Whidbey Island Critters

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

why isn't this thread a sticky anymore?

i didn't see it and thought maybe it had gotten deleted! :pale:
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Jan K
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Shore crabs

Post by Jan K »

While finishing dive in the shallow water, look out for small crabs, very numerous at times, some color variations too.
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Zen Diver
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Post by Zen Diver »

Love the shots Jan, they are darn cute critters!

-Valerie
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Post by WylerBear »

Jan,
Great photos, as always. I am absolutely captivated by the head on shot of the Purple crab. It's fantastic!
Georgia

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Post by nwscubamom »

I like how their eyes are widely spaced - giving them a bit of personality!

- Janna :)
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Jan K
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Callused tunicate

Post by Jan K »

Thank you all, here is something from the tunicate world, solitary critter, unlike all the other colorful tunicates around it... Until recently, it went by the name Ascidia callosa.
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Buffalo sculpin

Post by Jan K »

This Buffalo sculpin was well camouflaged, but the freshly laid eggs gave him away.


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Post by Zen Diver »

I don't think I've ever seen Buffalo Sculpin eggs, thanks for sharing Jan! Awesome shots, as always. =D>

-Valerie
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Jan K
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Moon snails

Post by Jan K »

Moonsnails are not rarity in our water, and most of the time they are just cruising the sea floor, looking for food. After taking few pictures, usually I move on, for how many photos of them you want ? But time to time I come upon situation which get my extended attention. Their Cockle hunting shenanigans are always fun to watch, but this time I found something new, to which I have no answer. Mating ritual ? On two occasions on the same dive I found two Lewis's moonsnails together, the first encounter (upper shot), they were already disengaging) and on second encounter, one was riding on top of the other. Any ideas ? :dontknow:

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Post by Tom Nic »

Hmmm.... sex or cannibalism... eh? :rr: ...would they "joust" for hunting or mating territory? OK, perhaps I'm overthinking this and giving Mr. Lewis too much credit, but... :book:
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Post by Zen Diver »

Hitchhiking? Piggyback ride?

\:D/

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Winged Sea Slug

Post by Jan K »

Until now, my encounters with the Pacific Wing Stomach, aka Winged Sea Slug, aka Pacific Wingfoot snail..... were one on one basis, so I considered them rare. Well, when I found clusters of them next to what I believe are their eggs, I realized how limited my horizons are - there were hundreds of them! None of them "flying" so at first I did not know what they were, but here they are, another Whidbey Island Critter surprise. The eggs are the giveaway, so keep a lookout ! :)

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Post by Diver_Dave »

Love your pics. on here...
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Re: Winged Sea Slug

Post by enchantmentdivi »

Jan K wrote:Well, when I found clusters of them next to what I believe are their eggs, I realized how limited my horizons are - there were hundreds of them! The eggs are the giveaway, so keep a lookout ! :)
OH MY OH MY OH MY! Jan, you just answered a question from a dive I did about 5 years ago at KVI. A few of us were diving off of a buddy's boat, and we didn't quite drop down on the reef itself. We ended up doing a sand dive. Every 2-3 yards, we come across a pile of hundreds of those eggs. None of us knew what they were. After a while, it became kinda creepy because there were literally dozens, if not hundreds, of those piles of eggs--each pile containing hundreds of eggs. After the dive, I looked in books, I described them to others, etc, and I could never find out what they were. I finally just gave up. I think I had almost forgotten about that dive and those mystery eggs because I have never seen them since.....until now, looking at your photos!!!! YAY--you've solved the mystery for me!!! Thanks Jan!
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Post by LCF »

Prior to this year, I had only ever seen one of these critters, but this year, it seems we're encountering them on almost every dive, although they're quite small. Anybody else feel as though there are more of them than usual?
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Post by Sounder »

LCF wrote:Prior to this year, I had only ever seen one of these critters, but this year, it seems we're encountering them on almost every dive, although they're quite small. Anybody else feel as though there are more of them than usual?
I always seem to see them during my descent... then I hit the brakes, get my buddy's attention and point to it... then they eventually get close enough to see that I'm not crazily pointing at the water... until then, they're thinking "yeah Doug, I'm swimming in the water too." #-o
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Post by Scubak »

Great Photos Jan,
Your work is fantastic...
And educational.
Love it and keep em coming.
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Post by Tom Nic »

Love your stuff Jan! So enjoyable... :prayer:

Did you resize the pics? Or did you use Spatman's suggestion?

And for the record, I'd scroll upsidedownsideways to see your stuff! \:D/
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Post by Jan K »

Tom Nic wrote:Love your stuff Jan! So enjoyable... :prayer:

Did you resize the pics? Or did you use Spatman's suggestion?

And for the record, I'd scroll upsidedownsideways to see your stuff! \:D/
Tom, I have to confess my total ignorance on the sizing for different search engines and computer screens and resolutions, I am not computer savvy and I assumed, until that other thread, that people see what I see on my screen. I explained my dilemma about vertical scroll, I have to do that too, but so far nobody complained, so I keep plogging along. I still use Photoshop 5.5, so that tells you how far behind the curve I am.. There is a point when if it is not fun, it is not worth doing. I enjoy sharing my underwater observations with others and it is fun. So if you guys like it the way I was doing it till now, I am in. Old dog - new tricks, my brain is taxed enough. Cheers my friends :partyman:
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Proliferating anemone

Post by Jan K »

Everything was great, Saturday morning at the North Beach on Deception Pass, the tidal currents were so favorable and even the sun tried to shine on us, not a frequent matter at this location. As we start our descent, I stop to take first shot and to my horror, the strobe does not fire. Deception Pass is not a spot one casually returns to the vehicle and fiddles with the cable, controls or whatever might be wrong, ( I did check it before the dive and strobe was firing OK). So I ended up switching to Shutter Priority mode, rised ISO setting and used the focusing and modeling lights to salvage the dive. Pictures are grainy and depth of field is very shallow, but at least I managed to get some pictures to record our dive. Thanks WHATEVAH !
BTW, the place is amazing, looking forward to come back..

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Post by Zen Diver »

You've outdone yourself this time Jan, simply BEAUTIFUL!!!! :prayer:

-Valerie
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Post by LCF »

I guess this truly proves that it's the photographer, not the camera!
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Post by John Rawlings »

GREAT salvage job, Jan! I think that most of us in that situation would have simply spent the entire dive cursing into our regulators!

Did you discover what the problem was after you surfaced and examined your system?

- John
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Jan K
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Post by Jan K »

John Rawlings wrote: Did you discover what the problem was after you surfaced and examined your system? - John
That is the maddening part. I know it was not the battery, for I used the DS-125 modeling light the entire dive, I checked the connection before I got wet, and then back home, it worked again. And I made two dives since then and the strobe worked fine. Must be the ghost of Deception Pass messing with my mind... :pale:


Oh, and thanks for kind words, glad you enjoyed the pink beauties as much as I did :bounce:
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John Rawlings
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Post by John Rawlings »

Jan K wrote:.....glad you enjoyed the pink beauties as much as I did :bounce:
I certainly did enjoy them....I think that they are some of the most beautiful creatures to be found here in the PNW - in an underwater world KNOWN for its beauty!

As always, thanks for sharing your art with us! =D>

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