Jordfalls hamn 9/6 2024 Eh? is this thing still on?

Hi and ho!

Ok, it really has been a while, and not much diving has happened due to various reasons, and it seems like that will be continuing for a bit more.

Either way, managed to get a dive day during the weekend, so am quite satisfied with that, the spot was Jordfall marina, the go-to for easy but interesting diving. On this dive i also did some collecting of samples that i volunteered to do for a scientific study

Horseman anemone on a rocky outcropping

Dive 1: 

Depth 28 m, Time 54 min, Temp 9 C

Me and the buddy waded out into the bay as usual, our plan was to dive towards the right as there was a lot of people on the site on this day (a local dive centre having a small excursion there too). We had asked beforehand how the visibility was on this day (kind of windy), and had gotten the answer that above 15 m, the visibility was bad, while below, it was ok-ish. Said and done, we descended in line with the outer edge of the innermost jetty, and as it was said, the visibility was quite bad on the way down. 

Establishing visible contact with the bottom, we stopped up a bit and made sure that everything was a-ok before continuing on our merry way towards the right, following the soft sediment slope downwards. At about 18-20 m, the visibility cleared up a bit and actually got pretty decent, it was also around here where the thermocline sat, going from 15 C to about 9-10 C quite quickly (and one could feel that). We swam past anchoring blocks for the floating jetties, forests of Peacock feather-duster worms (Sabella pavonina) and huge fields of the soft bottom hydroid Corymorpha nutans. At about 25 m, we found a smaller area of rocky outcroppings, which had some of the hydroids i was ordered to sample (family Tubulariidae), so sampling was carried out with a little bit of shaking and swearing (those things really got stuck easily on our gloves). After doing the sampling things, we continued further. As we started to run lower on the NDL, we turned around and started swimming back, following the slope upwards. Soon after turning around, we came across another rocky outcropping that housed a huuuuge Horseman anemone (Urticina eques) with beautiful patterns, not the typical colouration though, a tad bit redder that one. At about 18 m depth on the way back, we encountered a field of tires and various pieces of trash, which i sort of marked in my log, so that we know the depth (because positioning underwater is next to impossible). As we got to our safety stop, the current had turned and was flowing outwards, which dragged all the lion's mane jellyfish out from the shallow waters and our way, so we spent the safety stop dodging and weaving from jellyfish stingers.

We ended the dive at 54 minutes, got up and made ready for a surface interval in the sun :)

Norwegian red sea cucumber (Parastichopus tremulus), a species that you usually see a bit deeper down

Dive 2:

Depth: 30 m, Time 40 min, Temp 10 C

After hanging out in the sun, we headed out once more to dive, this time, we planned to dive towards the left side, along the more common route of Jordfall marina. We descended and began following the slope outwards and to the left, soon hitting the "forest" of Tall Sea-pen that is present at around 25 and down in this area. We swam around a bit before it was time to start heading up, on about 24 m, we came across the rocky cliffs that goes down in a "stair steps" sort of way, forming plateaus at various depths, it was also here we found a large swath of Tubulariidae hydroids, where another sample was promptly taken. It was at this point that my NDL started to get real low, and we had to speed up our ascent a little. The NDL didn't quite clear either until we reached about 12 m.
Either way, we did our safety stop and ended our dive at 40 minutes, making it a little shorter than normal for the summer season.

All in all, it was nice to be back in the waters again for a proper dive

So until next time! Keep on swimming!

Spotted dragonet (Callionymus maculatus) on the soft sediment bottom

Jordfalls Hamn 11/11 2023 Winter is comming

 Hi and ho!

This weekend we decided to head to the Jordfalls Hamn marina, one of our more frequented dive spots. The weather was nice enough, though a bit threatening with cloudy skies and a slight damp cold in the air (but hey, at least it wasn't too windy)

Spiny squat lobsters often come out in the open when it is dark

Dive 1: 

Depth 29 m, Time: 45 minutes, Temp: 10 C

Me and my buddy headed out into the bay as one usually does, while kitting up, we had planned the dive to either go straight out over the deep soft bottom if we deemed it dark enough, or head towards the left side and the rocky bottom if it wasn't dark enough. As we started to descend, I deemed it sort of dark enough to at least try and head straight outwards in hopes of squids, so that is what we did. Swimming outwards and following the soft bottom, we kept going until we hit about 29 m, after which we started to turn towards the left again (to be honest, 30 is a good stopping point, not really worth it to head down to 40)

We kept swimming along as we usually do, photographing as we went, at about 26 m, i spotted a small shape sticking out of the sand, turned out to be a angular crab (Goneplax rhomboides) digging down into the sand. We stopped for a bit and tried to photograph it, or at least try, as it was quite hazy in the water on this day. Well, after getting done with harassing the poor crab, we continued on until we found the wall, at which point we started making our way back to the starting point. It was at 12 m we started to realize that it is starting to become winter now, as the surface waters are colder than the deep waters, by about 3-4 C, Well, after suffering a bit on the safety stop, we ended the dive at 45 minutes, got up and made ready for the surface interval.

