Smögen archipelagon 17/7 2022 Boat diving and lost fins.

 Hi and ho!

This weekend me and my friends decided to go boat diving on a whim more or less, after calling around a bit, we got some spots on the boat at the Smögen dive center, which lies a bit north of our regular dive spots. After getting up at ungodly times (for a weekend), we managed to get to the dive center with time to spare, so we could kit up in a relatively relaxed pace. After kitting up and getting on the boat, it was time to set out for the first dive.

Dahlia anemone, a closeup

Dive 1: Buskär

Depth: 26 m, Time: 62 min, Temp: 17 C

We rolled off the boat into the water as one does, and after gathering up on the surface, we started to descend. The visibility on this site was pretty ok, if a bit grainy at times. As we neared the bottom, we started to slow down a bit and began swimming along the wall like we had been instructed to do. On this site, there was a lot of plateaus at different depths, differing types of bottom (though not proper soft bottoms, at most it was shell gravel). On the walls, there was a lot of soft corals and different species of algae. I noticed quickly however, that there was some issues with the camera trigger switch, making it a bit hard to take the photos, but i managed to get some at least. After about 30 minutes, we began turning back towards the starting point. At the safety stop, we all deployed our surface marker buoys in order to show the dive boat our position, but as we descended, all three of us almost got jellyfish on us, though I was the first one. We got up at 62 minutes and was picked up by the boat.

Striped flabellina, a species of seaslug I've never seen before.

Dive 2:

Depth: 22 m, Time: 61 min, Temp: 17 C

After a nice surface interval with lunch and snacks. We once again got onto the boat and headed out for our next dive. 

As we rolled in, one of my fins somehow came loose and dropped off my foot and into the depths. Well, after a quick reconvening on the surface, we immediately began descending in order to try and find the fin. Apparently, i need to be better at signalling what is wrong (i guess so?) because it took a while for one of my buddies to realize exactly what was wrong. I think they got the message when i stomped at the bottom with my finless foot in front of them. After about 8 minutes of searching, we managed to find my fin, and at this point, i was a little bit tired from swimming against the current with only one fin, but nonetheless, i decided to continue the dive as i could relax once i got my fin on. As we continued the dive, there was a lot to see, I observed several nudibranchs of note, as well as some spotted sea hares hiding among the algae. 

As we started to head back, we once again became aware that there was a current, and quite a strong one at that, strong enough so that one would struggle to swim against it, either way, both me and my buddy deployed our surface marker buoys to show the boat out positions while we were at our safety stop (we also had to grab onto the seafloor in order to not drift away)

We surfaced at 61 minutes, got picked up by the boat and started to head back to port.

All in all, it was a super nice day of diving.

So until next time! Keep on swimming!

A group of Orange-clubbed seaslugs feasting on the bryozoans on a kelp leaf.

15/9-18/9 2021. A trip to Flekkefjord, Norway with Chalmers diving club.

 Hi and ho!

Now that our dear neighbour to the west, Norway, has opened their border after a year of plague and uncertainty, my club decided that now was a good time to take up the tradition of doing a longer dive trip to Norway, as the diving there is in a completely different class compared to Sweden. Said and done, the destination of the trip was decided to be Flekkefjord on the south western coast of Norway, reasonably far away from home. There is also a historical wreck there, the wreck of Gudrun, a WW2 ship that is located just outside of Flekkefjord.

Urticina eques, a beautiful anemone closely related to the Dahlia anemone (and hard to differentiate)

