Whidbey Island Critters

[Jan K]

When I got to the scene, the crab was not struggling at all, so I don't really know how it got in there, I see sometimes crabs hiding next to the anemones, and not getting caught. Maybe the crabbing was closed..

[Jan K]

Second question, what kind of lighting are you using for it? Built-in flash or external strobe? Single or dual strobes?.

Sorry, forgot to mention the lighting - Ikelite DS-125 external, single strobe. I started with Ikelite DS-50, but the battery compartment kept on flooding. I am thinking about adding a second strobe, it just gets too bulky, the rig I got is already quite heavy...and expensive (for my diving budget :) )

[Sea of Green]

Kirsten, I am always open to suggestions, if there is somebody who knows about publishing, well, lets see what can be done, thanks .

Sea of Green: I have Olympus C-8080 in Ikelite housing, it is a Point and Shoot camera, the lens is fixed, 7.1 - 35.6 mm zoom (digital #s).

Second question, what kind of lighting are you using for it? Built-in flash or external strobe? Single or dual strobes?

And yes, I also would gladly pay to have a poster-size print of your work suitable for framing, like a 12X18 or larger. I know somebody who does that sort of thing. If you're interested, I'll pm you his contact info.

[Sounder]

Exactly! You could continually add volumes to it!

[Jan K]

[quote="Sounder"
I think having a way to print all his works to date and put them in a book that could be continuously added to would be perfect... Jan's work is like a cell phone - the minute you get it, it's out-dated.[/quote]

Sounder, funny you mentioned it, that was one of the hurdles I try to deal with. I thought maybe it the "book" was spiral binded, there could be supplements added periodically to keep it up to date. But publishing is subject I don't know anything about..

[Sounder]

Kirsten, I am always open to suggestions, if there is somebody who knows about publishing, well, lets see what can be done, thanks .

I think having a way to print all his works to date and put them in a book that could be continuously added to would be perfect... Jan's work is like a cell phone - the minute you get it, it's out-dated.

[Jan K]

Kirsten, I am always open to suggestions, if there is somebody who knows about publishing, well, lets see what can be done, thanks .

Sea of Green: I have Olympus C-8080 in Ikelite housing, it is a Point and Shoot camera, the lens is fixed, 7.1 - 35.6 mm zoom (digital #s).

[Sea of Green]

Jan, what camera and lens are you using to get these great macros?

[Scubak]

Jan,
If we could find you a publisher or get you published...would you?
Your work is great and timeless and very special.
Thanks for this thread.
Kirsten

[BbbleMkr]

And, if you ever decide to compile your art into book form, point me to the queue, I'll have VISA in hand.

[Jan K]

Well, thank you all - your kind words are encouraging.
So on we go with Whidbey Island critters. It seems that the Oregon Hairy Triton is about finished with their parenting job - many of the egg capsule spirals are empty. Next time you have the chance to watch the Triton lay eggs, stop and watch them for while as they jerk and twist on top of the capsules laying those eggs...

[BbbleMkr]

Love them, love them! Please don't stop!

[Grateful Diver]

Jan, your pictures and the stories you create around them continue to be my all-time favorite forum reading.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[LCF]

Jan, don't ever think that people aren't looking at these wonderful pages! Every time I open a site and one of your threads comes up as having new posts, I look to see if you are the poster, and if so, I immediately go to see what you have added.

Not only do you do beautiful photography and clever, funny artwork, but these pages are an incredible critter identification resource as well. You have multiple photographs, frequently from different angles, and identify the creature as well as add information about its habits. As I've said before, these really should be collected into book form. But failing that, KEEP THEM COMING!

[Jan K]

Interesting development in the bivalve ID story. After more consultations between experts in California, e-mail this morning changed the California Lyonsia classification to Rock Entodesma aka Northwest Ugly Clam (Entodesma navicula). Never a dull moment in the Invertebrates realm. Even experts make mistakes, so we can too

[Sounder]

Thank you Valerie for kind words, for moment I thought nobody looks at these posts anymore
And of course, you are right about the worn out appearance of gravid females. It has to be hard to carry the load and watch out for all the Lingcod looking for easy meal who lay around the Keystone Jetty rocks...

Jan I love seeing these! I think if you watched the number of times this thread is viewed, you'd see that it goes up a lot each time you post a new piece. PLEASE continue - I personally really enjoy it and enjoy showing them to family and friends.

Thank you!!!

[Jan K]

Thank you Valerie for kind words, for moment I thought nobody looks at these posts anymore
And of course, you are right about the worn out appearance of gravid females. It has to be hard to carry the load and watch out for all the Lingcod looking for easy meal who lay around the Keystone Jetty rocks...

[Zen Diver]

Isn't it funny how gravid females of ANY species all look the same? Tired, worn out and ready for the pregnancy to END!

-Valerie
(great pix, as usual Jan)

[Jan K]

It looks like we get some more rockfish at Keystone soon

[Jan K]

This one was not easy to identify. In the beginning I leaned toward Pandora genus, but could not google any pictures, I e-mailed picture to more experienced people, many are in the field working on research projects (vacations :D ), finally Leslie from Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County found Don Cadien whom I quote in today's post. Isn't critterwatching exciting ?

[Grateful Diver]

Hi Ken, the Pipefish is not that common here on Whidbey, or maybe it is because my eyes are not that good...
The next critter is little easier to spot, wearing a nice bright orange color. But this is the color of the future King, as the adult Kings are more varied in texture and colors. Unfortunately, the Keystone and Langley where I dive most, are not the right habitat for this crab and so adult sighting will require some travel off this island.

I've noticed that it's not unusual to find juvenile PSKC at Keystone ... but I've never seen one there bigger than about the size of a quarter.

Always wondered where they went when they decided to grow up ... and more importantly, how the juveniles got to Keystone in the first place (drifting in the current, most likely) ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Jan K]

Local crabs never cease to amaze me. This is the first time I found Dungeness Crab holding Red Rock Crab in what I saw somewhere called as the premating embrace. In the past I saw them fighting, ignoring each other, but never hugging. The smaller Red Rock crab was not showing any signs of distress or putting up resistance, as I tried to get photos from different angles, the Dungeness crab took flight, never releasing its partner. (Which is very common sight when I come across pairs.)

[Jan K]

Hi Ken, the Pipefish is not that common here on Whidbey, or maybe it is because my eyes are not that good...
The next critter is little easier to spot, wearing a nice bright orange color. But this is the color of the future King, as the adult Kings are more varied in texture and colors. Unfortunately, the Keystone and Langley where I dive most, are not the right habitat for this crab and so adult sighting will require some travel off this island.

[Ken G]

Very cool! I was not aware we had a local species that belongs to the sea horse family. Are they common? I cant wait to see one in its habitat.

Thanks for sharing

[Jan K]

Our Pacific Northwest sea horse taking parenting seriously...