Angular crab doing angular crab things

Dive 2:

Depth: 31 m, Time: 41 min, Temp: 10 C

After having had a surface interval with hot drinks and stuff, it was time to head back into the water, me and my buddy once again made our plan to head almost straight outwards in hope of finding squid, so said and done, we swam out to the end of the pier in the marina and started descending down. Soon after getting visual contact with the seafloor, while making our way outwards, I started spotting Boston Facelinas, a type of nudibranch i have not seen in real life before (or just overlooked, they look similar to some other species). Well we did spend a few minutes photographing those before continuing on our way outwards. Not much happened on the rest of the dive really, but apparently i missed a squid while i was photographing a sculpin fish according to my buddy, they got some photos of the squid though :P
After a while, we started to run low on no-deco time and started to head back towards the starting point again, ending the dive at 41 minutes. When we got up, it was snowing ever so slightly, really heralding that the winter months are upon us.

All in all, i was satisfied with the dives of the day, despite the slight chill in the waters

So until next time! Keep on swimming!

Boston facelina crawling on a piece of tire

Ormestad 20/5 2023 - When you stare into the abyss

 Hi and ho!

This weekend, we decided to dive on a site we haven't been to in a while due to the small bit of hassle it is to get there compared to our other sites (we are lazy if anything), either way, the site of Ormestad is known for "the great wall" a almost vertical cliff wall that extends from the surface and down to 90 m depth. This makes the site very popular among technical divers, as you can get any depth you want within most types of technical diving. When we got to the site, it was almost filled to the brim with technical divers (which was sort of expected, with the super fine weather and whatnot), but we managed to find some spots where we could start to set up our gear.

Henricia.sp starfish, as hard to ID as ever.

Dive 1:

Depth: 27 m, Time: 50 min, Temp: 7 C

Me and my buddy swam to the left side of the Ormestad bay, to the point where the wall sort of starts before we started our descent. This day the surface temperatures were quite high, but as soon as we got down to about 4-5 m, we hit the thermocline, which felt like getting smacked in the face, almost immediately it went from 18-ish C to 7 Celsius, with the halocline sort of right there as well. After getting our bearings and sort of acclimatizing to the temperature drop, we started to head towards the drop-off of the wall. It really is a special feeling to dive on the wall of Ormestad, you really stare into the abyss when you look down, as there is no visual contact with the bottom here, so you got to have good check on your buoyancy here. Anyways, we followed the wall, photographing as we made our way. After a while, I made signal to turn around, and so we made our way back towards the starting point. We surfaced at 50 minutes and made our way back to shore, making ready for a surface interval in the sun.

Sea loch anemone, the wall of Ormestad is full of them.

Dive 2: 

Depth 26 m, Time 40 min, Temp: 7 C

After a surface interval in the sun, with some light snacks, we once again made for the waters. This time we decided to dive on the right side instead of the left, over the sandy slopes instead of the vertical wall. After descending through the thermo-halocline, I soon discovered that I had apparently left my camera in the sun, resulting in fogging of the lens which would hold the rest of the dive (it happens). Either way, we continued onwards, following the slope downwards. After a while, we came across a rocky outcropping that jutted out of the soft bottom , so we started to make our way over it. Here was indeed quite a lot of life on and around, sea urchins, sea anemones, hydroids, and even a rugose squat lobster, but as my lens was fogged up, i couldn't snap any photos of them. Soon after, i signalled for us to turn back towards the starting point, and a little bit later, as we were swimming, something suddenly darted out from the bottom in front of me, I turned my head and saw that it was a squid, which is quite rare to see when it is light outside (and i could naturally not snap photos because of fogged lens). After posing a bit in front of it for my buddy (to show how small the bobtails are), we left it alone again and continued on our way back. We surfaced at 40 minutes, got up and started making ready to head home again.

All in all, despite the heat on the surface and the cold in the water, it was a nice dive day, and we did get the nice surprise in the form of a squid too :)

So until next time! Keep on swimming!

White sea slug (but yellow) Cadlina laevis

Jordfall 14/5 2023. Starting to warm up.

 Hi and ho!

This week, the weather has been really fine, with sunny skies and high temperatures, but as it is still early in the year, the sea has yet to warm up. That being said, it is starting to get slightly warmer right now, so one can maybe forgo the winter vest.

Devonshire cup coral

Dive 1:

Depth: 29 m, Time: 55 min, Temp: 7 C

We swam out to the end of the pier before we started to descend into the water column and downwards. As soon as we got visual contact with the bottom and got our bearings, we started to make our way towards the right side of Jordfall marina, as we had planned to, following the slope downwards as we went. 

We swam along, making way towards the right side, following the bottom and slope. There was really not much going on here on this day, the water was rather pleasant though. When we got to whereabout the unexplored cliff area, it was about time to turn around (We really need to explore this area more me thinks). We started making our way back, but as we were also relatively low on no-deco time, we also had to make our way more shallow a bit quickly. We ended the dive at 55 minutes, got up and doffed our gear, making ready for a surface interval in the sun.

