It was 47 degrees in the water last week in Monterey. Professional marine photographer Jim Watt flew in from his warm home in Kona to beef up his digital stock collection of otter and seal photos. I took Wendy down to Monterey to meet up with him; I had been looking forward to meeting Norbert Wu, but he was out of town… but we did get to go out on his little Boston Whaler. :) It’s taken me a few years, but I’ve finally figured out how to be comfortable diving and photographing Monterey. With a dry suit and dry gloves, I am usually warm for multiple one-hour long dives, even in 45 degree water. Watt was out of the water in 20 minutes during his second dive; he was quite brave to shoot in a wetsuit, even if he complained about the cold water every five minutes. :) We were accompanied during our time on the boat by the strangled gurgling and barking of many sea lions. They’re really disgusting when they are on land, but in the water they glide around with a surprisingly natural grace. I don’t have any good underwater shots of them yet, but eventually I hope to take some. After the first day of diving we were given a nice tour of Light & Motion Industries, but I had to sign an NDA, so I can’t say anything about what I saw in there. It was pretty cool, though. Afterwards we met up with Eli Woolery, who is also branching into marine photography and research, and had dinner at El Torito on the water just past the Breakwater. I need to get down to Monterey more often. Anyone up for some diving? :) [see photos]