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On my last day in Newfoundland we headed up to the interestingly named town of Dildo, to dive on whale skeletons. The skeletons are remnants of old whaling factories. It was the only shore dive that I did in Newfoundland and it is one of the most unique dives. We walked into the water over the ankle breaker rocks and algae, did a short surface swim then dropped down. Right away in 20 FSW we found the first skeleton and more after. There was also a red fish swimming around the skeleton. This dive site is very silty and the slightest movement hitting the bottom will stir up dust, so perfect buoyancy was key. This dive was also the coldest I’ve ever done at 32 degrees. But in my DUI drysuit I was nice and warm. Unfortunately the water was so cold that my regulator started to free flow and we ended the dive. Even though it was a short dive it was a great dive and I was kind of happy that I went through a free flow and knew what to do and didn’t panic.

Later that day we drove up the coast to go see the puffins. Puffins are on of those animals like the ocean pout, lumpfish, and lion’s mane, that I have always wanted to see. I had such good luck with seeing all the others that I had a good feeling about visiting the puffins. When we arrived and walked over the the small peninsula that they sat on they were not only there and flying around but they were walking around next to people. I couldn’t believe it. I started firing off shots everywhere. It was really fantastic to see the cute little puffins that look a little like small sad clowns. Once I got a few good shots I sat back and observed them looking at their patterns and habits. After a few more minutes I started shooting again and got even better shots. I really couldn’t have asked for a better last day in Newfoundland.

The 10 days I was in Newfoundland was some of the best times of my life, I got to see so many amazing different marine animals, and got to dive wrecks that are part of history. I want to thank Rick Stanley for hosting me at Ocean Quest Adventures I had an incredible time!

 

After we had dove all the wrecks a few times we did a few reef dives. Before jumping into the water Rick told me to keep my eyes out for the Mick Jagger fish, aka the ocean pout. It’s so named because of its massive lips that looks like it had a bad plastic surgery job. I’ve always wanted to see one of these weird fish, so I kept a lookout. On our first dive I found a large male under a rock. It was pretty cool to see. On another dive I again kept looking for them. On this dive I saw 13 of them! I saw ones all different ages, sizes and colors. I even saw a territorial display between two males over a female. It was amazing to see so many of them. Most of them were a little frightened of me but I would move very slowly and stick around near them and they would get use to me. After gaining their trust I could swim up to them and put the camera a few inches from their massive lips. It a was fantastic dive.

On another reef dive we went into a sea cavern. The dark cavern was filled with orange sponges that lines the walls. At the end the rock formations were even more amazing than the top side of the island. The colors all reflecting of the surface and rocks was hypnotic. It was a great dive!

 

While in Newfoundland I also got a chance to go out and catch cod. Rick brought us out into the harbor we put lines down as humpback whales beached around us, and after a couple minutes we were pulling up cod. In total we got 14. Back at the dock Rick filleted them for us to eat the rest of the week. Needless to say the meals were amazing.

I also got the chance to go around Bell Island in a kayak. It was really fun to see the shore line and the geomorphology of the island. We saw a few bald eagles flying by and some of the old entrances to the iron mines. We also went snorkeling around looking at some of the kelp and other fauna around the shore. Later in the evening we went to the Bell Island mines, where we got a tour of the old mine shafts that were shut down and flooded. They were closed over Christmas break and the workers weren’t told the mine was closing so their tools and work spaces are just as they left it. The mines were cold and dark with redish orange lights throughout. It was really cool to see all of the history from the mines to the shipwrecks.

By far the most eerie and most beautiful of the wrecks was the Rose Castle. It lies at about 100 FSW and totally adorned by soft corals. Because the Rose Castle is so deep icebergs don’t hit it and it’s mostly intact. You can even look inside the control room and see an old marconi radio. It was truly amazing to see the history. But my favorite part about this wreck was the soft corals that grew along it. Delicate red, white, and yellow soft corals grow in large scale around the Rose Castle. I even saw a small school of five cod swimming around. The dive was fantastic! It was also my deepest dive at 110 ft. The Rose Castle was probably my favorite out of the four wrecks we dove in Bell Isle.

 

The next wreck we did was the Saganaga. The Saganaga is known for having lots of lumpfish. Most people either think the lumpfish is really ugly or really cute. Personally I believe it depends on the lumpfish. But hey that’s just me. I’ve always wanted to see a lumpfish, and on one dive I went with Ryan King, a presenter at Sea Rovers and a tech diver who helped discover the wreck of the William H Machen. Ryan is an excellent photographer and a great diver and he helped me look for some of the lumpfish. We found a couple hanging out on the wreck. The first was orange and was protecting some eggs. It wasn’t really happy being photographed so we looked for more. The second we found was brown and rounder and was equally annoyed. I guess they just have a grumpy demeanor. The first was pretty funny looking and kind of cute, the other was just round and grotesquely ugly. But that said, it was amazing to see both of them suctioning on the the wreck and swimming around with their tiny fins. They are really marvels of the fish world.