Dive 1: Gudrun 1

Depth: 35 m, Time: 46 min, Temp 17 C

We anchored the boat onto the float that marks the position of the wreck of Gudrun. Decided upon dive pairs and headed off into the waters. All divers descended following the rope in quite the quick fashion as a group, almost too quick really as i got some problems with equalizing at 18 m and had to stop for a little bit to clear it, but as soon as that was done we kept going. Gudrun herself came into view at about 20 m, meaning that there was about 7 m visibility straight down on this day. We came down on the rear of the wreck and all swam up to the big steering wheel in order to get the obligatory photos while posing with it. After photos were snapped, we split up into the decided buddy pairs and me and my buddy began swimming around the wreck, looking at the rudder, propeller and all the other things she had to offer. As Gudrun lies quite deep, me and my buddy didn't have that much time on her, even with the best gas mix for the depth we were on. So after a little while, we started to run low on time before deco, so we started swimming back to the rope in the rear and started ascending along it. In order to stretch out the dive as much as possible, I decided to ascend as slowly as humanly possible (and so i could try and photograph the critters on the rope too) As we were slowly making our way up, we started to see the second dive pair further down underneath us, but soon they also were at about the same depth as us at the safety stop. We surfaced at 46 minutes, got up in the boat and got ready for surface interval.

Star ascidian (Botryllus schlosseri), a colonial sea squirt

Dive 2: Torsøy

Depth: 10 m, Time: 65 min, Temp 17 C

The second dive of the day was decided to be closer to the Flekkefjord dive club house, as we had gotten out pretty late, nonetheless, we found a small bay relatively close to the starting point, parked the boat and got into the water. Here the bottom was quite similar to the type i am used to, muddy, with lots of smaller fish and decaying algae. Honestly this was quite a boring dive site, but nonetheless, me and my buddy kept swimming around. We surfaced at 65 minutes, got back into the boat about at the same time as the others, and drove home to the diving club house.

European painted top shell (Calliostoma zizyphinum)

Dive 3: Saueholmene

Depth: 28 m, Time: 62 min, Temp 17 C

We headed out to the outer parts of the archipelago, the weather was perfect, almost too perfect, with almost no waves out in the open and the sun shining brightly. We rolled into the water from the boat close to a cliff wall, swam closer by and started descending as soon as everyone was ready. When we descended, we discovered that this area was an area with plateau's on different levels and waving kelp forests. Though honestly i didn't get to enjoy it quite as much as my dive buddies kept swimming on like they were on some kind of schedule, or torpedoes trying to sink a boat or something. Either way, i was pretty ticked off by the time we ended the dive. Well, there was some pretty large fishes, mainly saithe swimming around in the kelp forest, which my buddies tried to hunt, but to no avail. We swam around for a while before we ascended to the surface, looking at the vibrant kelp forests and marine life.

We surfaced at 62 minutes, got into the boat and got ready to have a surface interval. while the other group did their dive.

Polymastia boletiformis A type of sponge.

Dive 4: Hunden

Depth: 23 m, Time: 39 min, Temp 17 C

After a surface interval we went to a place the other group had dived the day before, a small rock called Hunden (meaning "the dog") that jutted up right outside a bigger island. From the day before we knew this was an area where you could find and pick scallops. So we did some shifting around in the dive pairs and headed off into the water as the first dive pair. We swam on the surface until we got close enough to the small island that is Hunden. before we started to descend. The visibility on this dive was pretty ok still, though there was some particles in the water here. As we swam along, one of my buddies signal me to look at something, after looking a little bit, i realize it is a small Monkfish that is hiding in the sand. So i of course went up to it and started snapping photos for a bit. After i was done, we continued along the cliff and started to head a bit downwards. As we swam along the cliff wall, i was photographing some sponges when i spot a very pretty sea anemone a bit further away, when i get closer, i see that it is a Horseman anemone, and a beautiful one at that. So i excitedly began photographing it before letting the others close to it (as it usually is with me and photographing)

It was around here one of my buddies started to signal that they were running low on gas, so we began ascending shortly afterwards. At the safety stop, the first buddy tried to shoot their SMB, but the line had somehow gotten tangled, so i got to do it instead, this time it went pretty well :)

We surfaced at 39 minutes and swam back to the boat

European monkfish (Lophius piscatorius), though a very small specimen

Dive 5: Gudrun

Depth: 34 m, Time: 31 min, Temp 17 C

Once again we decided to do a dive on Gudrun, this time however, me and my buddy knew we had much less time on the wreck due to not being able to fill nitrox. We rolled into the water and quickly descended along the rope. down to the rear of the wreck. This time both me and my buddy got photographed with the big steering wheel, even though the photo of me did end up blurrier than the rest, oh well. After getting our photos snapped, one in the other buddy pair spotted a sizeable Lumpsucker in a crevide on the wreck, so i spent some time photographing that one before we split off from the other pair for our own dive. Me and my buddy swam around the rear of the wreck for a bit, even dipping down to the propeller before it was time to swim back along the surface line as we were running low on no deco time. We ascended slowly along the line and surfaced at 31 minutes. Got back into the boat and doffed our gear, getting ready for a surface interval with lunch.

