Northwest Dive Club

Lagoon Point, January 26th.
With lifespan of only about one year, they say that all the sea slugs do is eat and mate.
I came across pair of White-lined dironas and it didn't take them long to become friendly.

Lagoon Point, January 26th.
It was one of the times when something very small appears in my view and I then try to take picture of it since I have no idea what it is and my old eyes are not much help, hoping to figure it out later at home, viewing it on large computer screen. It was flipping around fast and I did not get good focused picture of it. But here it is. The Pipefish, on the other hand, is not so hard to ID.

Langley Harbor, January 29th.
I come across another feather-duster spawning event, this time it was mainly the Northern aka Vancouver Feather-duster worm action .
Few Split-branch join in the spawning fun.

Keystone Jetty, February 3rd.
Scalyhead sculpins- Fred II in residence on Rock of Life, the Giant Plumose anemone close to him moving around. I was looking for baby Lumpies at the rope trail and found only a flea ...

Keystone Jetty, February 3rd.
Butterfly crab and dorids...

Keystone Jetty, February 6th.
I found one Lingcod nest in 32 feet, the male did leave its guarding station when we approached, but did not attack, instead it laid down between us and the eggs.
Fred II had his cirri styled , probably after watching news from the United Kingdom

Keystone Jetty, February 6th.
Maya, my favorite dive buddy, here with some of the local critters. I wish she would visit more often.

Keystone Jetty, February 6th
All these Wrinkled dogwinkles. Talk about these snails having a way of reproduction which is very successful !
The Green sea urchins are not doing too bad either. Plenty of them at the jetty too.

Keystone Jetty, February 6th continuing with fish eggs. Kelp Greenling female is very different looking from the male who guards the egg she laid into empty Giant Barnacle shell. More than one female will contribute to the area where the male established his territory. The picture of hatching greenling alevine I took few year ago... And the third panel eggs look different from a typical Kelp greenling eggs, Greenish and spiky, not guarded and not in barnacle shell. Also seem to be smaller diameter, I don't know...
And for laugh, one with Mottled sea star encounter...

Langley Harbor, January 29th
Few slugs, some stars and no fish ...

Deception Pass, February 11th.
Beautiful weather above, bad visibility below. Plus, the camera strobe was acting up. In the bad visibility I came across rocks which I don't recall seeing in that location before. While all the other rocks around are covered with marine life and these are bare, I assume they came down from the cliff above. When the visibility improves, I like to investigate... Meanwhile, "CAUTION, FALLING ROCK".

Skyline, February 13.
It was nice to meet fellow critter affectionados gather on the sunny beach on Super Bowl Sunday. In spite of peculiar currents during unbelievably short time periods between start of flood to max flood and to the slack (check the attached current tables),
it was a good dive...

Driftwood Park Pond, February 5th.
Only some small Moon jellies, no sign of Sticklebacks, Cockscombs, Shrimp or Bubble shell slugs.
Even the wireweed is covered with brown algae.

This is so Cool!!! I love your tea bottle upgrade

Lagoon Point, February 14th.
What lives under the docks may not be the most exciting stuff, but it is part of marine life and so on my dives I dedicate some of the pixels to it.

Keystone Jetty, February 16th.
Fred II, begun his part in continuing the Fred Scalyhead Dynasty reign of the Rock of Life kingdom.
First batch of eggs appeared inside the Barnacle Castle . Long Live the King !!

Keystone Jetty, February 16th.
And the rest of the pixels...

Possession Point Fingers, February 18th.
Roses are red... Never mind, Valentine Day is gone.
Blood stars, some Sea cucumbers are red too...

Possession Point Fingers, February 18th.
Nudibranch encounters.

Keystone Jetty February 20th.
Another Lingcod guarding eggs, oblivious to Sharpnose crab and Scalyhead sculpins on them, but not moving from his position between me and the eggs. His injured nose attests that he is taking his duty seriously. Japanese wireweed is growing fast. And on my way home, I spotted Short-eared owl, nice end to a beautiful day at Keystone.

Deception Pass, February 26.
Lingcod Egg Mass Survey 2022.
Before the rain washes the snow away -
The participants
Tabb, Eric, ScubaJess, Valerie, Stephen, Jennifer, Jan.

Deception Pass, February 26th.
And now - underwater. Some of you hear me whining about the changes in the underwater realm. Old man complaining. Eight years and one day later, I prefer the old look...
Nevertheless, it is still nice place to dive...

Deception Pass, February 26th.
Smooth Velvet, how is that a name for snail?
And what about a mystery mosaic next to it?

Deception Pass, February 26 dive.
The rest of the pixels

Langley Harbor, February 27th.
Sea star survey. The good news - I did not see any wasting and I found one small Sunflower star. And hundreds of baby stars, none of them Sunflower Pycnos, not sure what species they are.
At this time, Leather, Ochre, Spiny Pink and Mottled stars are found here in some numbers, of course, not even close to the pre-wasting population .