Whidbey Island Critters

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

Post by Penopolypants »

:laughing3: Very funny!
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Jan K wrote:
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Is that a sculpin hiding in the white anenomes?

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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

smike wrote: Is that a sculpin hiding in the white anenomes? S'Mike
It is a Painted Greenling ...
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

Feeling little crabby? Go diving - find a kindred heart :)
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by LCF »

The first heart crab I ever found was at Keystone -- He was down in the bottom among the pebbles, and initially impossible to see. Had he had the courage of his convictions and stayed put as I swam over him, I would never have seen him at all.

I really like the lithodid crabs. They look prehistoric.
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by whatevah »

The first heart crab I ever saw was in the pilings at Keystone. They really are neat critters. Puget Sound King Crabs are still my favorite though - golf-ball crabs are second, and heart crabs third. Fourth would be decorator crabs. Alright - I guess the truth is that they're all really really cool!
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

Deception Pass walls have hundreds of them in places, the currents bringing them lots of food..
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Dusty2 »

I learn something new each time I view your thread

Thanks Jan for all this interesting info
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

While searching for new diving destinations around Whidbey, we visited a small tire reef in Saratoga Passage established as a fish haven some thirty years ago. Although I did not find any new critters to add to my collection, I did find a nudibranch behavior I did not see before. The Striped Nudibranch - (Armina californica) which is found crawling on the sea floor in search of Sea pens or is buried in sand the rest of time, was floating through midwater suspended on string of mucus, it did not wriggle or move, looked quite relaxed and as if this was normal way to move a great distance without much effort. There were no Sea pens I could see anywhere around. I have no idea how the Armina managed to get up into the water column. It would be interesting to see if anybody else sees it too, so guys keep your eyes on floaters and let me know ...book:
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by airsix »

Jan, I absolutely love your posts - art and education every time!
-Ben

ps - Not to distract from your art, but that is a SWEET looking boat! I've never seen a dive boat with a bow ramp. That looks awesome .
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

I agree, Ben, SWEET boat, soooo easy to dive from. I found dive buddy with boat and passion to explore,
what a combination...
Back to critters. This weekend we had some great conditions as far as currents were concerned.
I did a shore dive from the North Beach to my favored Deception Pass walls which are just an
explosion of colors... Visibility wasn't as good as was two weeks ago, but plenty of stuff for macro.
I found that even the Cabezon was wearing some of the pink to color coordinate with local decor -
the Proliferating anemones..
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Dusty2 »

Wow those anemones are bright. I saw a couple at Hudson last week but they were a nice blue/green in color
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by dwashbur »

Uh, call me picky, but isn't that cabezon a red irish lord?
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Dusty2 »

That's what I was thinking but I couldn't see close enough to say anything
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

And that is what I thought when I took the photos. But when I saw on the computer screen all the cirri above eyes and snout, according to my book, I think it is Cabezon. I would rather have Red Irish Lord, since they are not common at all on my usual Whidbey sites and I have only few pictures of them... Maybe Janna can tell us what this really is :book:
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Dusty2 »

This is deffinatly a red irish in a very simular pose for comparison

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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

and more marine color from the same neighborhood
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Greg Jensen »

Definitely a red irish lord.
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Penopolypants »

Jan K wrote:And that is what I thought when I took the photos. But when I saw on the computer screen all the cirri above eyes and snout, according to my book, I think it is Cabezon. I would rather have Red Irish Lord, since they are not common at all on my usual Whidbey sites and I have only few pictures of them... Maybe Janna can tell us what this really is :book:
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I love that shot Jan!
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Sounder »

RIL would be my guess too... almost looks like you can see the yellow dots on the eyes too.
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

Thank you guys, I stand corrected. Again. Well, at least I have now more pictures of the Red Irish Lord and will easier time recognizing it. ](*,)
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by dwashbur »

Glad to help. The big tip-off for me was the doodinkles under his chin (as you can see, I'm really into technical scientific terms), which the cabezon doesn't have. The RIL does have small cirri above the eyes, but they're nowhere near as pronounced as the ones on the cabezon. The cabbie also has the rhino-type little horn thing on its nose, like this juvenile we spotted at EUP (sorry about all the backscatter):

Image

And I agree, that RIL is in a great pose!
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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Thanks again. :salute:
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by dwashbur »

Jan K wrote:Thanks again. :salute:
Hardly. I find myself wondering again and again how to thank you for all you share of your experiences and knowledge. I'm always excited when I see a new post with your name on it, because I know I'm going to learn something. Thank you just seems so inadequate........
:notworthy: :prayer:
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

The following Monday providing us with yet another day of favorable tides and currents, I was lucky to get invited for another day of diving in the Deception Pass area. On a boat! Our first dive was off the eastern end of Strawberry Island which is just outside of Cornet Bay from where our little expedition started. The current in the pass itself was still running quite strong. My buddies already dove the west end of Strawberry Island before and were curious to explore the eastern portion, since it was not affected by the flood current. I never dove here, so it was fine with me. The underwater terrain on east end is not a wall, the slope is graduate, plenty of rocks to provide shelter and ground for marine life. I found it not as rich and colorful as the walls in Deception Pass under the bridge, but many of the same anemones, sponges and critters are present here. Visibility was not that good, only six to eight feet with lot of fine silt. The current here was not bad. I found very small yellow nudi on a hydroid which nobody yet ID-ed positively. Here are some of the critters...
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