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The Other Side of Port Hardy
by Barb Roy I've lost count how many times I have visited the area above the North Eastern tip of Vancouver Island, and dived world-class sites like Browning Wall, Barry Islet and Hunt Rock. Yet, I wanted this journey to be different. I wanted to dive new and unexplored sites, to go where few divers have ever been, and photograph the strange and unusual creatures that lurk belowActually, getting a chance to use my dive kayak in the water instead of carrying it around, as a cool car decoration, was incentive enough!Joining a group of eager divers from around the world on one of the three live-aboard dive vessels operating out of Port Hardy, we departed with high hopes. I'm sure they were ready to beam me back to reality within a few hours of seeing all my photographic equipment. Fortunately, a playful pod of Pacific white-sided dolphins happened along, diverting the attention as they rode our bow across Goletas Channel. Anchoring at Hussar Point, across from Balaklava Island, my buddy Wayne and I launched the kayaks and were off for our first dive. With ease we paddled through the glassy calm water to an outcropping of rocks, called Cormorant Wall, to the left of the cove. Although entries are usually easier off a kayak when you can step down in waist deep water, you sometimes have to make do with deep-water entries. Using the kayaks as a platform, we donned the scuba units and fins. Tying the kayaks to some driftwood, we descended beneath the clear water. My console read a balmy 56 degrees, not bad for spring. The short stretch of wall was covered with a beautiful selection of colourful life. While I searched for subjects in macro mode Wayne played hide-and-seek with a young octopus. Watching their interaction, it was difficult to tell who was having the most fun! Patiently I waited to sneak in a shot of an eyeball or sucker cup or? Tiring quickly I continued on. A candy stripe shrimp caught my eye at the base of a white-spotted rose anemone. The shrimp, only nine millimeters long, easily fit into my framer. A blood star was preparing to broadcast spawn as was a feather duster worm. They both made great macro models. A bright horned nudibranch and a pair of graceful white dirona nudibranchs were making their way around sponge, and very tolerant sculpin, neighbours. Several years ago I remember seeing this bay covered with hooded nudibranchs.
Having the kayaks was great upon our ascent. After loading up the gear, we paddled around the corner for some late afternoon snorkelling. The next day our boat headed up Browning Passage to a sheltered bay referred to as Clam Cove by the locals, on Nigei Island. A huge floating dock, equipped with several small cabins, fresh water and flush toilets, provided a calm place to spend a few days! Rumours say it may one day be a floating dive resort. As soon as I found out the float had been there for over ten years, we splashed in for a shallow dive just under the logs. I couldn't understand why most of my comrades opted for Browning Wall when they could have had a wonderful scientific marine-biology dive Wink, wink, smirk, smirk. I have never seen so many clusters of feather duster worms. In places their mass hung down three feet. Everything, including rope, steel cable, crab pots and water lines were encrusted with sponge and an assortment of invertebrate life. You'd swear this was a current swept area, by all the anemones, tunicates and hydroids. Well-dressed decorator crabs were equally impressive. Seeing tiny brown and green beetle-looking Isopods running in and out of the log holes, made me glad I was sealed safely in my dry suit. I guess I'm not a bug personAt night, it was entertaining to walk about the float, shining our dive lights into the water. Bright orange pairs of eyes from the hundreds of shrimp stared back and followed our movement. To appease my exploratory persistence, my dive comrades agreed to join us for a dive at Nigei Pinnacle the next day. It was another tide-dependent dive, accessible when the weather is good. Little was known about this site, and probably being the fifteenth diver to investigate its secrets, made us even more anxious to probe further. The water boasted a clear seventy feet of visibility as I descended an easy slope to ninety feet. A school of black rockfish followed me down, making for great wide-angle shots. With the kelp ribbons swaying above, what more could a photographer ask for? Okay, a diver made the shot even better. Levelling off, I continued on. Green and blue Sunflower Stars and red urchins, the size of basketballs, dotted the lavender boulders with colour. Like a canvas of marine art, the creation grew better as I ascended to forty feet. Now, with the base of a great forest of kelp before me, curious greenling seemed to line up to investigate. A giant Pacific octopus lazily peeked out from a cozy den, catching Wayne's attention. Scanning the terrain, I noticed the brilliant blue and red carapace of a Puget Sound king crab not far from a red Irish lord with speckled eyes. What can I say? It beckoned to be photographed. Not far, a smaller bright orange juvenile was making headway through a dense section of yellow and white sponge. In all, it was simply magnificent. A dive well worth several more visits. We returned for another day dive and the night dive was even better. During the rest of our week we explored more sites around Nigei and Balaklava Island. The wreck of the Themis gave us curious wolf eels and great silhouettes. Fantasy Island was a playground with soft gorgonian coral and lacy basket stars. The Deserter Group of islands offered an array of interesting walls, reefs full of crevices and overhangs and numerous virgin sites to survey. Thinking we had encountered as much as humanly possible during our journey, we were joined by a pod of Pacific white-sided dolphins on the way back to Port Hardy. Like missiles, they shot at the boat from every direction! We scrambled for our dive gear and jumped into the skiff to join them. I would have to say our trip may have been a bit different than most, but I would suggest to the seasoned Port Hardy diver, "Be adventurous, try new and unexplored sites!" To the underwater photographer and explorers: "Look a little closer," and to all the new visitors, "It's a cold water paradise!"
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