Fireworks anemone up close and personal

Dive 2:

Depth: 30 m, Time: 40 min, Temp: 7 C

After having had a surface interval with drinks and some food, we made ready to head into the waters again. This time we decided that we were to head straight out and towards the left instead, trying to look for Fireworks anemones. We swam out until we were in line with the pier once more before we started to descend and swim outwards in a relatively good pace. After a while, at about 28 m depth, we came across one of the Fireworks anemones that is usually present on this side of Jordfall, as well as some "forests" of Tall sea pens. Due to having gone deep on the first dive as well, we had to turn around soon after this, as we were starting to run low on both air and no-deco time. We made our way back, following the the muddy slope upwards and back to the starting point, ending our dive at 40 minutes.

All in all, I can say that this was a good dive day, if maybe a bit on the boring side, as nothing out of the ordinary happened, but then again, i think i prefer days when nothing is happening :)

So until next time! Keep on swimming!

Orange brown aeolid out on the soft mud bottom.

Jordfall 30/4 2023

 Hi and ho!

This week, the weather being nice, we decide that the site of the week was to be the Jordfall marina, as it is a nice fair-weather dive site. It is also a easy dive site, and as we were bringing someone who hadn't dived in a while, it was a good choice in my opinion :)

Sea mouse (Aphrodita aculeata), a species I haven't seen in a bit

Dive 1:

Depth: 27 m, Time 39 min, Temp 7 C

We swam out to the left side of the bay, close to the cliffs, before we started to descend. The waters were relatively murky due to spring bloom going at full force, the surface waters were decidedly warmer, but it quickly cooled down after 2-4 m, but without a clear thermocline. The halocline was however quite clear, despite the windy conditions that had been going for the last few days, showing as a blur at 8 m. We continued swimming as soon as everyone had gotten their bearings, following the slope and walls down and to the left. As we swam along, one in our pair signalled that we were to turn around again, and that is what we did, going more shallow. We ended our dive at 39 minutes, got up and got ready for our surface interval. When we were talking at the surface interval it turned out that the buddy who did the turn signal had been feeling uncomfortable and a slight panic at the depth, which cleared up as we got more shallow, which makes us suspect that it was a CO2 hit due to various factors on this day. Good thing it turned out well this time, and that they now know the signs of it.

Devonshire cup coral

Dive 2:

Depth: 28 m, Time: 44 min, Temp 7 C

After a surface interval, we decided to go for a second dive, we also decided to go more towards the right side of Jordfall marina, and that is what we did, I think we went further to the right than we have done before, as we came upon a wall area that i do not recognize, going quite deep it seems, might be worth it to investigate another week. This dive went much better for our other buddy, even if we went longer and deeper on this one, as well as into "uncharted territories". Which is good indeed I'd say (was a bit worried that they might be scared of diving after such a episode). 

At about 20 minutes, we started to turn around and head back to the starting point, we ended the dive at 44 minutes, got up and got ready to head home again.

All in all, I think it was a nice dive day, despite the slight hiccup of a CO2 hit on the first dive.

So until next time! Keep on swimming!

Fireworks anemone, seems like they move around, for this wasn't on that place two weeks ago

Jordfall 16/4 2023 Satisfying dives all around

Hi and ho!

Been a while once more, mostly due to lack of time from either my, or my buddies side. But here we are once more, so lets get into this weekend's dive adventures!

Thorny skate (Amblyraja radiata), a slightly uncommon sight at our dive sites

Dive 1: 

Depth 24 m, Time 57 min, temp 6 C

Me and my buddy swam out towards the cliffs to the left side of the dive site before we started to descend, having decided that this dive we were to follow the slope and cliffs instead of going out over the deep soft mud bottoms. As we descended, it the visibility showed to be relatively good for the season, meaning it wasn't overly good, but not completely bad either 😆

As we were swimming along the slope and cliffs (and I photographing) My buddy suddenly started to signal to me in a hurried manner. I turned around and they pointed with their light towards something on the bottom, took me a few seconds before I realized that it was a skate right there and then at 24 m depth! So naturally I was ecstatic, making sure to photograph it as much as possible. After spending a few minutes photographing it, I decided that it had been bothered enough and signed to my buddy that we were to turn back, as it is cold in the water, and 40 minutes is sort of a limit of how long I'd prefer to spend in the water right this season (and as you can see, we did go over 40 min, and my fingers were quite cold when we got up). Either way, we made our way back slowly but surely, making our safety stop and then ending our dive at 57 minutes. We got up from the water and onto land, making ready for a surface interval.

Deep sea king crab (Lithodes maja) out wandering over the seafloor

Dive 2:

Depth: 30 m, Time: 41 min, temp: 6 C

After a surface interval, we made ready to head into the water once more, this time, I made the plan to go "straight out" over the soft bottom slope instead. So we took a surface swim out to the end of the jetty before we started to descend into the waters. As we got visual contact with the bottom, we started following it outwards, maybe slightly to the right side. After a swimming a little bit, we spotted a nicely sized Deep sea king crab close to one of the jetty anchor blocks. After spending some time around it, with me photographing, we went on our merry way, continuing downwards. As we swam along, my buddy signalled me for a bit, showing another, even bigger king crab right to my side, which I of course tried to snap some photos of, but alas, this one was not too keen about that and started to walk away, so I just got a blurry photo of it. It was around this point that we were starting to get low on No Decompression Time, so we had to make a rather hasty swim back towards shallower depths again. We ended the dive at 41 minutes, got up and doffed our gear, making ready to head home after a day of very satisfying diving 😄

All in all, the dives couldn't really have been more perfect, though it is hard to top the first dive with a skate for sure!