The wreck itself was amazing, its massive cargo bays laid empty, at the bottom there were remnants of the iron ore they once carried. Atop the wreck there was a massive gun, laced with frilled anemones that looked like they were being blown out of it. The wreck was fantastic!

The second wreck we did was the Lord Strathcona. An equally impressive wreck to the PLM, also about 400 ft long. The Lord Strathcona is littered with frilled anemones that glisten in the blue waters. It seems as if each is open feeding, as opposed to the PLM where not nearly as many were opened. The wreck is covered in anemones. I began shooting all the different anemones trying to capture a sense of how many there were. As I swam along the hull reaching the bow even the anchor lines were covered in anemones. I looked up along the line and saw them reaching far up into the crystal blue waters, I then looked down to the anemones stretching into the black abyss. The wreck and sheer amount of anemones was amazing to see.

 

With my dry suit in hand I traveled up to Newfoundland, where I met up with Sea Rover Rick Stanley, who runs Ocean Quest Adventures. As soon as I arrived Rick made me feel right at home. The next morning we headed out on the dive boat to the Bell Island shipwrecks:  The PLM-27, Saganaga, Lord Strathcona, and Rose Castle. All of the wrecks were sunk by German U-Boats in WWII. Bell Island has some of the most productive iron mines in North America, and when the war started the Bell Islanders stopped shipping to Germany and instead to Great Britain. So of course the Germans retaliated and stopped the shipments from going to Great Britain. The first wreck we dove is the PLM. It’s the shallowest wreck, the deck lies in about 60-70 FSW and at the sand is about 100 FSW. Dropping down the mooring line was amazing, seeing the wreck appear before my eyes. Because it is so shallow icebergs hit it and some parts of the wreck are broken apart, although the torpedo did most of that work. Longhorn sculpin, flounder, smooth sun stars, and various jellies adorned the wreck. But by far my favorite marine life was the lions mane jelly. They are one of the largest jellies in the world and can have tentacles 200’ long and a 8’ diameter bell. The largest I saw was about 70-100’ long and had about 5’ diameter bell. Their tentacles are very thin and frilly and it was hard to get close enough for a photo and try to avoid the millions of stinging cells.

Swimming the length of the the PLM was amazing, the 400 ft wreck is broken apart in some areas and intact in others. The bow was massive and seemed to disappear into the depths. Swimming around the stern I looked at the massive propellor. Flounders and sculpin adorned the sand along the wreck some even swimming along with me. The PLM has an erie beauty to it. It’s quite and peaceful, with a dark history.

 

 

My next stop was with NOAA and Sea Rover Mark Dixon. We went out collecting oyster cages for a study looking at the impact of oyster beds on fish life. The fish are monitored through GoPros attached around the cages. When the cages were pulled up I was able to see some of the fish and other life, like crabs, cunner, gunnels, and black sea bass. As the cages were placed on the deck fish and crabs fell off of it. The young cunner have a small black spot on their dorsal fin, while the gunnels are slender almost eel like fish. Water samples were also taken to look at the water contents. Studies like this are essential to find out the potential impacts of aquaculture and how the oyster industry should handle factors in the environment. Thanks to Mark for taking me out on the boat for the day.

My next training was at East Coast Divers with Sea Rovers Nick Fazah, Kim Malkoski, and Zach Wahlen, doing my perfect buoyancy class. I learned about changes in buoyancy and how to control it through an entire dive. I had a blast practicing in the pool with free divers and other divers crowding the pool trying to avoid them filling and emptying my lungs maneuvering around them all.

I spent the next few days with Vin Malkoski working on my dry suit training. I donned my DUI drysuit donated by Faith Ortins, and jumped into the green waters of the New Bedford test pool with Vin. Once we nailed down my weight system, we practiced buoyancy control and flipping around if I ever get inverted. I had a lot of fun flipping around just getting use to diving in what some people relate to a ziplock bag. But I felt comfortable and way warmer!

After a few more practice dives we went on my first dive on the Chester Poling. It was my first time on the wreck and it was amazing to see the wreck that I had heard so much about. The cunner were in full form, schooling around us. We also saw a few sea ravens hanging around. Then up the mooning line we went and just like that I was drysuit certified!