Breakwater Island near Gabriola Pass: Scuba Diving Pictures

This page was sponsored by
Access Diving - found on Gabriol Island.

Talk to Wylie, of Access Diving, to be taken to this great scuba dive site.

Links to photographs
Braemar Avenue in North Saanich, B.C.
Breakwater Island near Gabriola Pass, B.C.
Deep Cove near Sidney, B.C.
Dolphin Beach near Nanoose Bay, B.C.
Elliot's Beach Park in Ladysmith, B.C.
GB Church near Sidney, B.C.
Henderson Point near Sidney, B.C.
Madrona Point near Nanoose Bay, B.C.
McKenzie Bight near Victoria, B.C.
Neck Point in Nanaimo, B.C.
Ogden Point in Victoria, B.C.
Porteau Cove Marine Park, B.C.
Port Hardy, B.C.
Port McNeil, B.C.
Rocky Point in Nanaimo, B.C.
Saltery Bay near Powell River, B.C.
Saxe Point in Victoria
Sidney, B.C.
Ten Mile Point in Victoria, B.C.
Wall Beach near Nanoose Bay, B.C.
Whytecliff Park near Vancouver, B.C.
Willis Point near Sidney, B.C.

Scuba Diving Pictures from Breakwater Island near Gabriola Pass, British Columbia. Canada
These are medium quality jpegs. But I have the RAW images as well.
Email tjfidler@telus.net
Directions to the Dive Site are located at the bottom of the page.

Note: This page is under construction April 16, 2008

Type of dive: boat dive
Rating for this dive site: 8.5/10 for its abundance of life
Parking: N/A
Boat ramp: N/A
Ease of entry: N/A [Wheel chair access: The Access Diving boat has a "wheel chair" lift to take divers out of the water. ]
Abundance of life: 8.5/10
Attractions: Solid rock walls with lots of holes, also lots of holes in the rock near the walls.
Bottom and depth: The wall here has spotes that are fairly shallow, and deeper parts as well.
Facilities: None
Hazards/Obstacles: This dive can only be done at certain times within the tide cycle. Due to periods of current.
Sensitivity to tide/current: The richness of life here is in part due to the current, but that also means you can only dive here at certain times.
Terrain: rock wall structure with lots of crevices, and holes

The following images are thumbnails. If you click on them a larger image will open up and the picture will take up most of your screen. Again these are medium qualifty jpegs. If you ask nicely I may be able to provide a higher quality image.

A few people have already asked me about "What is that pink stuff on the rocks in some of the pictures?" Well, they're usually Pink Rock Crust (aka Encrusting Coralline Algae) or in some cases might even be Encrusting Hydrocorals. They're eaten by a variety of animals - apparently as a good source of calcium.

Crustaceans


Bering Hermit Crab ~ about 3 inches [7.5 cm] across the shell is living within. I saw more hermit crabs here than I've ever seen before. Literally hundreds. But mostly young ones. (April 12, 2008)	Bering Hermit Crabs and a Widehand Hermit Crab. Looks like the larger of the Bering Hermit Crabs is trying to rob or steal the smaller hermit crabs shell. But it would quickly realize that the shell is too small for it. (April 12, 2008)

Widehand Hermit Crab and an Aeolid [nudibranch] of some kind. This hermit was quite small. Only about two & a 1/2 inches [6.25 cm] along the snail shell length. (April 12, 2008)	Sharp Nosed Crab ~ 4 inches [10 cm] for the width betweens its elbows. (April 12, 2008)

Sharp Nosed Crab (April 12, 2008)	Cancer Crab blocking the hole to its den. (April 12, 2008)

Moss Crab ~ about 4 inches [10 cm] long. Note that they are very similar to the Sharp Nosed Crabs, but have smaller arms. (April 12, 2008)	Moss Crab catching Snail. They seem to be predators of snails. And I've seen Sharp Nosed Crabs and Hermit Crabs acting as predators as well. (April 12, 2008)

