Post on 26-Sep-2020
November 2019 Nov 19, 2019
ANNOUNCEMENTS,ACTIVITIES,&REMINDERS
• ANNUALAWARDENTRIESDUENOVEMBER30!
• NOMINATIONSDecember3&10
• ELECTIONSDecember17
• DUES-$35-AREDUEBYELECTIONNIGHT!
•Weds.Jan1,SoberUpDive,PleasureBay,plusmore•Saturday,Jan18,AnnualAwardsBanquet.TheCommonMarket,WillardSt
inQuincy.$33/person•May16-23,2020BonaireClubDiveTrip:Blackieannouncedmembers
shouldsavetheirmoneybecausehe’splanningaclubdivetriptoBonaire.Detailswillbespreadupontheclubinthenearfuture.Staytuned!•RugbyteamtravelingtoBerlin11/20-11/25tocompetefortheBerlinCup.
OCTOBER/NOVEMBERCLUBACTIVITIES&DIVESMyadventureswithMolamolainSeptember2019.Storyandvideolinksupplied by Todd Alger.The Bay State Council compeLLon dive was held on
September15andscheduledfor1130a.m.atStageFortPark inGloucester.
By the way, we (Neptunes) won for the third consecuLve year (see old
newsleTerforstory).IknewfrompastexperiencethatIwouldhaveLmeto
gotoCapeAnnanddoalobsterdivebeforethecompeLLondivebegan,so
thatiswhatIdid.Iarrivedatthedivesitearound8a.m.andgearedupand
beganmydive.Thewaterwaswarmprobablyhigh50sandtheviswasgood,
from15to30feetdependingonwhereyouwereonthedive.Insomeareas
theseaweedcausedthevistobelessbutoverrock,reef,orsandtheviswas
verygood.ThankstoBobBell’sbiglobstercatch,mydivinggoalwastofinda
bigger lobster, so I was moving around at a preTy rapid pace, really only
looking for big lobsters.My air pressure eventually toldme itwas Lme to
startheadinginwithoutfindinganythingworthwhile.IwassLllpreTyfarout
andheading in swimmingup the rock reef,which at that pointwas gently
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Calendar 2019-20
12/1 Club Dive, 9AM 12/3 General Meeting: Nominations 12/10 Board Meeting: Nominations 12/15 Club Dive, 9AM 12/17 Elections (There will be food), Newsletter assembly ——- 2020 1/1 Sober Up Dive Pleasure Bay 1/7 General Meeting 1/14 Board Meeting 1/18 Annual Awards Banquet, $33/pp 1/21/David Robinson, Director, Mass Board of Underwater Archaeologists, Newsletter Assembly 2/4 General Meeting 2/11/ Board Meeting 2/18 Andy Martinez slide show 3/3 General Meeting 3/6 - 3/8 Boston Sea Rovers Annual Clinic Danvers, MA 3/10 Board Meeting 3/17 Program Newsletter 4/2 General Meeting 4/9 Board Meeting 4/16 Program Newsletter 5/7/ General Meeting 5/14 Board Meeting 5/16-23 Club Dive Trip -Bonaire 5/21 Program Newsletter 6/4 General Meeting 6/11 Board Meeting 6/18 Program Newsletter
Sounding Newsletter of the
South Shore Neptunes
November 2019 Nov 19, 2019
slopingwhenIsawabigwhiteshapejustattheveryedgeofvisibility.Istoppedmovingandstaredveryhardat
theshapetoseewhatitwas.Itwasswimmingdirectlyatme.Iwasinabout30feetofwaterontheboTom.The
shapewasatahigherlevelthanI.Itbegantocomeintofocus,andIrealizeditwasnotgoingveryfast;thenI
recognizedwhatitwas.ItwasaverylargeMolamola,akaSunfish.Thefishwasswimmingdirectlytowardsme.
Asitgotcloserandcloser,itbankedandswamrightinfrontofmeandIlookeddirectlyintotheeyefacingme
anditlookedlikeitwaslookingrightbackatme.Itbankedagainandswamaroundme,andIturnedmybodyso
Icouldwatchitswimaroundme.Myflaglinewasgoingdirectlytothesurfaceandthefishwentfromalmostat
mylevelupandaroundmyflagline.Then,itcamebacktomyfrontandmadeasecondpassaroundme.This
LmeitcamesoclosetomeIcouldhavereachedoutandtouchedthefish.Itwaslessthanthreefeetaway.Once
again, it seemed to be looking directly at me. I would
esLmatethefishwas8’longfromnosetotailandabout
thesameinheight. IhaveaTachedastockpicturefrom
theinternet,andotherthanthewaterbeingblueinthe
pictureandgreenwaterinmyexperience,thefishlooked
exactly like that in my eyes. It was a great big animal
experience.TheoneregretIhavewasthatIdidnothave
my underwater video camera with me. It would have
madeagreatvideo.
Fast forward one week. We held a club dive and a
bunchofusNeptunesaregoingoutontheboat,‘Sandra
Jean’,owned by Kevin from our Neptunes friendly yacht
club, QYC. We do our first dive at the ‘Roaring Bulls.