So until next time! Keep on swimming!

Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) crawling out of its burrow

Hällebäck 21/1 2023 And we're back in business!

 Hi and ho!

It has been a while, mostly due to Christmas holidays and people not being available. Either way, we should be back in business now (yeah totally not jinxing it).

This week, we went to Hällebäck for diving, as it is the season for King crab and nudibranchs right now, and Hällebäck is a very good site to find them at.

First Deep-sea King crab (Lithodes maja) of the year, winter is the best season for them.

Dive 1:

Depth: 32 m, Time: 51 min, Temp: 5 C

We jumped in and did a surface swim until we were in line with the second jetty of Hällebäck, which is a good place to start descending. We gathered up a bit on the surface, as we realized on the surface that there was a brown freshwater lid on the top, limiting visibility to the extreme. Well, either way, we started descending and at about 6 m, the waters started to clear up a bit, though still a bit gunky. As soon as we found the bottom, we started to follow it outwards and to the left, looking for the king crabs and other things that make this time of the year interesting in Hällebäck. After a few minutes of swimming and searching, I chanced to look up on the wall, and lo and behold, a king crab sitting there. After staying around and photographing it for a little bit, we continued on, following the cliff walls. At about 20 minutes, we turned around and started to make our way back towards the entry point again. We surfaced at 51 minutes, feeling a bit cold and miserable, looking forward to the warm drinks we had prepared for the surface interval :)

Typical Spiny squat lobster (Galathea strigosa) photo

Dive 2:

Depth: 23 m, Time: 45 min, Temp: 5 C

After a good surface interval, it was time to head back into the waters, this time we were planning to dive towards the right side instead, keeping it more shallow, while also looking for squids. We descended closer to the jetty that we jumped in from. After descending, we followed the slope towards the right side. Not much was seen on this dive really, probably because of the season and temperature in the water, though there were some critters out and about in the darkness. The seafloor however, did look quite barren and also quite a bit "dirty" in a sense, maybe next time, I should take a photo of it, for scientific documentation?

Once again, we turned around at about 20 minutes, making our way back to the starting point once more. We surfaced at 45 minutes, got up and started doffing our gear and make ready to head home.

All in all, it was a nice first dive of the year, if a bit cold, but that's to be expected for the season.

So until next time! Keep on swimming!

Close up of a Daubed shanny (Leptoclinus maculatus)

Hällebäck 4/12 2022

 Hi and ho!

This week me and my buddies headed for Hällebäck together with some people from the Lindome dive club (a club my dive club has close connections with), the weather while a bit cloudy, was quite ok for this time of the year.

Fountain anemone (Sagartiogeton laceratus)

Dive 1:

Depth: 30 m, time: 48 min, temp: 10 C

Me and my buddy decided to do the first dive towards the left side of the dive site, as the right side is better when it is dark outside. The left side has a stair-like area of cliff shelves where it in the spring usually is good for finding king crabs, but as it is autumn, no king crabs, but instead other critters were present, such as hermit crabs, wrasse and sea anemones of different species. However, on this dive I somewhat struggled to find the balance in the water, which went on the whole dive really, just couldn't find the balance i usually got for this kind of thing. The shutter trigger for the camera housing was also acting up, so have to fix that too. Either way, got some ok photos on this dive. When we hit our margin time for No Deco Limit, we started to go more shallow, while also making our way back towards the start of the dive site. 

We surfaced at 48 minutes, got up and made ready for a surface interval with hot drinks.

Close up of a bobtail squid

Dive 2: 

Depths 23 m, time: 47 min, temp: 10 C

Once we had done a bit of a surface interval, and the sun had been down for a little bit, we once more headed out for a dive. This time, we were joined by another person from Lindome dive club, while my other buddy was making ready, me and the Lindome person discussed some plans and signs, as they most likely wanted to continue the dive when we were going to turn around, and as they are a experienced solo diver, that was OK with me. So, once my other buddy was ready to go, we swam out a little bit from the pier we jumped in from before starting to descend. We quickly descended to about 5-6 m and started following the bottom outwards, looking for squids. And at about 20 something meters, i do indeed spot one (the only one on this dive), so we stayed around it for a little bit (and it probably got annoyed with us). The rest of the dive was quite uneventful, and as me and my buddy signalled to turn around, the Lindome person signalled that they wanted to continue the dive on their own, so we just left them to their own devices, as we had discussed before. Me and my buddy swam along the slope, slightly upwards and to the left side. At about 8 m, I spotted a very blue coloured baltic prawn, which I of course had to photograph, and while the shutter trigger was still acting up, I got some decent photos of it.

Me and my buddy surfaced at 47 minutes, got up from the water and started to doff our gear making ready to head home again.

All in all, this was a very nice dive day, even if the waters in the surface are cold right now at 8 C (still warm by February standards though).

