Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
10
TANNER BANK AND MEXICO EXPO
A SPECTACULAR DIVE
Although my day-to-day Sea World duties took up most of my time,
I jumped at every opportunity for a diving adventure. One of the high-
lights of my diving experiences was an o¤shore submerged bank called
Tanner Bank, which, some hundred miles west of San Diego, rises in
one spot to about thirty feet from the surface. The group of divers on
this trip consisted of Bob Kiwala, underwater photographer Chuck
Nicklin, Sea World's assistant curator Ray “Chub” Keyes, and myself.
We were unable to locate the small thirty-foot-deep pinnacle, so we
anchored somewhere near it in eighty feet of water. As it often is that
far from shore, the ocean was clear and blue, and, looking over the side
of the boat, we could clearly see the rocky bottom. There was a pretty
good current running, which meant it took real e¤ort to swim from
the stern to the bow so we could go down the anchor line. The line
would also be our visual reference for getting back to the boat at the
end of the dive. You don't want to come to the surface astern of the
boat out there; it could be your last dive if the current was too strong
to swim against and the crew didn't see you come up.
Once in the water I was enthralled by its almost unbelievable clar-
ity. The sun was overhead, and I could see two other divers well over
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