The Devil of Farnsworth Bank

My earliest memory about scuba diving the Channel Islands is a site called Farnsworth Bank. It is located about 1.6 miles off Catalina Island and it boasts a series of mountains and pinnacles. We dove the main pinnacle that had a top depth of 55 feet and went as deep as 130 feet.

We had perfect conditions and took advantage of the 60+ feet visibility and happily dove the site three times!

The main attractions for me were the beautiful purple hydrocoral, scorpion fish, kelp forests, a torpedo ray, and an abundant bait ball of sardines!

I learned that the purple hydrocoral (Stylaster californicus) is not a true coral because it is not a reef building stony coral. Nevertheless it provided a very beautiful contrast to the landscape and sea life.

🔆 🌿 𓍢ִ໋🌷͙֒₊˚ʚ 🌱 ₊˚✧ 🎏

Lots of scorpion fish were a plenty and at first, it was hard to spot these guys as they blended with the rocky reef. This fish is definitely a master of disguise! 🥸

In all of the three dives, I spotted a slowly gliding torpedo ray.

Also known as the Pacific electric ray, the slow-moving torpedo ray can generate up to 45 volts of electricity for the purposes of subduing its prey or for self-defense. Yikes, look but don't touch! 😱 ⚡ 🔌 ⚡ 😱

The highlight for me was meeting the devil of the Farnsworth kelp aka Linda Elliott. She was hiding behind the kelp and was nice enough to say hello 😈 👋 🤘🏼 😈.

Linda had on a hood with red horns making her so easy to spot. She was the subject of multiple photographs and we had several fun moments playing around. 😂 😆 😜

In addition to the spectacular dive conditions, we were enveloped by schools of sardines. I'd spot a sea lion or a sea gull dive down to catch some of the bait.

Check out the video with a special appearance by the devil herself, Linda Elliott 😈.

Here are more pictures from the spectacular Farnsworth Bank! 👋 👋 👋