I had just finished a dive at Discovery Island (Sept. 26, 2009) and it was a good-current day so I went straight to the Chain Islets for another  dive. This time I picked the North-East tip of the island group. This side faces Plumper Passage, which can get up to 5 knots of current. I anchored in knee-deep water near a tiny islet and swam out into the kelp. The chart shows a reef stretching North and going down to at least 60 feet deep on the Plumper Pass side. Under the kelp, it was dark for such a sunny day. Shafts of sunlight flickered down in places and the bottom was covered with urchins. I followed a rocky channel out to the other side of the kelp bed and swam North along the reef. Visibility was about 30 feet. The reef went down to about 60-70 feet deep. The base of the reef was mostly small rocks with some boulders. There was a noticeable current running (it was just after slack), but it was flowing South which was fine because I could swim against it for the first half of the dive and then let it carry me back to my boat. I expected to see some plumose anemones, but there was even more invertebrate life here than I expected. There were lots of plumose anemones, cup corals, hydrocorals, some yellow sulphur sponge, giant barnacles and zoanthids. There were a few patches of reef covered with golden, feathery hydroids.  The usual quillback/copper rockfish and several kelp greenlings were hanging around. The kelp greenlings seemed to be mating. Some of the males had darker-coloured heads. Eventually I drifted back along the reef with the current and back up into the kelp forest. There were plenty of seals hanging around on the surface, but I didn't see any underwater. I think that, so far, this is the best dive I've had in the Chain Islets. It's a bit deeper than most of the area and probably gets the most current too.
looking up at reef panorama
anchored with Plumper Pass in background
under kelp
plumose anemones
urchins under kelp
copper rockfish under kelp
urchins under kelp
plumose anemones
sunflower star
seastar on sulphur sponge and plumose anemones
sunflower stars
quillback rockfish
sunflower star below hydroids
plumose anemones
sponge, anemones, etc.
plumose anemones
next to reef
copper rockfish and urchins
quillback rockfish
quillback rockfish
sunflower star
kelp greenling
kelp greenling
hydroids
sunflower stars
plumose anemones
sulphur sponge and plumose anemones
anemone and urchins under kelp
urchins and barnacles under kelp
copper rockfish under kelp
under kelp
kelp
sunflower star under kelp
urchins under kelp
urchins under kelp
next to shallow wall
urchins under kelp
urchins under kelp
sunflower star and urchins
urchins and anemones near kelp
shallow wall
shallow wall
seastar, urchins and kelp in current
under kelp
anchored near rock
seals and cormorants on nearby rock
cormorants on nearby islet
cormorants
kelp and sailboats off Chain Islets
rock where I anchored with Oak Bay in background
seals on nearby rock
sailboats North of Chain Islets
Cattle Point launch after dive