These photos are from March 3, 2024. I came back to Yarrow Point after a multi-year break because I wanted to see if the feather stars that have colonized many other Saanich Inlet dive sites over the last several years have shown up here too.
Visibility in the shallows was only 10-15', but below 20' deep, it started to clear up. For most of the dive, visibility was maybe 50', which is probably the best I've seen here. I saw a few seals on the surface, but I didn't see any underwater. I swam out over the very gentle slope towards the deeper rocky area.
My maximum depth was just over 100' (the rubble slope at the base of the reefs goes down to about 110' deep). So far I hadn't seen any feather stars, but then I came across an area where they were scattered all over the place. They were mostly between 75-90' deep. They definitely weren't here years ago.
I left the feather stars and swam back up the reefs towards shore.
So I satisfied my curiosity about the feather stars, but this really isn't a spot to see lots of marine life. There used to be lots of rockfish and lingcod here several years ago, but they have gradually been disappearing and now there are hardly any. I always think that the boulder piles here would make good wolfeel habitat, but I've never seen any. I did see a few signs of octopus dens. This site does have interesting rock formations, with lots of angular ledges and boulders. Basically, this isn't a site that I feel drawn to visit regularly, but I'll probably be back again in a few years.