Some divers have navigaLonal difficulLes, and the boat
leavestheanchortopickthemup.Sooncethepick-upprocedurestarts,thenalldiversendupgeengpickedup.
ThelastdivertogetpickedupisRobVice,andastheboatgetscloser,wenoLcethereisaMolamola(AKA
OceanSunfish)veryclosetoRob.SinceRobisinthewateronthesurface,heistoolowtoseeitandrealizethere
isaMolamolarightnexttohim.WejokinglyyellouttoRobtocheckoutthescaryshark/OceanSunfishandhe
putshismaskedfaceinthewaterandseestheblurryshape;butitthenswimsoff.Onceweallgetbackinthe
boat,wediscussjumpinginthewatertosnorkelwiththeMolaandwedrivetheboatovertowherewethinkit
is,butithasbecomeshyandwenolongerseeit.Assoonaswegiveuponitandstartmotoringtoournextdive
spot,weseeanotherSunfish(possiblythesameonebutwedidnotthinkso)andKenandIarethefirstonesto
jump in toswimwithhim.Others fromtheboatgearedupand jumped insoonaher.Kenand Iwerealready
preparedfromthepreviousclosecall.Weswamrightuptoit,andKengotdirectlyoveritandhadagreatview.
Unfortunatelyforme,Kenwasblockingmyaccess,butIwassLllabletogetaviewofhim.Wetriedtoswimwith
him,butthatprovedtobewaymoredifficultthanitwouldappearfromaboat.Onaboatitseemsasifthefish
isbarelymoving,butasasnorkelerinthewaterhemovesfasterthanwedo.WeeventuallygotLredandwere
justfloaLngandswimmingbacktotheboatwhentheMolamoladecidedtoswimovertousagain.Igotavery
good look at him the secondLme. All in all, itwas a lot of fun snorkelingwith the Sunfishwith a lot ofmy
Neptunesfriends.Tobeclear, thevisonthesnorkelwasnotgoodandmyviewofthefishwasnotgreat.My
underwaterexperiencewasfarcleareranddifferent.
ThisseemedtobetheyearoftheMola.Inpastyearswerarelysawthem.Thisyear,wesawthemonmulLple
differentdayswhileoutonaboat.Unluckilyformeandmybuddiesonboats,onothersiLngswewereneverin
wetsuits. It had always been either on the way out before we geared up or on the way back aher we had
changedoutofourwetsuits.ThiswasmyfirstLmesiLngtheMolamolaonaboatwithmywetsuiton.Iwould
definitelyjumpinagainiftheopportunityarose.
Onsidenote,IwroteaboutmyoriginalMolain-waterexperiencethatoccurredapproximatelytenyearsago
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November 2019 Nov 19, 2019
whenthevisibilitywasabout6inches.YoucanlookthatstoryupintheoldnewsleTerarchives.Ididnotenjoy
thatexperienceatall,butTommyLoREALLYenjoyedit.
Here is one of a few Ocean Sunfish videos we shot the day we snorkeled and saw them: hTps://
www.facebook.com/SouthShoreNeptunes/videos/405964403670525/
AmidNovemberplungeinMorton’sPond.StoryandphotosbyRobRobisonSaturday11.16.19.Myalarmwentoffat5:30AMtogivemeLmetoputmygeartogetherandmakea
cupofcoffeebeforedrivingdowntheroadtoMorton’sPond,wheremylocaldivebuddy,BrianSmith,
andIplannedtodoacheckoutdive.Hewastryingtobesurehewasproperlyweightedinhisdrysuit
withanewheaviersteel tank,asopposedtohismuch lighteraluminumone. Iwascheckingoutmy
owndrysuitplusmyregulatorsetup,whichhad justcomebackfromtheshoponFridayfrombeing
serviced.Also,Iwasalsodelightedtohavemy2500lumens(SeaLife)SeaDragonvideocamlightback
from the manufacturer. Sea Life had replaced it and the baTery for free aher it had leaked and
destroyedtheinsides.
Itwasagoodthingwechosethepond.Wavesoutonthe
oceanwereaveragingnearly8feetinheightwith20-30mph
winds.Hadwechosenabeachorboatdive,ourdivewould
havebeencanceledunderthosecondiLons.Wesuiteduptogetherandwalkeddowntothebeach.Near
the lifeguard chair there is a small ledge or step, which I
couldn’tseewithmygearandmaskon.NotanLcipaLngthe
d r o p i n
fooLng , I
misstepped
a n d f e l l
d o w n .
Fortunately,
B r i a n w a s
theretohelpmestandbackup.
Weproceededonandwalkedintothewater,puton
o u r fi n s , a n d
descended easily
into the pond.
