TTN This Evening

[cardiver]

Nice dive at Three Tree with all of the usual suspects in attendance.
First dive ( my only dive) was straight out to the bottle field at 121 fsw with some current running north. Spotted a couple of small octos at depth and then began to head up slope. About 20 minutes in the current switch to an ebb and we rode it south for a while. As we turned and came up to 30 fsw the current changed again and decided to push us down slope during our last 12 minutes or so.
Visibility was good at depth but less than 10' in the shallows due to an algae bloom and an abundance of other substances in the water.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/twx9nw6Zn5E[/youtube]

[spatman]

Great pics, Ron.

[cardiver]

Great pics, Ron.

Thanks, Matt. Not a heck of a lot to see tonight. I hope the guys had better luck on dive #2.....

[eliseaboo]

Nice anemone -- love the lighting!

We just glued all the mussels onto the pilings in our big tank the other day. As soon as we filled it with water, they all decided to spawn. It was hard to even see through the tank for several hours...life is messy.

[spatman]

...life is messy.

Amen, sistergirl.

[Tom Nic]

...life is messy.

Amen, sistergirl.

But who knew the mess would be clam spawn?!?

This was a great night of diving... I will post more later, and I'm sure Bassman will give the attendance list. TTN was packed - definitely a 'not-so-mini' Club Dive!

Dive #2 was great - lots of night critters out. I will post pics later.

The highlight? Easily the 4 lumpies that Yelloweye found. They were TINY! I would guess hatched in the last few days. They were the length of my pinky fingernail, and about a quarter of the width. They looked 'tadpolish', but definitely all Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker. Mpenders and Scubiedoo found a couple of adults down deeper.

I need a good magnifying glass or a super macro lens!

[Norris]

Great pics and that clam video was cool.

[Dusty2]

I need a good magnifying glass or a super macro lens!

It would be awesome but the only one I have found so far is made by sub see and runs $200
http://reefnet.ca/products/subsee/

[Scubie Doo]

Yeah, great dives. Good seeing everyone! I will post a few pics later. Skipping work and surfing at Westport today. Awesome day, sunshine, great clean waves. Hard to beat it!

[Scubie Doo]

Here are a few of my favorites :-)

Great dives. The first Penders and I headed straight down to 96 feet. We turned back as we were 3 minutes from deco. Saw a lot of cool little things to take pics of. 2nd dive was with Penders and Rob3. Headed to about 86 feet, where Rob spotted a large PSL. I had never seen one this deep. I saw another (see photo) at about 65. Again, a lot deeper than I am used to. Have fun diving this weekend. Take care.

[Scubie Doo]

BTW - Nice pics Ron and cool video. I had never seen that before :-)

[Tom Nic]

Clam spawn pics and sunset pics are trippy, dude.

Don't know why, but they kind of take me back to my long hair days in the early 70's.

[cardiver]

Love the lighting on the lumpy pic!

[Tom Nic]

Love everyone's pictures!

I'm surprised that Bassman hasn't chimed in on this thread with a list of everyone there yet... let me try - Mpenders, Scubiedoo, Rob3, Pogiguy, Cardiver, Bucknaked, Yelloweye, Bassman, and Tom Nic. Did I miss anyone?!?

It was weird gearing up in the sun for our first dive - I don't remember getting hot while putting my dive gear on in months! Funny, I wore polypropylene long johns under my Weezle and after the first dive I was feeling "wet" when I half suited - but I wasn't wet. It was weird until I realized that I had been sweating so much while gearing up that my undergarments felt "clammy", a condition that would have been averted by just wearing shorts under the Weezle instead of the additional layer so the Weezle could wick away the moisture. Lesson learned.

A few pics from the first dive are here .

First dive was also a bit weird current wise, as Ron mentioned. On the surface it was heading its normal southerly direction, but when we dropped it was flowing north. After getting Keith's inflator hose squared away we headed for the deep tire piles / bottle fields. This little Grunt Sculpin is on eggs in a pipe at around 100 fsw or so.



Here is my obligatory Clam spawning pic, the only one that turned out halfway, but still not showing the spawn as clearly as the others that have been posted.



By far the coolest part of the dive for me is the ginormous Male Scaleyhead Sculpin that I often find in an empty Acorn Barnacle Shell on the old engine block. His surroundings are quite beautiful - Anemones, Tube Worms, Yellow Boring Sponges and other sponges. He is easy to miss if you don't know what you're looking for, but when you see him... wow! He has a huge, wide head (reminds me of a bullfrog) and impressive cirri "antlers" - quite the specimen! Thank you Keith for being patient while I shot 20 or 30 pictures of him...

Here's a wider angle shot of his "digs", or "crib" as the kids say nowadays.



A bit of a close up showing off his interior decorating skills.



This is the shot where he looks like a bullfrog to me - huge, wide head and big, fat lips!



And dive two will require a separate post! Thanks for reading....

[Scubie Doo]

Clam spawn pics and sunset pics are trippy, dude.

Don't know why, but they kind of take me back to my long hair days in the early 70's.

Those were for you Tom I had a feeling you used to spin at the dead shows. Next time I won't use any cool filters on my sunset shots, I certainly don't want any flashbacks.

And where is Bassman?

[Scubie Doo]

Love the lighting on the lumpy pic!

Thanks Ron. Now if we can just get Penders and Rob to post their pics!

[Tom Nic]

I need a good magnifying glass or a super macro lens!

It would be awesome but the only one I have found so far is made by sub see and runs $200
http://reefnet.ca/products/subsee/

Dusty, you would have needed this or better for this dive, and it would still have been difficult.

But I'm getting ahead of myself...

Pics from Dive #2 are here .

