Puget Sound in the Spring

[ljjames]

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[Grateful Diver]

Nice to see the sun stars making a comeback. Any idea why we're seeing so many "prematurely gray" juvenile wolfies lately? The one I found yesterday was barely bigger than a penpoint gunnel, and already sporting adult colors ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[mz53480]

Nice vid! Viz looks good!

[RVbldr]

We were noticing what seemed to be more barnacles than normal (maybe we're just seeing things though) covering any structure locally, but any chance less sea stars = more barnacles?

[ljjames]

Yes, the stars that were hardest hit were barnacle eaters... More barnacles would logically be one of the visible impacts of the mortality event. I'm glad someone other than me is noticing these subtle changes in the ecosystem. Good to have outside confirmation

[YellowEye]

The same seems true to me. Barnacles are all over the large pipe at Redondo, for instance.

Nice vid!

[ljjames]

Memorial Day dive, Spring in Puget Sound #2

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[Dusty2]

Thanks Laura, Nice work, Almost like being along on the dive! Looks like the sunflower stars are on their way back.

[ljjames]

Thanks!

I counted a total of 2 medium, 2 small pycno's, one pisaster and one evastarias running the line from the edge of the public beach all the way to the formerly-known-as-buoyancy-squares. Its good that there are a few surviving but nothing even near the baseline distribution at this site. I'm hoping they don't die in this next round that has started up.