By LESLIE KELLY
For Kitsap Week
There’s no doubt in Jim Gunderson’s mind that the Kitsap Peninsula Water Trails and its national status is bringing new divers to the area.
“It’s bringing more attention to what is under water in Kitsap County,” said Gunderson. “It’s an absolute treasure and most people don’t know that.”
Gunderson owns and operates Hula Kai Adventures, a Kingston-based scuba diving business which he opened in October 2014.
Admittedly, most people don’t think about the Pacific Northwest when planning a scuba diving trip, Gunderson said. They typically think Hawaii, or the Caribbean or Belize.
According to Gunderson, our waters are home to the plumose anemone; a variety of nudibranchs, each of which is absolutely beautiful; seals and ling cod; Dungeness and rock crabs; the pink Pacific sea star and the sun star, the largest sea stars in the world; and the giant Pacific octopus, the largest known octopus in the world.
“All of these are here in the waters of Kitsap County, not to mention a number of ship wrecks,” he added.
At the Water Trails Festival on June 27, Gunderson plans to go underwater at Silverdale with a camera and a mask with a communication device so that he can describe what he’s seeing. There will be a monitor on shore where people can view what he’s doing.
“We’ll start near the surface and look at two different species of mussels,” he said. “As we go deeper, we’ll see clams and feather duster worms and Christmas tree worms. They’re not really worms at all. The feather duster looks just like the feather duster your grandma used.”
Additionally, folks will be able to view hermit and Dungeness crabs and juvenile perch.
What he also plans to show those on shore is the trash that’s left at the bottom of Dyes Inlet.
“It will be a teaching moment — the sober side of things,” Gunderson said. “Just because you throw a can or a cup overboard, that doesn’t mean it’s gone forever.”
In his years diving, he’s brought up many bags of trash, including golf balls.
“Hundreds of them,” he said. “There’s countless things down there that no diver wants to see. We have a beautiful treasure and we need to keep it pristine.”
On June 28, he or divers with Sound Dive of Bremerton will be at the Port of Brownsville to repeat the underwater camera dive. The U.S. Coast Guard is helping with the camera dive.
Great dive sites throughout Kitsap County include Rockaway Beach and Blakely Harbor on Bainbridge Island, Seabeck, Harpers Pier in Port Orchard, and many others, he said.
With the notoriety of the Water Trails, word is getting out about what great dives can happen here, Gunderson said.
“There’s an uptick in interest of what is here,” he said. “I’ve been out talking to groups like the Rotary and Kiwanis to educate them about the incredible life that is under water around here.”
For most who scuba dive, watching the interaction of sea life with its environment is what takes them underwater.
“Just sitting and watching what’s there can be fascinating,” he said.
