TTN, Nov 14 & 17 - Octo City!

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!
Post Reply
User avatar
Tom Nic
I've Got Gills
Posts: 9368
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2006 6:26 pm

TTN, Nov 14 & 17 - Octo City!

Post by Tom Nic »

Had some great dives at Three Tree North toward the end of last week! Thanks BIll, Keith, and Tim for some great dives. A few pics from the 17th are here . Pics from the 14th are here , although I only had time to put up a few.

Three Tree has been probably the most pleasant dive in the Sound right now with all the run-off. Viz was for the most part a good 20'... sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less, but still better than just about any other site in the Sound right now. A few days we had quite the debris / driftwood field floating around on the tides and the counter clockwise current that runs through the bay. We surfaced in front of quite the little log pile after one dive, and it was headed our way! We quickly removed our fins and got out before we got ran over! It was definitely an overhead environment in spots!

On one of our dives we saw 4 GPO's... the most I've ever seen in one dive there. Could have seen more if I'd had a scooter! :smt064 But there were a couple of big boys / girls, and at least a pair of them were in an amorous mood. I'll try and post video that I took of an unexpected "tentacle whirl" that was unlike anything I've ever seen. Fun times!

Here's GPO #1 - some monster suckers on this guy - the pic only begins to do them justice.

Image

Here's GPO #2 - definitely had the whole "malevolent stare" thing going on!

Image

This one is from the next day - I think it was the same one, although who really knows? Perspective is difficult, but this is a big octo...

Image

Here's GPO #3 - the most calm and composed of the lot.

Image

And last, but not least, although probably the smallest one, GPO #4.

Image

And finally for the octos, I love this shot - the eye is so cool looking!

Image

There was a cool Dendronotus rufus on the Cabin Cruiser, and of course all kinds of other cool critters as well, but this post is already too long! Get out there and dive people! \:D/

Image
More Pics Than You Have Time To Look AT
"Anyone who thinks this place is over moderated is bat-crazy anarchist." -Ben, Airsix
"Warning: No dive masters are going to be there, Just a bunch of old fat guys taking pictures of fish." -Bassman
User avatar
MrsDiverBob
Avid Diver
Posts: 58
Joined: Tue Oct 21, 2008 7:26 pm

Re: TTN, Nov 14 & 17 - Octo City!

Post by MrsDiverBob »

Wow, great pictures Tom! You weren't kidding when you were talking about how big those octo's were!!! :smt119 I can't believe we missed them! Now you just need to get a picture/video of your sea lion friend! :salute:
User avatar
Nwbrewer
I've Got Gills
Posts: 4622
Joined: Fri Jul 21, 2006 10:59 am

Re: TTN, Nov 14 & 17 - Octo City!

Post by Nwbrewer »

Tom, those are some great, clear, octo pics. Nice work.
User avatar
spatman
I've Got Gills
Posts: 10881
Joined: Wed May 30, 2007 7:06 am

Re: TTN, Nov 14 & 17 - Octo City!

Post by spatman »

awesome shots, tom! i gotta get back to TTN soon...
Image
User avatar
WylerBear
I've Got Gills
Posts: 1293
Joined: Thu Aug 24, 2006 10:29 am

Re: TTN, Nov 14 & 17 - Octo City!

Post by WylerBear »

Zen Diver & I are diving there on Sunday. And since my camera's busted, I'm sure we will see outstanding stuff. Can't wait-I haven't really been in the water since we returned from Florida (6 minute dive in a local lake with an OW student doesn't really count).
Great photos, Tom.
Georgia

NOT diving is NOT an option
User avatar
Tom Nic
I've Got Gills
Posts: 9368
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2006 6:26 pm

Re: TTN, Nov 14 & 17 - Octo City!

Post by Tom Nic »

Thanks for all your kind comments...

Went back today for one quick dive and only found one of our friends. Sounder and the scooters probably chased them off. :axe: (Just kidding, of course. - I'm sure they've been getting plenty of visits from divers.)
More Pics Than You Have Time To Look AT
"Anyone who thinks this place is over moderated is bat-crazy anarchist." -Ben, Airsix
"Warning: No dive masters are going to be there, Just a bunch of old fat guys taking pictures of fish." -Bassman
octofish
Getting To Know Folks
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2008 11:11 pm

Re: TTN, Nov 14 & 17 - Octo City!