Yelloweye buddied up with Bassman and I for this dive. He was diving without his camera (a severe trial, I'm sure) and thus was concentrating on critter spotting - at which he did an admirable job! He sure has better eyes than I do!
I don't know, something about bi-focals and general geezerhood - I find myself missing critters that I shouldn't.

Anyway, we're about 55 minutes into our dive drifting along at 20ish fsw or so heading back for the entry when Yelloweye starts flashing his light like a cotton pickin' disco ball. I figure he's either out of air and dieing (not likely at 20fsw and he's on a rebreather and carries a bailout), being attacked by a 24' SixGill (also not likely because of lack of a red blood glow coming from his light) or else he has found a Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker. I jet over to him as fast as my old tired legs can propel me, and settle down to scrutinize the leaf of red kelp that he is gesturing at.

I look. And look again. Nothing. I look again. Still nothing. I turn the kelp leaf over. Still nothing. Now Eric (Yelloweye) is pointing at the kelp leaf. I look right where he is pointing. Nothing. There is a piece of anemone poop on the leaf maybe a quarter inch long. I decide, "What the heck", and point my camera at it and take a picture. Blind faith and hope are in full operation here. Eric starts doing a blue gloved shaka and is talking excitedly in his loop, which of course since he is on a rebreather I can hear and understand him clear as a bell. He is clearly VERY EXCITED about something, but I can still see NOTHING!

I look again and a bit of red twitches on the kelp leaf and starts to move. OMG IT'S A LUMPSUCKER! And it's the tiniest lumpsucker I have ever seen. I despair of getting a picture that will show this critter even though my camera is set on macro, but I try anyway.

Check this out:



I CANNOT convey to you how tiny this guy is! I would guess that it hatched a day or two ago at the most. It is still tadpole shaped, and definitely not fully formed, but the Lumpsucker form is unmistakeable.

At about this time "he" rises up off the leaf and swims down to the sandy bottom, "flying" in that typical bumblebee fashion that is so delightful about Lumpsucker swimming style.

This is a shot from on top.



Here is another shot that is profile and from a bit behind - not the best shot, but you can still see it. The anemone poop is to the right.



And finally, for size reference, here is a shot of Yelloweye holding the kelp leaf. Yeah, those ginormous blue things are smurf dry glove fingers. That tiny little red thing in the upper right hand corner is the PSL! I first guessed that he was the length of my pinky fingernail and about half or a quarter of its width, but when I saw this pic I realized I overestimated its size.



And the crazy thing? Yelloweye found FOUR of them!

Wow, just wow.

And here are a few more pics from the dive. For those who have managed to read this far, thanks!

[YellowEye]

Great seeing everybody. Great pics!
Thanks for the fun dive!
-Eric

[Dusty2]

Nice stuff everyone! Lots of different looks there and that little lumpie has got to be the smallest ever photographed in the wild! Congrats to yelloweye for spotting it and Tom that's pretty good photo work for a deadhead.

[Tom Nic]

....and Tom that's pretty good photo work for a deadhead.

I'm just looking at all the pretty colors man...

[BASSMAN]

I'm surprised that Bassman hasn't chimed in on this thread with a list of everyone there yet... let me try - Mpenders, Scubiedoo, Rob3, Pogiguy, Cardiver, Bucknaked, Yelloweye, Bassman, and Tom Nic. Did I miss anyone?!?

I Think memory has served you well, ol' wise one.
Along with our mini-group dive there was another group of four, just getting in as we got there and then another group of four, just getting there,as we were getting in for our first dive.
So if you know Three Tree N., The parking was full! You would think it was Salmon season again.
Diving with all of these photogs, I don't know if I have anything to add, as far as pics go.
Two great dives with great dive buddies!
The clam spawn was strange and the tiny Lumpsuckers were even stranger! TTN. delivers again!
Two dives and I did not see a single Ratfish! I know they are seasonal there, BUT THIS IS THREE TREE NORTH!
"Home of the Ratfish Schools!" Someone else saw a Ratfish, so I know they are still there and Yelloweye(Eric), assured me, we have no shortage of Ratfish in Puget Sound.
Oh, and as summer gets here, the night dives become later and later, but the Bioluminescence is back! To where it is super bright!

On the Sattle Light Dish, this one should be sticking around for a while. This is on the very top of the dish.

A "Clam Spawn" pic of my own, but I like Jessie's pic better!

A couple of Shaggy Mice!

Another creature feature, found by Yelloweye!

Eric also pointed this guy out. Insert caption here..."Life is so crule, I'm having a terrible day..."

Well if it's that bad Mr. Gunnel, "Here ya go!"

Even My camera was saying, "What the heck are we looking at here?" Thanks Eric, for a great find!

[Dusty2]

By far the coolest part of the dive for me is the ginormous Male Scaleyhead Sculpin that I often find in an empty Acorn Barnacle Shell on the old engine block. His surroundings are quite beautiful - Anemones, Tube Worms, Yellow Boring Sponges and other sponges. He is easy to miss if you don't know what you're looking for, but when you see him... wow! He has a huge, wide head (reminds me of a bullfrog) and impressive cirri "antlers" - quite the specimen! Thank you Keith for being patient while I shot 20 or 30 pictures of him...

Here's a wider angle shot of his "digs", or "crib" as the kids say nowadays.

Did you notice the montery sea lemon on the left?

[BASSMAN]

Dusty,
Your such a Nudi Geek!
Nice observation!

[Jan K]

Great reports and photos by all.
Tom, that is an accomplishment, With a P&S camera !

[eliseaboo]

(I noticed the nudi too...)

Eric...we should go diving you find cool things! That lumpie looks unbearably cute. I don't know if I could have survived that level of adorable. I'm also glad to see another grunt sitting on so many eggs...we're still waiting on quite a few to hatch here!