Alberthead Lagoon in Metchosin, B.C. Bear Cove in Port Hardy, B.C. Bob's Spot in the Plumper Island Group, B.C. Braemar Ave in North Saanich, B.C. Breakwater Island near Gabriola Pass, B.C. Browning Passage near Port Hardy, B.C. Browning Wall near Port Hardy, B.C. China Creek near Port Alberni, B.C. Clover Point in Victoria, B.C. Copper Cliffs near Campbell River, B.C. Daphne Islet near Brentwood Bay Deep Cove near Sidney, B.C. Discovery Island near Victoria, B.C. Dolphin Beach near Nanoose Bay, B.C. Elliot's Beach Park in Ladysmith, B.C. Five Fathom near Port Hardy, B.C. Forest Island (north end) near Sidney, B.C. GB Church [ship to reef] near Sidney, B.C. Gowland Point on South Pender Island, B.C. Henderson Point near Sidney, B.C. Madrona Point in Nanaimo, B.C. Maple Bay near Duncan, B.C. McKenzie Bight near Victoria, B.C. McNeill Point aka Kitty Islet in Victoria, B.C. Neck Point in Nanaimo, B.C. Northeast Pearse Wall, Telegraph Cove, B.C. Ogden Point in Victoria, B.C. Porteau Cove Marine Park, B.C. Port McNeil, B.C. Rocky Point in Nanaimo, B.C. Row & Be Damned near Campbell River, B.C. Saltery Bay near Powell River,B.C. Saxe Point in Esquimalt, B.C. Sidney, B.C. Ten Mile Point in Victoria, B.C. Wall Beach near Nanoose Bay, B.C. Whytecliff Park near Vancouver, B.C. Willis Point near Sidney, B.C. International Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii, USA Kaui - an Island of Hawaii, USA Aquatic but Non-Marine Life Vancouver Island, B.C.

Scuba Diving Pictures from Porteau Cove Marine Park north of Vancouver, B.C. Canada. For more on this dive site check out the Porteau Cove Marine Park government page and pdf of the actual scuba diving site and under water attractions. These are medium quality jpegs. But I have the RAW images as well. Email tjfidler@telus.net Directions to this dive site can be found at the bottom of this page. Number of dives I've done at this scuba diving site:  2 with my Olympus C7070 camera. Type of dive: shore dive but a boat would be nice as it is a long swim. Rating for this dive site: 7/10 for its convenience. Parking: Lots of parking for 30 cars, trucks, vans,.... Boat ramp: Yes, which makes this a convenient site. However they would like divers not to use it. There is a set of concrete stairs with a handle for getting in and out of the water. And a freshwater show just a few feet away from the stairs. The water even felt warm to me. Ease of entry: 9/10 due to boat ramp and also stairs with a hand rail going into ocean. [Wheel chair access: Yes if you use the boat ramp.] Abundance of life: 7/10 Accommodations:  There are several places in North Vancouver, or even Horseshoe Bay, that you could find lodging at. Inns, Motels and Campgrounds. Attractions: A couple of wrecks and a variety of objects placed to attract life. Bottom and depth: Mostlly sandy and can drop well below a hundred feet [30 metres] Facilities: Their is a shower on shore for scuba divers, and a change room and washroom  nearby. Also a camping area is located nearby in the park. Hazards/Obstacles: Boat traffic and current. Sensitivity to tide/current: The current can be a challenge here espicially when you are swimming out to the buoys to descend along them. Terrain: The area is mostly sand below the surface, the structure of the pier here offers some rock and steel columns. But mostly sand. Miscellaneous Information: If you are coming to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics, this dive site is on the way to Whistler, the main downhill ski resort, where many of the olympic events will be held. About 30 minutes north past Horseshoe Bay. Tides, transportation and weather: Fisheries and Oceans Canada Tide Page., BC Ferries Schedule and Sailings. , The Weather Network If you like these pages, and wish this web site to continue, please remember to check out some of the Google Ads. Just clicking on them helps pay for the web site.

