Northwest Dive Club

Another rather unusual encounter on Saturday dive , this gunnel wasn't scared of me at all...

Blue Topsnails making the water just a little bit cloudier ...

More of the same, week after week, seeing the sea stars getting hit so hard is disheartening...

Hi Jan,

Thanks for continuing to post these reports.
Sorry if I'm being dense here but I've got a question about how the numbers are reported - when you say "25+ wasting 50+ Ochre stars" does that mean 25 sick out of 50 total or 25 sick and 50 (apparently) healthy?

Statistically yours,
Alex

Tidepool Geek wrote:Hi Jan,
Thanks for continuing to post these reports.
Sorry if I'm being dense here but I've got a question about how the numbers are reported - when you say "25+ wasting 50+ Ochre stars" does that mean 25 sick out of 50 total or 25 sick and 50 (apparently) healthy?
Statistically yours, Alex

Hi Alex,
I know these reports are not real scientific, I try to cover a very large area and look for an overall status of the sea stars there. Since unlike in most other locations around Whidbey where sighting of dozen sea stars is now considered a good sign, Langley (and Penn Cove) still offers clusters where counting would take precious air time, so I round it to these rather meaningless 25+ 50+ quotes. Also ever changing visibility presents another problem. I know having a transect would be preferable, but I figure, if I take pictures of the same areas, and find time, I could count the stars and get better numbers. As I see it now, there might soon be no stars if this continues :(

Monterey dorid grazing on sponge revisited at Deception Pass dives.

Jan K wrote:Monterey dorid grazing on sponge revisited at Deception Pass dives.

Very interesting find. The anemones are also gone in the 2nd pic. Would they have been feasting on the sponge - and would they also be on the menu of the dorid?

mpenders wrote: The anemones are also gone in the 2nd pic. Would they have been feasting on the sponge - and would they also be on the menu of the dorid?

Greetings,
1. Anemones eating sponge - Almost certainly not; anemones simply aren't mobile enough and seem to lack the ability to sense prey over any distance - making it almost infinitely unlikely that an anemone species would evolve to prey on sponges. The anemones pictured appear to be juvenile Epiactis spp. which, like most of our local anemones, mainly eat various small crustaceans (copepods, amphipods, etc.).

2. Dorid nudibranch eating anemones - Highly unlikely; dorids, as a group, are considered to be extremely specialized as to diet, in some cases they are obligate predators on one prey species. Many (most?) dorids eat sponges and if you see one doing so there's a pretty good chance that the animal in question can't eat anything else. If I guessed correctly about the anemones pictured, they had probably fairly recently left their parent's column and were seeking out a suitable place to live on their own and the sponge was simply in their path; further, given that sponges are often somewhat toxic I would speculate that the anemones would have wanted to get off of them ASAP. Alternatively, it's possible that the dorid could have 'bulldozed' them out of the way as it was consuming the sponge.

Having said that:
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
- Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio
In other words, I could be all wet here.

Predatorily yours,
Alex

The news from Langley Harbor continues to be a bad one. It is downright depressing :

This is so tragic!!!! Poor stars! I wish we could help them somehow! Thanks for documenting this Jan. I always enjoy reading your posts, I've learned so much from you!

Another Whidbey site hit by new wave of Wasting Syndrome :(

We did a dive at Cove 2 yesterday, and I was thrilled at the numbers of ochre stars we saw (interestingly, all orange in color) but not so thrilled at the number we saw clearly affected by this disorder. We also saw a couple of adult Stimsons stars, and none that showed wasting. Not a single sunflower star to be seen.

When I returned few days ago from land excursion with my friends from Europe, I didn't know how to start with my Whidbey Critters .
Last comment to my posting was, as so often from Lynne, and all I can think of is, it just can't be that her input to my ramblings is now
only history. Her comments were always so encouraging... I miss you, Lynne...




We met at Keystone when she visited Whidbey with Peter and Ben back on August 16,2010.

Glad to have you back, Jan, and very sorry you came back to the news of Lynne's passing. She is already missed by many here.

BTW if ever there was an understatement it would be 'my ramblings' from your post above. We have all missed your ARTwork while you were away. Hope you had a fantastic trip!

What a lovely tribute, Jan. And welcome back!

Welcome back Jan - seems like we've been missing a lot lately... glad that one less thing we are missing is your posts.

Welcome back Jan, great post/tribute! I know I missed your posts over the past month

Thank you all for the warm "Welcome Back". Walking the trails in National Parks was fun, but I did miss my underwater world.
I found it occupied by lots of Egg Yolk aka Fried Egg jellyfish. Although many other critters are getting the taste of them.
From crabs to anemones. Enough jello for everybody

I'm so glad you're back!!! Thanks for sharing such fantastic art with us! We all learn so much from you!

Jan: I was praying that your absence from diving was temporary, and not like mine. We live in a beautiful place, which can be enjoyed in many ways. Diving off Whidbey and hiking the Olympic Peninsula are two of them.
-Curt

It's hard to get a decent photo of an egg yolk jelly. If I counted right Jan just posted 10 really nice ones!

I LOVE the wide angle shots of the Shiner Perch spread across the shot like a rainbow! Awesome composition!

Thank you all for kind words.
More about the Egg Yolk jellies which seem to be enjoying waters of Whidbey harbors ...

Langley Harbor scene:

Sort of a shark cage for rockfish.
-Curt