Redondo, 12/26/09

Tell us your tale of coming nose-to-nose with a 6 gill [--this big--], or about your vacation to turquoise warm waters. Share your adventures here!
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BASSMAN
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Redondo, 12/26/09

Post by BASSMAN »

Had a great dive with ORDiver and No excuses, this morning. During the Surface swim out, we saw three Sea Otters hunting or snacking under the Aquarium / Dive Pier. They were dipping just below the surface and coming back up while chewing on something. As we aproached the end of the Pier they left and then just befor we dropped, two of them came back. I was hoping we would be able to drop and see them below the surface, but the vis right there was less than desirable and I did not see them as we dropped. ORDiver had a small issue with clearing his ears, so he went back up and came down slowly, and all was good. There was the usual big school of Tubesnouts and I think that may have been what the Sea Otters were snacking on.
(I wish I had Jan K's ability to draw a cartoon of it.) We went down to the Carousel boat and backup to some of the other attractions at "The Dond". Saw a big Ling Cod, a small GPO and a "BIG" GPO. ORDiver saw a Sailfin Sculpin and we saw a Buffalo Sculpin on the big pipe that refused to move, even when I lifted his upper lip with my fingertip and wiggled his nose. We also saw a big Sun Star cruising to go somewhere. And then there was a very large, Lewis Moon Snail. heading somewhere. As we were coming back to shore, I found a small clam shell, that had a fish inside it and I still need to I.D. it. It might have been a small Snail Fish, but I'm not sure. :dontknow: He was sitting inside the shell like a Snail Fish would, but when I brought him to the surface to have the guys help to identify it just wanted to go back in the water so I let the little guy go. It looked like it had a regular mouth and a sort of flat suction cup formation just aft of his mouth on the bottom. Any ideas? Vis was a good 20' or 30' down below 60 fsw, but was not too good when we went above 50 fsw, A very cloudy 15' or less. At least thats how I saw it.
I wonder how Greatfuldivers dive is, later in the afternoon as far as vis goes. Thanks to Dave and Stan, for a great dive! :supz: And it was nice to meet you guys and also good to meet Marie (?)sp too. :salute:
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BASSMAN
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Re: Redondo, 12/26/09

Post by BASSMAN »

I think our little friend at the end of the dive, looked like this.
Not a Marbled Snailfish, but more like this one...

http://www.theperfectdive.com/DEF-Photo.asp?psID=514
http://www.theperfectdive.com/DEF-Photo.asp?psID=516
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no excuses
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Re: Redondo, 12/26/09

Post by no excuses »

Kieth it was great to meet you, that was a great dive. Dave and I had about a hour surface interval amd went back in. We went looking ofr the rope to take us out to the VW bug, went to about 60' and missed it so we had to backtrack and found it. hung out at the Barbie and Ken play house lol and then headed out toward the bug. Checked out all the piles and and made it on out to the bug. In the left front tire well of the VW a lingcod had laid a mess of eggs and was very aggrassive. I had about three passes made at me and Dave had one made out him and we were trying to give it some room. Came on back and searched the shallows for some lumpsuckers but we did not find any. All in all a very good dive and lots of fun.


stan
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Re: Redondo, 12/26/09

Post by cardiver »

no excuses wrote:Kieth it was great to meet you, that was a great dive. Dave and I had about a hour surface interval amd went back in. We went looking ofr the rope to take us out to the VW bug, went to about 60' and missed it so we had to backtrack and found it. hung out at the Barbie and Ken play house lol and then headed out toward the bug. Checked out all the piles and and made it on out to the bug. In the left front tire well of the VW a lingcod had laid a mess of eggs and was very aggrassive. I had about three passes made at me and Dave had one made out him and we were trying to give it some room. Came on back and searched the shallows for some lumpsuckers but we did not find any. All in all a very good dive and lots of fun.


stan
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Re: Redondo, 12/26/09

Post by ktb »

I dove last night at Redondo, hitting the water after 6:30 p.m. Viz was fantastic (better than my light could reach) but after going deep in the first part of the dive, we had a hard time finding the damn eelgrass beds because they were in a mere 4-6 feet of water. The tide was waaaaay out.

