Whidbey Island Critters

John Rawlings · Post by **John Rawlings** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 10:27 am

"This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me."

Hee Hee Hee....we probably left half the membership behind on this one...... :book:

Sounder · Post by **Sounder** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 11:34 am

Penopolypants · Post by **Penopolypants** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 11:59 am

Moby Dick. I love the cadence of that book, it's a good one to read aloud.

John Rawlings · Post by **John Rawlings** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 12:04 pm

Arrrr....keep your harpoon blades sharpened as we go off on the quest for the white Great sculpin! At least we can refer to Jan as Ishmael and NOT Ahab!

Or....have you lost a leg to the white Great sculpin and not told us about it, Jan? #-o

- John

Joshua Smith · Post by **Joshua Smith** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 12:22 pm

"though following the sea as highwaymen the road, they but plunder other ships, other fragments of the land like themselves...."

My favorite quotes from this book were used by Ricardo Montablan in Star Trek II : The Wrath of Khan-

"He tasks me. He tasks me, and I SHALL HAVE HIM!"

and:

"From hell's heart, I stab at thee. For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee!"

:evil4:

John Rawlings · Post by **John Rawlings** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 12:52 pm

"From hell's heart, I stab at thee. For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee!"

Ah, yes....always a useful line at parties and other social gatherings!

What a GREAT thread this is! Where else can you get beautiful photos, entertaining cartoons, a marine biology education....AND a discussion of literary classics? =D>

- John

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 3:23 pm

Very cool quotes!

Here we are getting an edgymacation on NwDiveClub as well! $\:D/$

Jan K · Post by **Jan K** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 3:50 pm

John Rawlings wrote:Arrrr....keep your harpoon blades sharpened as we go off on the quest for the white Great sculpin! At least we can refer to Jan as Ishmael and NOT Ahab! Or....have you lost a leg to the white Great sculpin and not told us about it, Jan? - John

Thank you John, I do prefer to be Ishmael , for he managed to survive and let us know that: : Ahab, and the Pequod, which, "like Satan, would not sink to hell till she had dragged a living part of heaven along with her...

And I enjoy the company of NW Dive Club :salute:

Jan K · Post by **Jan K** » Fri Oct 19, 2007 10:02 am

This was my first time sighting of Harbor seal at Keystone, probably because I always look somewhere else, ususally at some small critter and I would most likely miss a Gray whale passing by.. This pup zoomed by, managing to click just one picture. .. #-o

Zen Diver · Post by **Zen Diver** » Sat Oct 20, 2007 8:32 am

Great shot Jan! =D>

I've never managed to capture a shot of a seal underwater, fast little buggers.

-Valerie

Jan K · Post by **Jan K** » Sat Oct 20, 2007 9:53 am

Thank you Valerie, they are difficult to capture with Point and Shoot, that is why I missed the better moment when the seal was looking at me for a split second..
And from the waters of Langley:
Very small slug, about a quarter inch if that. I don't see them often, but that might be more due to my eyesight #-o

Jan K · Post by **Jan K** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 8:26 am

Giant nudibranch - here I am trying to convey the locomotion of slug swimming ...

Jan K · Post by **Jan K** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 2:38 pm

It makes me wonder if the scientist who named this slug had limited vocabulary or weird sense of humor..
Another swimming slug - the other common names are little bit more appropriate in my humble opinion ...

Jan K · Post by **Jan K** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 1:33 pm

I had same encounter more then a year ago. Same technique applied by the hunter and the hunted. Same result.

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 2:01 pm

Deightful Stuff Jan!

Seth T. · Post by **Seth T.** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 2:06 pm

Wow! Sucks to be the cockle! :pale:

Sounder · Post by **Sounder** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 4:18 pm

Nice work Jan!!! That's amazing!!! I would love to see video of this event. =D>

nwscubamom · Post by **nwscubamom** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 5:50 pm

Jan, that is really interesting stuff! I knew what it ate, and that it bore a hole, but never knew all the pouncing stuff that the Lewis's Moonsnail does! Very cool that you caught that on film!

- Janna :)

Pez7378 · Post by **Pez7378** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 7:14 pm

How long do you have to wait, sitting in one spot to observe this type of behavior. I see critters all the time, however I cannot predict what it is they are up to. This is truly amazing footage of nature at its best!

Jan K · Post by **Jan K** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 7:32 pm

Pez7378 wrote:How long do you have to wait, sitting in one spot to observe this type of behavior. I see critters all the time, however I cannot predict what it is they are up to. This is truly amazing footage of nature at its best!

Once you recognize potential predator - prey encouter, hunker down and let nature perform. Some plays are longer then others, sometimes nothing happens - so dive often $\:D/$

Sounder · Post by **Sounder** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 8:09 pm

Jan K wrote:
Pez7378 wrote:How long do you have to wait, sitting in one spot to observe this type of behavior. I see critters all the time, however I cannot predict what it is they are up to. This is truly amazing footage of nature at its best!

Once you recognize potential predator - prey encouter, hunker down and let nature perform. Some plays are longer then others, sometimes nothing happens - so dive often $\:D/$

I love this philosophy. Such wisdom. :prayer:

Jan K · Post by **Jan K** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 11:22 pm

Octopus Lullaby :-({|=

Scubak · Post by **Scubak** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 11:26 pm

Jan,
I'm surprised you didn't do a Halloween cartoon...something like your christmas card...
no worries though, your pics are wonderful as always.
I sent the link to this thread to my friend, whose 6 year old son is just now "discovering" the ocean and sea "pickles"... :)
Thanks so much. I want to order him one of your books and ship to him for a suprise...
Thanks so much.

Kirsten

Jan K · Post by **Jan K** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 7:09 am

Scubak wrote:Jan,
I'm surprised you didn't do a Halloween cartoon...something like your christmas card... Kirsten

Kirsten, I got caught up in diving and work.. So here is one from the past..

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 8:00 am

Was he actually sleeping, or did you just catch him with his eyes closed?!

Very cool, as always Jan!

Northwest Dive Club

Whidbey Island Critters

Harbor seal

Dancer

Stomach Wing

Moon snail hunt

GPO