VISITING THE WHITES PART I

Gulls and cormorants wheeling and soaring above the vertical rock wall, their altitude magnified by the lack of ours. We were bobbing about ten meters from the southwest wall of Whitehorse Island, ready to descend to the rock strewn bottom fifty feet below. Whitehorse is the outermost island of the Deer Island archipelago and is home to a large cormorant rookery. Called Whitehorse because of it's resemblance to a horse lying on it's side, the island has a variety of dive options. The southerly side is a wall to approximately fifty feet at low water, while the more northerly side has a more gentle slope and can be more sheltered from the bay. My partner gave me a thumbs down signal and we were on our way.
By choosing the lee side of the island and slack tide my partner and I were able to enjoy the calm water and light to non-existing current. On the bottom we found large boulders, probably calved from the wall above, with frilled anemones sprouting from the upper edges as if they were trying to reach the sunlight above. I was peering into a dark hole at a market sized lobster when my buddy tapped my leg motioning me to follow. He had been stalking a flounder the size of a Cadillac's hub cap. We had no interest in a seafood entree so we continued touring at the spot where the wall met the bottom. Navigating back to the boat was simply a matter of turning around and keeping the wall on the other shoulder.

Enjoy diving

Story supplied by: David Logan