Northwest Dive Club

Oasis in the Sea of Rain - Whidbey Island.
Thursday dive at Deception Pass and its Garden of Eden. And some of its amazing critters.
Hermit crab where the female does stay at home, a soft bodied anemone having an easy meal of spiny,
hard bodied sea urchin, just few of the many inhabitants there...

Friday, another Deception Pass dive.

Saturday. Yet another dive at Deception Pass. Trying some photos using remote source of light,
but it didn't work too well, the focusing light isn't strong enough ...

I like the look of the remote light source. Perhaps a brighter light a little farther away for a more even side lighting effect. Or even a strobe with a remote optical trigger?


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If the currents of Deception Pas are not a big enough thrill for you,
there is a several hundred years old 200 feet tall Douglas fir you might want to climb
I settled for Sunday dive, little bit cheaper. I came across young Chinook salmon as a bonus.
The only other diver there had a mishap with his scooter right after entering the water,
so on this Father's Day I had the Pass all to myself ...

On Saturday dive at Deception Pass, I was experimenting with back-lighting, using focusing light. That proved to be inadequate, so on Sunday I used an electronic strobe instead. Playing around with it was fun. The problem was to make sure that the sensor on the slave strobe on tripod was not obscured since the strobes on my camera active it. Got plenty dark shots in the process. Too bad time in the Pass is limited and visibility wasn't all that good, lot of particulates in the water. It is work in progress ...

More from the Sunday Deception Pass experimenting, until the current chased me out of water

Keystone Jetty visibility still rather dismal. I keep returning to hope for improvement,
but the plankton soup combined with the ferry induced silt keeps on dominating the scene :(

Langley Harbor. Few scenic shots from what used to be a popular dive site, now off limit.
There used to be many more Plumose anemones on tires and the pilings, much more diverse marine life too.

Gorgeous Langley Harbor photos!

Tangfish wrote:Gorgeous Langley Harbor photos!

Thanks. To celebrate the 49th anniversary of my swim to freedom, I revisited Langley Harbor.
Visibility this time worsened considerably and to make matters worse, I found more wasting sea stars than on any recent dives. :(

Jan, I doubt that courageous young man 49 years ago could have foreseen the amazing adventure that unfolded with your life. Count me as among the people grateful that you made that swim. I'm sitting on my deck looking at Langley as I type this. I wish non-divers could understand the profound change that the sea has experienced as shown by seastar wasting and the invasion of the pyrosomes. Keep coming up.
Curt

Deception Pass, last day of June and another tide cycle. Nobody else at the Little North Beach. Maybe the fog is keeping people away, no divers, no fishermen, no tourists. When I return to the surface one hour later, the sun is shining, the fog cleared, at least at the Pass and few tourists enjoy the scenery now.

Few more from Friday dive at Deception Pass...

Keystone Jetty, July 1st. Leather stars in the process of making more Leather stars by releasing gametes into already murky waters.
I found three engaged in the action, and one not interested in procreation at all ...

Keystone Jetty. The July visibility is still poor, divers are making the best out of it, hopefully it will improve soon.
Fortunately, there is always something there to enjoy ...

Barnacles, oh barnacles. The bane of sailors and their ships, the nuisance of many marine critters (like these Helmet crabs) and yet, a food source for some. Barnacle Eating Nudibranch is an fittingly named one of them. The rocks of Keystone Jetty are the example what happens when there is too much of a good thing...

This time I find only very small shrimp at Keystone. The adults moved off to somewhere,
I did not find any much larger than one inch. This youngster munches on polychaete worm ...

Keystone Jetty, Grunt and Scalyhead sculpins, still only babies

Langley Harbor. Although the water temperature is rising, sea stars here are still doing fine. Among the hundreds of healthy I found only two Ochre stars wasting. One Pink star even grows an extra ray. While most fish swim "normally", some like to be different.

Deception Pass July 14 and 15. The marine life here does not disappoint. Here are some sights, more to follow

Deception Pass Sunday. More from the Underwater Garden of Eden.
Divers blowing more bubbles. Except one, he was on rebreather

Jan K wrote:Deception Pass Sunday. More from the Underwater Garden of Eden.
Divers blowing more bubbles. Except one, he was on rebreather

That'd be @Yevgeniy!!!
Great photos Jan, glad you had fun out there!

More from last dives at Deception Pass .
I hope you are not tired of it

July 20, 1969 "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Neil Armstrong.
Moon jellies - Driftwood Park - 2017