After a dive in Gabriola Pass I came here for a second dive on Jan. 16, 2010. Visibility was amazing. During my surface swim out, I looked down and could see the wall drop like the edge of a table 50 feet below me. Once down on the wall I could see at least 80 feet. Unfortunately, my camera strobe didn't work since a connection came loose when I changed the batteries so I had to come back the next weekend (Jan. 23, 2010) for another try. As I was setting up my gear next to the shoreline, I heard a "whoosh". I looked up and saw a huge whale literally a stone's-throw away. I think it was a grey whale. It was big and dark and had patches of white barnacles on it's back. This is the closest I've ever seen a whale. The water where it was swimming, just off the point, was only about 20 feet deep. As I was standing there with my mouth hanging open, a group of sealions swam past almost up in the intertidal zone sticking up their necks and looking over their shoulders to see where the whale went. On my drive here from the ferry, I had stopped to have a look at a beach access trail at Taylor Bay for a possible second dive. If I had come straight to Orlebar from the ferry, I would have been underwater here when the circus passed by over my head. Oh well. The wall was still there at least. Visibility didn't seem as good as the week before, since it was darker and overcast on the surface, but it was still a respectable 50 feet. On my first dive here, years ago, I saw a few tiny clumps of branching hydrocoral. I've kept an eye out for them on more recent dives, but I've never seen them since.
