Above Cape Ann

Last fall, my buddy Mike Abelson took me up in his Skylane RG to get some aerial shots of Cape Ann. We were able to quickly and easily identify some of the best dive sites around the island. It was a hazy, but beautiful day, and it's always a blast riding in the front seat of a small plane (not to mention hanging out the window, camera in hand). In any case, this video that I finally cut together offers a unique perspective of some of our favorite dive sites. Enjoy!

Folly Cove, the little stuff...

        Chuck and I took my macro setup to Folly cove on Sunday. We were originally scheduled to dive U-853 again, but 30 mph and 10' seas cancelled our trip. I can't say I wasn't relieved, I really didn't want to be on Canned Air "the rocket sled" in those conditions. It may be fun feeding the gulls your breakfast, but vomiting over the side of a boat gets old after 6 or 7 times. Hopefully the weather will pan out next Sunday.
        In light of everything being blown out, we opted for a Cape Ann shore dive. Wind was blowing out everywhere facing south so Folly was as calm as can be. We saw our friends on the Cape Ann Divers boat finding some shelter behind the Lobster Pool restaurant and decided to harass them from shore. Their divers were exploring the granite seawall east of the restaurant.
       We saw the usual assortment of critters, and admittedly, it was nice to have a stress-free dive compared to Nazi submarine wreckage and claustrophobic Saturday Night Ledge. We were in snapping pictures and exploring for over an hour. Miraculously, Chuck's makeshift drysuit-zipper-clamp worked and he stayed reasonably dry. In other words, just the normal amount of water we get in our suits. We'll see how it holds up at 5 atmospheres. Below are some higher-res images from Folly, enjoy!

The fine folks at Cape Ann Divers

Close-up of some gnarly urchin skin

Diplosoma listerianum, invasive, but pretty.

Spider crab getting romantic with Chuck.

Blood star, and a freak of nature. I actually didn't notice until I looked at my pictures when I got home.

Club tunicate engulfed by colonial tunicate.

Rock crab with beady yellow eyes.

sea star close-up

Folly Cove, Gloucester

       Last month, against our better judgment, Chuck and I decided to dive Folly Cove in the pouring rain. After days of bad weather and massive electrical storms, we didn't have high hopes for the visibility or the overall comfort level of the dive. It also wasn't encouraging that the cove was completely abandoned.     

Proceeding a ridiculous attempt to get into my drysuit in the back of my Honda, I was ready to jump in. Following the western side of the cove to Folly Point, we were surprised and pleased to enjoy excellent visibility and tranquil conditions underwater. The first thing we noticed was a staggering amount of sand dollars resting on the bottom, there were thousands of them. You could hardly find a square foot patch of sand without them.

      On our way out, halfway to the point, we saw a fully grown ocean pout. It was a beauty. Very docile, it allowed us to get right next to it without being spooked. Eventually it lazily swam beside us and then rested next to the wall. The fish had an obvious full belly which probably contributed to it's overall sluggishness.  

 After hitting Folly Point, we were ready to turn around. I looked up one last time and realized that I was completely engulfed by a huge school of Pollock. Completely overwhelmed, I started sucking down air like crazy. The school, hundreds strong, moved as one giant swarm. I briefly attempted to keep up with them, but quickly determined that it was a futile action. As fast as they appeared, they were gone around the point. On the way back to shore we saw our ocean pout friend again, this time resting in the sand. I drove home with my head in the clouds, it was a great day to be a fish-nerd.