So until next time! Keep on swimming!

A very blue Baltic prawn (Palaemon adspersus)

Sandviken 25/6 2022 A midsummer day's dive

Hi and ho!

This midsummer weekend was a warm one, suddenly from nowhere the temperatures shot up from around 15-20 C to almost 30 C, yet we kept on diving as usual, though we could probably have chosen a site where we could have hid in the shadow when it is this warm instead. 

Due to various circumstances, i only managed to do one dive (and that was probably for the best, suit is leaking quite badly right now)

Velvet dorid (Jorunna tomentosa) 

Dive 1:

Depth: 26 m, Time: 51 min, Temp: 14 C

Me and my buddy swam out and quickly began descending, as i didn't quite want to do a longer surface swim this time (which is quite rare for me) Either way, we descended in a orderly fashion and began following the bottom downwards. almost as soon as we got down, my buddy signalled for me to look at a something, which turned out to be a Velvet dorid, and a larger one at that. After spending some time around the nudibranch, we continued onwards until it became time to start making our way back. As we started to swim back, getting more and more shallow, we looked up and realized that there was quite literally a "lid" of Lion's mane jellyfish above us, right in the thermocline where the warmer surface water meets the colder deep waters. After swimming a bit further, me and my buddy managed to break through this lid of jellyfish and could start ascending towards the surface unhindered. 

We surfaced at 51 minutes, got up and started making ready to head home.

Despite all the misadventures and the heat, it was a nice dive day.

So until next time! Keep on swimming!

Fries's Goby (Lesueurigobius friesii), A species I have not seen before

Hällebäck 19/6 2021 Summer and sun

 Hi and ho!

This weekend was one of very nice weather, not too warm, yet sunny enough, which is perfect for drysuit diving. We went to the site of Hällebäck, a site close to our other sites, which we used to frequent, but don't do much anymore due to unknown reasons. 

Goldsinny wrasse hiding among the 

Dive 1:

Depth: 26m. Time: 57 min, Temp: 15 C

Me and my buddy jumped into the water rather quickly as we had gotten a bit warm on the surface while kitting up. Well into the water, we started to do a surface swim to get to a good spot for descending and quickly finding the cliffs of this site, which tend to be rather interesting and brimming with critters. As both of us were carrying cameras, we took it slowly along the wall, so slow in fact, that the other dive group passed us by. Not much of note on this dive however, there was some dragonets out and about, as well as a lot of Harbour swimming crabs. At about 25 minutes, it became time for us to turn around again and make our way back to the starting point.

We ended the dive at 57 minutes, got up and doffed our gear for the surface interval.

Football jersey worm crawling along the seafloor 

Dive 2:

Depth: 29m. Time: 43 min, Temp: 15 C

After a nice relaxing surface interval, we once again headed out for a dive. This time, me and my buddy swam out a little bit further, which resulted in a very straight down descent down to about 20 m. After finding the bottom, we continued following the slope and cliffs towards the left side. As we swam along the wall, I spied a thin line-looking thing, which with a closer look, turned out to be a Football jersey worm, though a smaller individual. After staying for a bit and photographing it, I continued following the wall together with my buddy. 

As we did stay down at depth a bit longer, we soon started to run really low on No Deco Limit time, so we had to make a rather hasty retreat upwards again, until we hit about 10 m, where we could once more relax a bit. We ended the dive at 43 minutes, got up and started making ready to head home again.

All in all, it was a very good dive day, could have been better visibility, but it was decent enough :)

So until next time! Keep on swimming!

Orange-brown aeolid on blade of eelgrass.

Jordfall 15/5 2022 Should be back in business now

 Hi and ho!

It has been a while, due to various reasons, i have not been able to dive and photograph as much as i have wanted to since march. But now, i should be back in business with the regular diving once more.

Either way, this time we went to Jordfall due to one of my buddies having changed to doubles, and thus needed a easy dive spot to get used to their gear.

Sealoch anemone on a tunicate.

Dive 1: 

Depth: 17 m, Time: 45 min, Temp: 8 C

We decided to descend rather early in order to check that everything was ok with my buddy's doubles setup, after making sure that everything was ok for now, we continued following the slope towards the left side of the bay, taking it slowly but surely, there wasn't much else than that really.

After about 20 minutes i signalled that we were to turn around and go back to the starting point again. So we made our way back slowly. We ended the dive at about 45 minutes, got up and prepared to have a nice surface interval in the sunny weather.

Male Common dragonet, i rather like how this one turned out.

Dive 2:

Depth: 25 m, Time: 40 min, Temp: 8 C

After surface interval, me and my buddy decided to do a bit of a deeper dive, as they had felt good with their gear. So, we swam out a bit further before starting to descend into the water in a orderly fashion. We followed the muddy slope outwards, taking it slowly. At about 23 m, we encountered something rather unexpected in the form of a Norway King crab, which is a little bit out of season right now, they usually hide at much greater depths this time of the year. After spending some time to photograph it, we continued on our way, swimming towards the left as one usually does. At about 20 minutes, i once again signalled that we were to turn around and start making our way back to the starting point again. 

