Page 3 of 216

Lingcod

Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 8:45 am
by Jan K
And the Lingcod keep on eating...

Image
Image

Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 2:52 pm
by LCF
You consistently get the most AMAZING photographs!

I look at those teeth and think about the lings at Edmonds, with heads almost as wide as my shoulders, and think maybe I should stay a little further away next time :)

great escape

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 12:43 pm
by Jan K
What got my attention at this encounter was first the white color of the Giant Sea Cucumber (aka California Cucumber). When I turned to investigate the murky water movement, I found that a large Sunflower Star was trying to capture it. It was very interesting to watch how the cucumber inflated its body and then used a snakelike movement to slid from the star's grip. Considering that both animals lack eyes, it was fascinating to see how the cucumber picked its escape route and how fast it moved. The cucumber did manage to get away unharmed :bounce:

Image

Pipefish

Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2007 4:39 pm
by Jan K
Our Pacific Northwest sea horse taking parenting seriously...

Image

Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2007 4:53 pm
by 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

Puget Sound King Crab

Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2007 1:08 pm
by 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.

Image

Strange encounters

Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 10:02 am
by 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.)

Image

Re: Puget Sound King Crab

Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 10:26 am
by Grateful Diver
Jan K wrote: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.

Image
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)

California Lyonsia

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 5:52 pm
by 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 ?

Image

Puget Sound rockfish

Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 8:18 pm
by Jan K
It looks like we get some more rockfish at Keystone soon :bounce:

Image

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 8:33 am
by 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)

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 8:52 am
by Jan K
Thank you Valerie for kind words, for moment I thought nobody looks at these posts anymore :pale:
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...

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 10:17 am
by Sounder
Jan K wrote:Thank you Valerie for kind words, for moment I thought nobody looks at these posts anymore :pale:
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!!! =D> :prayer:

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 6:11 pm
by 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 :book:

Image

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 6:51 pm
by 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!

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 8:16 pm
by Grateful Diver
Jan, your pictures and the stories you create around them continue to be my all-time favorite forum reading.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 9:37 pm
by BbbleMkr
Love them, love them! Please don't stop!

Oregon Hairy Triton

Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2007 7:43 am
by 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... \:D/

Image

Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2007 1:06 pm
by BbbleMkr
And, if you ever decide to compile your art into book form, point me to the queue, I'll have VISA in hand.

Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2007 10:32 pm
by 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

Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 1:04 am
by Sea of Green
Jan, what camera and lens are you using to get these great macros?

Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 6:43 am
by 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).

Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 8:23 am
by Sounder
Jan K wrote: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.

Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 9:30 am
by 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..

Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 9:54 am
by Sounder
Exactly! You could continually add volumes to it!