But the nightlife was plentiful! I also saw a snailfish, as well as a stubby squid and a nice collection of opalescent squid egg "sausages." Saw just about every type of sculpin I can identify including a baby grunt sculpin hiding out in a jar.

And wow--I need to spend more time in the eelgrass. I finally saw a PSL, which was the point of going there, a ton of baby crabs and tube-snounts, but I also spied something new to me--I'm pretty sure it was an eelgrass isopod (pg 282 of Lamb and Hanby). It's like an underwater caterpiller. There was so much life to see in such a little patch of grass! As soon as I figure out how to manage the camera on a night dive, I can't wait to return and just snap away.
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Re: Redondo, 12/26/09

Post by Dusty2 »

I did the eelgrass right after dark and had no luck finding those lumpie spine suckers. :questionmarks: :questionmarks: :questionmarks: I spent an hour looking then gave up and headed a little deeper and back south. on the way south I found a couple of the snail fish and took lots of pix plus several other interesting critters including several little Graceful rock crabs carrying full loads of eggs and baby midshipmen which are a real challenge to get a photo of because as soon as you approch they drop to the bottom and dig in.

I took these pix in about the same area Keith found his
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ktb
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Re: Redondo, 12/26/09

Post by ktb »

Very nice! I wonder . . . were there really that many snailfish out, or did we all see the same one? :)
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Re: Redondo, 12/26/09

Post by BASSMAN »

ktb wrote:Very nice! I wonder . . . were there really that many snailfish out, or did we all see the same one? :)
That looks like the One we saw! =D>
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Re: Redondo, 12/26/09

Post by enchantmentdivi »

cardiver wrote: They love laying thier eggs in the bug!
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, that's the fiesty sucker who bit me square right between the eyes yesterday!!! It was not a bump; it was a bite! Thank goodness for my mask. After that, he swam over the top of me and bit the top of my thigh. Redondo divers: BEWARE!!!
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Re: Redondo, 12/26/09

Post by Bric Martin »

I dove Redondo today. The Viz was about 20 feet. My goal today was spiny lumpsuckers. I spent about 35 minutes searching the grass and my patience was rewarded. I found 2 of them in the grass at about 20 feet. I had never seen them before and I was suprised how small they are. The 2 that I saw were smaller than the tip of my little finger. The first one was about half of that size. They reminded me of hummingbirds. The only downside for me was my picture quality. They are so small they are really, really hard to get a super sharp focus on. My hat is off to Bob(Grateful). His pictures are spectacular.
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Re: Redondo, 12/26/09

Post by ORDiver »

Hey there, first time I've been on the board since the dive. Definitely nice to meet and dive with you Keith. Our little friend at the end was very cool. I looked at some ID books and thought he was a Clingfish. The picture in my book looks exactly like Dusty's Snailfish. Are they the same fish, just two different names?
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Re: Redondo, 12/26/09

Post by ORDiver »

enchantmentdivi wrote:
cardiver wrote: They love laying thier eggs in the bug!
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, that's the fiesty sucker who bit me square right between the eyes yesterday!!! It was not a bump; it was a bite! Thank goodness for my mask. After that, he swam over the top of me and bit the top of my thigh. Redondo divers: BEWARE!!!
That guy was VERY defensive. I came around the bug giving him plenty of clearance and he shot out at me and stopped within 6'' of my face to tell me to piss off.
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Re: Redondo, 12/26/09

Post by BASSMAN »

ORDiver wrote:I looked at some ID books and thought he was a Clingfish. The picture in my book looks exactly like Dusty's Snailfish. Are they the same fish, just two different names?
Two different fish that are simular but different. One time, at Redondo I saw a Marbled Snailfish that was text book in discription, with black and white lines on it. A comon clingfish is the Northern Clingfish which has a distinctive horizontal line on his head. This one that we saw was so small, he may not have developed his markings yet that would better identify him.
Thats just a personal thought. Maybe Janna can help us out here.

Janna? What say you?... :bounce:
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Re: Redondo, 12/26/09

Post by nwscubamom »

That's a snailfish for sure, and most likely a Showy Snailfish. (their face is cuter than the Marbled Snailfish). You can't really go off the markings on those guys, but rather the shape of their head and size of their eyes.

