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Re: Whidbey Island Critters
Posted: Tue May 21, 2019 10:06 am
by Jan K
Re: Whidbey Island Critters
Posted: Fri May 24, 2019 11:47 am
by Jan K
Re: Whidbey Island Critters
Posted: Sun May 26, 2019 1:39 pm
by Jan K
Re: Whidbey Island Critters
Posted: Sun May 26, 2019 1:45 pm
by Jan K
Re: Whidbey Island Critters
Posted: Tue May 28, 2019 8:15 pm
by Jan K
Deception Pass. The place which many of us love and yet, every time we dive into its waters, we hope that we don't have to struggle with wicked currents which feed all that rich marine life that make the pass its home. I just finished four consecutive days of diving it and tried to test the new set of NOAA current tables I found week or so ago on the internet. The difference between the old NOAA tables I have been using for year and the new ones gives you some idea with what the divers were dealing with when trying to figure out when to hit the slack waters and so minimize the washing machine experience underwater.
Saturday 25th The slack was 31 minutes late
Sunday 26th 6 minutes earlier
Monday 27th 27 minutes earlier
Tuesday 28th 34 minutes earlier
Needless to say, following the new tables made these four dives a very pleasant experience. However, I have to stress that this cycle the tides were very friendly, which doesn't happen that often.
Re: Whidbey Island Critters
Posted: Wed May 29, 2019 5:57 pm
by Jan K
Re: Whidbey Island Critters
Posted: Thu May 30, 2019 9:27 am
by Jan K
Kelp greenlings, female and two males. It is hard to believe they are the same specie.
Re: Whidbey Island Critters
Posted: Fri May 31, 2019 7:07 am
by Jan K
Leaving the colorful world of Deception Pass and posting an encounter with a critter which is so unassuming, that taking picture of it may look like a waste of pixels. But what a pleasant surprise meeting ! After many years I came across Pinto abalone at Keystone Jetty. It is hard to see, for it is covered with barnacles as are the rocks surrounding it. For the uninitiated it doesn't mean much, but for local divers it is a most welcome news.
Re: Whidbey Island Critters
Posted: Sat Jun 01, 2019 6:13 am
by Jan K
Re: Whidbey Island Critters
Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2019 7:26 pm
by Jan K
Re: Whidbey Island Critters
Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2019 8:06 am
by Jan K
Re: Whidbey Island Critters
Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2019 8:03 pm
by Jan K
Re: Whidbey Island Critters
Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2019 6:05 am
by Jan K
Re: Whidbey Island Critters
Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2019 5:14 pm
by Jan K
What better way to spend the Sunday morning than with friends at Deception Pass State Park. Not only we enjoyed nice weather above, but got to see the color gardens below the waves too. And the new current tables - icing on the cake. Dive was followed by Eric's culinary art prepared on the hood of his car
Re: Whidbey Island Critters
Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2019 8:03 am
by Jan K
Re: Whidbey Island Critters
Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 2:25 pm
by Jan K
Few more from the Skyline Wall dive.
The Hairy Oregon Triton snails are busy laying eggs. he one juvenile Wolf-eel was not interested in being photographed at all ...
Re: Whidbey Island Critters
Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 6:55 am
by Jan K
Monday dive. Somebody went through the effort to bring the menace of plastic pollution even to the underwater world of Deception Pass. Filled half way with sand so it doesn't float and put the cap back on before tossing it into the otherwise pristine waters. I did not mind in the past recovering lost drone or GoPro camera from here in , but I was hoping that collecting trash would not be a part of my diving routine :(
Re: Whidbey Island Critters
Posted: Sat Jun 15, 2019 5:40 am
by Jan K
Re: Whidbey Island Critters
Posted: Sat Jun 15, 2019 6:15 am
by Jan K
June 12, Keystone Jetty underwater park. Yellowtail rockfish school...
Re: Whidbey Island Critters
Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2019 7:49 am
by Jan K
Re: Whidbey Island Critters
Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2019 8:49 am
by Jan K
Re: Whidbey Island Critters
Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 6:30 am
by Tidepool Geek
Hi Jan,
Great images and a terrific find! Hopefully, now that you've found your first, more of these will follow.
I'd love to have one of these at the Feiro Center but it might not be possible to collect one intact. Did you get any sense of how robust the tube and spokes were?
Enviously yours,
Alex
Re: Whidbey Island Critters
Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 11:07 am
by Jan K
Thanks Alex.
I didn't dare to touch it, I have no idea how tough that windmill is. If there were more of them, I would try to collect it for you, but for now, I will leave it alone
Re: Whidbey Island Critters
Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2019 9:14 am
by Jan K
Langley Harbor, seventeen days later. Bad visibility, especially in the first 35 feet of depth hampered the sea star wasting survey. In the miso soup-like visibility on the seawall, where many stars reside, surveying was not feasible. Many of the Ochre stars are showing signs of the disease and piles of goo, remnants of stars already dead, laying all over the area beneath the floating dock. Interestingly, on sunken piece of timber, ten Sunflower stars, seemingly still healthy, resided next to large Ochre stars with first signs of wasting - the white lesion blotches. I still don't know why sea stars congregate on some structures in such numbers...
Re: Whidbey Island Critters
Posted: Fri Jun 21, 2019 10:02 am
by Jan K