Whidbey Island Critters

Fish & Invertebrate sightings and descriptions, hosted by resident NWDC ID expert Janna Nichols (nwscubamom).
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

Sunday. Walking through the forest instead of diving...
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

Keystone Jetty. Monday, January 20.
Yes. it was windy, but that did not deter six hardy divers from enjoying the underwater realm. One fin was lost in the exit maelstrom, but everybody got involved in the search. The two divers in the water wishing they owned a snorkel while the rest of us patrolled the beac .The fin was rescued from the pounding waves and all is well again :)
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

The changes at Langley Harbor are not only limited to the decline in sea star population. Most of the Plumose anemones are missing and once common Lingcod is absent since 2011, when was the last time I seen one. During the spawning seasons, up to eight Lings were guarding egg masses laid all over the tire reef...
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Gdog
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Gdog »

Wow, great point Jan. Your photos really point out what we are missing gradually over the last few years. Stunning, and sad.
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Tangfish »

Such a sad sign of the ecosystem out of whack.
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

News break: "Love (or lust?) is in the air in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as the country prepares for Valentine’s Day following decades of the practice of marking the day being forbidden."
So why not in the Ocean Realm?
Happy Valentine Day ! :)
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

Short visit to Southern California to join friend on a shakedown cruise to Catalina Island. Although it was not a dive trip, I managed to stick my head twice underwater and use my point & shoot Olympus TG-5.
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Scubie Doo »

Amazing work just by sticking your head in the water. When you got it, you got it :)


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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Reluctant, I returned to diving in Whidbey Island waters. I choose Langley harbor since it has been two months since my last dive here. It was not a nice welcome back dive. Visibility lousy six feet, my drysuit leaked and I was cold. :(
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

After three months hiatus, I returned to Deception Pass. I blame recent rains and river runoff for the poor visibility there. But the Red sea cucumbers are now starting to feed again so color is returning to the scene. Fortunately, no wasting sea stars were found .
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Weekend at Keystone Jetty. Saturday was cloudy and cold wind blowing. Lots of divers and lots critters to see. One could not ignore the schools of Striped surfperch milling around in the shallows right at the start of the dive...
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

Slowly going through the photos from Keystone weekend dives. Invasive Sargassum wireweed is again taking over in the shallows competing with emerging Bull kelp. As they do every year, Wrinkled dogwinkle snails are aggregating to mate.
Never a dull moment at the jetty.
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Another batch of snapshots from last weekend . It was nice to also see a class of new divers taking their certification dives in at Keystone.
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Final batch of Keystone dive pics. For the time being :)
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Slugs of Deception Pass - March 6th dive.
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Gdog »

As always, fantastic photos and information Jan!
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by derekcs »

I'm glad someone else got a picture of the painted anemone eating the crab.
All underwater photographs of mine are posted at http://www.dereksinger.com
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

Looking for peace and tranquility - Possession Point Fingers, March 12.
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Possession Point Fingers dive,March 12. Second batch of snapshots.
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Possession Point Fingers. March 12. Heath's dorids slugs are ignoring the social distancing rule. :)
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Lagoon Point, March 16th.
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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If there is one headline divers like in these days filled with bad news is this one: "THE ONLY SAFE PLACE FROM CORONAVIRUS IS UNDERWATER". Well true or not, Keystone sure became a popular place to escape to this Saturday. On Friday only handful of divers took advantage of favorable weather and currents, Saturday the parking was full. Friday was an interesting one for me. Got in in the fog, found one abalone and in the process of peering into cracks and holes between the jetty rocks, the buckle on my weight belt managed to flip open and fall off which sent me to the surface without means to get down and retrieve it. So that became my mission for Saturday. While multitudes of divers submerged in search for underwater beauty, I went for salvage. Fortunately weight belts don't float away with the current, it took me just few minutes to retrieve it. I placed it on rock out of water and returned now to normal dive routine. Except I didn't bring along my usual camera rig, just a little point& shoot, so missed some shots I could get. Nevertheless, seeing so many spawning Gumboot chitons and getting back my weight belt was reward worthy the dive. Also seeing friends, although only from distance, was also nice.
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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I dedicated the Saturday dive at Keystone not only to retrieval of my lost weight belt, but also to the many of the spawning Gumboot chitons. :)
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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The hermit crabs ignored the Social Distancing and congregate on rocks of Keystone Jetty to swap houses. In the same neighborhood, few sea anemones do follow the six feet separation rule, the Fish-eating and the Sand Rose, while the majority of Giant Plumose and Painted anemones huddle together. Total disregard for the directive. :)
And so Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission (Parks) and the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) announced the temporary closure of all state-managed parks, wildlife areas, and water access areas for at least two weeks starting Wednesday, March 25. The closure is in response to Gov. Inslee’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order issued yesterday. Entrance gates and facilities will be closed, and on-site public services will be suspended. :( :(
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

I had my morning cup of coffee, and here I am, in the "Stay Home, Stay Healthy" mode . The drysuit is not leaking anymore. Not because it is fixed, but because it hangs in the garage. So be it. I sit in front of the computer and dig through folder with photos from resent dives. Keystone Jetty file contains some more spawning pictures from the Saturday dive.
The spawning invertebrates there included not only the Gumboot, but also cucumbers and featherduster worm.
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