In the new REEF invertebrate monitoring program for the Northeast US & Canada, Dead Man's Fingers (Codium fragile - same species) is included. Another name for it is 'Oyster Thief' - when this plant grows on an oyster or scallop shell, (instead of the bottom habitat), it can become buoyant, and lift the oyster or scallop up in midwater, which eventually kills the mollusk. :(
It's an invasive species for their coast, and was first spotted there in 1957. It's now spread and is quite prolific, and is a pain for boat owners and beachcombers.
- Janna
(info taken from Andy Martinez's 'Marine Life of the North Atlantic')
Janna Nichols My underwater photo galleries REEF Citizen Science Program Manager
Seen any cool critters lately?
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The bad news is here. Signs of the Sea Star Wasting Syndrome are now appearing again in Langley, the only site on Whidbey with abundance of sea stars ( besides Penn Cove where only the Mottled stars thrive).
So far, Sunflower stars, still small, are the only species unaffected. At this time, vast majority of the wasting stars appear in shallower part of the harbor in depth of 10- 30 feet .
Even with fish eye lens, the plankton soup in which this swarm of Fried eggs jellies swim made it impossible to show, how large the congregation actually was. And then, as I was trying to switch mode from Manual to video, the ring on top of the camera which controls the modes fell off and the camera was stuck in "art" with no sync to the strobes and ridicules shutter speed setting.
So I got just few pictures of the jellies from that dive ...
You know, as I recall, the ochre stars were hit less hard and later than the sunflower stars, the first time around. I wonder if there were susceptible individuals who survived the first plague and are now getting sick, as opposed to the sunflower stars, where anything that survived was pretty resistant.
"Sometimes, when your world is going sideways, the second best thing to everything working out right, is knowing you are loved..." ljjames
There was hope that the new stars will be more resilient. But now when I see that even the new ones dying , I am really worried. Where will the next generation come from if the new ones die off before they are old enough to spawn :(
Jan K wrote:Little fun with algae and the internet
[img]http://jankocian.smugmug.com/Other/New-Arrivals/i-kX7Qn6x/0/XL/7.4.15%20Green%20hair%20algae%20JK%20S%20-XL.jpg[/img]
[img]http://jankocian.smugmug.com/Other/New-Arrivals/i-ZzQQ5v9/0/XL/7.2.15%20Pillars%20of%20creation%20algae%20S%20-XL.jpg[/img]
Are you the marine biologist
From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free.-Jacques-Yves Cousteau
No I am not biologist of anything, but I would like to play with the dolphins .
So looking at algae is what I do when nothing else shows up during my dive
Last edited by Jan K on Sun Jul 05, 2015 5:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free.-Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Yes but im normally looking at the ground for cool little creatures and rocks. My uncles a geologist
From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free.-Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Jan, It seems to me that the Irish Lord changes its color to match the background. Your picture is consistent with my conjecture. Have you noticed the same thing?
-Curt
oldsalt wrote:Jan, It seems to me that the Irish Lord changes its color to match the background. Your picture is consistent with my conjecture. Have you noticed the same thing?
-Curt
Yes Curt, I noticed how different they look on the south end of Whidbey, Possession Fingers don't even come close to the color riot of Deception Pass.