The following images are thumbnails. If you click on them a larger image will open up and the picture will take up most of your screen. Again these are medium qualifty jpegs. Higher quality images can be purchased directly from me via paypal using my email address tjfidler@telus.net And many of these photos can be found for sale on Cafepress through the Calendar link and Photo CD link.

A few people have already asked me about "What is that pink stuff on the rocks in some of the pictures?" Well, they're usually Pink Rock Crust (aka Encrusting Coralline Algae) or in some cases might even be Encrusting Hydrocorals. They're eaten by a variety of animals - apparently as a good source of calcium.

Unfortunately the water quality was not very good on April 15, 2006. But instead of not showing most of the images as they were below the quality I normally would post I decide to post at least one shot of each type of animal.

Crustaceans

Squat Lobster ~ 3 inches [7.5 cm] wide and a Calcareous Tube Worm ( April 15, 2006)	2 Squat Lobsters ~ 3 inches [7.5 cm] wide across its pincers. You may find it hard to spot the second smaller one. But it is above the larger one.  ( April 15, 2006)
Red Rock Crabs ~ 6 inches [15 cm] tall. They were mating on the side of one of ship reefs. (April 15, 2006)	Snow Crabs getting ready to mate. The larger one is a male and about 2 feet [60 cm]  wide across the legs.(April 15, 2006)
Snow Crab [aka Tanner Crab] ~ 2 feet [60 cm] wide. (April 15, 2006)	Snow Crab - this image gives you a better view of its reddish eyes. Just click on this thumb nail for a better and larger quality digital image. (April 15, 2006)
Dungeness Crab or Edible Cancer Crab ~ 6 inches [15 cm] wide. It is sitting at the base of a large orange Plumose Anemone. (April 15, 2006)	This video shows how quick the Dungeness Crabs can move. The video starts with me approaching two of them. One with its back to me, and while the other one that can see me runs away the other seems oblivious to my presence at first.
Red Rock Crab ~ 6 inches [15 cm] wide. Quite common here. (April 15, 2006)	Longhorn Decorator Crab ~ 10 inches [25 cm] wide across its legs. (April 15, 2006)
Decorator Crab ~ 6 inches [15 cm] wide. It is the one near the base of the large anemone and just to the right of it. The other crabs here are Longhorn Decorator crabs.	Dungeness or Edible Cancer Crab ~ 5 inches [12.5 cm] wide. I added this digital image as the one up a couple of rows in this table is not that good, but at the same time it gives you comparison of it against a large anemone.

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Fish

Grunt Sculpin ~ 3 inches [7.5 cm] long. These fish can barely swim and instead crawl on the bottom. (April 15, 2006)	Ling Cod ~ 3 feet [1 m] long. I was hoping this fish would stay still for a couple more shots but that did not happen. There were a couple larger Ling Cod here, but the pictures did not turn out.
Prickleback of some kind. ~ 6 inches [15 cm] long. There were a few of these fish here but they would not stay still to have their picture taken. (April 15, 2006)	Roughback Sculpin ~ 6 inches [15 cm] long. Common here. (April 15, 2006)
Longfin Sculpin ~ 3 inches [7.5 cm] long. (April 15, 2006)	English Sole ~ 9 inches [22.5 cm] long. These fish were quite common here.

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Mollusks

Geoduck Clam ~ 2 inches [5 cm] stickiing out. Just its siphon sticking out of the sand. They are quite common here in the shallower sandy areas.	Blue-Lined Mussels. ~ 2 inches [5 cm] tall. They are very common here along the breakwater of the boat launch on the divers entry side after the conctrete stairs. The concrete stairs here are great for getting in and out of the water. More scuba diving sites should be setup like this.

