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Kevin, Scripps canyon sits north of Scripps pier. A sandy bottom at 60 -90' drops away suddenly with overhangs, finger canyons, chutes, small mudstone caves and incredible flora and fauna. cabling and instrumentation from past Scripps Institute of Oceanography experiments can be found draping down the walls. A buoy marks the canyon attached to strain gauge cable just back from the lip and a chute that I haven't seen the bottom of... The canyon is recommended as a boat dive - and always as a boat dive with technical gear. UCSD dive club shore dives the canyon most Wednesday and Thursday evenings. Access is typically by keyed entry to the private university access road to the beach. There is a nice walk down the (used to be) nude beach and a 1000 yard kick out. Plus surf. This is one of the best dives on the California coast. Note on other posts - I have over 400 dives in Scripps canyon since 1976 and I have yet to see a White shark or any other very large aggressive shark in the area. White shark have been caught within a mile of the canyon, but we have fifteen to forty divers in the water any given week and the Whites are either shy, deep, or someplace else. I HAVE seen whales up close, barn door Halibut, a Cortez Angel, a ten pound lobster, unidentified Nudibranchs, and a bunch of other things. Put this one on your list to dive. David McLean Product Manager SCUBAPRO Yes - we DO dive at SCUBAPRO! Nice shot looking over Scripps pier to La Jolla shores and canyon -this is a live web cam - if there isn't a picture it is because it is night. Scripps canyon would be looking 180 degrees the other way, but it gives an idea of swell conditions for the beach dive. http://sio.ucsd.edu/piershot.html Excerpted from email from UCSD dive club repeater - data collected to 700 meters should make anyone happy....; ///////////////////////////////////// Macrofaunal communities within and adjacent to a detritus-rich submarine canyon system. Vetter, Eric W. and Dayton, Paul K. Deep-Sea Research II 45(1-3):25-54, 1998 Macrofaunal abundance, biomass, diversity and species assemblages within Scripps and La Jolla submarine canyons are compared with those on the nearby continental shelf and slope. Within the canyons, organic enrichment by macrophyte detritus was evident from canyon heads down to 550 meters, and evidence of strong currents (coarse sediment) was found down to 700 meters. Infaunal density and biomass were higher in the canyons than outside at all depths where comparative data were available. Infaunal assemblages in canyons were distinct from those at reference stations. Both the canyon and non-canyon samples showed community differentiation with depth. Species diversity was generally high, but decreased with depth outside of canyons and increased with depth within the canyons. Low diversity at shallow depths within the canyon is attributed to a combination of organic enrichment and physical disturbance. Submarine canyons are commonly found to contain distinct species assemblages or higher faunal densities and/or biomass than nearby non-canyon regions at similar depths. Canyons are regular features along most ocean margins and appear to be important as sites of enhanced secondary production, provide diverse habitats, and act as conduits of coastal detritus to the deep sea. ============================================================= Peter Brueggeman, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Library UCSD, 9500 Gilman Dr, Dept 0219, San Diego CA 92093-0219 USA .....pbrueggeman@uc*.ed*.......ht*://library-pc5969.ucsd.edu/ -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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