Dillon Rock

Dillon Rock, a light-marked hazard to boats in Goletas Channel, is a gift to divers: a compact pinnacle whose crevices hold what may be the most dependable giant Pacific octopus and wolf eel census in the region. Guides here keep informal track of the residents - which den holds the big female, where the juvenile wolf eel moved after the spring storms - and a single circuit at 12 m can produce multiple octopuses, wolf eel pairs, grunt sculpin, and decorated warbonnets peering from holes like gargoyles. The rock's modest depth stretches bottom time in cold water. As a second dive after Browning Wall's spectacle, it is the day's slow, personal encore.

اللحظة التي جئت من أجلها: Multiple octopus and wolf eel dens on one small rock, long shallow bottom times

التضاريس: Rock pinnacle with crevices and boulder skirts, marked by a navigation light

التيار: A marked navigational rock in a tidal channel; slack timing keeps it easy.

المخاطر: Boat traffic around a navigational mark; current outside slack.

الحفاظ على البيئة البحرية: Do not pull, prod, or feed den residents; the reliable sightings depend on undisturbed animals.