Scuba Diving club,
Southern California
Redondo
Canyon (Veterans Park)
IT
WAS A SQUID THING...
By Walter Marti
I went on my third squid adventure
on 12/7/01. My first was last February
in Scripp’s Canyon off of a Dive Boat. We were a couple of days late for the big squid
finally. The second was just before
Thanksgiving. I heard about it on
diver.net/bbs
or was it scubadivernet.com/
(they are both SoCal Diving Message Boards, once you wade through the BS,
it’s a valuable resource). The second
adventure, I did on a Friday and Sunday
evening, I saw eggs and small groups of squid, some even attempting to procreate.
Squid
live only a few years. Then they
congregate in mass to procreate, lay eggs and die. They seem to do this at the shallow edges of underwater canyons. The timing is a mystery to me, but it is
most likely in December and January.
There ‘runs’ have been light in recent years. Last year they came back with a vengeance. I tired the pay per
dive trip to Scripp’s Canyon to hit the end.
Or, as it seems to me now, a lull.
I searched for a information and discovered the above internet message
boards. I followed them all year. Until, someone mentioned the
pre-Thanksgiving squid run. I was busy
then, had things to do... Then I
realized why I started following these BBS’s, I changed my plans, called some
dive friends (Ransom Hicks, Bill Maley and or course Linda) and went
diving. Again, I saw eggs, mating,
small groups of squid. They were in
greater numbers on the second dive. The
concurent posting on the BBS indicated that I dove too early. I went again, two days later, the results
were less. Possibly, again just a lull.
My buddy, Sam Macaluso, and I talked to some fisherman at the pier. One was full of information and told us that
the squid come every year December to January, and maybe the month prior and
subsequent. This year they are early!
They come to stay and their runs are sporadic within that time. Last weekend, December 7th, the
Santana Winds were blowing and made it Lake Pacifico. I thought, that I should try it again. I called a few buddies that morning and Lloyd Howell bit at the
short notice. Here is my report to the BBS:
There
back!!! Or, most likely they never
left. Just came back from diving Redondo
Canyon (Veterans Park). Lots of birds sitting on the water, and
boats with squid lights on. Hit the
water at 8:30 pm. Swimming on the
surface, just before the drop off, I notice strange shapes in the water (I like
to swim out without light off, why burn batteries when I can enjoy the
bioluminese), I turn on my video lights and see many small stingrays flying
about. We drop down, and descend down
the drop-off. At the bottom (60'), I see the, now huge, egg masses and lots of
squid. At 65' there were thousands of
squid. My video lights probably helped
bring them in. I was kneeling on the
bottom and never seen bottom, too many squid in the way. It was squid soup. I sat there for 30 minutes and let the camera roll. My buddy, Lloyd, started getting cold and we
slowly headed up the drop off. I kept
my video lights on. A large group of
squid followed us into 15' of water!
The
Santana's are blowing, the water is flat and vis was good. A little stirred up by all the squid mating
action. One strange happening, a boat
above us must have drop a 'seal bomb' to spook the seals. At first I thought Lloyd, our myself, blew a
high pressure hose, which is odd at the middle of a dive. Eerie feeling when that went off overhead
and all you can see in any direction is squid. You've gotta go and do it! It is happening now! For the price of gas and an airfill, you
can't beat the experience. And, please
tell me about it.
I
was so hyped up about the experience I called a few other diver friends. And in the process, talked myself into doing
it again that Saturday evening. This
time I had a small group, Hans and Marsha, Peter Gallup and Linda (with Santana
Wind irritated sinus’s). Also, in the parking lot were at least five divers,
possibly more, from my BBS postings.
This was a wonderful experience in itself, I can now put a face to the
postings I read. The waves were less,
the vis was down a little (maybe because of my big mouth on the BBS and all the
resulting divers). The squid population
down slightly. Still thousands!! Peter brought along his video lights (his
camera died a while ago, but he still has the lights), he extended the
illumination and I got wonderful video footage.
These
dives move into my Top 10 dive experiences.
The price was right, gas and an airfill. The vis was no worse than diving on the Dive Boat in Scripp’s
Canyon. Remember, when the Santana
Winds blow in December or January, make the time and try for the squid.
DIRECTIONS:
Redondo
Canyon: Just south of King Harbor. It’s at the end Pearl St. and by Veterans Park.
Metered Parking, bring quarters.
Take the stairway down, pass the bathrooms and go straight out to the
birds. 100 yards out you'll be at the
edge of the drop-off.
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updated September 15, 2003