China Creek, just south of Port Alberni: Scuba Diving Pictures

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Scuba Diving Pictures from China Creek near Port Alberni [about 25 minutes south], B.C. Canada
These are medium quality jpegs. But I have the RAW images as well.
Email tjfidler@telus.net
Directions to the Dive Site are located at the bottom of the page.
Number of dives I've done at this scuba diving site: 3, one of them a night dive
Additional notes: Lifeforms I saw here that I did not get a picture of or the quality was too poor: 1 Lingcod, 2 Grunt Sculpins and several Black Rockfish.
Wrecks: The wrecks were about 20 feet from the wall. A 12 foot "row boat", and a logging tug boat. At about a depth of 40 feet, and beside each other.
Type of dive: shore dive / boat dive
Rating for this dive site: 6/10 [It would have been 7/10, but with no current there is a lot of silt at the wall., and it can be easily disturbed. Making the water cloudy and that I found lasted for a couple hours.]
Parking: 7/10 as the catch is you might be able to park for free, but more likely you will be camping here and need a camping spot.
Bathroom/Washroom/Toilet: Yes, there are washrooms at the campground here. Although the hot water is not working as of May 2009.
Boat ramp: Yes, near the main office of the campground/marina.
Ease of entry: 9/10, just the odd log in the way. And this beach consistes of pebbles which is a good thing. [Wheel chair access: Yes, but will need help.]
Abundance of life: 7/10
Accommodations: There are camping spots and RV hookups at this Marina/Campground.
Attractions: Lots of Glassy Tunicates, and with no current you can dive any time. Just don't disturb the silt.
Bottom and depth: The wall meets a sandy and silt covered bottom.
Facilities: There are some facilities here at the Marina/Campground, but for a store you will have to travel to Port Alberni. ~30 minutes north.
Hazards/Obstacles: Boats are the only realy hazard here. I suggest you use your dive flag as I did.
Sensitivity to tide/current: No detectable current here, and that makes sense given the silt next to the wall.
Terrain: solid rock wall, meeting a sandy bottom. The beach consists of pebbles which is great for walking on and suiting up on.
Tides, transportation and weather: Fisheries and Oceans Canada Tide Page., BC Ferries Schedule and Sailings. , The Weather Network

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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 quality 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. As well some of these can be found as posters via Cafepress, and some of these ocean life photographs are available as widescreen backgrounds via the widescreen link immediately below some of the photographs.

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. The algae are eaten by a variety of animals - apparently as a good source of calcium.


A picture of me standing on the beach at China Creek Marina & Campground, with the wall or cliffs to the left of me in this image. Behind me in the water is my dive flag float.	The opposite view but a couple hours later, which is why the water is higher in this photograph. The marina portion of this campground is at the end of the beach in this direciton.

You can click on this image for a better view of the map they hand out for the China Creek Marina & Campground. I've hand drawn in the wall and the location of the wrecks. There is no float for the wrecks, and there is no need as they are only about 20 feet from the wall. The map is up side down in this image, but the orientation then matches the view in the above image with me standing on the beach.	Camping spot number 50 is the spot where we stayed. There was no fire pit here for people to have a fire, but there is a communal covered fire pit. Also at the main bathroom, the hot water tank was not working, so only cold showers. The wash- room was at least clean. This is more of an RV and Boat Launch campground. With just a few spots for people with tents, but quite a few for full campers.

Links to the various groups of organisms:
Cephalopods, Crustaceans, Fish, Mollusks, Nudibranchs, Sea Anemones, Sea Cucumbers & Echinoderms, Sponges, Tunicates, Worms, Miscellaneous

Cephalopods


Pacific Giant Octopus ~ 4 inches [10 cm] head/mantle length. Making this a young octopus. This was my first view of it as I was headed down the slope of the wall.	Same Octopus. But now its beside me, and I've tried to zoom in a bit be for it moves again.

Same Octopus. Walking away from me.	Same Octopus. Crawling in the other direction now. I would not normally include such pictures, but I'm not likely to be coming back here for a while. Some one might like this other profile of it.


Black Eyed Hermit Crab ~ 1.5 inches [3.75 cm] across the snail shell that it is wearing. The little hermit crabs did not stay around for very long. So, I was not able to get a better image of the small ones.	Black Eyed Hermit Crab ~ 5 inches [12.5 cm] wide across its legs. It actually stayed still while I took several pictures of it. However, for some reason my lighting was not working out very well.

Coonstriped Shrimp ~ 6 inches [15 cm] long. There were several of these animals at this dive site. Which would also explain the number of traps around here.	Decorator Crab ~ 5 inches [12.5 cm] wide across the legs. It is crawling along the side of one of the wrecks located near the wall.

Dungeness Crab ~ 9 inches [12.5 cm] across the shell. I encountered several of these crabs during my scuba dives here, but they usually ran away before I could take a picture of them.	Dungeness Crab ~ 10 inches [25 cm] wide across the shell. Here you can clearly see its back legs.

