I got one off Darren they are cool. I'm scared of spiking myself on it though. :lol:

FWIW, I've stuck myself half a dozen times on that same urchin, cleaning algae off the glass :eek: .
Drawn blood, got purple dye on me from the poison, ruined 6 pairs of "aqua-gloves" (I now have a surplus of left hands... :razz: ), but I'm o.k., no ill effects, despite the injuries.



...relatively speaking...lol...

(tank looks good, Christy!)

Mitch :mrgreen:

:lol: I wonder if there are left-handed reefers out there in the same boat, I know I have a couple spare lefts as well... :biggrin:

All I'll say is after working 5 years on the West Coast as a dive instructor, Don't sit on urchins, don't stick your hand (with flaslight on a rope) in an octopus's cave, don't tense up while diving gabriola pass(the barnacles are the size of cessnas) and DON'T let some dork swim up behind you and pull the zip on your dry suit.

Doug

explain this one please :mrgreen:

Steve

lol Steve, Gabriola pass is a great place to drift dive, basically, you get in the water at slack tide (which lasts a mere couple minutes) you descend and as the tide starts to move, you get dragged along with it. There are rocks down there the size of a house and the barnacles gather food by being face on into the current. If you're relaxed the water will pull you around each of the rocks, it's kinda like being on a roller coaster but with out the roller coaster part. If you tense up, you'll hit the rock and stick to the barnacle (not to mention get more than a few little leaks in your dry suit). Pushing off the barnacle is tough because of all that water pushing against you but once you do, the current grabs you and rips you along again. It's a blast, it's fast, it's furious and it's never long enough. I've been in the pass while a pod or Orca's go through, although I didn't see them one of the people I was diving with did, but we could hear them all the way through the pass.

Cool... :smile:

Makes me wish I never moved off the island.... :smile:

Mitch

For a diver the island offers so much oppourtunity. I can't dive anymore but when I was diving I sure loved it. I logged nearly 1300 dives in just under 5 years. Campbell river, gabriola, barcley sound, odgen point all excellent dive sites. As for Cowtown you have lake minawanka... (spell?) I've not been there but I hear it's pretty cool, an entire town under water... would be fun (cold but fun)

Doug

Lake Minnewanka

Here's a link to some dive pics (not mine, I don't dive yet):
http://www.mossmanscubaventures.com/...pics=30&day=62

Oh, and keeping with the thread, there are no diadema urchins down there! :mrgreen:

(Sorry Christy, kinda like going out for a business lunch and mentioning actual business in one sentence)

Mitch :smile: