Whidbey Island Critters

[Jan K]

Juvenile Wolf eel roaming the Skyline realm...

[Jan K]

Keystone Jetty, July 12. The female Kelp greenlings are very tolerant of divers these days, swimming right up to me, not bothered by my camera strobes at all...

[Jan K]

Deception Pass, July 13th. Under the sunny skies ...

[oldsalt]

Reading the details of the amphipod makes his dwelling seem kind of yucky. Also, with the large range of tides today, currents in the pass are pushing 8 knots. Difficult diving. Thanks, Jan, for continuing to post.
-Curt

[Jan K]

Deception Pass July 14th. Another day diving Whidbey Island premier spot.

[Jan K]

And back to the wonderful underwater world of Deception Pass. July 13th dive. Sea cucumbers, anemone eating sea cucumber, Sponges, Buffalo and tunicate. Plenty of color, rich marine life all over...

[Jan K]

Catching up with backlog of pictures. Langley Harbor, July 17th. Seeing so many Ochre stars spawning is a wonderful sight, showing hope for the future...

[Jan K]

Langley Harbor, July 17th. And here are the juvenile Sunflower stars which hopefully will grow to adulthood and will spawn too. I hope it is not just my wishful thinking, it was dashed here before...

[Jan K]

While I was enjoying the underwater sights of Skyline Wall, the sign about the spill was posted at the beach entry. Well, these days, it is perilous to be alive ... Ask the unfortunate Colorful Six-rayed star. So enjoy life while you can.

[Jan K]

Skyline, July 25th. The water might have been contaminated, but the scenery was still nice.

[Scubak]

Beautiful as always Jan!!! I love all the eggs!
Kirsten

[Jan K]

Wrapping up the Skyline "in poop" dive with few more scenes, including a mystery snail critter I did not see while taking picture of nearby sea star. Heavy cropping from a low quality shot.

[Jan K]

Keystone Jetty, July 26th. It is matter of perspective, matter of preference. Do I enjoy the expansive sight of the underwater realm with its kelp forest, rocks covered with colorful sessile organism, the darting fish among them, OR,
concentrate on the minute sized beauties of the same area?
It is my dilemma on every dive...

[Jan K]

Keystone Jetty, July 27. Always pleasure to meet the Queen of Keystone, Pat Gunderson.
She knows where to find the tiniest critters living here and what is important, takes great pictures of them...

[Scubie Doo]

Jan, did you see the lumpy?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jan K]

Not this one, Pat is far more effective in finding them, my eyes are failing.
So far this season, I have found only one, very small one :(

[Jan K]

Keystone Jetty, July 26-27. Hermit crab, mating slugs and some of the many Buffalo sculpins found these days all over the jetty...

[Jan K]

Langley Harbor, July 30. No sea star wasting observed, the juvenile Sunflower stars are still at their same popular spots.
Lots of Red rock crabs, not so many Dungeness. Crab traps all over the area...

[Jan K]

Possession Point Fingers, August 3rd. Ratfish, slugs, and the resident Decorated warbonnet...

[Jan K]

Skyline August 7, 2020. Early start, I had to leave home at five so I can enter water at seven AM. All that to find visibility of only six feet. The reward? No currents to fight and a juvenile Wolf-eel came out from its hiding spot and entertained me.

[derekcs]

So the sewage is clear?

[Jan K]

The sewage spill signs are gone.
Few more pics from the Skyline dive.

[Jan K]

Returning to Keystone Jetty. Saturday August 8th. I came upon a California sea cucumber doing the Twist. I have no idea what that was all about. I have seen this specie doing similar twist while trying to escape Sunflower star, but here, there were no visible predators and it stayed in the same place, just twisting and moving as if pain. Finally, after few minutes, it settled down.




and a poor attempt at video
https://jankocian.smugmug.com/Underwate ... -grcG6Nj/A

[Jan K]

Keystone Jetty Sunday August 9. While on Saturday I had the jetty to myself, this time I had plenty of diving company. Even couple of freedivers zoomed by me as I descended through the kelp forest. Most of the others enjoying the underwater world were like me, lugging along air containing cylinders and bunch of lead to keep us down there. Although there were plenty of fish, some of us also look for the small stuff, like a guy with magnifying glass making sure he doesn't miss anything...

[Jan K]

Of course, the show at Keystone on Sunday was more than just divers and small stuff. Protected by the no-fishing at the underwater park, school of rockfish hovering in the water column shows us what it used to be like elsewhere before the arrival of man. And his remarkable skill to catch fish ...