Sea Anemones ( Cnidarians )

Plumose Anemone ~ 2 feet [60 cm] tall. Quite common here. [Original image was removed and replaced with a better digital image.] (April 15, 2006)	Plumose Anemones ~ 2.5 feet [75 cm] tall.[Original image was removed and replaced with a better digital image.](April 15, 2006)
Swimming Anemome or Tealia Anemone ~ 8 inches [20 cm] wide. Common at this scuba diving site. (April 15, 2006)	Swimming Anemone or Tealia Anemone ~ 6 inches [15 cm] wide. For more on anemones check out this link toWikipedia. (April 15, 2006)
Swimming Anemone ~ 6 inches [15 cm] wide. Note that this is some sort of mixed hybrid or mutant color variant. The tips of its tentacles are an odd white colour.	Swimming Anemone ~ 6 inches [15 cm] wide. This one is even a more odd colour than the previous one, with a white center but orange tentacles.
Young Giant Plumose Anemones (?) ~ 6 inches [15 cm] wide. Very common here, and covers most of the starboard side of the artifical reef the Granthall. (April 15, 2006)	Snakelock Anemone ~ 18 inches [45 cm] wide. Common here at great depths. (April 15, 2006)
Anemone of some kind. (?) ~ 3 inches [7.5 cm] wide. (April 15, 2006)	Plumose Anemone ~ 6 inches [15 cm] wide. This is what they look like when they are not feeding. This one is currently only about 6 inches tall, but I'm sure it would over 2 feet [60 cm] tall when it opens up to feed.
Various anemones around a hole in one of the very large concrete blocks at this scuba diving site. ~ 8 inches [20 cm] for the largest one.	This video shows you the extent and differences of the anemones on the Port and Starboard sides of the artificial reef the wreck of the Granthall. Note the larger plumose anemones are found more to the rear of the ship and on the starboard side.

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Sea Cucumbers & Starfish ( Echinoderms  )

Orange Sea Cucumber ~ 12 inches [30 cm] wide. Note that one of its feeding arms is inside its mouth in the center. ( January 25, 2006)	Leather Star ~ 12 inches [30 cm] wide. Common here. ( January 25, 2006)
Young Sea Cucumber ~ 14 inches [35 cm] long. Common here. (April 15, 2006)	Sea Cucumber feeding by tapping or touching the "feet" onto the surface it wants to search for food.  (April 15, 2006)
Spiny Pink Star - 2.5 feet (75 cm) across. Note the Red Rock Crab between its lower right arms.[Original digital image removed and replaced with a higher quality photograph.] Quite common at this scuba diving site. (Oct 14, 2009)	Mottled Star - almost 3 feet (1 metre) across. These starfish were quite common at this scuba diving site. (April 15, 2006)
Feather Stars ~ 18 inches [45 cm] tall. These ones are sitting on some of the concrete tubes here as part of the artificial reef. (April 15, 2006)	Feather Star ~ 16 inches [40 cm] wide. Note the Red Rock Crab hiding below it and partially buried in the sand. (April 15, 2006)
Sunflower Star ~ 2.5 feet [75 cm] wide. As a full adult starfish it will be at least 3 feet [1 m] wide.	Sunflower Star ~ 4 inches [10 cm] wide. Just a baby starfish. Check out a clam shell. Note how brown the juvenile ones are compared to the mostly orange adults.
Vermilion Star ~ 5 inches [12.5 cm] wide. Quite common at this dive site.	This video shows you the extent of how many feather stars there are located in the deeper waters below the artificial reef wreck of the Granthall.
Sea Urchin ~ 3 inches [7.5 cm] wide. Very common at this scuba diving site.	A group of Sea Urchins ~ 3 inches [7.5 cm] wide.
Purple Starfish ~ 18 inches [45 cm] wide. Quite common here.	Morning Sun Star ~ 5 inches [12.5 cm] wide. This is just a juvenile starfish of this species. This is the only one I've spotted here.
Orange Sea Cucumber ~ 10 inches [25 cm] tall. Note the small shrimp on the left side of its body. Quite common here at this scuba dive site.

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Tunicates

Pacific Sea Peaches ~ 4 inches [10 cm] tall. These tunicates were quite common along the side of the wreck of the Granthall.	Shiny Orange Sea Peaches ~ 3 inches [7.5 cm] wide for the larger ones. The mid sized Sunflower Starfish shown here has clearly taken on its adult coloration.

Miscellaneous

Sponge (April 15, 2006)	Rusticles on the underside of the artificial reef wreck of the Granthall. For more information on rusticles check out this link.

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If you want to locate this site on a map, or print out a map, you can user either:

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