Swimming With The Fishes

Picture Collage Using Fotor.com,  
pictures from yesterday's snorkeling @ La Jolla Shores and La Jolla Cove

We had another wonderful time swimming in cold with the fishes yesterday, despite the visibility may not be as great as the other times we went snorkeling. Nevertheless, it always is fun to be swimming with the fishes. Below are the individual pictures I used for the collage through fotor.com, an online picture collage app, using the pictures I took yesterday with my Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS 35, an underwater point and shoot camera.

 Hubby Diving Down

 Harmless and Friendly Leopard Sharks

A lot of people get afraid with the mere mention of sharks, probably thinking all sharks are born equal. Despite their name sharks, the leopard sharks are harmless, kind of very timid, non-aggressive, and have a lot smaller mouth and small teeth that they feed on very small shrimps and crustaceans. It's their small mouth and small teeth that makes them uninterested in bigger fishes, much more humans. :) When the mere mention of great white shark sighting would close a beach, or scare all people away, the leopard sharks have a different effect. People would seek them knowing these amazing animals are not like the gray white sharks and very much harmless. It is easy to distinguish them because of the striking pattern of black saddle-like markings and large spots over their back.

Harmless Leopard Shark Up Close ( photo however taken 2 weekends ago)

They feed only on very tiny sea creatures such as shrimps and other crustaceans. They haven't been known to attack any human, unless a human maybe harass them, any wild animal could hit back. I say they are friendly, because unlike other fishes, they do not mind swimming right next to you, though they would not face you, haha, they tend to swim away from you, kind of leading you or telling you that you are such a lousy swimmer. They are very graceful specie, it is so amazing to be surrounded by them, you just don't know where to turn since there's always a lot of them from June-December in La Jolla with peak numbers from August to September.

 Girabaldi Fish ( this is California's state fish )

Another exciting fish to see is the girabaldi, California's state fish. Somehow, in the pictures, they look mean, like ready to eat a smaller fish anytime.

this photo of girabaldi taken two weekends ago

However, in water, they are actually, pretty creatures! They are so cute, especially that they stand out because of their color. And they won't swim away from you, somehow, you both could look eye to eye, without the girabaldi turning his face and swimming away from you. Oftentimes, it's the current of water that will bring you away from this pretty fish, not the girabaldi. There are a lot of other fish species, but I am not so good in identifying them. Also, the water visibility this weekend was not great.

Water visibility is usually affected by a lot of factors. Our experience in San Diego tells us that surfing and snorkeling activities need opposite surf conditions. When the swell and the surf are too tall and powerful, something that excites the surfers and body boarders, it won't be as ideal for snorkeling and diving. The powerful wave swell and turbulence cause too much disturbance in water sending fine particles such as sand and sea weeds all over the place, lowering the visibility.  The waves were just too powerful yesterday and today, which meant poor visibility. I wondered why I was not boogie boarding instead. The past few weeks, we had been enjoying 25-50 ft visibility which was awesome. Yesterday and today, 0-15 ft depends on where the huge waves pound. :( 

Hmmmm, I am not sure what fish is this.

Our fun swimming with the fishes though may have to end soon as winter approaches. It's not much about water getting colder since water in Pacific West coast is cold year round thus our need to wear wet suits to stay long and enjoy the water. However, as winter approaches the waves and swell get bigger and bigger, to the big excitement of extreme surfers ( those who pursue 10-20+ ft waves). The excitement of big and pounding waves however does not extend to snorkeling and diving since the water turbulence they create  is not good for water visibility. Extremely huge waves for me signal the time to retire the wet suit, boogie board and snorkel. It's that time when the wrath of the waves becomes beautiful looking from the top of the bluffs only! Though I could shift from snorkeling to boogie boarding because I also love riding the waves, but frankly, I coward when waves go higher than 5 ft. I would usually dive down to escape the wrath of  waves taller than 5 ft rather than taking them for the ride. I love hiking and I don't really mind not being in the water anymore. However, I am still having a great time swimming with the fishes, that I am still wishing for more calm days in the sea.

♥♥