A juvenile Hairy Spined Crab ~ 3 inches [7.5 cm] wide. This one was climbing up side down on a over hang on the wall. I rarely see this type of crustacean, but at this dive spot I saw three of them.	Hairy Spined Crab ~ 6 inches [15 cm] wide across the legs. Some what larger than the one in the image to the left of this one.

Longhorn Decorator Crab [?] ~ 9 inches [22.5 cm] wide across the legs. I did see around 4 of these between the 3 dives.	Squat Lobster ~ 2 inches [5 cm] wide across the arm tips. Not that many here.

Pacific Prawn ~ 8 inches [20 cm] long. It appeared to be feeding on a dead crab. I only spotted about 4 of these. The coonstripe shrimp were much more common.


Great Sculpin ~ 12 inches [30 cm] long. This was the only specimen of this type of fish that I spotted here.	Black Eyed Goby ~ 5 inches [12.5 cm] long. This fish did not stay still for a better close-up.

Buffalo Sculpin ~ 9 inches [22.5 cm] long. This fish has quite a distended or fat stomach, but I do not know if that is from over eating, or that it is full of eggs.	Buffalo Sculpin ~ 12 inches [30 cm] long. I actually spotted four of these fish during my dives here.

Copper Rockfish ~ 16 inches [40 cm] long. I spotted a few more of these, but only two stayed still long enough to have their picture taken.	Copper Rockfish ~ 18 inches [45 cm] long. Note that the belly on this fish sticks out a lot more than the fish in the image to the left of this one. Is it pregnant? Or at least full of eggs?

C-Sole ~ 12 inches [30 cm] long. I spotted about 4 of these fish during my three dives at this wall. They actually moved towards me, and did not move away from me at all. I left them after taking a few pictures.	English Sole ~ 14 inches [35 cm] long. There were several of these fish at this dive site.

Kelp Greenling ~ 18 inches [45 cm] long. This fish is a female. During the day I was not able to get close to these fish.	Pacific Snake Prickleback ~ 16 inches [40 cm] long. This is only the second time I have ever seen one of these fish. And both times it was this year.

Northern Spearnose Poacher ~ 8 inches [20 cm] long. This fish can be difficulte to spot - depending upon what type of surface it is lying on.	Northern Spearnose Poacher ~ 9 inches [22.5 cm] long. Much easier to see these fish when they are on a background that does not hide them so well.

Yellowtail Rockfish ~ 14 inches [35 cm] long. There was plenty of these fish at the dive site here, but they would quickly swim by me, not allowing me to take a photo.	Chimaera [aka Ratfish] ~ 3 feet [1 m] long. This fish came to me during the night dive, and did not seem to be afraid of me, but the water quality from me having disturbed the silt that is everywhere here, meant that most of the pictures did not turn out. This was the only whole body shot of these relatives of sharks, that turned out ok. [1 of 3 images]

Chimaera [aka Ratfish] ~ 3 feet [1 m] long. [2 of 3 images]	Chimaera [aka Ratfish] ~ 3 feet [1 m] long. [3 of 3 images]


Blue Lined Mussels. ~ 1.5 inches [3.75 cm] long. More mussels at this dive site than I've ever seen before.	Chiton ~ 2 inches [5 cm] long. I'm not able to get a better close-up due to the limits of my camera, lighting and position of this animal on the wall.

Swimming Scallop ~ 4 inches [10 cm] wide. Not that many here. Only spotted 3.	North Pacific Cockle ~ 3 inches [7.5 cm] wide. Only spotted this one.


Giant White Dorid ~ 7 inches [17.5 cm] long. This nudibranch retracted its gills before I could take a picture of them. I spotted 3 of these animals this day. Only one other type of nudibrach was seen by me this day, but I do not have a photo of it that was worth showing. The animal was a Red Flabellina or something similar.


Swimming Anemone ~ 6 inches [15 cm] wide. Not that common here. I only spotted about 3 specimens of this species.	Swimming Anemone ~ 10 inches [25 cm] tall.

Not sure but I think this is an odd coloured Swimming Anemeone. ~ 4 inches [10 cm] wide. I wonder if this could be an albino swimming anemone.	Tube Dwelling Anemone ~ 6 inches [15 cm] wide. Not that common here. I only spotted about six of them here. In fact there were not many anemones of any kind. Perhaps due to the lack of current here. It did not seem to matter at what point I dove in the tide cycle, I felt no current here at all during my 3 dives this day.


Blood Star ~ 8 inches [20 cm] wide. Note the worm on the left side of this image that starts below and goes past the top of this photograph.	California Sea Cucumber ~ 2 feet [60 cm] long. Quite common at this dive site.

Creeping Petal Sea Cucumber ~ 4 inches [10 cm] wide. Note that it has one of its arms in its mouth. Very common at this dive site.	Fat Blood Star ~ 10 inches [25 cm] tall. I only spotted a couple of these during my three dives here on the weekend.

A juvenile Giant Red Sea Cucumber ~ 12 inches [30 cm] long. There were many of these animals at this dive site.	Leather Star ~ 12 inches [30 cm] wide. I spotted a few of these, but most were in the shallow water which was a bit too cloudy for photography.