When we got to the safety stop and had just cleared it, my buddy almost immediately started floating up, turns out they had a little too little lead on them, which happens sometimes when you change your gear setup, but all ended well.

All in all, it was a super duper nice dive day!

So until next time! Keep on swimming!

Norway king crab out walking.

Sandviken 12/3 2022 Sunny with a chance of cold water.

 Hi and ho!

This weekend we decided to go to the spot furthest in of our somewhat regular dive sites, Sandviken, which is also located a little bit more off the side so to say. 

Angular seaslug (Goniodoris nodosa) 

Dive 1:

Depth 29 m, Time: 45 min, Temp: 5 C

We swam out for at bit before descending into the waters. This time, the waters were quite clear, though with some slight salinity differences that could be seen in the absolute top layers of the surface, manifesting as a slight blurriness when the waters were stirred.

We soon found the bottom and started following it outwards and to the left where we found the cliffs, which we started to follow the instead. After a little while, I spied with my little eye two cracker-like shapes jutting out from the wall, these turned out to be Prawn-cracker sponges (Axinella infundibuliformis), something I haven't really seen much of outside of this site. We continued for a bit longer until one in our group signaled that we were to turn around. So back we turned, making our way towards the starting point. At the safety stop, we trained a bit with deploying surface marker buoys, which went rather well considering the circumstances of the waters being cold and our lips being numb from this cold. We surfaced at 45 minutes and got up, making ready for a surface interval in the sun.

Prawn-cracker sponge (Axinella infundibuliformis)

Dive 2: 

Depth: 26 m, Time: 39 min, Temp 5 C

After a surface interval, we once again headed out for a dive, though only two of us this time, as the third in our group had gotten a bit too cold and choose to sit this dive out (which is fair, it was rather cold in the waters). This time we swam out a shorter bit before descending, following the soft sediment slope out and downwards until we found the walls, which we then proceeded to follow. After a while, it became painfully evident that I had not completely warmed up during the surface interval and was starting to get really cold, so I signalled that we were to turn around and swim back, making the dive maybe a bit shorter. At the safety stop, I once again choose to deploy the surface marker buoy for training purposes, which went well enough in my opinion.

We surfaced at 39 minutes, got up and made ready to head home again.

All in all, it was a super nice dive day, even if the waters are still very cold

So until next time! Keep on swimming!

Hairy brittlestar (Ophiothrix fragilis)

Hällebäck 5/3 2022

 Hi and ho!

This weekend, we once again decided to go to Hällebäck, as it is a good spot for both hard cliffs and soft bottoms, though, slightly better for deeper hard cliff bottoms. Also, parking is free there, so that's another factor.

Face photo of a Redback seaslug

Dive 1:

Depth: 27 m, Time: 45 min, Temp: 5 C

We began with swimming out quite far, a little bit too far for my tastes, so we had to swim back a little bit before descending. We descended in a sort of chaotic fashion, as we sort of lost contact with each other during it (I might have descended a bit too fast too). When we got down to the bottom, I also lost one of my fins, which i promptly grabbed and put on again. After sorting everything out, we began following the bottom, soon finding the cliffs and plateau's of the dive site. We followed the wall towards the left, with me and my photographer buddy looking for the small critters that like to hide. 

As we swam along, we spotted nudibranches of different kinds, mostly Redback seaslugs, but also a few Frond eolis. After a little bit, our other buddy signalled for us to come and look at something, this something turned out to be a Rugose squat lobster hanging out on the cliff wall there. At about 20 minutes, we turned back as our photographer buddy had hit their turning pressure, and it was also starting to get a bit cold. We swam back in a orderly fashion, though as we started to near the more shallow parts, it became evident that today there was relatively much currents, so we had to fight that as well.

We surfaced at 45 minutes and got up to have a nice surface interval.

Frond Eolis (Dendronotus frondosus)

Dive 2:

Depth: 29 m, Time: 38 min, Temp 5 C

After a surface interval, we once again went out into the waters. This time, we didn't swim quite as far before descending. This time, we descended in a more orderly fashion, keeping together the group somewhat better. We followed the slope downwards and outwards. On this dive, there wasn't really much of note, other than three Norway king crabs that is, which has been somewhat consistent with diving in Hällebäck right now. 

We surfaced at 38 minutes, as we had gotten a bit cold on the previous dive, and warming up this time of the year is a bit harder.

All in all, it was a nice day of diving

So until next time! Keep on swimming!

Norway king crab, quite common this time of the year in Hällebäck

Hällebäck 27/2 2022 Sunny side up

 Hi and ho!

This weekend's weather was absolutely fantastic, with shining sun and relatively warm temperatures for the season. And naturally, there was diving to be had as well. Though this time i went with some people i haven't dived with in a while. We once again decided on Hällebäck, as we wanted to have a bigger chance of Norway king crabs.

Aequorea vitrina, a pelagic hydrozoan species. This one had a lot of gunk on it

Dive 1:

Depth: 32 m, Time: 45 min, Temp: 6 C

We descended into the water column, keeping relatively close, as the visibility this week was terrible in the surface waters and down to about 6 m. After 6 m depth, the visibility cleared up quite well, though there was much larger particles in the water, gelatinous gunk, which is common this time of the year.

