Dive BC Blog - Vancouver (BC) Diving Community

2006-11-24T16:40:00.000-08:00

After All it seems that the information isn't right....

That shark might have been cuaght on the East Coast...

But I leave it here anyway since it's soo Impressive...

JAWS in BC Water ...wow

UCLUELET, B.C. (West side of Vancouver Island) While the ocean vessel 'Dawn Raider' was commercial fishing for dogfish, this Great White was hooked in the mouth but only resisted slightly for 15 minutes before it came up alongside the boat to have a look; long enoughfor one of the crew members to slip a rope around it's tail 'And that's when the s**t hit the fan!!. The Shark took off towing the 42 foot fishing boat backwards through the water at about 7 Knots.Just like in JAWS, the boat was taking on water over the stern and the crew watched in horror as the shark would actually jump completely out of the water at times. This went on for an hourbefore the shark finally drowned. She weighed in at 1035 LBS. It is suspected she followed a weak El Ninocurrent into local waters in search of food.Although mid 60 deg. water is considered ideal for these sharks, the larger ones can tolerate water in the low 50s.

National Geographic Magazine

2006-07-30T07:58:00.000-07:00

Hey Divers...

For those of you who ever opened a National Georaphic Magazine, you know that the pictures they contain are incredible.

Well once again National Geographic prooved it, with a few pictures taken in our BC waters. Scubadivers from around the world will be jaleous when they see those clichés believe me:)

It's in the august edition of the magazine, you should buy it but here is the internet adress of the magazine:
http://www9.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0608/index.html

The pictures were taken in the Queen charlote Staright near the Vancouver Island and I was surpised to learn that you can dive one of the world's fastest currents there. It is in a bay called God's pocket, it's identified as Nakwakto Rapids...

There is also a picture of a kelp forest like I had never seen it (well clearly not many people did).

The pictures were taken by Paul Nicklen, he also signed the texts, he did a grest job.

So there you go divebc readers, enjoy that edition of National Geographic Magazine and have fun diving and Be Safe.

Cendrix

50 new marine spieces...

2006-07-25T10:56:00.000-07:00

High-tech dive leads to Atlantic marine find
CBC News
Researchers have discovered what they believe are as many as 50 new marine species in waters south of Nova Scotia.
The research ship Hudson spent the last two weeks in the Discovery Corridor, an area that fans out from the East Coast 800 kilometres into the Atlantic Ocean.
The ship has been in the area before, but this time researchers went deeper than ever and used a remote-controlled diving machine that can scan the bottom of the ocean 2.5 kilometres below the surface.
Ellen Kenchington, a senior scientist, said the crew brought up about 50 creatures that have never been seen.
"We were actually able to bring [them] on board and look under the microscope and identify to some degree, but weren't able to give full names" to them, Kenchington said Monday.
With its computer-driven lenses and finely tuned robotic arm, the machine has led to discoveries such as an unusual giant sea urchin.
"These were big as dinner plates and they had little feet that made them scurry away across the floor, and there were at least two varieties of these," Kenchington said.
Standing on three fins
Researchers also found a variety of corals and other creatures equipped with special filters to suck food out of the black darkness of the ocean floor.
Anna Metaxas was particularly fascinated by a tripod fish that stands on three fins, senses food and grabs it without having to give chase.
"It's pretty exciting to get a chance to go to these habitats where these very unusual fish have developed specifically to live in that environment," said Metaxas, an oceanographer at Dalhousie University in Halifax.
She said a similar fish was dragged up by a grappling hook 100 years ago, but no one has ever observed one alive on the ocean floor.
The researchers from Dalhousie and Memorial University in St. John's received a grant to rent the machine, while the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans offered the use of the Hudson.
The next step for researchers will be to take samples and videotapes to a laboratory for a full scientific identification.
But there is more work to do at sea, they say. Some parts of this ocean corridor are six kilometres deep.

Versa Pro dive computers Recall

2006-06-25T11:30:00.000-07:00

Versa Pro dive computer owners will want to read this. I happend to learn about this after surfing dive websites. I was surprised to learn that my computer is part of that recall.

Read attentively and you will find it's easy to find out if your computer is part of it
Oceanic Computer Recall
In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Oceanic Worldwide of San Leandro, California, is voluntarily recalling Oceanic Versa Pro revision 2A Digital Dive Computers. While operating in the User Selected Digital Gauge Mode, displayed Elapsed Dive Time can be in excess of actual elapsed time.
Oceanic has received a report of two Versa Pro revision 2A units that experienced the offset time displayed while operating in User Selected Digital Gauge Mode. No injuries have been reported.
Oceanic Versa Pro 2A Dive Computers subject to the recall are only the revision 2A units which have serial numbers 12000 through 18176 which is located on the side of the module and can be viewed if after the front button is depressed to activate the unit, it is held depressed until the Diagnostic Mode screen completes its countdown and the Serial Number screen appears displaying the module’s SN and software firmware revision (r2A). The unit will shut Off when released.
Authorized Oceanic dealers sold Versa Pro 2A modules, that were manufactured between March 21, 2003, and February 7, 2005, in wrist and console mount configuration during March 2003 through April 2006.
Consumers should immediately discontinue further use of Versa Pro 2A Dive Computers for User Selected Digital Gauge Mode operation (as a Depth Gauge/Timer) and take them to any Authorized Oceanic Dealer, or return computers directly to the factory for an Upgrade to Versa Pro revision 2B.
To locate an Authorized Oceanic Dealer closest to you, or to obtain instructions for returns direct to the factory, visit Oceanic’s website.
This entry was posted on Friday, May 19th, 2006 at 10:41 am and is filed under Gear.