Lumpsucker (Cyclopterus lumpus) trying to hide away from the camera (and the camera man)

Dive 6: Kålesundet

Depth: 30 m, Time: 28 min, Temp 17 C

The last dive of the trip was to a "unknown" 1700s wreck where there were some really large cannons spread out in the area. But as the exact position was unknown to us, we looked through the sea maps and position data on the internet and buoyed a spot where we thought was "appropriate" for this dive. Me and my buddy were the first pair in the water, we followed the buoy line downwards, but sort of lost it at 15 m depht due to various stuff, we did find it quite soon afterwards either way when we got a bit deeper. When we found the line again, we started seeing weird shapes a bit further way, when we swam closer, we realized that "holy guacamole! these be the cannons!" So we had managed to buoy the spot almost perfectly, we thus swam along the bottom looking at the cannons of the wreck, where they lay on the bottom, some being stuck in a upright position, others laying flat on the bottom among the rocks. At one, my buddy waved at me to come and look at something, that something turned out to be a medium sized lobster hiding underneath the cannon. I of course spent some time photographing it as i usually do. When i was done we continued on, albeit in the opposite direction, and soon afterwards, my buddy signalled that they were running low on gas. As we started to ascend, i realized there was quite the current going at about 10 m depth, so we were swept along for a bit. We surfaced at 28 minutes and got back into the boat in a orderly fashion, doffed our gear and got ready to be on boat watch as the other divers went diving (this was an area where we couldn't anchor).

All in all, it was a super nice dive trip, with almost perfect conditions.

So until next time! Keep on swimming!

Opening to one of the 1700s cannons on the bottom, this was the first of many.

Dyk-Leif 24/7 2021 Boat diving in the Väderöarna archipelago

 Hi and ho!

This weekend, me and some buddies went up to the Väderöarna (Weather islands) archipelago, one of the westernmost archipelagos in Sweden, far out in the sea. As it is so far out, the waters are much clearer and has higher salinity, which results in higher biodiversity. Higher biodiversity is something i like, both as a marine biologist and as a underwater photographer. Either way, we arrived somewhat late, but got our gear onto the boat in a orderly fashion, got ourselves on the boat and set out to the dive sites of the day.

Red cushion starfish, a beautiful specimen at that

Dive 1: Stora Sundskär

Depth: 30 m, Time: 60 min, Temp: 17 C

We were dropped off close to the cliff wall, where we almost immediately began descending, however, as we did, i discovered that my ring system was leaking due to something getting stuck in the space between the glove ring and the suit ring, so i had to signal that we had to go up, which my first buddy did get, but the second buddy in our group did not, so i had to signal a couple of times before they got it. We ascended quickly and got that fixed before we continued the dive again. We swam along the wall, with the cliff to our left side, at about 10-20 m depth there was a current going along the wall, so there was a bit of drifting going on. We kept descending for a bit until we hit our max depth, where we spent some time swimming along the wall, looking at the vibrant marine life around us. After a while, it became time to start going upwards again, mostly due to dwindling gas supply and dive time left. So we continued following the wall upwards a bit, encountering the current once more at about 20 m where we let it carry us for a bit. It was during this time, we came across a large area almost completely covered with Black brittle stars, uncountable numbers of them.

We surfaced at 60 min, got up in the dive boat, doffed our gear and got ready for the surface interval with lunch in the nice weather on one of the small islands.

Massive amounts of Black brittle stars (Ophiocomina nigra) covering the seafloor

Dive 2: Södra Ärholmen.