Either way, we followed the slope down until we found the wall, where we instead started to follow it to the left instead, making our way down into the depth. On the wall, there were a few Norway king crabs hanging about as well as other critters. At about 20 minutes, we turned around and started to swim back. At about 6 m, one of my buddies were to shoot their DSMB, which we had planned on the surface. It was at this point we sort of lost contact with our other buddy due to the super bad visibility (or at least i did). When we surfaced, i found them again, so probably, they could see us, but i couldn't see them.

Norway king crab clambering on the walls of Hällebäck

Dive 2:

Depth: 28 m, Time: 47 min, Temp: 6 C

After a nice surface interval, we once again headed out into the water. Not much to say really on this dive, as this was sort of a routine dive, we planned it to be a bit more shallow compared to the previous one.

Honestly, it was a bit of a chaotic dive as i think i stayed deep a bit longer than i usually would, So i got very close to my NDL limits, so had to make my way up a bit quicker, and also forgetting to completely signal to my buddies (they followed still, but were a bit wondering) So i really need to get much better at that, guess I've gotten a bit too lax with signaling. Very well, it all ended well anyways, no "surprise decompression stops"

All in all, despite the somewhat chaotic second dive, it was a super nice dive day. 

So until next time! Keep on swimming!

Redback seaslug crawling along

12/2 2022 - 13/2 2022 A not too good weekend really

 Hi and ho!

This weekends diving wasn't really the best I've had to be totally honest, It was a weekend of harsh weather and rain, but nonetheless, a few of us went out to dive because we love diving so much. 

Long nosed spider crab, a smaller species that is easy to mistake for a piece of algae

Dive 1: 12/2 2022 Släggö

Depth: 26 m, Time 41 min, Temp: 5 C

We got to the dive site and saw that the winds were going straight into the bay and that there was some significant wave action, nonetheless, we decided to dive here, a mistake it would prove (should probably become much better at thumbing sites and go somewhere else). Either way, after much getting bashed by the waves, we got a bit further out and started descending. As we descended we discovered that the visibility was not the best, but on the other hand, after a few meters down, the waters became surprisingly calm, not showing any signs of the raging waves above. We followed the slope, keeping relative close to one another. There wasn't really much to see on this day in the shallower parts, but as we started to get a bit deeper down, things started to appear, for example, some dragonets, as well as different types of crustaceans. After a little while, one of my buddies signalled to turn around, and that we did, swimming back in somewhat of a hurry, as they were running low on gas. We surfaced at 41 minutes, and climbed up the ladder they had installed at Släggö while the original pier is being rebuilt. Fortunately, the winds had lessened a bit, so the waves wasn't as bad at this point. 

We decided after this dive, that today was a "1 dive only" kind of day. So we packed up our stuff and got ready to head home again. All while making plans to dive a different site come the next day.

Extreme close up of an Edible crab

Dive 2: 13/2 2022 Jordfall

Depth: 19 m, Time: 42 min, Temp: 5 C

On this day, we decided to go to a more protected site, so we didn't have to deal with getting bashed by the waves. So we choose Jordfall, as it is both easy and usually a lot of life in the water. So we headed out, planning to dive close to the cliffs and walls to the left side of Jordfall. When we started to descend, I noticed that there was a slight milkiness in the surface and as we descended, the visibility was rather bad, which was to expected, as the weather has been a bit violent recently. We continued to follow the cliff walls, keeping relatively shallow as we went. Not much was really out here either on this day, so i didn't snap as many photos. We surfaced at 42 minutes and got up in the freezing rain, making ready for a surface interval while planning the next dive.

A dragonet of undeterminable species

Dive 3:

Depth: 27 m, Time 35 min, Temp: 6 C

After a surface interval in the drizzling rain, we once again kitted up and headed out for a dive. This time, we planned for it to go out over the soft bottom slope in Jordfall, so we swam out to the end of the pier before descending. As we were descending, i had some problems equalizing on the way down, so i had to slow down quite a lot before i managed to clear it all, but after doing that, i could continue as usual. We quickly swam out over the slope, looking for possible signs of king crabs or squids, as it was quite dark deeper down. But all of these creatures did not show up, and in the middle of the dive, my camera ran out of batteries, as i had forgotten to turn it off on the surface. Oh well, such things happen, but was still a bit infuriating. Luckily, there wasn't really any interesting out on this day and dive either.

We soon turned around and started to swim up more shallow, as our No Deco Limits were starting to run low. We surfaced at 35 minutes, making this a shorter dive really.

All in all, despite the really bad weather and conditions, it was some OK dives, not the best, but not the worst either.

So until next time! Keep on swimming!

Jordfall 5/2 2022 We are once again, back in business

 Hi and ho!

It has been a while for sure, I had to take a somewhat unwilling surface intervall due to a tendon inflammation in the thumb muscle, which made some movements painful to do, but after making a visit to the doctor and getting it checked out (and getting a thing to make resting the muscle a bit easier) I decided it was time to make a comeback to diving. 