Theclearshallow
watergavewayto
the darker green
penumbra and cloudier vis, aswe followed the contour down to
24’-25’.My newly serviced regulator sounded a bit unnerving at
firstbecause Icouldhearthefirststagepistonrubbingwitheach
exhalaLon. Eventually, it stopped. Yes! Unfortunately, we were
unable to locate the familiar “toys”; that is, the snowman, flag,
slow-for-children sign, stocking-cappedpenguinfigurine,etc.,but
wedidfindwhatwaslehofaplasLcfishinglureandsomegreen
algae-like growths on the boTom. Brian was hoping to see the
freshwaterjellyfish,butwemadethisdivetoolateinthefalltobesuccessfulinthathunt.
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Rockpileguide
Fieldofgreen?(Above)Leh:Brianontheprowl
November 2019 Nov 19, 2019
Weswamaroundthepointslowly,returnedtothebeachabout22minuteslater,surfaced,andcalled
itasuccessfuldive.Mytwodivecomputersregistered44°and45°Fduringthedive,respecLvely.
CoffeeanddonutsatDunkinDonutsendedourLmetogether.Aswedebriefedthedivewhileatthe
donutshop,BrianmenLonedhecoulddropacoupleofpoundsoffhisbelt,andIindictedIhadaleak
upmy leh sleevebecause I had forgoTen to straighten thedry cuff seal and removemywristwatch
beforesuiLngup.NextLme,I’llbedryforsure.Brian’sfromMichigan,sohehadtohurryofftowatch
thegamebetweenMichiganandMichiganStatewithhislocalMichiganbuddies,andItoferrymywife,
Carol, toLoganAirport.Divingonasunny,brisk,andwindyday inapondsurebeatssiengathome
thinkingaboutit.Itfeltgoodgeengbackintothewateraherseveral-weekshiatus.!
DivingPlymouthBeachA^ertheWeatherBombNor'easter.StoryandphotosbyRobRobisonSunday10/20/19.Aherreturningfromafour-daybusinessandpleasuretripto
Oklahoma,Iwasbushed.AnumberofmyDiversofMassBay(DMB)buddies
wanted to go diving, so I jellied and finally decided to throw my gear
together and drive over to Plymouth Beach tomake the dive. They were
alreadyonsitewhenIarrived.Basedonastrangefeeling,Idecidedtocheck
thecargobayinmyRav4whilewaiLngfortherestofthediverstoshowup
and discovered that my gear was sLll at the condo complex next to the
dumpster. I was so focused, I had forgoTen
to stopnear thedumpster,where I had leh
it,pickupthegearandpackitinmycaronthewayoutofthedrive.It
took20minutestoreturnhome,loadmydivegear,gasup,andreturn
toPlymouthBeach.
Along with the DMB group, Neptune
CharliePerree,ayoungscienLstwhoworks
for NOAA and has been off supporLng his
wife finishing her Ph.D., showed up and so
didnewcomerMicheleWhite,whohasbeen
followingmyblogontheDiversofMassBay.
She’s the one who c o m m e n t e d o n
F a c e b o o k h o w much she loves the
fact I label my dive photos.
We suitedupand walked into the
waterat lowLde,donnedourfins,andhitthe boTom. Though the
surfacewas flat, thewater columnwas full of sand,limiLngourvis
to3-5’.
Almost immediatelyahermovingacrossthe sand and down the
diptowardthecreasewherethegravelymixof g l a c i a l L l l a nd
broken shells begins, I spied a small fish with a white head
and dark body, ca l led a Grubby (M y o x o c e p h a l u saenaeus). I tried a few photos but the b a c k s c aTe r m a d e
takingagoodphotodifficult.
Wefinned,Ishouldsaycrawled,slowly, across the boTom,
allowing the ebbing Lde to pull us along as it retreated. Forbes
starfish, Hermit crabs, Rock crabs, Decorator or Spidercrabsabounded,
as did SeaWrack, Eel grass, and Green Fleece. A few Comb jellies floated
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ThreatenedSpiderCrab
SeaWrackfield
StarfishvsMussel
Findthe
Grubby
atright
November 2019 Nov 19, 2019
by, and someMoon snails feastedon the scraps fromadead rock crab carcass. Plus, a few invasive
Green crabs skiTered about. Thewater was too occluded to see clearly howmuch scouring of the
underwaterbouldersandrockpileshadtakenplacefromthepoundingwindandwaves,asaresultof
therecentweatherbomb. IdidnotseethebabySeaRavenspoTedbytheDMBgroupandMichele,
butIdidspotthemoundsofHalfSlippersnails.MaybenextLmeaSeaRavenwillbeinthepicture.
Ahernearly60minutesinthe53°water,weemergedfromthesurf,shuckedandpackedourgear,
and took a group selfie to commemorate a beauLful dive, in nomore than 9’ of water, on a very
pleasantandsunnySundaymorning.
Withnoonetobrunchwithaherwards,IstoppedatthelocalTexasRoadHouseforacoupleofbeers
andaburger.Itwasagreatdaytobeonthewaterdivingintoit!
UnLlnextLme,diveintoitsafelyeveryone,andHappyThanksgivingfromustoyou!
Rob
ROB’SPARTINGSHOTS-NORTHRIVERRUN
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