Depth: 27 m, Time: 46 min, Temp: 17 C

After a nice surface interval in the sun, with some swimming because the weather was so good. We got onto the boat and headed out for the second dive of the day. We jumped into the water and immediately descended, following a ravine downwards and outwards, as had been described on the boat. After a while, me and my buddies turned left, following the cliff wall. As we were swimming, i spotted something small and purple, with a closer look, it turned out to be a Violet sea slug (Edmundsella pedata), a species I have been looking for, for quite a while, so of course I had to stay and photograph it a little bit. We continued following the wall, taking it slowly and looking through nooks and crannies for critters. Soon after, I signalled that I had 50 bars left in my doubles, at which point we started to ascend, ending the dive so to say. We surfaced at 46 minutes, got onto the boat, rinsed our gear a bit and started to make ready to go back to the harbour again. Thus ending the dive day.

This was a super nice dive day, even if it is a bit expensive, it is all worth it for sure.

So until next time! Keep on swimming!

Violet sea slug, a small but colourful nudibranch

Göteborgs skärgård 27/6 2021 Marina and Gattulven

Hi and ho!

This weekend we decided to do something different, namely boat diving. However, there wasn't any space left for us on the boat in Lysekil, so we decided to do a boat dive in the Gothenburg archipelago, with the newly opened dive centre Dyk-kiosken Öckerö.

The hull of Marina af Hönö

Dive 1: Marina af Hönö

Depth 26 m, Time 45 min, Temp: 14 °C

The first dive we decided to visit the most popular wreck in the archipelago, Marina af hönö, a trawler that sank 2006, and lies between 18 and 26 m depth. To reach this site, divers usually have to swim through a narrow sound before getting to the other side of the island where the ship lies right below the drop-off. So, we dropped in from the dive boat and swam through the narrow sound, all while being battered by the waves, as this day the wind was coming from the south, which meant straight into the sound from the open sea. Well, the wind wasn't too bad, and as soon as we got out on the other side, we started descending. After descending to a suitable depth, we started swimming with the cliff to the left side until the shape of Marina started to come into view in the water. The visibility this day must have been around 7-10 m, so pretty good for Swedish conditions. Like always, Marina was covered in large amounts of sessile sea life, like corals, Frilled anemones and sea squirts. This day there was fewer fish swimming around the wreck, but that might have been due to a previous group of divers having been there right before us. We swam around Marina for a bit, looking at the marine life, as well as the rubble on and around the wreck site. After a while, it became time to start ascending, which we did, following the cliff wall upwards. As we surfaced, we once again did a surface swim through the narrow sound and back to the dive boat, where we with some effort got back into it (let me tell you, doubles and diving rib boats are not the easiest combination). 

A male Cuckoo wrasse, one of the most colourful fishes in all of Sweden

Dive 2: Gattulven.

Depth 22 m, Time 58 min, Temp: 14 °C

After a surface interval with coffee, talks and food, we set out once more to dive. This time the site was north of the island of Vinga, as the wind was picking up ever so slightly, and most sites were open towards the south, meaning where the wind came from. Either way, we arrived at the site and got into the water, we were instructed to swim with the rocks to our right side. We descended into the water column and started swimming downwards to escape the swell of the waves, but to no avail, the swell could be felt at 15 m too. As we swam about, one of my buddies signaled me that i was to look at something, turned out to be a beautiful male Cuckoo wrasse that was just hanging out by a rock. I managed to snap a few photos before it decided that enough was enough, and swam away. We continued our dive, observing several cuckoo wrasses in the area, but all of them were too skittish to photograph. 

We ended the dive at about 55 minutes and surfaced at 58.

All in all this was a super nice dive day, and a good test for the new dive centre.

So until next time! Keep on swimming!

Common sunstar crawling about the seafloor

Lysekil archipelago 11/10 2020- Unpredictable weather and happenings.

Hi and ho!

This weekend, after much discussing back and forth, me and my buddies had decided upon doing two boat dives in Lysekil. In order to do this, we had to leave at quite the early hours, as the first boat tour went out at 10 am. Said and done, we arrived in Lysekil, kitted up our gear and went to the boat. Unfortunately, one of my buddies accidentally destroyed the zipper of their drysuit while kitting up, so they had to pass on the first dive of the day. Me and my other buddy went out with the boat though. The weather forecast had told of rainy weather all day, and while there was some wetness to be had from the skies on the first boat ride, it did not last very long. So, we arrived at the first dive spot, put on our gear in the boat and got ready to head into the waters.

