Whidbey Island Critters

Fish & Invertebrate sightings and descriptions, hosted by resident NWDC ID expert Janna Nichols (nwscubamom).
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LCF
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Post by LCF »

I love the profusion of types of anemones that we have in our underwater "gardens" here. I did the Edmonds Oil Dock dive today, and there were scores of the Christmas anemones with their beautiful green and red striped bodies. So pretty!
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Jan K
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Sponge

Post by Jan K »

After poking around for answers to the sponge question, I decided to move the previous thread back to the Whidbey Critter fold. The general consensus so far is that it is extremely hard to get taxonomy right, one cannot rely on morphology, therefore pictures don't help, I am told. So for the time being I will call it the "Yellow Finger Sponge" until somebody with much more know-how corrects me.

:book:
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Post by whatevah »

Jan I think you did very well to get such good photos given the available light and the visibility. I am really glad you were able to come along. I didn't get any noteworthy photos but I thoroughly enjoyed the dive. The personality you've given your Proliferating Anemone caricatures really gave me a chuckle. Since my galleries are a tangled mess and I'm not going to find time to reorganize them anytime soon I just uploaded my photos at the end of an existing gallery. This link will get you to the first of them if you're interested...

http://uwphoto.geckoworks.com/g/most_re ... 21#photo_s

It is a relief to hear that your strobe is working okay now. Let's try the same location again soon. I want you to see the Granulated Claw Crabs. I've pretty much given up on positive identification of sponges, but FWIW, I usually call those Glove Sponges, or Dead Man's Finger Sponges.
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Jan K
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Funnel Sponge

Post by Jan K »

Yes Whatevah, got to get back there again soon. Since we are still on the Deception Pass local and the dilemma of sponge identification, here is another one from that dive, the best I can guess that it is Funnel sponge, judging by the grooved and knobby exterior as compared to the smooth one of the Trumpet sponge. But as the good book says: "the only definitive way to distinguish the two is via spicule sampling and microscopic inspections." Only tools I had on me was a camera and strobe which did not fire... The Trumped sponge was shot three years ago in the San Juans, thus disqualifying it as genuine Whidbey Critter..

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Tritonia festiva

Post by Jan K »

Possession Point Fingers slugs looking over Sea Pens, This Diamond Back Tritonia was not giving up, I checked on it after ten minutes, but it did not climb up the orange giant...

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Post by gomi_otaku »

Those pictures of the stomach wing eggs cleared one up for me as well!
gomi_
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Post by nwscubamom »

Cool shot, standing on its hind legs! Slugs amaze me sometimes!

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February diving

Post by Jan K »

The week started with Monday dive at Langley. Monitoring Lingcod egg masses, the count stands at eight, two were lost since my last visit, but I found two new ones. Also for the first time - I got attacked by one. I did survive it OK :bounce:
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Wednesday I went to check out Gedney Island, aka Hat, with a new found dive buddy Tom. Strobe failed me again.
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Thursday I collected some of the Winged Nudibranch, aka Pacific Stomach Wing - it is not known what they eat, Dave Behrens will look into their bellies, hopefuly solve the mystery :book:
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Friday, back out on Zodiak to Gedney Island, found some nice Sand Rose Anemones, not much else #-o
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Post by Jan K »

It looks like Saturdays are bad news for my strobe. Another failure ](*,)

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Post by LCF »

You've been busy, Jan! Hope you figure out what's bugging your strobes.

What are the tritonias climbing on in that last picture?
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Post by Jan K »

LCF wrote:You've been busy, Jan! Hope you figure out what's bugging your strobes.
What are the tritonias climbing on in that last picture?
Trying to escape the dreary weather above \:D/
Still trying to pinpoint the problem, down to the bulkhead connector.
The two T.festiva in the last picture are checking out Orange Sea pen as it is burying in sand. Many times you will see just an orange spot in sand..

BTW I am following this forum, you are pretty active too .. :supz:
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Post by LCF »

I try to get out pretty regularly, but rarely several days in a row!

I'd sure love to get up to Whidbey Island one of these days and actually meet (and maybe even DIVE with) you.
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Post by Jan K »

LCF wrote:I'd sure love to get up to Whidbey Island one of these days and actually meet (and maybe even DIVE with) you.
Just let me know when you coming. This weekend I am taking Janna's REEF fish and invert classes in Anacortes, but usually I can always find time to meet you..
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More

Post by Jan K »

Another week went by, busy diving, but no new critters sighted, at least the weather was nice :salute:

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Post by Zen Diver »

I love the Cowboy Crab Jan! Brought a smile to my face this morning.

Thanks.

-Valerie
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LCF
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Post by LCF »

Ah, the Possession Point Ferry -- So far, my favorite Puget Sound dive. Great page, Jan!
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Post by Grateful Diver »

I've been seeing a lot of Pink Tritonias lately ... wonder if it's a seasonal thing.

Like Lynne ... I would love to hook up with you for a dive, Jan ...

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Post by Jan K »

Valerie, thank you. It was one of the dives when nothing much was showing up to aim my camera at, so when the crab rose up from the muck ....


Lynne - yes the Possession ferry is a great dive. I wish I had a real wide angle lens to capture more of the scene ...

Bob, as I said before, I live on Whidbey, so it is so much easier for me to meet you here, just let me know ahead. Although, I missed already couple opportunities to do so.. ](*,)
And I agree with your seasonal theory, and not only on the Pink tritonia..
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Deception Pass

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President's weekend was such a beauty, the weather was perfect. We should have more of them, got enough ex- presidents to cover the year..:) And the tides were great too, so Deception Pass was just the right place to celebrate. I am still researching the name for this sponge, so as for now, the Finger sponge must suffice, even if it looks more like a Saguaro cactus then my hand... \:D/
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Post by Grateful Diver »

Spectacular, as usual ... your diver is exactly what Cheng and I looked like on our second dive at Skyline Wall on Monday ... which is when I took that picture I'm currently using as an avatar ...

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Another visit

Post by Jan K »

It looks like February is trying to erase the memory of gloomy winter in my mind. I am diving a lot - which is great, but lagging behind with processing pictures - which is not so great... Another dive on the Possession Point ferry on Monday, when the weather was sooooo nice.

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Post by LCF »

Jan, how are you doing the Possession Point Ferry? With a charter, or your own boat, or how?
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Post by Jan K »

LCF wrote:Jan, how are you doing the Possession Point Ferry? With a charter, or your own boat, or how?
Even better then that, I found a friendly soul who lives on Whidbey, owns a boat and is willing to take me out :supz:
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Possession Point Fingers

Post by Jan K »

Not so far from the Possession Point ferry ( don't want to swim the distance between them), are the Possession Point Fingers. Somewhat different terrain, interesting formations, not so much sea life during my visit, but promising for sure...

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Post by John Rawlings »

Great shots, Jan....as always!

You never know WHAT you will find on the "Fingers". Several years back my buddy, John Campbell, and I found one of the largest octopuses we have ever seen there in a huge clay cave. There was a stack of crab and clam shell debris cascading down from the mouth of the den that was darn near 6 feet deep!

Sometimes I have seen both the "Fingers" and the Ferry completely COVERED with both fish and invertegrate life, while at other times it is like there is no life on them at all....it all depends on the time of year.

I suspect that every site in the Sound is that way....it all just shows that we need to dive them as much as possible just to see what shows up!

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