Whidbey Island Critters

[Jan K]

Keystone Jetty November - the rest of pixels

[Jan K]

Langley Harbor, November 27th.
Invasion of the Northern Kelp Crabs. With kelp nowhere in sight, this gathering came as a surprise since they are not too numerous here during the rest of the year.

[Jan K]

Langley Harbor, November 27th.
Invasion of the Northern Kelp Crabs. With kelp nowhere in sight, this gathering came as a surprise since they are not too numerous here during the rest of the year.

[Jan K]

Langley Harbor, November 27.
From the lives of sea stars there. Still some wasting going on, the Leather stars are the survivors, from all the starfish species here, they multiplied their numbers while the others suffered drastic decline in numbers. On the hopeful side, there are baby stars still here and even Sunflower stars occasionally appear, although reproductive sized adults are still missing.
And when you set crab traps, make sure there is enough line so when the tide rises, the trap remains on the bottom.

[Jan K]

Possession Point Fingers, November 29.
The world above is still wet and gray. The world beneath is wet too, but it does have some color. Even bit of gold

[Jan K]

Possession Fingers November 29th.
Visit to the clay wall condominium of the Squat lobster and his neighbor the Dock shrimp.

[Jan K]

Holmes Harbor. December 1st. The southerly winds are narrowing the choice of Whidbey diving sites, the Holmes Harbor does provide protection for the entry from the Freeland Park. Unfortunately, in the past decade, the is less and less marine life, in diversity and numbers, to find here. The days when the Eel grass hosted hundreds of Hooded nudies during their season, are long gone. On this dive, I found one. As I was trying to get a closeup picture, it left the blade of grass and planted itself on the camera dome.

[Jan K]

Holmes Harbor, December 1st.
In the past, I did find cell phones on the sea floor, Queen Conch was not what I expected to find here.

[Jan K]

Keystone Jetty, December 3rd.
I don't use my knife often while I dive, but it came handy this time in freeing Northern Kelp crab wrapped in lost line .

[oldsalt]

Just like that TV commercial where the divers free the whale shark. Good job.
Curt

[Jan K]

Keystone Jetty. December.
Lobed tunicates and sponges. The rocks at the jetty seem to be a favorite place for them, adding a welcome colors to the scene.

[Jan K]

December 8th. Getting up into a windy morning and spent the day without electric power. Couple hours after sunset the power came back on. Trees are the guilty party, so I hear. But all is well, at least for the time being. After all, the winter is just beginning.
Here are some pixels from last week dives at the Keystone Jetty when the weather was friendlier.

[Jan K]

Keystone Jetty December 5th. The rest of the pixels.

[Jan K]

Possession Point Fingers, December 7th.
This is the time of the year when the Red Irish Lords begin laying eggs in nooks and crannies all over the Finger walls.

[Jan K]

Possession Point, December 7th.
Two species of rockfish. One is a homebody, the other avid traveler...

[Jan K]

Possession Point Fingers dive, December 7th.
The rest of the pixels.

[Jan K]

Lagoon Point dive, December 10th.
Slugs.

[Jan K]

Langley Harbor, December 12th.
Leather stars are thriving, one of them got overly enthusiastic and decided to grow an extra arm tip.

[Jan K]

Langley Harbor, December 12th.
New sea stars are here, just for the start of new year. Will they fare better than their parents? Only time will tell.
As for the crabs ? Not a good time to be one.

[Jan K]

Keystone Jetty, December 16th.
Dodging the weather is the name of game of diving Whidbey these days. We managed to squeeze dive on Thursday, it was good to see friends again, even if it was quite early in the day. under overcast skies and in a cold breeze.

[Jan K]

Keystone Jetty, December 16th.

[Jan K]

Driftwood Park, December 17th.
The winter visibility we are hoping for is still eluding us here, on Whidbey Island... Silt is still major ingredient in our waters.
It did not stop large number of Bering hermit crabs from gathering for their office party

[Jan K]

The time of year is upon us once again. Wishing you all Merry Christmas, may the holiday season fill you with joy, your heart with love, and your life with laughter. I look forward to see you in the future at dive sites, or sharing tidbits of our life via internet. Happy New 2022 !

[Jan K]

Keystone Jetty, December 19th
Some encounters from the silty waters along the jetty.

[Jan K]

Keystone Jetty, December 19th.
More than usual number of Heart Crabs of all sizes can be found these days on jetty rocks.