds. Cool!! I still have the good luck around me.
Location: La Jolla Shores to the Cove and back
Time: 6:00 pm
Visibility: 0-5'
Comments: You probably think I haven't been swimming these last couple of days but it's not true. As you know, I've had so much drama recently, I just wanted to be low key for a short time. In the meantime, I've seen several fried egg jellyfish, a salp, and lots of barnacles on the buoys I'm convinced I will one day be successful at climbing on to. There are also lots of feather boa kelp fronds growing thickly off the caves area. Otherwise, just the usual bat rays, shovelnoses, and leopard sharks that I could see. The visibility has been so bad that it's hard to see much of anything. Hope it gets better soon but I'm just thrilled to pieces to be able to swim so I'm okay with it. Oh and I managed to stay well ahead of a big, muscular swimmer who was breathing down my neck part of the way to the Cove. I must be awfully fast, huh?
Location: Marine Room to the Cove and back
Time: 6:00 pm
Visibility: 0-5'
Comments: Do the words "Victory at Sea" mean anything to you? So much chop and swell. Guess that hurricane they had down south still has something to say. What a challenge. It was hard to see anything because the troughs were so deep. But hey, at least the water is warm. Finally, it was time to turn around and head back. Too bad. I wanted to keep going. Needless to say, the vis was basically nonexistent. I even had a scary moment that I didn't even know about. I was inches from running into a big purple jellyfish. Whew! Judith pulled me out of the way just in time. Then, after that terror, we approached the shore and saw the dreaded lifeguard truck. What else can go wrong? I've got my leash and everything. Well, we got out and tried to look nonchalant but couldn't avoid the inevitable. The lifeguard came over to us and we expected the worst but he was actually nice. He said that someone from inside the restaurant decided we were caught in a rip current and called the station. Turns out he'd been spending some long time watching us all the way out there. I'm so glad he stayed on the beach and didn't force rescue us. That would have really upset me. To top it off, he wanted us to go to the station and introduce ourselves. Please, no! We did go over when I got hit by the stingray a couple of weeks ago (if you recall) but no one would come out and give us hot water because I'm a dog. He also wanted to know what times we swim so if anyone else calls, they can say there's no problem. Yeah, right! Like I want them to know all the times I've raced into the water totally out of control without my leash. As much as I love attention, sometimes it's exhausting to be such a celebrity.
P.S. The people looking out the restaurant window applauded me when I got out. So, in the end, it really is a dog's life.
Location: Marine Room to the Cove and back
Time: 7:00 am
Visibility: 15'
Comments: Hey, what happened to the shovelnoses? They must have moved down the beach for a different view this morning. Decided to head on over to the caves to visit the White Lady cave. Completely calm. Garibaldi fish guarding nests, school of salema fish. I think the La Nina has been like Miracle Grow plant fertilizer to all the seaweed species. I can't believe the growth. It's not just the lushness, it's that the seaweed covers much more ground (sand?) than it used to.
Location: Marine Room to the Cove and back
Time: 6:30 am
Visibility: 15'
Comments: As I ran shrieking with joy into the water, I could hardly control my excitement for a dip in the drink. When I got to the inside of the Cove, there swimming in front of me were two MATING bat rays!!!!!! How can this be??? This isn't the end of August, it isn't nighttime, it isn't over sandy bottom off the Shores, and there are no other bat ray couples nearby. But there they were, just a few yards off the beach in a water depth of only 8 feet. What a floorshow it was as they swam slowly around me a few times until they fluttered off. What a thrill! Then, if that wasn't great enough, on my way back to the Shores, I looked down and--just over the sand-I spied a big white sea bass. Wow! I feel like a won the lottery twice!!!!!!!!!
Location: Marine Room to the Cove and back
Time: 6:45 am
Visibility: 10'
Comments: Love it when it's flat cause I don't get my face wet right away. I just sink into the Pacific like a big, ol' easy chair and cruise on toward the Cove. Whoa! The shovelnose guitarfish have returned to their summer stomping (and mating) grounds in front of the Marine Room. There were more than 100 of them all piled together in a heap. And att just a few feet deep, I could almost step on them. Bat rays are in as well. Bunches of them are fanned out on the sand off Devil's Slide. I just can't believe the number of barracuda. At the Cove, I saw a garabaldi fanning his nest of eggs with his body. So much to see. I'm psyched.
Location: Marine Room to the Cove and back
Time: 6:30 am
Visibility: 10'
Comments: Wind's up! Some surface chop, which means that I had to deal with constantly getting sprayed in the face. Ah, it's okay, I love being a salty dog. So, with the wind chop, the vis dropped from what it was yesterday. Oh well, I can still see the bat rays floating below me. Had a great swim to the Cove, turned back and, oh my goodness!!! You know about that dusky shark people have been talking about? I just saw it!!! About 5 feet long, slivery on its side, and not easily spooked like the leopard sharks are. It was right off the caves area. It just kind of swam slowly around. What a day.
Location: Marine Room to the Cove and back
Time: 7 am
Visibility: 25'+
Comments: Boy was it incredible this morning. Not only was the water gin clear but we saw 4 different schools of fish at various points along our journey to the Cove and back. First, and closest to the Marine Room, we saw a big school of barracuda. Haven't seen them around here in a long time. Then we saw a school of zebraperch, then salema, and finally a couple hundred sargo. Wow!!! We also saw some bat rays and sharks (leopard and shovelnose). I must say, there is so much more plant life since the La Nina.
In case you were wondering, my foot is fine now…
Location: Marine Room
Time: 6 pm
Visibility: 5'
Comments: I can't believe it! I got nailed by a sting ray. And I thought it only happened to tourists. I will be dry-docked for 10 to 12 days. I was terribly brave to withstand the stitches. Can you believe this, the vet won't take the stitch out until Monday!!! I hope it doesn't happen to you. Fortunately, it happened when we got out of the water. The swim from the shores to La Jolla Cove and back was spectacular. The water is so warm. Please send me your condolences. I'm depressed.