Whidbey Island Critters

Fish & Invertebrate sightings and descriptions, hosted by resident NWDC ID expert Janna Nichols (nwscubamom).
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WylerBear
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Post by WylerBear »

The Black & White Pens are so cool! Very nice shot.
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LCF
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Post by LCF »

Oh, I love the way the cartoon blends into the photography on this one, Jan!

I've only done the Fingers twice, but neither time did we see a whole lot of life. The structure is interesting, though.
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Jan K
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Sapsuckers in love

Post by Jan K »

Revisited Lagoon Point waters and found that not only the Hedgpeth"s Sapsuckers are still there, but that they are making sure that there be more of them in the future =D>

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Last edited by Jan K on Wed Mar 05, 2008 8:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Grateful Diver
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Post by Grateful Diver »

I gotta wonder how many of those things I've swam over and dismissed as a kelp leaf ... as usual, great pics, Jan ...

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nwscubamom
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Post by nwscubamom »

Good grief those are well-disguised!!!
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Dusty2
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Post by Dusty2 »

Good grief, Are you sre there's a critter there! I don't think I'd know it if I saw it.
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Jan K
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Straight mussel

Post by Jan K »

I agree, they are hard to see, who knows how many times in past years I passed over them. Even now, they look more like something in a salad bowl then slugs.
Here is another critter I had hard time to see. Not because it is small, actually this mollusk is larger then most mussels I've ever seen, it just looks like a piece of rock. What got my attention was the straight line intersecting that "rock" which is of course the opening, that separated the two halves..

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nwscubamom
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Post by nwscubamom »

They sure do look like rocks!

Hey! What happened to the poor Blood Star upside down on the bottom there? :) I noticed a lot of them last Saturday standing way high up on their legs....and we know what THAT means!!

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Jan K
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Post by Jan K »

nwscubamom wrote: Hey! What happened to the poor Blood Star upside down on the bottom there? :) I noticed a lot of them last Saturday standing way high up on their legs....and we know what THAT means!! - Janna \:D/
:pale: the fallen star is probably my fault, trying to get different angle of the mussel. I don't thing THAT was so strenuous that it make it fall asleep afterwards..
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Greg Jensen
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Post by Greg Jensen »

Definitely not a rectus- wrong color, shape, texture and habitat. They live in sand and mud and are all or mostly buried. This looks like a big gnarly Mytilus californianus- usually not in the sound but not unheard of.
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Jan K
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Correction

Post by Jan K »

OK, thanks Greg, I stay corrected - here is a California Mussel, it fooled me :pale:
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Sea pens

Post by Jan K »

And from the hard to ID mussel to more colorful critters :
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

New look.. OK
I venture away a little bit from Whidbey Island to nearby waters of Gedney Island ..
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LCF
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by LCF »

Ooh, I love vermilion rockfish. It's always such a lovely surprise to get down into dark, deep water, and suddenly come upon this brilliant red fish!
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

After one month of diving elsewhere, I returned for a dive to Keystone, yes, still a great place to dive ...
I spotted something on the end of hydroid, not having Dusty's eagle eyesight I just pointed at it and hoped
for the best. Juvenile Dendronotus albus, which of course, I would never guess. I had help from the experts
on this one.. Couple adults were grazing nearby, much easier to spot..

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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

more from the Keystone dive..
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

Not exactly Whidbey critters, but you can see Whidbey from here ...

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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by whatevah »

Jan - those stars are beautiful aren't they? They are definitely near the top of my list of favorite critters. I've been wondering what you could possibly come up with to make them more interesting to look at and couldn't think of anything - but I should never have doubted you - your diver entangled in Basket Star arms is excellent! It made me laugh and reminded me of just how much fun I had that day.
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

whatevah wrote:your diver entangled in Basket Star arms ....
Oh. it was a superb day of diving, thank you so much to let me tag along ...
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

The second dive of the day was also very nice, back on the Whidbey territory.
(This is a double post) Janna started the Deception Pass thread first ..

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LCF
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by LCF »

Jan, I wouldn't have thought it possible, but I think your pages are actually getting even more creative and more beautiful as you go along!
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

LCF wrote:Jan, I wouldn't have thought it possible, but I think your pages are actually getting even more creative and more beautiful as you go along!
Now that is what I call a compliment! Thank you. Maybe it has to do with new locations I was able to visit lately , inspiration fed by new encounters ?
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

Waters are getting real murky on top on the east side of Whidbey. Yesterday I was invited
to join trio of locals for a dive at Camano Island, across from the LAngley marina,
once we got deeper, visibility improved, but it gets dark down there and it feels like
a night dive. I did not find any new critters, but what we did find was colorful enough.

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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Zen Diver »

I love the "grrrr" face on the cartoon diver!

-Valerie =D>
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

Second dive close to Pebble Beach..

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