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 »

Skyline wall dive - first the shallows. It is quite a long swim before the wall begins , but still there is something to see ...
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by ScubaJess »

THAT'S SO COOL! :)
Live Long And Prosper!!!

Stay Warm underwater with the Weezle Extreme Plus undergarment! Please let me know if you would like to order one or have any questions. :luv: :partydance: :eric: :taco:
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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As many times as I saw the little "flags" streaming off the ends of sea urchin spines,
I never realized that they are home to numbers of tiny amphipods. Isn't nature amazing ? :)
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Skyline wall Buffalo sculpins. They were all over the place. These are just few of them ...
And one Wolf eel youngster :)
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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The good news - so far, the sea stars are healthy. The bad news (if it can be called bad :) ), when we were trying to collect sick ones for the long planned experiment, we found only two among hundreds ...
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

Keystone Jetty. School of juvenile Yellowtail rockfish at the end of the jetty while the Black rockfish, much smaller school hangs around the Bull kelp forest in the shallows. I did not see the large Black rockfish school which used to frequent the area. I hope the reason is the lousy overall visibility we are still experiencing here.
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by oldsalt »

Jan: My sense of things, not necessarily true, is that lingcod went from abundant to nearly extinct, only to return when the strict fishing restrictions were placed on them. I also felt the same was true of rockfish, especially the black rockfish. We used to catch them with impunity, no limit, and they tasted good. The clouds of black rockfish I would look up at while diving in Haro Strait vanished for a few years. I thought I saw them rebounding in my last years of diving, also following restrictions on fishing. Have you seen the same thing?
-Curt :questionmarks:
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Curt: I agree that many of the marine species would recover if allowed to do so through the correct management. However, I worry that we lack the knowledge and wisdom to do so in any meaningful way. Concentrating on one specie while ignoring what is happening to the environment around them and to their food supply will probably continue to be the reason of the overall problem, and not only affecting marine life. Just my 2cents....

Great sculpin. Another of the "not so photogenic" fish encountered on jetty rocks.
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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From Keystone Jetty crab lives. Hanging out in the kelp forest and eating crabs. Including its own kind ...
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Saturday was a busy day at Keystone Jetty. Not only the fishing boats were launched and retrieved with a steady pace, the divers had to park their cars double. Meeting friends is always nice and today I had the luck to be there when my friend Paul made his 1000th dive. Originally, our plan was to celebrate that number diving the Deception Pass, but Paul, as a dive instructor, was teaching future divers instead, when that number came up, so we joined multitudes at Keystone instead. Introducing others to the beauty of underwater world is a worthy cause. As I was ready to exit the water, I saw Pat heading in, so I clicked few photos of her as she was passing by on her quest for the macro subject which my old eyes cannot see. I included few of her photos I snatched off her Facebook pages. :)
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Sunday belongs to Deception Pass. When I arrived there, the fog was rolling around, but sunshine made inroads later on. As expected, the boat traffic was quite heavy. As for divers, six of us showed up, and I was the only one without a scooter! The current run quite strong on the flood and the slack seemed later than predicted. But everybody came out smiling :)
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

White Bubble shell slugs and their egg ribbons scene at Driftwood Park.
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Red rock crab - example when none of your children look like you. :)
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

It is hot, the air is filled with smoke, maybe being a worm underwater isn't all that bad :)
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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One week passed since the scooters zoomed through the Deception Pass and I am still trying to catch up with the backlog.
Life above the water and subsequent dives are to blame :)
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Yellowtail rockfish at Keystone Jetty. They have yellow fins, I have yellow fins.
I am happy to swim in their school. :)
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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This Painted greenling at Keystone Jetty is very busy guarding eggs . Second batch in three months !
Same spot, same cluster of Ostrich-plume hydroids.
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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The Lingcod might be a "Bad Hombre" predator, but little pesky parasite copepods are not scared ... :)
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Sticklebacks, tough little fish. Related to pipefish and sea horses, don't look like them at all :)
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Saturday night special - Sculpin beer :)
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Skyline Wall revisited. An early Friday morning dive, fog and cool westerly wind, fun time with a juvenile Wolf eel.
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by oldsalt »

Jan: I noticed that the sticklebacks were photographed at Driftwood Park. Were you in the salt water or the ponds east of the shoreline? My sightings of sticklebacks were all ln fresh or briny water, specifically Cranberry Lake at Deception Pass and Lake Erie on Fidalgo Island. I know they are found in salt water, but I never found them there.
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

Curt, I have seen Stickleback at Langley, Lagoon Point, at Keystone when I snorkel out in the shallows and yes in the Driftwood pond.

Few more from the dive at Skyline. The Red sea cucumbers sure add color to the otherwise gloomy scene created by the lack of sunshine.
And all the sea stars are healthy ! :)
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

Keystone Jetty, Blue topsnails. Normally, they keep a low profile, grazing on algae, but during spawning, they find an elevated spot, rise up and broadcast their gametes into the water column.
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Tidepool Geek »

Hi Jan,

More amazing images and terrific information! Thanks for all your good work.

Sycophantishly yours,
Alex
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