More pictures of Porteau Cove (BC)

2006-06-19T16:53:00.000-07:00

Porteau Cove Dive Pictures

2006-06-19T16:47:00.000-07:00

Next June Diving Events

2006-06-19T16:42:00.000-07:00

Posted by Sherri Golbeck:

A group of us are going to Sechelt on Sunday this weekend the 18th on the 7:20 am ferry to do 2 dives there deep and navigation, towards specialties. The following Sunday I have the boat booked at BC dive for 2 dives.

Wednesday Night Dive (June 21) will be Wiskey Cove at 7:30. More information to come on this.

And lastly I have space July 15th weekend for Hornby Island (6 Gill Sharks!!!!) - Please let me know

And have reserved a campsite the weekend of Aug 26th at Saltery bay in Powell river to see the Mermaid. - Please let me know if you would like to join

Reserve your spot at www.discovercamping.ca

Sherri Golbeck
DIVER Magazine
sales@divermag.com
604-988-0711
877-974-4333 toll free

Diving at Ansell Point

2006-06-11T21:49:00.000-07:00

We went to Ansell point on the June 11th. That was my first time there, I have to admit that it's a lot of work to get to the water (and even more work to come back :) But it's almost like if struggling so much makes everything better.

Our group was composed of Me (Cendrix Bouchard) Alexandre Brabant (also a founder of divebc blog), and Brenda Rozsmann (Dive instructor with SSI) and Christine Rivers (who is a big fan of our diving blog) We did two dives.

On the first one we went on the right side when you face the water. We had to get to 40 feet to start seeing something, once down there the visibility was actually pretty good (between 10 and 15 feet). Our group split and we went in 2 groups, we've seen a lot of rockfishes, and a giant nudibranch. Many other things but no wolf eel :( There was quite a bit of current but that wasn't really a problem.

On the second dive we went on the opposite side (yeah left when you face the water). We dropped down along the wall and went just over 60 feet. The visibility was better than in the morning and was almost 30 feet. We had a really nice dive and we ended the day like that.

We happened to meet some free divers at Ansell Point on that almost sunny Sunday. There were a few of them including the world free diving champion Mandy-Rae Cruickshank.

Keep reading our divebc blog and please let us know where you have been diving and how it was so other diver can benefit from it. And don't be affraid to post your comments and to send us any other non-public comments at: divebc{at}gmail{dot}com.

Enjoy diving and be safe

BC Dive Events - June

2006-06-09T13:53:00.000-07:00

BC Dive and Kayak Adventures (www.bcdive.com) has a couple of exciting diving events coming up in the month of June that I thought you might be interested in hearing about. They have lots of other great stuff planned for the rest of the summer as well so feel free to contact Alix for more info!

First of all, they have a couple of spots left on the Adventure II this Saturday (June 10) and Sunday (June 11). They'll be doing two dives in Howe Sound so let's make the most of this unseasonably good visibility! Give Alix a call soon to reserve your spot: (604) 732-1344

Also, come and join us for our weekly Wednesday night dives....they're FREE!!! We go to a new location each week and have fun, experienced instructors show you all the highlights of each site. The more the merrier!

BC Dive have lots of great courses going on in June too- night specialty, deep specialty and drysuit specialty. They'd be happy to arrange any other courses as well...just let Alix know what you're interested in doing! Feel free to contact Alix if you have questions:

Alix Mosby
BC Dive and Kayak Adventures
(604) 732-1344

Nice Diving Picture of Cendrix

2006-06-08T12:46:00.000-07:00

Diving at Bachelor Bay

2006-06-08T09:56:00.000-07:00

For the last few weeks, we have been diving every Wednesday evening with a group a good friends and last night was no exeption. With our contagious enthusiasm to go diving and considering our last week dive at Porteau cove with a stagering 30 feet visibility, we were very pumped up yesterday. Our hope did not last long and as soon we entered the water we knew it would be somewhat challenging to see anything and to navigate this dive properly. Trying our best to stay together in 5 feet visibility - I am being generous here - that lasted at best 30 seconds. My friend Cendrix was trying to figure things out as we lost (lovely) Christine, the most experienced one in the group, and also our only hope to make this dive a little better. We all agreed that it was not worth the air we lost in this merky water.

On a good note, later that evening, Brenda took us to the pizzeria she knows in West Vancouver as we sat down and enjoy our well deserved beverages, where we could see her cooking in the kitchen... she was a good 40 feet away from us and we could see everything from the dinning area.

If you want to join our group and come diving with us every wednesday, please get in touch with us at divebc{at}gmail{dot}com. You can also call me (Alex) at 778-371-9988

Welcome to Dive BC Blog!

2006-06-06T17:13:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our first blog!

We are Alex (here below with the glasses a.k.a. the blogmaster) and Cendrix ( well...the non geeky one) This blog is dedicated to all the diving enthusiasts in Beautiful British Columbia (BC) Canada and we are very happy to to putting it together.

We are two Quebecers who moved here a couple of years ago and we have been flabbergasted when we discovered diving here. Quebec is not well known for its diving so that is why it feels so great to go diving only 30 minutes from downtown. When we tried to find out what there was about diving on the Internet we were surprised to realize that there is actually not much...So here we are... We are going to beat the drum, so listen up.

We will improve the site frequently and post pictures. More is coming so stay tuned. So, if you want to contribute a topic or anything of interest to the diving community please let us know at:
divebc{at}gmail{dot}com

Let us know where you've been diving and how it was so everyone can benefit from your experiences. That's what it is here for! Are you looking for a buddy? Let us know and we will try to help you. And also check out for new ideas: Date and dive lol.

Enjoy your diving and be safe.

Cendrix Resting between two dives

2006-06-06T16:54:00.000-07:00

Alex the BC Dive Blogmaster

2006-06-06T16:50:00.000-07:00