Whidbey Island Critters

[Jan K]

"There's Gold In Them Hills"

[Dusty2]

Wow! That top one sure is pretty.

Love goldens, Wish they would stick around a bit more

[Tom Nic]

Wow! That top one sure is pretty.

+1 on that! Huge, too - and I love the way the cerrata are "splayed"! Nice shots....

[Jan K]

Thank you guys, White-lined dironas are sure many, many times more common then the Golden ones.
Maybe that is why they are called Golden
Anyway, had some nice dives on the southern end of Whidbey, fall is definitely here, one find leaves
even underwater ...

[Dusty2]

Nice pic of the wolfie on the ledge. Looks like the viz was great!

[Jan K]

On Tuesday the visibility was superb, over 60 feet! Unfortunately, next couple days
it was "only" half of that, still nice, but not WOW ...
All sudden, the shallows are full of baby Mottled sea stars, with some larger ones
also "schooling" together. Inspiration for Betsy Ross ?

[LCF]

Wow, that was a lot of dendronotids!

[Jan K]

Fun with sea pens

[LCF]

Poor sea pen, surrounded by predators . . .

[Jan K]

Even the fish are covered with silt :(

[Jan K]

Santa Claus is already looking for a Christmas tree !

[LCF]

Oh, man, Jan, you need to make that into a Christmas card and sell it, like you did that fabulous cave picture several years ago!

[Tom Nic]

Oh, man, Jan, you need to make that into a Christmas card and sell it, like you did that fabulous cave picture several years ago!

+1!

[Jan K]

Oh, man, Jan, you need to make that into a Christmas card and sell it, like you did that fabulous cave picture several years ago!

+1!

It is not even Thanksgiving yet !!!

[Jan K]

Another of those sponges I passed over many times without a second look.
Until I realized, I didn't have it on my critter list !

[Jan K]

As I was taking pictures of the juvenile Wolfie, all sudden strong down-drift current hit and visibility went from nice 25 feet down to seven or so, chunks of seaweed swirling around and sand was cascading down the slope from the shallows. I cut the dive short, as it was murky all over the Fingers ...

[LCF]

Jan, this remains the best thread on the internet!

[John Rawlings]

Jan, this remains the best thread on the internet!

Here, here!!!! To me there is no question of that! This thread is a treasure!

[Jan K]

Thank you, thank you.. :luv:
This time not much of critters, just to share the beautiful, but cold weather we are
enjoying before the forecast rain hits us starting tomorrow... And John, thanks for
the Weezle Extreme Plus - it is really appreciated this time of the year

[Dusty2]

Burr! Winter is here.
Nice pic of the cold mountains. Anytime they are that clear you know it's cold! but flat water like that is hard to resist given winter's penchant for windy days.

[Jan K]

Diving in protected, but murky waters of Lagoon Point, trying to avoid the tempest
all around us, I found numerous Hedgpeth's Sapsuckers, they seem to be winter
visitors to Whidbey ... Or I just didn't look close enough in the other seasons ...

[Dusty2]

nice shots, That's one you have on me Jan, I have never seen these.

[Jan K]

I have never seen these.

Thanks Dusty, like everything else, the hardest is to find the first on. Once your eyes and brain
recognizes that the "little piece of seaweed with horns" is actually a slug, then it is so much
easier to find them.

[Jan K]

Not so easy to add new critter to the list, but I did manage on last night's dive at Langley.
One month ago, the sandy plain was host to lots of Blackbelly eelpouts. Last night, I did not
see a single one, but the Blacktip poachers were all over the place. And so I can add that
poacher to my list now. Diving just doesn't get old

[dphershman]

nice shots, That's one you have on me Jan, I have never seen these.

Ditto here, never seen one, hope to soon. Wonderful photos! And the discussion of chlorophyl is a wonderful addition too. Are they similar to the Lettuce nudibranchs one sees down in the Caribbean?