A Giant Acorn Barnacle trying to catch particles of food in its arms. Every barnacle here had sponge, colonial tunicates, fringed filament worms, and/or yellow boring sponge on their shells. Sometimes I wonder if the yellow boring sponge kills the barnacles. (April 12, 2008)	Giant Acorn Barnacle ~ 6 inches [15 cm] in diameter. With a Blood Star above it. (April 12, 2008)

An adult Golf Ball Crab ~ 8 inches [20 cm] wide with the legs. Surrounded by Fringed Worms. These worms are probably the most numerous animal at this site and I've never seen them before at any other place I've dove. (April 12, 2008)	A juvenile Golf Ball Crab [aka Rhinoceros Crab] ~ 4 inches [10 cm] including the legs. (April 12, 2008)

A Heart Crab being held by a Scuba Diver. (April 12, 2008)	A juvenile Puget Sound King Crab ~ 6 inches [15 cm] across. (April 12, 2008)


A Wolf Eel peering out of its den. (April 12, 2008)	Wylie coaxed it out of its den. I think it was kind of reluctanct at first because of the lights on my camera. (April 12, 2008)

Wolf Eel - peering out of its den. (April 12, 2008)	Longfin Sculpin and (April 12, 2008)

Grunt Sculpin (April 12, 2008)	Grunt Sculpin (April 12, 2008)

Painted Greenling - using more natural light. But that was not on purpose. My strobe light failed to trigger a few times during the dives this day. (April 12, 2008)	Quillback Rockfish ~ about 10 inches [25 cm] long. (April 12, 2008)


Geoduck Clam	Abalone ~ 12 inches [30 cm] across

Rock Scallop ~ 12 inches [30 cm] across. There was several of this at this dive site.	Rock Scallop ~ 12 inches [30 cm]. Notice the eye spots on this one.

Blue Lined Chiton beside a Snail Shell.


Clown Dorid ~ about 3 inches [7.5 cm] long	Noble Sea Lemon ~ about 10 inches [25 cm] long

Golden Dirona ~ about 5 inches [12.5 cm] long

Three Heath's Dorids and a Three-Lined Aeolid crawling over one of them.


Zoanthids surrounding a Giant Acorn Barnacle. Also some Yellow Boring Sponge on the shell of the Barnacle. Note the small hermit crab near the top.	Painted Anemone

Short Plumose Anemones hanging from one of the many rock over hangs along the main wall here.


Two Orange Sea Cucumbers protruding out of holes in the solid rock. Along with a Pale Sea Cucumber to the left of them.	Something you don't see very often. An Orange Sea Cucumber crawling around. Normally you only see them sticking their tentacles out and feeding.

This Pale Sea Cucumber is feeding. They catch food with their tentacles and then place their entire arm into their "mouth."	Brown Sea Cucumber

Blood Star

Morning Star ~ about two feet [60 cm] across.	Morning Star ~ about two feet [60 cm] across. Crawling along the edge of the main rock wall here at Breakwater Island.

An adult Sunflower Star ~ almost three feet [1 metre] across.	A juvenile Sunflower Star ~ two feet [60 cm] across. These smaller ones are more often this brighter orange colour.

Mottled Star ~ two feet [60 cm] across.	A slightly mutant Purple Star - not the extra arm tip on the arm pointing to the left.

Painted Star ~ two feet [60 cm] across.	Painted Star ~ two feet [60 cm] across. Note the

Red Sea Urchin ~ about 10 inches [25 cm] across.	Vermilion Star ~ 8 inches [20 cm] across.

Striped Sun Star ~ over two feet [60 cm] across.	A Spiny Pink Star ~ almost three feet [1 metre] across. Note the large number of snail shells near it.


Yellow Boring Sponge on what appears to be an old shell of a Rock Scallop. The diameter of the yellow area is about 1 foot [30 cm].

A mixture of sponges	Sponge

Velvety Red Sponge surrounded by Orange Cup Corals


Northern Feather Star - using natural light	Northern Feather Star - using a strobe light

Fringed Filament Worms - the most abundant or dominant life form at this dive site.

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