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"The Octopus Tattoo"
by REEF Volunteer
Carl Gwinn
I floated 55 ft below the surface of the Strait of Juan de Fuca,
sketching a beige sculpin that I did not recognize, when I saw a strand
of red kelp drifting by. I noticed a line of white suckers running along
it. Next something heavy dumped on my head. Another tentacle with
delicate suckers curled in from below and pulled my mask away from my
face, flooding it. I felt other tentacles squeeze the right side of my
face and pull on my hood. I'd last seen my dive buddy peering into a
crevice -- he didn't appear, although I turned around a couple times
hoping he might take a photo. I tried to brush the octopus off my head,
but he squeezed all the tighter. When he tried to pull my regulator out,
the aggressive response took over. "OK, buddy, let's see how you like
breathing air!" I drifted to the surface, maintaining the <<60 ft/min
safe ascent rate, and clearing my mask a couple of times on the way up
to check. I surfaced with unusual headgear and saw the dive boat
nearby. The octopus actually continued to squeeze my head, but finally
my efforts to brush him off persuaded him to leave. I cleared the mask
again and looked down to see him swimming away; only about 2.5 ft long.
When the boat captain finally spotted me, he seemed not to believe my
shouted explanation, but directed me to my buddy's bubbles. Once near
the bottom, I checked off: 1 Giant Pacific Octopus.
I floated 55 ft below the surface of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, I had always been
curious about northwest diving, and the REEF
fish-counting trip seemed like an ideal opportunity to try it. The
diving was in the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, off the Makah
reservation at the northwest corner of Washington State. REEF paid for
the boat and lodging; we were responsible for transport, food, and air
fills. Conditions were excellent: that meant flat water, sunshine,
moderate to strong current, and 44 to 47 F water. My dive buddy, Stan
Kurowski, wore a neoprene drysuit filled with argon (lower thermal
conductivity than air) and inflatable dry gloves. With enough fleece
underneath, my trilam drysuit seemed up to the cold, although my wet
gloves were chilly: after 20 min my hands began to sting, and after an
hour they really complained! I'd torn a wrist seal the day before
meeting the octopus; Stan and Doug Biffard glued a seal from one of
Stan's old dry gloves over the old one, saving my trip.
The above - and underwater landscape is volcanic, with big boulders,
walls, and crevices. Sea palms and single-bladder nereocystis dominated
the kelp forests. Although diversity of fish is less than Southern
California, black rockfish, kelp greenlings, and ling cod were
relatively plentiful and often huge. In the last minutes of my last dive
there, I saw a wolf eel with a head the size of a dinner plate. Sculpins
were far more diverse than in California, although usually hard to spot
and identify. Small nudibranchs and giant plumose anemones were common.
The giant pacific octopus I met was one of two we counted; apparently
the males are quite territorial, and will attack encroachers. The one I
encountered was the most aggressive anyone on the boat had heard of. We
saw many whales swim nearby above water, none below, although on a
couple of occasions the people on the boat saw them blow less than 15 ft
from our bubbles. The water was often thick with large and small krill,
and in places the visibility was consequently less than a foot, although
more commonly about 40 feet.
We took advantage of the great conditions to dive off Tattoosh Island,
just off the northwest corner of Washington State, and even "around the
corner" on the Pacific Coast of Washington State. Captain Troy
Sterrenburg maneuvered his dive boat "Dash" skillfully through the
live-boat drift dives, necessitated by changeable and sometimes stiff
currents. The tides set our dive sites and times. Her stern ladder and
jet drives gave us confidence in safe exits.
The Makah were celebrating Makah Days during our trip: the occasion for
a parade, fireworks, and contests for several age categories of Ms.
Makah. Posters featured ancestries of the candidates. Sanctuary
Education Specialist Greg McCormack arranged some special events for us:
we watched teenagers perform traditional dances at the gym, and an older
Makah woman told us about earlier days, and the advent of schools and
roads. The Makah were skilled hunters, and 8-man teams of specialists
went after whales. Things are harder now, with less fishing, although I
found some excellent smoked salmon.
I'd heard about the trip through REEF's AAT (Advanced Assessment Team)
listserv. To become a subscriber, you must complete at least 50 REEF
fish counts, and take the Level 4 or 5 multiple-choice examination on
fish identification. REEF runs quite a few trips, with varying
destination and costs; they provide opportunities for diving in unusual
places, meeting interesting people, and - yes! - new tattoos.
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