If you took a sculpin and mated it with an eel, Lee Newman is pretty certain it would end up looking a lot like a decorated warbonnet.
Dont know what a decorated warbonnet is? Come to Newmans presentation at the Vancouver Aquarium as part of Divers Weekend on January 19 and 20. Newman will not only be sharing photos from his dives, but hell also be letting you in on his three favourite local diving spots.
His top local destination has to be Whytecliff Park in West Vancouver because of the tremendous variety of dives in the same area.
Imagine the terrain under the surface of the water as an extension of whats above it. Because Vancouver is on a coastline filled with fjords, the flooded part is the valley floor. Youre diving down the wall of a mountain and it goes straight down. At Whytecliff Park its 700 feet.
In the shallow area, one can find crab and shrimp. A recreational diver, whos allowed to go down to 130 feet, can see all kinds of cup coral, swimming anemones and rock fish. Trained technical divers can continue down the wall and at 200 feet be mesmerized by what lives within a cloud sponge.
A cloud sponge is like someone tied together plastic barrels and melted them. In turn, the cloud sponge provides a wonderful habitat for creatures such as a Squat Lobster. Its a crab with a tail tucked under and blueish buggy eyes. And then theres the Decorated Warbonnet and its frilly hair-do.
During the Divers Weekend, aquarium divers will also be donning those old, clumsy Mark V hard-hat diving suits before leaping into the shark tank and exploring whats in there. The Canadian Coast Guard, RCMP and Royal Canadian Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal dive teams will also carry out dive demonstrations and there will be childrens activities and talks about ocean life. For a list of events go to VanAqua.org.
Oh, and by the way, Newmans other favourite Vancouver diving spots? Calvin Grove in Lions Bay and Porteau Cove a little farther up the Sea to Sky highway.