Close up of the Norway king crab

Dive 1:

Depth: 31 m, Time: 48 min, Temp: 6 C

We planned to swim straight out until we reached max depth and then turn towards the left side over the soft mud slope in order to look for king crabs, as we had heard from some divers on the site that there had been some spotted. So we swam out a bit closer to the cliff before starting to descend into the water. As we descended, we realized that the visibility was ever so slightly not ideal, but not the worst I've seen on this site. After about 10 minutes, one of my buddies signalled that i was to come and look at something, turned out this something was a rather large Norway king crab. So we spent several minutes following it, trying to photograph and film it, which wasn't easy, as there were some severe silting around as we followed it downwards. After getting tired of harassing the poor crab, we turned and started swimming towards the left, looking for squids and other creatures of the soft sediment bottom. But nothing of note was really seen there. After a while, I signalled that we were to turn around, as i thought we had been down long enough, and so we did. As we neared the end, one of my buddies signalled that they were freezing, so they were to head up a bit quicker than me and my other buddy, though, we were not that far behind in terms of safety stop and whatnot. We ended the dive at 48 minutes, got up and doffed our tanks, preparing for a short surface interval.

Common bobtail squid on the bottom

Dive 2:

Depth: 27 m, Time: 42 min, Temp: 6 C

After a short surface interval, me and my second buddy headed out for a second dive. Our other buddy choose to stay on the surface, as they were still feeling cold due to a leaking glove. We once again swam out into the bay and out to the outer point of the marina before starting to descend. The visibility was still as bad as the previous dive, but that didn't deter us then, and wouldn't deter us now either.

At about 9 minutes in, i spot a small shape over the bottom, which with a closer look turned out to be a squid, so squid season is still going strong. Other than that, the dive wasn't really that eventful, but it sure was nice to get back into the waters again. 

We surfaced at 42 minutes, got up and started getting ready to pack up and head home.

All in all, it was a nice dive day, even if the visibility was on the not so good side and the temperatures were a bit on the low side. 

So until next time! Keep on swimming!

Common grey sea slug going about its business 

Jordfall 30/10 2021, Night diving and leaky suits

 Hi and ho!

This weekend we once again decided to go to Jordfall marina in Gullmarsfjorden for night diving. As i had changed the ring system for the suit, installing something that will make changing ring systems in the future much easier, this was the "trial by fire" to see if they were correctly installed. We arrived at the site rather late due to various reasons, but that wasn't too big of a deal, as today's goal was night diving. 

Close up of a Henricia. sp Starfish

Dive 1:

Depth: 25 m, Time: 59 min, Temp: 13 C

We swam out in the bay and towards the cliff, getting a bit closer before starting to descend. As we descended, i started feeling a cold seep on the right side of my right wrist, it seems that there is a leak somewhere in the system, but the waters are not that cold so it would be too much of a bother on this dive, so I toughed it out as i usually do if there is a "not immediate emergency" kind of leak, and kept on going. A few minutes into the dive, my buddies start signalling me to come look at something, turned out that this something was a bobtail squid resting on the bottom, and rather shallow too. So i spent some time filming it, as i felt like trying to photograph this one wouldn't have worked really, but as soon as it had dug itself down into the sediment, i left it be and continued on with my buddies. We did get a bit off course a while after the squid, swimming out over the soft bottom slopes instead of continuing following the cliff wall. We did find the cliff wall again after a little bit of following the slope upwards. After a while of following the wall, i signalled that it was time to turn around, as we had been down for a while now, and i had said a max time of 1 h. So that we did, unbeknownst to me, it seemed that one of my buddies was a bit light, and had some trouble to keep themselves down. But my other buddy saved the day, as i was way too occupied with photographing and looking for subjects, as i usually do. Either way, we made it back all of us and surfaced at 59 minutes, got up and prepared for a surface interval with hot drinks and some snacks.

Angular crab posing with its big claws.

Dive 2:

Depth: 27 m, Time: 37 min, Temp: 13 C

After a surface interval, we once again headed out into the waters for a second dive, this time the plan was to do a shorter but deeper dive, and sweep out over the soft bottom slope. So me and my buddies swam out along the pier before starting to descend into the water, the suit still leaked on this dive, so i'm going to have to take a look at exactly were it leaked as soon as possible. Either way, we continued the dive as planned, maybe deviating a bit by going more to the right site, where the bottom was covered by mussel shells. Here one of my buddies signalled to me to come look at a rather beautiful Common dragonet male that lay there on the shells. After photographing it for a bit i left it be and we continued the dive along the slope, now turning towards the left instead as we had planned in the beginning. As we were starting to swim back, i spotted a weird, but familiar shape a bit away in the distance, a mature Angular crab male, with it's long claws extended in a defensive position. When i got a bit closer to it to take a macro photo, it started digging itself into the bottom to hide, which honestly was sort of endearing, so after snapping a few photos i left it be. Shortly after this, my other buddy signalled to come look at something, turned out to be another squid, though this one was less keen on getting photographed, so i only managed to get a somewhat blurry photo of it. 

We surfaced at 37 minutes, got up and started making ready to head home after a nice evening of diving. 

All in all, despite the leak, it was a nice dive evening

So until next time! Keep on swimming!

Common dragonet male, a very pretty and colourful fish