Oregon coast viz predictors

[MarioD]

I am heading to brookings for the big weekend and I will get in the water sat or Sunday and give you guys a vis report. Let me know what the crystal ball says for the vis

[quattroluvr]

Hey Mario,
Ping me before you go. Do you mean this coming wknd or___?

My wife works the 9/11-12-13 wknd so I'm wanting to find spearo buds for Neah or South Oregon.

Right now clouds obscure Brookings, but Trinidad a bit further south across the border the plankton level looks awesome, i.e. quite low. 0.2 to 0.4 mg/m3 range, which is quite low/clearer.

Neah is also finally shaping up more like it's usual better viz too, with 0.4 to 1.0 ish mg/m3.

[MarioD]

Yes this coming weekend. Looks like the surf report says Sunday is the most diveable day.

[quattroluvr]

Here's the FAQ on Chorophyll satellite charts. BTW - if you decide to subscribe to Terrafin, I got 2 mo's free if you credit me with a referral.

"Update Frequency - Please Read This! - We do our best to update the chlorophyll charts on a daily basis. There is usually only 1 usable satellite shot per day to work with. Every 4-5 days the orbit of the satellite causes the area to be missed completely. Clouds block the satellite's view, and the glare of the sun can also block the satellites ability to see the water. So in reality about the best we can expect is to have a new chlorophyll shot 4-6 times per week. That's assuming some clear weather; cloudy conditions will further reduce the frequency. If we get more frequent shots then of course we will process them, but it is important to understand up front what the limitations are. With the SST shots we work with data from 4 satellites, both day and night shots. We get the Chlorophyll data from 2 satellites (but really only 1 provides consistently good data), and only the daytime shot is of use. We'll still have the much more frequent SST charts though, so once you match up the right kind of water on the charts you can watch it daily on the SST.
Understanding the charts - Simply put, the charts indicate the concentration of chlorophyll in the water, measured in milligrams per cubic meter. High levels of chlorophyll will be represented by the red / yellow colors, low levels will be shown as blue shades on the chart. We've used a different color palette just to keep the charts differentiated from the SST's.

Interpreting the information - Chlorophyll in the water is generally produced by plankton, so what we are in effect measuring is the amount of plankton (food!) in the water. High levels of chlorophyll should indicate off color, nutrient rich water. Lower levels of chlorophyll should indicate cleaner water, and hopefully the very low levels will indicate clean blue water. Remember that the clean blue water is also most likely very low in nutrients. So the best combination for offshore fishing would be to find where the clean blue water (assuming the temp is good) meets an area with a higher level of plankton. That area will be more likely to hold baitfish and to concentrate the fish. Sounds like we're fishing temp breaks, doesn't it? Essentially, we've probably been fishing plankton breaks all along. We're not always looking for clean blue water though. For Salmon fishing, you typically look for the nutrient rich, off-color water. In that case, then you want the areas on the chart with the higher levels, shown in red / yellow. Again working the edge would be best."

[Kyle M]

Leigh, I pinged you on FB, but thought I'd try here as well. Can you post the hyperlink to this?

Thanks!

[quattroluvr]

http://www.stccmop.org/datamart/virt...iver/forecasts

[Kyle M]

Thank you!!!

[quattroluvr]

I'd appreciate a referral bonus if people do subscribe to Terrafin. You get 13 mo's instead of 12. I get two months extra. Just put in "Leigh Anderson" in the field on the signup form labeled "Referred By."

[MarioD]

Any Intel on bar view for this weekend. It looks pretty prime

[quattroluvr]

Great news on the Columbia Plume it's finally headed north away from us after weeks of southbound mud. http://www.stccmop.org/datamart/virt...y&region=multi

The chorophyll charts are completely obscured by clouds.

The Terrafin 'cloud-free temp charts' show a consistent 10 miles wide band of cooler water along the entire N. Oregon shore including BV and Tolovana about 57ish degrees for 10 miles, before going up to 60-63 well offshore...that might help.
Good luck.

I'm in San Diego thru the wknd, but shore viz has sucked by Cali stds. less than 10ft today.

[tomo]

Originally Posted by MarioD

Any Intel on bar view for this weekend. It looks pretty prime

As does P.C., anyway, just got in from a good dive at Barview, with 6-10ft. vis. Nothing like last week, but good diving.

[quattroluvr]

3/30/16 vis outlook.
looking fwd to the wknd conditions and the swells forecast is finally looking good for Tolovana, esp on Saturday... with the sunny weather we're getting solid Terrafin satellite imagery on plankton density, which is poor to terrible currently, I'll give another reading as we get closer to the wknd. The Columbia plume has switched to southerly direction vs typical winter northerly direction and is reaching as far south as Garibaldi though veering away from coast 10 miles or so by that point. Cross our fingers for a good wknd hunt.

[kehloken]

Well I'm thinking and hoping you should because we've got some awesome visibility right now In the Puget Sound.
Good luck if you do go!!!

[quattroluvr]

well, the surf forecast looks great all wknd. The Columbia plume is is bulging south, but trending well away from the coast by Garibaldi. The Terrafin plankton count from yesterday was 3-12 mg/m3 close inshore tolovana, and BV. (where 1.0 or less is decent to good viz for NW). However, you might still get 6' to do something. It can vary quite a bit in 24 hrs.

[kehloken]

Possession sound had 20 feet this morning but diminished from last week, the sun was not out like it has been in the past week, but had four gray whales around me where I was diving for a half an hour.