The Northern Clingfish has a body shape like a frying pan, kind of. Broad flat head, white line often seen that runs across forehead eye to eye, and tapering back to a skinny little tail.

Yes, both have their ventral (bottom side) fins that form suction cups (so do Spiny Lumpsuckers) so they can stick to stuff.

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Re: Redondo, 12/26/09

Post by ORDiver »

Thanks Keith and Janna! I just printed out the handouts for my upcoming REEF fish id class and there is a picture of both the Clingfish and Snailfish right next to each other. It makes it easier to tell them apart. I'm looking forward to seeing my first Silver Spotted Sculpin and doing some surveys in Tillamook Bay and Puget Sound.
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Re: Redondo, 12/26/09

Post by Dusty2 »

Good luck on the silver spotted. They are elusive little devils but really a treat if you find one.
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Re: Redondo, 12/26/09

Post by Grateful Diver »

Dusty, I think we saw your light out there when we exited on Saturday night (about 5:40).

I saw a snailfish like the one you posted too ... might've been the same one. I was "guiding" four other divers ... two that I hadn't met before ... so I left my camera in the car. We also found about 10 lumpies, a coupla bay pipefish and had a long visit with a very cooperative squid.

With the low tide it was silly shallow ... we maxed at 13 feet and averaged 8.

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Re: Redondo, 12/26/09

Post by Cold_H2O »

Nice shot of the Dungie. She is packing a ton of eggs.
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Re: Redondo, 12/26/09

Post by Grateful Diver »

Cold_H2O wrote:Nice shot of the Dungie. She is packing a ton of eggs.
That's not a dungie ... it's a cancer gracilis crab. They're similar, but much smaller crabs that live in the mud up near the beach line. There's an egg-fest going on with them right now, as I see several "pregnant" females every time I'm up in the shallows.

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Re: Redondo, 12/26/09

Post by Cold_H2O »

Grateful Diver wrote:That's not a dungie ... it's a cancer gracilis crab. They're similar, but much smaller crabs that live in the mud up near the beach line. There's an egg-fest going on with them right now, as I see several "pregnant" females every time I'm up in the shallows.

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Thanks ~ Always good to add to my crab knowledge.
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Re: Redondo, 12/26/09

Post by Grateful Diver »

Cold_H2O wrote:
Grateful Diver wrote:That's not a dungie ... it's a cancer gracilis crab. They're similar, but much smaller crabs that live in the mud up near the beach line. There's an egg-fest going on with them right now, as I see several "pregnant" females every time I'm up in the shallows.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)
Thanks ~ Always good to add to my crab knowledge.
I will stop melting butter and put the boil pot away. :crybaby:
I'll bet they're tasty ... you'd just have to eat a lot of 'em ... :thumb3d:

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Re: Redondo, 12/26/09

Post by Dusty2 »

Bob, I think you guys passed me on your way back. I saw you going in with Betty and crew as I was gearing up but you didn't look over my way. I must be doing something wrong cause I spent an hour in the eelgrass before giving up and saw not one lumpie, squid or pipe fish! :banghead: :banghead: Guess I need a tour with the lumpie king.
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Re: Redondo, 12/26/09

Post by Grateful Diver »

Dusty2 wrote:Bob, I think you guys passed me on your way back. I saw you going in with Betty and crew as I was gearing up but you didn't look over my way. I must be doing something wrong cause I spent an hour in the eelgrass before giving up and saw not one lumpie, squid or pipe fish! :banghead: :banghead: Guess I need a tour with the lumpie king.
Any time ya wanna go, just drop me a PM ...

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Re: Redondo, 12/26/09

Post by ktb »

Just wondering . . . are the PSL's only around for a certain amount of time? Do they have a short life span, do they migrate, are they just harder and harder to spot, are they eaten by other life . . . in other words, why are we seeing them now but I hadn't heard of them until a few weeks ago?
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Re: Redondo, 12/26/09

Post by Grateful Diver »

I won't pretend to know why ... but they showed up about the same time last year and stuck around till about April. Then they simply disappeared. My guess is that they're either here to breed or feed ... and if the latter, possibly on something that moves shallow when water temps drop.

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