My experience was similar; I must have forgot to take my medication just like you did. ;) Before you spilled the beans, I was thinking "Oh jeez- if the thermal vents have shut-down, maybe the big quake is imminent..." My last Blue Lake experience was at least 25 years ago; we would give the mask and snorkel to one of our friends who drank WAY too much, then toss the mini-maglight in there after dark and let him go find it. While he was down, we tried to hide his beer, but he could always sniff it out. In the end, he just poured it down the snorkel. He didn't need no stinkin global warmin'. On 5/22/07, diveboss@xmission.com <diveboss@xmission.com> wrote:
Well, no, but I do have some recent experience. Let me shine a different more personal light on the subject. Anyone who has ever been to Blue Lake diving knows that it is a thermal lake. The average temperature of the water is 72-78 degrees year round. The underwater weed beds are thick and healthy. They are teaming with largemouth bass and bluegills. There is a large population of fresh water sponges that grows on everything near the numerous bubbling and rolling thermal hot pots that litter the bottom.
It had been 4 years since I last visited the lake, but this past week when I went back out to dive, something had changed. The lake didn't look the same. The walk to the lake was more swamp than I recall. Upon doing a "classic" slip and fall entry into the water it became very apparent that the water temperature had changed. The computer said 57 degrees. Underwater, the horror unfolded as I swam looking for something familiar. The once healthy weed beds were all but gone, and there were no huge blugills or bass. There is a fair population of small fry though, but that is about it.
Most of the really big underwater thermal rivers and hot pots are now quiet. I couldn't see any sponges. The bottom of the lake looked like a moonscape and deep with silt. The slightest fin kick brought forth a cloud of thick silt that blocked out the view. Even the depth had changed. In disbelief I did a controlled emergency swimming ascent and through my regulator yelled "Why God why???" And then it hit me, I was in the wrong lake. Okay that's my global warming experience. Anyone care to share?