Devonshire cup coral doing coral things.

Dive 1:

Depth: 26 m, Time: 57 min, Temp: 14°C

Me and my buddy rolled into the water and began swimming towards the cliff wall where the dive was to happen. when we had reached a close enough distance, we signalled that we were going down and began descending. As we descended, it quickly became evident that the vis, while OK, was to be a bit grainy, with a maximum of maybe 7 m vis in any direction. We soon had visual contact with the seafloor, we spent some time on the way down photographing, before we began swimming in the direction we were supposed to go. As we swam, we came across large areas of boulders, where many fish were to be found, both, wrasse and gadiform fish of different kinds.

We also came across large swaths of shell bottom, here it was often also a bit less visibility due to silt in the water column, not sure if that was the previous dive pair, or just naturally occurring silt clouds, the likes that has been in Släggö all summer long. Either way, as we were swimming over the shell bottom, I spotted something a bit dug down in the seafloor, with a closer look i determined that it was a Great Scallop. After photographing it for a little bit, and moving a bit further away, i saw that my buddy was doing something close to the area where the scallop was. Turns out he was picking up a small seastar and placing it on top of the scallop in order to make it start fleeing. As much as i prefer to not touch the animals, i cannot deny that i find the flight of scallops quite entertaining (though you shouldn't touch the animals when you are diving really). So, after we managed to get the scallop swimming, we continued our dive further. As the time started to tick away, and my air started getting low, we began ascending to shallower depth in order to soon end the dive.

As we got up, there was coffee to be had in the boat, which is a super nice thing when you dive in Sweden, so us divers had coffee while we were driving back to harbour for lunch and surface intervall rests.

Great Pipefish on the mixed sediment bottom

Dive 2:

Depth: 28 m, Time: 58 min, Temp: 14°C

After a surface intervall with pizza and relaxing, it was time to get ready for the second dive of the day. This time we went out a bit further in the archipelago, to the outer islands, where the sites are available depending on the weather conditions. This day was one of the rare days where they could go out there without an issue, especially at this time of the year. We went with the same dive pairs as in the morning, with the exception of a new dive pair, consisting of two other friends of mine, one of which was the one that ripped their zipper in the morning. We were dropped into the water close to a set of small islands called "Trillingarna" (The Triplets) where the dive was to happen, me and my buddy descended almost immediately and began swimming with the cliff wall on our left side. On this site, there was a lot of ravines and crevices where the creatures were hanging about. Not much notable on this dive really, Saw quite the number of Henricia. sp sea stars, which, like always, is hard to differentiate to species level from photos only. 

Either way, when I started to near NDL, it was time to start heading upwards again (As my buddy dives rebreather, he does not have to worry about NDLs on this level of diving). So, we swam up in a relatively slow manner, taking our time photographing as we went. When we surfaced and got back into the boat, we once again were given a cup of after-dive coffee, which is always nice 😁

All in all, it was a super nice dive day, with perfect weather for all the sort of diving we do.

So until next time! Keep on Swimming!

Henricia. sp sea star, variant red.

Dive trip to Koster marine national park 15/8-16/8 2020

Hi and ho!  

This weekend it was time for the first official dive trip of the year, after having put off doing such a thing due to the current happenings in the world. So we went up to a dive operator called Bröderna Klemmings Dykhjälp, a operator that goes to Sweden's first and largest marine national park, the Koster sea national park. The park is also known to house a very rich marine life, among the most abundant in all of Sweden.

So, without further ado, let's get the stories rolling :)

Orange-clubbed nudibranches

Dive 1: Morö (the ravine)

Depth: 22 m, Time: 56 min, Temp: 18 °C

Our first dive was done at Morö, in a area known as "The Ravine", this area consists of a set of ravines that slopes down to various depths, in these ravines, many fish like to hide, and skates have been spotted on occasion in the deeper parts. 

