Diving the oil rigs..

A small boatload of us dove the oil rigs off the coast of orange county, a favorite spot for experienced divers and photographers. It was also my 1st time out with the D300. The surge and current throws you around alot since your in the open ocean, but its lots of fun.

enjoy the photos,

Scott

my friend with his video camera

sea lion fly by

many garibaldis (25?)

penny checking out the anemones

cabezon

my wife in a swarm of small fish

nicw shots. looks bloody cold though. do you need permission to dive these places

Thanks Scott. You made my eyes happy this morning. Glad you had a good trip. Which lens and port setup were you using?

Steve

Very nice. Which Rigs did you dive?

Mike

thanks Stew, it was 15 celsius at the surface, at 10 celsius at 100ft..

no special permission needed for these, but it has to be live boated.

steve, you have to get out here and dive soon! I had on the 10-17 the entire time, fisheye dome port.

thanks Mike, we dove eureka and Elly.

Scott

I don't know what that temp is in American, but you got some mighty nice photos there. The first (and only time) I dived the rigs in the Gulf I was too scared to bring my camera with me. Man, was I sorry I didn't.

Seeing those great pictures reminds me of the beauty in my own backyard. I just booked a truth aquatics limited load trip for sept. Lucky for me I have a dry suit to keep me toasty warm

I don't know what that temp is in American, but you got some mighty nice photos there. The first (and only time) I dived the rigs in the Gulf I was too scared to bring my camera with me. Man, was I sorry I didn't.

thanks NWC

the temp is around 60 at the surface, 50 at depth, and 55 or so in between

Great images.

The rigs are truly an oasis in the desert. Sadly, if the environmental lobby gets its way, the structures will be removed, killing all that life, and the sea floor scrubbed to it's original condition (sand). I usually side with environmentalists on most issues, but in this I feel they are reacting to long held beliefs regardless of what mother nature has created from our folly.

I've been working with DSAT for many years for "Rigs to Reef" so have seen and heard both sides of the issue. Hopefully good sense will prevail, however on this issue I can tell you a picture is NOT worth a thousand words.

The sealion silhouettes set against the industrial shapes of the rig are very interesting. You've shown me something new – good work Scott. Beautiful anemones too.

Thanks for posting. These are really nice. The anemones are fantastic.

Unless things have changed you DO NEED PERMISSION to dive the platforms even if you live boat. They have another very large shore boat that transports workers and supplies and they need to coordinate with the boat that no divers ascend near a certain part of the rig. Every dive I have been on (and it's been 20 or so) at the rigs required permission.

Joe

Joe, you definetely right.

I should have stated my answer differently - with respect to the oil rigs in orange county, private boats can't dive there, but commerical dive boats call ahead in the morning to "get permission". I always saw it as more of a formality becase I haven't ever heard of a commercial dive boat that I've been on being turned down. You definitely need to know where to surface if the transport boat is around.

One of my favorite dives locally here.

Viz can be from 1M to 50M depending upon the day.

Eureka, Elleen and Elly

See some info her: http://diver.net/bbs/posts001/59954.shtml