PGO in a Boulder Den - Pink and Spiny Scallop Litter

[Tom Hlavac]

I encountered this PGO while exploring the rocks northwest of Dolphin Beach, north of Nanoose Bay, Vancouver Island, BC. There were a moderate amount of swimming scallops, and when I saw the midden of shells, I knew there was a den under the boulder. The typical tiger rockfish was close by. Let me know your thoughts, and I am interested in hearing from anyone researching PGOs.

 

[Tom Hlavac]

In the immediate area to the den, the scallops were in a band from 120 to 60 fsw, some deeper but few and far between.

 

[DWhatley]

Diver looks soooo cold! Nice to see healthy starfish.

 

[Tom Hlavac]

I was perfectly warm - I use a "Bare" surfing wetsuit, I love it. The drysuit divers can't stay hydrated, they can't self-warm , and I have great bouyancy control that is impossible to achieve in a drysuit. I swim more efficiently even though I am in worse shape than many of the drysuit divers around here. I bought the suit at a garage sale, costs is less than $0.50 a dive for the suit ($3.50 a dive for all my gear, plus about $2 for air - I get 60 dives plus a year out of a $125 air card at the local shop). Fairly cheap hobby really.

I do have a beautifully made "Sea Tux" drysuit (used by all the commercial seafood harvesters around here), but it hangs on the hanger most of the time.

 

[Tom Hlavac]

Quite a few starfish around, seems the big sun stars are the ones that died off.