Whidbey Island Critters

[Jan K]

Finally dug out from all that driveway snow. Trip to Langley to see if the Lingcod started to lay eggs yet. Found a beached fishing boat, no diveable (yet). But what I found disturbing is the amount of sea lettuce algae covering the bottom on the south end of the rocky slope beneath the seawall where some of the Lingcod established their nesting sites. It is winter, and that lettuce was never there this time of year.. So I am worried..

[Grateful Diver]

I love the snowdiver ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Jan K]

Snowdiver melted, back to gloom and doom of rain...
From the murky world of eat and be eaten...

[LCF]

Man, you find some of the coolest things! I've never seen a bobbitt worm, let alone a crab eating one . . .

[Jan K]

Man, you find some of the coolest things! I've never seen a bobbitt worm, let alone a crab eating one . . .

What about a two headed anemone ?

[Greg Jensen]

I hope someday I get a critter named after me, but definitely not via the "Bobbit" route. I wonder if he even knows he's been so honored.

Nice pair of umm...anemones...there.

[Tom Nic]

I hope someday I get a critter named after me, but definitely not via the "Bobbit" route. I wonder if he even knows he's been so honored.

Uh... yeah, what Greg said... about the "Bobbit" thing... I was just wondering, you know?


BTW, Are you allowed to say "funky asexual replication" on a family friendly site?! Boy, talk about a thread hi-jack waiting to happen...

Ah, no worries tho - our most notorious thread hi-jackers probably don't even read this thread!

[Pez7378]

Boy, talk about a thread hi-jack waiting to happen...

Ah, no worries tho - our most notorious thread hi-jackers probably don't even read this thread!

Yeah, I'm sure you're right Tom. I bet they don't even know what a Bobbit worm is.

[Sounder]

Ah, no worries tho - our most notorious thread hi-jackers probably don't even read this thread!

Aaaaarrgh!!

(I'm not actually hijacking... this is an NHZ)

That is quite unique. Being a family friendly (sort of) site, I'll leave it at that - but REALLY a cool, and humorous, find!!

Thanks Jan!!

[Zen Diver]

Very cool find Jan, albeit a somewhat weird one and I must admit, the smart-aleck responses are fairly choking me in their desire to be heard. However, as painful as it, I AM working on being able to zip my lips, so I'll refrain..... for now.....but...it's.....very......hard........mmmphfmmm ....

[Sounder]

Very cool find Jan, albeit a somewhat weird one and I must admit, the smart-aleck responses are fairly choking me in their desire to be heard. However, as painful as it, I AM working on being able to zip my lips, so I'll refrain..... for now.....but...it's.....very......hard........mmmphfmmm ....

You gotta love that even VALERIE herself can't help the boob jokes that want to fly from her mouth into the public domain.

Jan - you found a real winner here. This was quite entertaining to share around my office today... people started with "wow, I had no idea that cool stuff was down there" and finished with "is that a mutant set of boobs?" The whole office erupted in laughter based on one single page of your, much loved, thread.

Thank you and please keep them coming!! :hello2:

[Jan K]

BTW, Are you allowed to say "funky asexual replication" on a family friendly site?! Boy, talk about a thread hi-jack waiting to happen...

Just for your information. Since I was not exactly sure about the two headed anemone, I contacted anemone expert and the "funky asexual replication" is her quote . Who am I to question the experts ?

[Tom Nic]

Who am I to question the experts ?

Absolutely!!

[Jan K]

Sometimes, the underwater exploration hits a snag. Like a leaky seal or senior moment. Like forgeting to zip the drysuit before entering the water ](*,)
Dedicated our second dives to exploring the Glacial Erratics in Saratoga Passage off Whidbey and Camano islands.



And very Happy New Year to all !

[Sounder]

Like, forgot to zip the suit entirely?! (shutter)

[Jan K]

Like, forgot to zip the suit entirely?! (shutter)

Well, first buddy called the dive because of neck seal leak.
My second buddy felt little hot and squeezed after the first dive , so he unzipped it about six inches. As we run to the second dive site, the wind felt too cold, so he pulled the outer zipper down, covering the opening. And the rest is history ...

[Jan K]

And opening the new year with new find. I know, not a rare critter, but I still get excited when I can add something new into my folder of Pacific Northwest marine life.



Lets hope we all can keep adding new discoveries in 2009....

[LCF]

Great pictures of the squat lobsters, especially the two in the same hole. These little guys have been favorites of mine since before I ever saw one . . . Bob's photos introduced me to their silly, grinning countenances. I find them extremely charming, since they seem ashamed of their "taillessness" and back quickly into some kind of shelter whenever you spot them.

[nwscubamom]

I love the shot of the two pigpiling on eachother too! I usually see these in Hood Canal - they're all over the place there. So it's cool to see pics of them from another location.

- Janna

[Jan K]

And since we are on the new crustacean discoveries, here is a hairy one from the same location.
I could not find any interesting facts about it on the web, only that GPO doesn't like this crab's hair
in its soup

[Dusty2]

Really cool crab Jan! I've never seen one. Great find

[Greg Jensen]

Really cool crab Jan! I've never seen one. Great find

Now you have- your baby on the other thread!

[Jan K]

As long we are dealing with crabs, here are two shady characters from Holmes Harbor ...

[Dusty2]

Nice shots. Obviously these little guys must have a housing shortage or maybe they are trying to be different. I'm always amazed at the size of the shells these guys can carry around. Maybe it's a guy thing,,, The bigger the shell the more desirable you are.

[Jan K]

Since the toothy Lingcod disappeared somewhere in the cyberspace - here is repost. and one more