Night Dive for California Spiny Lobster
NIGHT DIVING – …for bugs is so eerie. I’m getting better at it but I am not 100% comfortable yet. As I dive down through about 5-8 ft of visibility, with a surge, and I can only see what my dive light illuminates; I ask myself..
What am I doing out here?
The surf is churning the sand and the surge transports me over sea grass covered rock structure. I follow the underwater ledges and scan with my eyes and light in unison. The surge again. I let it take me and use it to cover more ground. I put my right hand out ahead of me in case this underwater treadmill abruptly ends at a rock. I’m not seeing any lobsters.
THE TEASE – Just as the question in my mind starts to take over, I dive down and a lobster charges towards my light as if to tease me. We both know he is undersized and not legal to take so he mocks me. I am re-motivated and for now the question in my mind subsides. On the next few dives I see a few more shorts and the feeling of inevitability stirs inside me.
TWO BUGS – I dive down and look under a ledge about 2 feet off the ground and 3 feet back. I see two good size bugs wondering what my light is. I grab the bigger one and swim up to the surface to measure it. Yes! Just a hair over legal. The other one was prob too small so I move on. Thirty minutes later on another dive I catch a glimpse of a lobster as the surge changed direction and the sea grass covered it. I came in close and grabbed it along with a fist full of sea grass. I measured it to make sure and that was number two.
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