Post by octofish »

Nice! The colors are amazing...

Just wondering - how often do you see octos with eggs around here...? Is there a season for that?

:)
User avatar
Tom Nic
I've Got Gills
Posts: 9368
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2006 6:26 pm

Re: TTN, Nov 14 & 17 - Octo City!

Post by Tom Nic »

octofish wrote:Nice! The colors are amazing...

Just wondering - how often do you see octos with eggs around here...? Is there a season for that?
Yes, they are amazing!

I've seen octos denned and on eggs at Sund, but not at any of our local sites. I've heard of them denned at Alki. And I'll leave the season question for some who know more than I do... but I think there is a season for that, though I'm not 100% sure.
More Pics Than You Have Time To Look AT
"Anyone who thinks this place is over moderated is bat-crazy anarchist." -Ben, Airsix
"Warning: No dive masters are going to be there, Just a bunch of old fat guys taking pictures of fish." -Bassman
User avatar
Tom Nic
I've Got Gills
Posts: 9368
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2006 6:26 pm

Re: TTN, Nov 14 & 17 - Octo City!

Post by Tom Nic »

Here's a few pics from the 20th.

Only one of the Octos is in the "pile" now. It amazes me how they change color. These two pics were taken within seconds of each other. My guess is that he doesn't like the close ups! I saw an octo in the Red Sea exhibit the same kind of "through the eye" line when it was upset. Wonder if they speak the same language?

Image

Image

I love how the Scaleyhead Sculpins blend into the particular background they inhabit. The camouflage is amazing. These guys live on the block where, among other things, there is a nice pink Coralline Algae - thus they develop pink highlights in their coloring. Pretty Cool!

Image

Image

Image

Image
More Pics Than You Have Time To Look AT
"Anyone who thinks this place is over moderated is bat-crazy anarchist." -Ben, Airsix
"Warning: No dive masters are going to be there, Just a bunch of old fat guys taking pictures of fish." -Bassman
User avatar
Tom Nic
I've Got Gills
Posts: 9368
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2006 6:26 pm

Re: TTN, Nov 14 & 17 - Octo City!

Post by Tom Nic »

Here's the video that I took of what I call an "octo whirl". I started wanting to just try a few seconds of video of the GPO tentacles when they started doing this "whirling" thing. I have no idea what I'm looking at, but it sure looks like it has reproduction involved! The video isn't the best quality, but if you keep watching you'll find some pretty cool footage, IMO. At first I thought there was only one octo, but the more I look there are definitely two. And with the tire for perspective you can see that some of the suckers are HUGE - easily the size of small dinnerplates.

Here's the link, for some reason I can't get it to embed. Can anybody help me on this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XaxsyO_ZRA
More Pics Than You Have Time To Look AT
"Anyone who thinks this place is over moderated is bat-crazy anarchist." -Ben, Airsix
"Warning: No dive masters are going to be there, Just a bunch of old fat guys taking pictures of fish." -Bassman
User avatar
Joshua Smith
I've Got Gills
Posts: 10250
Joined: Mon Apr 03, 2006 9:32 pm

Re: TTN, Nov 14 & 17 - Octo City!

Post by Joshua Smith »

Tom- I tried to copy and embed the code from youtube, but it didn't work for me, either. I bet some of our more tech-savvy members can help out, though. GREAT footage, btw. I loves me some GPOs!
Maritime Documentation Society

"To venture into the terrible loneliness, one must have something greater than greed. Love. One needs love for life, for intrigue, for mystery."
User avatar
BASSMAN
I've Got Gills
Posts: 5808
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2006 2:55 am

Re: TTN, Nov 14 & 17 - Octo City!

Post by BASSMAN »

Try Photobucket.com
Hi, my name is Keith, and I'm a Dive Addict! :supz:
User avatar
spatman
I've Got Gills
Posts: 10881
Joined: Wed May 30, 2007 7:06 am

Re: TTN, Nov 14 & 17 - Octo City!

Post by spatman »

Joshua Smith wrote:Tom- I tried to copy and embed the code from youtube, but it didn't work for me, either. I bet some of our more tech-savvy members can help out, though.
unfortunately, the new version of this site doesn't support html, so no embedding for us anymore...
Image
Post Reply