Rockport (Sandy Bay) Breakwater

  The Sandy Bay breakwater rests about 1.5 miles offshore of Rockport, Massachusetts. The breakwater was a monumental design. Construction began in the late 1800s and was promptly abandoned in the early 1900s as the project was found to be vastly over budget. The incomplete breakwater has since become an enormous man-made reef attracting schooling fish and encrusted with invertebrate life.  

Healthy invertebrate life growing on the granite boulders of the breakwater.

The top of the rock wall ascends about 10 feet above water and quickly tumbles down to the sand 70 feet below. You can dive the wall at any depth, and the site is easy to navigate. The view from the top of the wall looking down is magnificent. 

The view from above. Schooling pollock are regularly seen at this site.

It is very difficult for photos to give a sense of scale to this place. Some of the boulders are the size of school buses. They provide excellent protection for the inhabitants of the area.

Chuck is exploring the crevasses looking for photo worthy critters.  

Some of the grumpier inhabitants came out to say hi...

 After diving the breakwater, the Cape Ann Divers boat took us to the Dry Salvages just to the east. Seals have been hanging out near the Salvages and we were in hopes to see some underwater. Within minutes of jumping in, about 4 seals found us. They would dart in front of you and be gone in a flash, or tug on your fin behind you when you were not looking. Apparently flaunting their acrobatic skills and speed, it was very difficult to get any decent pictures of them. 

The guy above kept whipping around me in circles, I was finally able to get a picture before he disappeared again. They seemed more like dogs than wild animals. Our encounters with the seals were fleeting at best so I came back to the Salvages a few days later. We saw some seals playing at the surface, but I personally didn't see any underwater.

Captain Steve told me were to find some colorful rocks, I heeded his advice and was not disappointed. The inverts growing on the rocks in the shallows of the Little Salvages rivaled anything I've seen in a tropical, coral reef. It was breathtaking.

I ventured a little deeper (35'-40') and found a bed of sea stars. There were thousands of them covering the rocks. 

Strewn about the dive site was rubble from the wreckage of the USS Grouse. The only discernible pieces I found were some old electrical conduit and other small metal debris. We lucked out both days with good conditions above and below water and a weak current. This was a fantastic dive.