One thing that has been very noticeable this year is the disappearance of the large clusters of Giant Acorn Barnacles and other encrusting animals. The Anemones remain, but otherwise the pilings have become rather bare.
Here's a photo from October 2013. The dark mass at the top of the pilings is made up of barnacles.
![Image](https://hershman.smugmug.com/Underwater-Photography/Cold-Water-Diving/Titlow-Wide-Angle/i-TG3FZqd/0/L/_DSC7688-Edit-L.jpg)
Here's a photo from February 2014, exactly two years ago. The barnacles can be seen in the upper half of the picture, especially on the upper left piling
![Image](https://hershman.smugmug.com/Underwater-Photography/Cold-Water-Diving/Titlow-Wide-Angle/i-bb24KrG/0/L/_DSC9642-L.jpg)
In 2013 the bottom of the piling was covered with large sunflower stars cruising through piles of various shells that fell from above.
![Image](https://hershman.smugmug.com/Underwater-Photography/Cold-Water-Diving/Titlow-Wide-Angle/i-JB6szn7/1/L/_DSC7685-Edit-L.jpg)
I was diving at Titlow on Monday and what really struck me was how bare the upper pilings are. These photos are from the upper area of the pilings. Nothing there at all.
![Image](https://hershman.smugmug.com/Underwater-Photography/Cold-Water-Diving/Titlow-Wide-Angle/i-6DNrtnh/0/L/_DSC0250-L.jpg)
![Image](https://hershman.smugmug.com/Underwater-Photography/Cold-Water-Diving/Titlow-Wide-Angle/i-DV7p3W4/0/L/_DSC0272-L.jpg)
Has anyone else seen this? It doesn't seem to be a seasonal variation, it might be some kind of long term change to the local environment. If so, that's quite a loss to the biodiversity of this area.
Dan