Cephs in San Diego..

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Sep 8, 2006
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Well I just got back from a short vacation in San Diego, California. This was my first time ever to visit the state of California, as well as the ocean. Much to my disappointment I was told by the local scuba/snorkel tour shop that octopuses are very rarely seen in the area I was in. I kinda knew that they were more likely seen in the northern part of the state, but hey, it was worth asking.

I overheard a local surfer bragging to his buddy about "Dude, it was the coolest thing I have ever seen! An Octopus!..." So I absolutely had to rent some gear and go in for myself. The water was FREAKIN COLD! I had to sit in the water for a few minutes and acclimate my body but to my own surprise it didn't take too long. The sky was overcast, and it was about 60 degrees outside yesterday morning, rather dreary. The visibility was pretty poor, as I could barely see my hand in front of me (not to mention I have to wear corrective lenses which don't fit well under goggles) So I didn't stay in the water but about 20 minutes. After feeling something rather large bump against my legs I decided it just wasn't very fun. I was in the popular spot for swimming with Leopard Sharks and since it was my first time diving, I thought it would be much better if I just wait until I can try it again when the water isn't as murky. I think I'll leave La Jolla cove to the sharks and sea lions.

Onto the good part though, I visited Birch Aquarium and observed the GPO in the display there. He was very pale, eyes cloudy, and tentacles curled tightly into a ball. Sadly, he/she looked like death was soon to come.
There was a good sized Bimac in another display, out and about, looking pretty happy. There apparently is another Bimac in the outside tidepool setup. One of the caretakers told me it is very large for its species, but she said she has only seen it out once during the day. With all the kelp it would be very hard to spot. Still, I stood there and baked my skin until it blistered hoping to catch a lucky glimpse, to no avail. There was a decent cuttlefish display with S. Latimanus? I believe. They were signaling each other with their tentacles. Looked like taunting behavior.

Next we went to SeaWorld. Got to pet a dolphin (WooHoo) and the GPO on display there was VERY interactive with the people passing by. It was on the wall caddy-corner to the glass, and kept reaching up to our faces, then it would climb onto the glass, turn around, flip over, and go back to the wall, reaching out once again as if trying to touch us. Very fun to watch. Its mantle was about twice as big as my head, eyes like golf balls.
They also had a Cuttle display with 6 cuttles, but I don't know what species. They were about the size of 12oz. soda cans. One of them was pretty attentive of our presence, the others didn't seem to care much.
 
Thanks for telling us all about your wonderful trip! You did see a lot of cephs, even if they weren't in the water when you were snorkling.

There are octopuses along the southern coast (bimacs, at least), but I don't know exactly where. I might be wrong, but I thought the La Jolla area was rather deep water.

Some bimcacs can be found in tide pools, especially small ones. Several TONMO.com members found their bimacs in these California tide pools.

Nancy
 
As much as I love the ocean, you could not get me in it at 60 degrees ambient let alone in murky water known to harbor anything but sand sharks! I am definitely a fair, HOT weather diver and want at least 20' visabilty (poor) even to snorkel! The Gulf is a lot closer to you and way WARMER than the Pacific so I hope you make a second attempt soon! A set of disposable contacts are cheaper than a prescription mask if that helps any.

The aquarium has a lot more to offer in the ceph world than our new (Atlanta) inland attraction but we do have a GPO and some cuttles. Unfortunately most of the critters I like best have minimal displays here. With the growing popularity of cephs in general, maybe we will add some since there is little chance I will be visiting the West Coast anytime in the forseable future.

Glad the trip was a hit and I hope you will try snorkeling again!
 
I will definitely try snorkeling again, preferably scuba actually though. I watched the IMAX film Into The Deep last night and it just bummed me out knowing it was filmed somewhere fairly close by where I was.

I was pretty determined to get in there and try my luck at some underwater photography, regardless of the temperature. With the wetsuit it didn't take long to get used to the cold. But yeah, after getting bumped by something fairly large and not being able to see my own hands and more-so whatever the heck that was, it just wasn't going to be fun.

Definitely want to go to the Carribean and try it.
 
HI THERE, IM NEW TO THIS SITE, AND ALSO TO OCTOPUSES. I LIVE IN SAN DIEGO AND MY FIRST AND ONLY ENCOUNTER WITH AN OCTO WAS ON MY IN MY FIRST NIGHT DIVE IN MISSION BAY, HE WAS THE FIRST ANIMAL I SAW!! THAT WAS NEAT AND IMPRESSIVE...!!! I KNOW FIND MYSELF WANTING TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THEM AND APPRECIATE THERE NATURE SO MUCH. THEY ARE BEATIFUL ALSO.

I WONDER IF ANYONE HAS ANY TIPS ON WHERE TO LOOK FOR THEM AND ALSO IM THINKING OF PICTURING THEM, WHAT IS A GOOD CAMERA?

THESE ARE GREAT AWESOME CREATURES....
 
:welcome: tentacle diver! Glad to have you aboard, and welcome to being hooked on cephalopods. :cool2: You may want to post over on the Introduce Yourself forum and ask your questions there, as they may not be quickly noticed/answered buried under another subject heading like this one. One small courtesy point - all caps is considered 'shouting' so for normal posts you might want to take the caps lock off... :wink:

Animal Mother, congrats on your trip! Sounds like you saw a few neat cephs in captivity at least. Come to New Zealand and we'll take you to meet some wild octos. :smile:
 
:welcome: tentacle diver. I've found 2 small octos in Laguna Beach in twilight dives, right around sunset... that may just be coincidence, but it's the only time I've seen octos...
 
marinebio_guy;98307 said:
There are a couple of octopus species in the S.D. area, both of the bimac's and a few that are less common. But even if you know where they are it can be hard to find them while diving/snorkeling. Your best bet would be to go at night.

The guy at the dive shop said "You might see a baby but there aren't any real octopus out there." I wonder if he thinks they're all GPO's.

Best of luck to you Tentacle Diver. If you get any pictures be sure to share them here! I personally don't think I'm going to brave the cold waters of the California Coast again. Oh, and watch out for the jellyfish invasion.
 

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