Northwest Dive Club

Grateful Diver wrote:The one in the tire is long gone. The one that used to live in the boat is the one shown in Dan's pictures. The one in my picture is elsewhere (not gonna say where publicly ... but some of the photographers on this board know).

Redondo seems to be a wolf eel nursery ... seen several juvies there over the past few years, but as soon as they reach a certain point in their growth cycle they move on. I wonder if it's due to differences in dietary needs/preferences ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I think that is probabbly the case. That and maybe the need to find a mate. I know that the adults like urchins and you don't see many at redondo. The same thing happens at Point Hudson. once they change color they disapear. Of course at Redondo it could also be lack of denning space.

Just some of the cool stuff that I learned about wolf-eels from diving with Marine Biologist Tony Parra:

When wolf-eels hatch they join the "planktonic soup" that is Puget Sound, and began their predatory career hunting other tiny animals within that "soup". They drift where the currents happen to take them until they are too large to drift and large enough to survive on the bottom. This can occur anywhere within 2 months to 2 years of hatching, and it happens wherever they happen to be....this is probably why divers see so many juveniles at Redondo - they drifted there as plankton.

Regarding wolf-eels eating urchins, favorite prey is usually based on their immediate environment, with the most abundant food source usually being the most preferred by wolf-eels living at that location. For example, wolf-eels in Puget Sound appear to favor Sea Urchins, those in the waters of the northern Olympic Peninsula apparently prefer the Hairy Triton, while those off Monterey, California apparently prefer Sand Dollars and Graceful Crab. A site doesn't have to have urchins around for a wolf-eel to be well fed and happy.

An absolutely fascinating species!

- John

interesting info...

... on Day Island Wall they appear to prefer herring ... and in certain places in Hood Canal, hot dogs are their preferred food ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Grateful Diver wrote:The one in the tire is long gone. The one that used to live in the boat is the one shown in Dan's pictures. The one in my picture is elsewhere (not gonna say where publicly ... but some of the photographers on this board know).

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Yes, the wolf eel that I found was the same one that was living in the boat. His new hiding spot is deeper and should afford a good home for him for awhile. Not quite so many visitors in his new spot.

Dan

First dive since Bonaire. Penders and I hit Redondo. I think I had my warm waters eyes on, I barely saw anything. Penders saw half-dozen ottos, Stubby, etc. I saw sculpins and Jellies. The Jellies were everywhere from about 40' to 20'. Viz was a solid 20' under 30' or so. Here are a few shots.

Nice!

Awsome jelly shots

Pretty! Love it when you can find them deep enough to get a dark background.

enchantmentdivi wrote:LOVE that bottle shot!!!

+ 11!

The Dond continues to deliver Lumpies and Friends. I hit the south side around 11 AM on a low, low, low tide. I was pleasantly surprised to find a tiny lumpie.

Very nice, James!

Just one from my dive the other night ... slug and worm ...



... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Wolfie, GPO's, reds, and more! Tons of jellies shallow.

Summer foliage ...



... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Vis was great tonight ... did about an hour dive with Valerie. We started by stopping by to say hello to the little wolfie ... who isn't so little anymore ...



On our way to the bottlefield I noticed this googlyeyed guy ... note the little splotches behind his eye ...



... they're hitchikers ... what do you suppose they are?



... on the way in we found lots of jellyfish ... Valerie's favorite thing ...



A nice, relaxing dive ... hopefully the vis will hold till Saturday ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Very nice shots Bob, as always. Loved all the jellies tonight, even if we did slightly zapped

Lice? Parasites of some sort.

I was told parasite--copepod (probably Lepeophtherius)--on a similar pic of mine.

Had one of my better morning dives in a while this morning ... tons of fishermen on the pier, lots of boats locally, the plankton is starting to bloom again ... but there was absolutely no current, and lots of critters. Here's a few of my favorites ...

















... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Nice work Bob - the Hermissenda shots in particular are really really nice

The parasites are Branchiura- they're not copepods, though there are parasitic copepods that look a lot like them. The easy way to tell them apart is to look for eyes. If you see a pair of them (like on these ones) it's a branchiuran; if not it's a copepod. Most of the ones I see on benthic fish around here tend to be branchiurans.

lundysd wrote:Nice work Bob - the Hermissenda shots in particular are really really nice

+1! I really like the angle on the second nudi shot Bob!

Oh, ANOTHER Cockerel's. I just HAVE to get down there and dive with you, Bob.

LCF wrote:Oh, ANOTHER Cockerel's. I just HAVE to get down there and dive with you, Bob.

Yes ... you do ... I'm finding them about 50% of the times I look the past three or four months ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)