Long-Ray Star ~ 3 feet [1 m] wide. There were a few of different sizes here, and in different colours. Another name for this starfish is Velcro Star.	A large Sunflower Star ~ 2 feet [60 cm] across. Note the crab on the lower left of this image, and next to it the obvious presence of a Spaghetti Worm.

Mottled Stars ~ 12 inches [30 cm] wide. I only spotted about 4 of these starfish at this dive site between the 3 dives I completed here.	Purple Sea Urchin ~ 16 inches [40 cm] wide. Not that many at this dive site. The Red Sea Urchin was more common. But not that many urchins here over all.

Painted Star ~ 2 feet [60 cm] wide. There were a few of these starfish at this site.	Painted Star (aka Rainbow Star) ~ 2 feet [60 cm] wide. If you look closely at the larger version of this animal you will see that this starfishes fleshy coverings of its spines.

Red Sea Urchin ~ 12 inches [30 cm] wide. Not very common at this dive site. I only spotted about six of them.	A juvenile Giant Red Sea Cucumber ~ 6 inches [15 cm] long. What really caught my eye after inspecting this image, was the tiny shrimp that at below and to the right of the sea cucumber.

Sunflower Stars ~ 2 feet [60 cm] in diameter. There were several of theses starfish in the shallow areas at the wall. Rarely do I get such good clarity like this to see this far and have the strobe not cause backscatter with the particles in the water.	Sunflower Star ~ 2.5 feet [75 cm] wide. I like this picture of this starfish because its colors stand out so well in this image.

Sunflwer Stars ~ 2 feet [66 cm] wide. I'm not sure why they are posed like this.	Velcro Star [aka Long-rayed Star] ~ 2.5 feet [85 cm] wide. This dive site had more specimens of this type than I have ever seen before. I spotted about 12 of them at this dive site. Where previously the most I had seen at one dive site was about 2.

Velcro Star [aka Long-rayed Star] ~ 3 feet [1 m] along its longest axis. Note that this starfish has a Spiny Tunicate between two of its arms.	Velcro Star [aka Long-rayed Star] ~ 18 inches [45 cm] along its longest set of arms. Note that two of its arms are being regrown. But what ate those two other arms?

Vermilion Star ~ 6 inches [15 cm] wide. This starfish is approaching a couple of Orange Rough Ball Sponges.	Vermilion Star ~ 6 inches [15 cm] wide.

White Sea Urchin ~ 6 inches [15 cm] wide. Not very common here. I only saw a couple of these animals here.


Boot Sponge ~ 2 feet [60 cm] long. I spotted about 8 of these at this dive site. But I disturbed the silt near the main out cropping of these, and as a result I have very few pictures to show of them.	Boot Sponges ~ 3 feet [1 m] long each. There are three in this image.

Orange Rough Ball Sponge ~ 4 inches [10 cm] in diameter. Note the very young Giant Red Sea Cucumber under the sponge, and the white strands belong to Spaghetti Worms. There were more of these worms at this site than I have ever seen before. The white strands do Not make up the body of the worm, instead they look like almost any worm, except that they extend out several of these white threads out of their bodies for finding food.	Orange Rough Ball Sponge ~ 3 inches [7.5 cm] in diameter for the larger one. It was quite common to find either an adult or juvenile Sea Cucumber against these sponges. Perhaps they are eating some of the sponge?

Tough Yellow Branching Sponge ~ 4 inches [10 cm] tall. These were very common at this dive site, but none were very large. This was about the most common size, and yet they should get much larger.


Broadbase Sea Squirt (aka Shiny Orange Tunicate) ~ 2 inches [5 cm] across. Not very common here, like they are at most dive sites.	Brooding Transparent Tunicates ~ 3 inches [7.5 cm] long. Although there are quite a few in this picture there were actually not very many here.

Glassy Tunicate ~ 10 inches [25 cm] tall. Up until this dive site, I had only seen a few of these animals. But at this dive site I spotted more than 30 of these animals. However, the camera had a problem focusing automatically on them.	Stalked Hairy Tunicates ~ 3 inches [7.5 cm] tall. Normally the stand out better, but this dive site had a lot of silt here. I could not detect any current during my three dives this day, and that was bad because silt disturbed stayed in the water for hours.

Pacific Sea Peach ~ 10 inches [25 cm] tall. I took several photos of these but most for some reason did not turn out. This was the only image that showed its siphons fully out. A lot of back scatter in this image.	Pacific Sea Peach ~ 10 inches [25 cm] tall. Here it is beginning to retract its siphons to protect itself from me.

Spiny Sea Squirts ~ 3 inches [7.5 cm] in diameter. This was the most common type of sea squirt at this dive site, even though the Glassy Tunicates visibly stand out alot more than these which are often coated with the silt prevalent at this dive site.	Tunicate of some kind. ~ 3 inches [7.5 cm] wide. Based on the color of its siphons I do not know what type this is. The spiny ones do not have flesh this colour from what I've seen.


White Calcareous Tubeworm ~ 3 inches [7.5 cm] tall with the tube as seen. They were common at this site, but getting a picure of one out of the tube was hard.


Yellow Sea Weed ~ 3 inches [7.5 cm] tall. Common in the shallows near where the wall entered into the water.

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