Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/514590
Deep Down BY ALEXANDRA PECCI Despite what many people might think, some of the best underwater diving is right off the North Shore. LIVE Dive Spots Page 46 // Eva's Organic Farm Butcher Shop Page 50 IN THIS ISSUE From the beach at Folly Cove in Gloucester, there are two viewpoints. Look left and there's a sheer rock wall that plunges into the sea; to the right, rocks and boulders cluster together along the shore. "Underwater it looks exactly like that," says Jerry Shine, but with one big differ- ence: an abundance of sea life along the rock walls. Dive on the left side, and you'll be rewarded with sightings of colorful anemones and weirdly shaped and colored sluglike nudibranchs. Dive on the cove's rocky right side, and you might spot large schools of pollock or bright yellow sea ra- vens, maybe even squid if you dive at night. Scuba diving typically conjures thoughts of warm, clear waters and vividly hued tropical fish and coral. That image stands in stark contrast to the cold, dark waters off of the North Shore, waters that only the heartiest of New Englanders would dare brave even on the hottest summer day. But the North Shore actually has underwater life and adventures to match—or even sur- pass—the tropics, and a diving community that's eager to explore it. "There's a ton of marine life. There's a misconception that everything underwater up here is gray and brown and dark and uninteresting, and that couldn't be farther Anemone at Rockport's Cathedral Rocks 46 | JULY 2015 nshoremag.com photograph by Jerry Shine