So, me and my buddy descended into the water, which was vibrantly blue and very clear for being Sweden. Unfortunately, there was also a veritable minefield of Lion's Mane jellyfish, which made the first moments of the dive a bit nervous. But as soon as we got a bit deeper, it cleared up with the jellies. We swam through a few ravines slowly, as one does when one photographs. 

As we were swimming in the kelp forests between two ravines, I spotted something small sitting on a leaf of kelp, when I took a closer look, I saw that it was two Orange-clubbed nudibranches, so as my buddy was a bit further away filming something else, I spent some time photographing the nudibranches.

After about 30 minutes, it became time to turn around and go back towards the surface, as we had said to the dive leader that we would be down for a maximum of 60 minutes. So we turned around and swam back, photographing and filming as we went. When we neared the surface, there was still quite the number of jellyfish around, which made surfacing a interesting exercise. We surfaced in a orderly fashion, got into the boat once more and went back to dry land for lunch and gas filling.

Very vividly red and beautiful dahlia anemone

Dive 2: Stora Hjälmen.

Depth: 26 m, Time: 52 min, Temp: 16 °C

After lunch and some resting in the sun, we set out for the second dive of the day. This time, we went to a spot called Stora Hjälmen, which was a bit further north from our starting point, inside the Koster national park. When we arrived at the site, we found that it was quite not as calm as we expected, nonetheless, we jumped into the water, descended and began following the wall downwards. After a while, my buddy spotted something in a crevice, when I got closer, I saw that it was a very vividly red dahlia anemone, which I of course spent a few minutes photographing. As we continued, we got down quite deep, which meant we had not as much time until we would hit decompression time limit. So, we had to ascend to shallower depth rather quickly, during this ascent, I spotted a red sun starfish on the cliff, which I quickly snapped a few photos of. When we neared the end of the dive we got into a crevice where we really felt the waves shoving us back and forth as we lay in the water, which was rather fun, if a bit disorienting. So when we started nearing the said end time, we ascended to the surface. At the surface, we had to swim for quite a bit as we got up a bit too close to the cliff.

Cuckoo wrasse male, the photo is less than ideal, but wrasses are skittish and hard to photograph

Dive 3: Bergylteskär.

Depth: 30 m, Time: 63 min, Temp: 16 °C

After a good nights sleep, we got up and got ready to head out to a new dive day. So we loaded into the boat and headed to a site known as Bergylteskär, which is right smack in the Koster national park. When we arrived at the site, the captain of our boat spotted something in the distance, it took me a while to see what it was, but it turned out to be three porpoises, which began swimming around us as we got a bit closer. When they then grew tired of us and left, we went to the dive site and prepared to get into the water. We anchored in a sheltered bay and jumped into the waters, swam out through a narrow gap between the cliffs, and started descending into the dive. On this site, there was a lot of rock formations in the beginning, making for a nice place to look for larger crustaceans like lobsters and crabs. One lobster I spotted, a smaller individual was quite scared of me, and kept backing into it's little burrow, so after I got some quick photos, I left it alone again. As me and my buddy kept swimming, we found ourselves at a wall, which descended to approximately 40 m depth, as one could see the bottom from our position, which was quite far from the bottom itself. We kept following this wall, photographing and filming as we went. After a while, we once again got closer to no-deco time limit. So we went up to shallower depth quickly once more. After a while, we decided to end the dive and ascend to the surface, as there was not much more to photograph or film due to swell.

We surfaced and got back into the boat and  got back to land for rest and lunch.

A very photo-shy European lobster.

Dive 4: Sadeln.

Depth: 26 m, Time: 52 min, Temp: 16 °C

For the last dive of the trip, we went to a site closer to the starting point, called Sadeln, We had heard that this was a good spot for nudibranches, as well as various kinds of fish and crustaceans. So me and my buddy rolled into the water and prepared to dive. We descended and started following the wall, swimming slowly, as we always do when photograph. On this dive there was a lot of different kinds of wrasses among the rocks and crevices, large cuckoo wrasses and ballan wrasses, smaller goldsinny wrasse and corkwing wrasse. At one point, my buddy seemed to have challenged a sizable European lobster to a duel, which was rather amusing to watch (my buddy won btw). Then, when we were starting to go more shallow, I spot something laying in the kelp, when I got closer, I see that it is an Angler-fish, so i quickly signalled to my buddy and we spent quite a while around the angler-fish photographing and filming it. After a while, we decided that it was enough loafing about and time to get moving again, following the cliff we got up to a shallow plateau with a lot of kelp and other brown algae. Here we decided to stay a bit, unfortunately my camera was out of batteries at this point, so no photos from there. When our time was up, we ascended to the surface and ended the dive.

