Whidbey Island Critters

Fish & Invertebrate sightings and descriptions, hosted by resident NWDC ID expert Janna Nichols (nwscubamom).
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

Keystone Jetty, June 19.
The Bull Kelp is still trying to reach the surface, making the entry still not a problem on low tide. Visibility is not that great, zilch in the shallows, planktonic soup at depth. But there is life and color to enjoy, one just has to look closer at things... 🙂
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Mosshead warbonnet color variations encountered on resent dives.
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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More from the Keystone Jetty, June 19th.
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Possession Point Fingers. June 23rd.
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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I know most people would not consider "Slime algae" necessarily as photogenic or interesting, but I like to differ. There is an unworldly appearance in the growth taking over the shallow waters every summer. It covers the sunken driftwood, the trash mankind throws in and whatever happens to be there. Before we complain too much, it seems to be helping with supplying the Earth with oxygen. :)
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Possession Fingers, June 23, Part 2
I had to go deeper for better visibility, since from the surface to 60 feet it was dismal couple feet only. These birds are great divers, although I did not meet any down there :)
It was nice to find Squat Lobster. They used to be more numerous here.
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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More on algae, not only the slimy stuff ...
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Keystone Jetty, July 3rd.
It started in dense fog and turned into nice, sunny day.
American White Pelican flock performing above our heads and local fish entertaining divers below the calm waters of Admiralty Inlet.
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by oldsalt »

Jan: I really enjoy seeing your adding bird shots to your reports. My wife and I make frequent trips to Crockett Lake to see the white pelicans (also Deer Lagoon and March Point). Wonderful photos.
-Curt :rawlings:
Happy to be alive.
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Thank you Curt, nature above and below water, or dry land is fascinating and if I have camera handy, I try to capture at least a little bit of the beauty...

Keystone Jetty, July 3rd, part 2
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Skyline, June 30th.
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Skyline, June 30th. Part 2
From the life of Buffalo sculpins.
One day you are hiding among cucumbers, next thing, you are food for crabs and anemones... :(
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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July 1, 2021 , Deception Pass.
Somehow I forgot to process pictures from this dive. So here are some of the pics from that dive. Better late than never ? :)
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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July 7th. Langley Harbor.
Sea star survey - some wasting, but many stars still healthy and even about dozen of young Sunflower stars.
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Langley Harbor, July 7th.
Giant Plumose Anemones and Fried Egg Anemone encounter.
The jellyfish was struggling not to become dinner for the group of anemones ...
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Spinynose sculpin.
Pretty common at Keystone Jetty. Among other fish I took picture of on July 2nd dive was this small fish darting over the gravel bottom. In the process of putting another page together, I came across another interesting fact about this little fish. It lays eggs over the egg mass of much larger fish, the Buffalo sculpin and lets it to guard the nest. Kind of Cuckoo bird of the sea. But unlike the bird, this one does not require the Buffalo to feed its babies ... Then I remembered that I made three pages on this back in March 2012.
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Deception Pass July 15.
Overcast - gray and gloomy scene above, colorful below the waves. Three-lined nudibranchs laying eggs, leaving the Pink-mouth hydroids, its favorite food, at least for this moment ... :)
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Deception Pass, July 15. Part 2.
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Keystone Jetty, Friday, July 16.
With salmon fishing in full swing, parking at Keystone became an issue for us divers, since cars with boat trailers encroach now for in the past was reserved for divers and beachcombers. It is now a First Come First Serve situation. Not so easy to carry all that heavy dive gear for long distances. But that is our present mind set in the world...
Nevertheless, since I choose the late afternoon slack when some of the fishermen already done their pursuit of happiness on local waters, I did find a spot and so all was well.
I enjoyed my dive as I found one Blue Topsnail female spawning. Of course I didn't know it when I took the pictures, the eggs are way to small for my old eyes to notice the. I just saw an unusual posture of this very common snail and pushed the camera shutter. Only on large computer screen I saw the reason for the elevated position. The male picture is from a different dive.
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Keystone Jetty. Saturday July 17.
In addition to all the fishermen, we had pretty good show of divers. Yes, parking is a problem these days...
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Keystone Jetty, July dives - continued...
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Some of the Keystone Jetty fish, July 16-17.
Interesting to see Canary rockfish juveniles here, but not the adults.
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Holmes Harbor dive. July 20.
Lots of plankton in the water. The wreck of Family Affair II is still tied to the dock at Freeland Park. On high tide it floats, on load tide it is high and dry. Kind of weird. The outboard which was part of this wreck's mooting is now suspended in mid-water on the chain - part of new mooring system of another small boat .
Got stung by Lion's Main, and surfacing after the dive in red tide event. :)
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Holmes Harbor dive, July 20. part 2
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

Langley Harbor, July 22.
The highlight ? Finding fourteen juvenile heathy Sunflower stars.
As for the crabbing ? Somebody should check the tide tables and use appropriate length of line when setting he trap. If the trap is dangling above the bottom, it makes i too hard for the crab to reach ... 🤣
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