Category: British Columbia


Freshwater Frustration

Filed under: British Columbia — Leave a comment
20/04/2012

Freshwater Clam

Well, after a brief adventure in France, it was back to work with the great guys over at Inland Divers. During a recent dive, I had a chance to snap a few quick pics of some of the local aquatic wildlife that were hanging out by the water pipes while the electrician spliced the conduit. Initially, I was elated, after all, Okanagan Lake isn’t exactly teaming with life like the waters of the Pacific around Barkley Sound. Then the challenge came.

I knew I’d gotten a picture of a freshwater clam, and of what appeared to be a sculpin. I knew that much. When I looked for information on them, it was a wash. No books, no good websites about aquatic life in the waters of the interior of BC, nothing! There were a few pdfs and lists, but no photographs. Just crude line drawings. While I realize that in the age before underwater photography, line drawings and paintings were the only real way to ID fish. Which has brought a new goal to Cold Water Diver; the creation of a freshwater photo archive. The real trick will be finding resources to ID everything correctly.

So, how are is this going to happen? Well, unlike previous years, I won’t be spending an excessive amount of time working for the army this summer (hopefully), and I will be spending an excessive time in the water both working and for recreation. My goal is try to get as many pictures of different aquatic animals as I can and post them here in the new Fresh Sub Aqua Photographs section. I’ll freely admit here that I have no idea what some of the pictures are of, so if you know, feel free to email or comment!

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By the Bridge

Filed under: British Columbia — Leave a comment
20/11/2011

So, a short time ago, my friends and I did a shake out dive in Lake Okanagan. One had been out of the water for about a year, the other was a very experienced diver who hadn’t been in the water for about 15 years. Everyone was confident in their gear, and familiar with the principles of diving and we set up a time to meet and got to it. We choose a calm spot with low traffic and low current to do it, by the Kelowna side of the bridge.

There’s a few things to keep in mind when you conduct these kinds of dives:

  • talk to everyone first, and get an idea of where they are skill wise, some people have great memory, others may need to do some reading
  • ensure everyone has equipment that works, and that they’re still familiar with it, and test it before you get in the water
  • pick a tame dive area, a sheltered area with no current or hazards is ideal
  • keep the dive plan simple, 12m/40′ max depth or less, easy navigation, no special equipment required
  • do a full kit check before you slip under the surface, and monitor the divers for any issues
  • keep it short and simple, air consumption may be an issue, so plan a short dive

Our dive went great. Vis by the bridge was great, somewhere in the 6m to 8m range, and we maxed out at 12m down. It was a short dive, only 19 minutes, but that was enough to get everyone comfortable in the water again. We found some interesting debris, explored around a rubble pile from the old bridge and did a few basic skills like mask clearance and buoyancy. We also saw a few fish, a couple looked like freshwater sculpins, and some interesting plant life as well. Unfortunately, we didn’t locate any of the freshwater mussels that make the lake home.

Our next dives will be more interesting, as the lake has a compliment of wrecks, a tonne of Ford Model T’s that were dumped ages ago and more, so keep reading! Don’t forget to follow Cold Water Diver on Facebook for updates and links to diving related online content. Check out Ocean Tides as well, our official online shop for the coming season!

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