All in all it was super nice dive trip, something we have to do more if there is time and money to do so, jellyfish blooms notwithstanding.

So until next time! Keep on Swimming!

Anglerfish, look at this mug 😆

Smögen 28/7 2020 Rain and boat diving

Hi and ho!

Northern Sea fan, a small red coral, unassuming like many things in Swedish waters

Been a while since I wrote, there was a small pause in diving due to my regular buddies being unable to get out diving, But at last we could go out this week, we went out for a boat dive this Tuesday in Smögen. The weather was to be less than ideal, with somewhat stiff winds and rain all day, but as Smögen lies in the outer coastal band, these forecasts are often not quite accurate, except for the winds that is.

Either way, we got to the dive center, signed up for the boat, kitted up and prepared for departure.

Dive 1: Stenskär

Depth: 32 m, Time: 50 min, Temp: 17 °C

Red cushion star :)

We had been told when going through the dive site, that there was Northern Sea fan corals on this site, a bit deeper down. So me and my buddy decided to go and look for them, We got ready and hit the water in a orderly fashion. Descending slowly and photographing as we went. As we neared the 30 m mark, I saw something in the corner of my eye, something that looked a bit like a thin red line, I turned my head and behold! A Northern Sea fan coral colony on the rocks, I signaled to my buddy to come and look, so we spent some time around that area, as there was a lot more corals there than we anticipated. When we neared our "no-deco" limit, as well as hit the turning gas pressure, we turned around and began swimming back to the starting point. As we went, there was a lot of marine life all around us, fish, starfish and other organisms in great abundances. 

When it became time to end the dive, I handled the Surface marker buoy and we ascended in a orderly fashion.

Dive 2: Måkholmen

Depth: 23 m, Time: 52 min, Temp: 17 °C

Common sunstar, with a very vivid crimson colour

On the second dive, the weather cleared up, and we got a nice sunny second boat tour, this time we went to a site a bit closer to the dive center.

Me and my buddy rolled into the water and descended as planned, we followed the cliff wall, keeping it to our right, as we were instructed to do. On this dive, we encountered lots of masking crabs, spiny starfish and at one point, a great scallop, which I did not photograph unfortunately. At the end of the dive, I took a quick peek underneath some kelp leaves, and found me a decently sized Common sea hare.

We ascended in a orderly fashion after the safety stop, thus ending the dive.

All in all it was a very nice dive day, even if the weather could have been much nicer in the beginning.

So until next time, keep on swimming!

Common sea hare, on a leaf of Kelp

Gullmar fjord 21/5 2020 Walls, walls and walls

Hi and ho!

The Sea-loch anemone is rare outside the Gullmar fjord, super common in the Gullmar fjord

This week, me and my friends decided to go diving during the Ascension day in the Gullmar fjord, we also had a boat with us this time, borrowed from another diving club we have close ties with, so we decided to go to some sites that are only reachable by boat. The weather was also going to be super nice according to the forecast, which is why we also decided to have a bbq on the surface intervall later.
So after kitting up and some quick change of gear due to various circumstances, we set out from the Jordfall marina, towards the first diving spot for the day.

Dive 1: Gåseklåvan
Time 52 min. Depth 27 m. temp 10 °C

Can you see the Norwegian Topknot here?

The first dive of the day was at Gåseklåvan, a  vertical wall that goes all the way from the surface down to about 80 m depth. Me and my buddy was the first ones into the water, and after quickly organizing ourselves at the surface we began the descent into the water. We descended following the wall, which was full of marine life of different kinds, mostly anemones and tube worms of different kinds. After reaching a satisfactory depth, we began following the wall towards the east, photographing and filming as we went. After a while swimming at max depth, it became time to go a bit more shallow in order to save gas and not go into deco. At about 10 m, we ran into a bit of a current, which made it hard to stay still and photograph, but as the current was going in the direction we was heading, it did not matter too much.
When we had about 10 min before our time limit, we decided to ascend to the surface and end the first dive, so we simply did that. After getting up into the boat and picking up the last dive pair, we went back to the marina for some bbq and relaxing.


Dive 2: Kolvik.
Time: 54 min. Depth: 17 m. Temp: 11 °C

Nodding hydroid (Corymorpha nutans), somewhat uncommon apparently?

After a surface intervall with bbq and relaxing in the sun. It was time to go out for the second dive. We kitted up the gear and got into the boat. We drove to a site closer to our regular haunts called Kolvik. Me and my buddy got into the water (hit my butt on the side of the boat as i was rolling in) and began descending after signaling "OK" to the surface personell in the boat.
When we reached a satisfactory depth, we began following the wall in the direction of the current
As we swam, my buddy suddenly signaled for me to come take a look at something, that something was a huge Cuckoo wrasse male, which is one of the most colourful fishes in Swedish waters. Unfortunately i could not take a photo of this individual as it retreated back into it's lair when i got closer.
When it became time to get to the surface, i took the opportunity to train how to shoot the SMB, but i accidentally dropped my spool, which wan't that big of a deal as the spool is attached to the line at the end. So i kind of successfully deployed the buoy and retrieved the spool, after which we began to ascend.


All in all this was a super nice dive day and i really need to do this more often.

So until next time. Keep on Swimming!

Henricia.sp, impossible to determine species from picture.

Smögen 25/4 Boat dives in the nice spring weather

Hi and ho!

Not one of the big Frilled anemones i saw, but got a nice picture nonetheless

This weekend me and my buddies decided to go to a very popular dive shop in Smögen, which is a bit further north from our usual diving area, in order to do boat dives in the archipelago. The weather forecast told of a nice sunny day, with a little bit of wind from the north.
When we had arrived, written ourselves up for the boat, and prepared our gear, it was time to go out to the first dive spot.

Dive 1: Stora Håskär.
Depth: 29 m, Temp: 10 °C, Time: 44 min.

We descended in a orderly fashion, until we reached the bottom at about 10 m, we then followed the bottom downwards to the maximum depth. We swam around for a bit, photographing and looking around, after a while, it became time to get up again, so we began the ascension. As we ascended, we got a bit lost and had to do a "free water" ascension due to me starting to run low on gas. Well, it was good training at least. During this dive i saw some very huge frilled anemones, some Red cushion stars and a lot of Dead mans finger corals among other things.
We got back into the boat and drove back to the dive center for lunch and surface intervals

Red cushion stars (Porania pulvillus) sure looks like some kind of plushie

Dive 2: Pesa.
Depth 18 m, Temp 10 °C, Time 49 min.

After a good surface interval with lunch and ice cream, we got back into the boat and drove out to the second dive site of the day.

The small Goniodoris nodosa was hard to spot among the kelp

Me and my buddy decided to go a bit more shallow on this dive in order to search for nudibranches. Said and done, we descended into a small crevice and followed it for a while before we got out to some walls, we descended a bit more when we got out of the crevice and began swimming towards the left, following the wall. As we swam, my buddy suddenly signaled me to look at something, as i got closer i realized it was a Lumpfish, Thus i stayed at the spot for a bit trying to photograph it. The lumpfish was shy for a bit, but then it suddenly started to swim up in our faces and underneath us when we just lay there, even as we kept blowing bubbles, which will usually cause fish to flee. After a while we decided to keep swimming and look for other stuff (and the lumpfish kept following us for a bit), we swam in the direction the compass took us (and if i have to be honest, i suck att following compass directions) After a while i decided that it was time to end the dive as i wanted good margins for surfacing time. So we followed a wall up until the safety stop. At the safety stop, i decided to train a bit at shooting my Surface marker buoy, and this time it wen rather well.

All in all it was a super nice diving trip

So until next time, Keep on swimming!

This Lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus) was shy at first, then it got all up in our faces and wouldn't leave us alone