Northwest Dive Club

I don't know what type of fish or nudibranch these are. Anyone want to help a brotha out?!

<a href="" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/203/5194 ... 532d_o.jpg" width="461" height="640" alt="Unknown Fish"></a>

<a href="" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/213/5194 ... 6371_o.jpg" width="484" height="480" alt="I don't know the name of this Nudi yet"></a>

Both were shot at the pipeline today.

Thanks!

The fish is a Longfin Sculpin!

<a href="" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/189/4930 ... d68021.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="P5080116"></a>

Thanks Tom!!!

I am not as good as others, but I might go with California Berthella Berthella californica on the nudi.

I am sure someone will correct me.

coachrenz wrote:I am not as good as others, but I might go with California Berthella Berthella californica on the nudi.

I am sure someone will correct me.

U got that, we have those up here too...Nice shots Cal.

coachrenz wrote:I am not as good as others, but I might go with California Berthella Berthella californica on the nudi.

I am sure someone will correct me.

Come on Coach... one time and you're gun shy! You da man!

And a Janolus fuscus (or Bi-Colored Nudibranch) in the background of the Longfin Sculpin shot. (very nice, BTW!)

So Calvin, why are you holding a skate in your avatar?

- Janna

nwscubamom wrote:So Calvin, why are you holding a skate in your avatar?

- Janna

Busted! Come on Calvin, you knew that Janna would catch you!

OOOOOOOOH!
Calvin?
"Bad boy, Bad boy, whacha goin' to do?
Whacha gona do when Janna comes for you!"

nwscubamom wrote:And a Janolus fuscus (or Bi-Colored Nudibranch) in the background of the Longfin Sculpin shot. (very nice, BTW!)

So Calvin, why are you holding a skate in your avatar?

- Janna

Well, technically I am not guilty as charged. It's not a skate (guitarfish) and I simply took it from the guide who handed it to me, then released it gently after the photo. It's not like I was feeding it hot dogs or anything.

LOL!! Well since it wasn't technically a skate, but rather a Guitarfish (looks like a Banded Guitarfish?), you think you're off the hook, eh?

I guess I AM happy though that you're beyond the hot dog feeding stage at least Baby steps...baby steps...

Remember, Fish are Food, not Musical Instruments...er...no wait...Fish are Friends, Not Food. Or something like that anyway...

Seriously, after all my diving experience in areas that use guides to show the tourists a good time, I've concluded that those divemasters are the WORST offenders of 'keep your mitts off the critters' of anyone. They'll do all sorts of things for photo opps for their customers. I saw an octopus pried out of its den with a DIVE KNIFE...no surprise that it had a tentacle cut off once it came out and was inking like crazy.



That's the other thing they do - go around harassing octos until they ink so the tourists can see the whole thing and be amazed and give bigger tips.

And of course the tourists think "Hey, those divemasters wouldn't do anything detrimental to the critters, it must be OK!"

<sigh>

- Janna

I'll go with fish/inverts are friends... and food, selectively. I think I would have thrown an OOA at the DM with the octo and ridden him to the surface. Poor octopus - should cut one of the DM's legs until he "inks" his wetsuit.

I would have reserved my right NOT to tip and complained.

I was a VERY new diver at the time (less than 10 dives) and had not become my now pretty-opinionated self

- Janna

I would pay a GOOD tip to be a "fly on the boat" if a DM did that in front of you now... (shuttering) I can't imagine the words that would come from your mouth, let alone the flailing fists! Watch Janna go from friendly tourist to the DM's personal terrorist in less than a second! (Sounder shutters again)

hehe, now Sounder, would I REALLY do that!?

Naw, I'd do my best to handle it gracefully, but I *would* definitely say something, and probably mention it to the company as well, not just the divemaster.

It's a tough thing for dive masters - they depend on tips, and the better the 'show' they can provide, the better they can make their livelihood. Most people aren't into 'critterwatching' so showing them a really uncommon fish won't make most people's day - unless it's a Frogfish or a Sea horse or something.

One way I have broached the subject on some trips has been to corner the DM ahead of time, explain what I'm interested in (critterwatching) and ask him to point out some of his or her favorites to me.

They've reacted very favorably to that, and once the rest of the boat has blown through their air in 20 min from running around the reef at breakneck speed, we get the DM all to ourselves to point out some neat critters others might consider 'boring'.

It's a cool experience!

- Janna

Another thing that dive guides down in Cabo like to do is torment the pufferfish until they inflate....always good for a few "ooohs and aaahs" from the touristas.....the trouble is that if it is done too much or too strenuously they cannot deflate themselves and will eventually die.

You can sometimes follow a dive group on the surface just by watching harrassed little puffers on the surface being baked by the sun.

- John

hehe, now Sounder, would I REALLY do that!?

Frankly, I'm sure you would handle that situation with more patience than I would. I think your technique of briefing the DM is perfect and I'm sure for every horror story there are a hundred great tour guides. In Maui Mrs. Sounder and I have had fantastic tour guides who were very respectful of the critters that put food on their table.

I must admit though, the thought of you coming unglued and going ape is pretty funny!

Janna - yes, I am taking baby steps. I've come a long way since I showed you that video of Maverick, Nailer and I.

On the bright side, I ordered the steak instead of the marlin that night - so my karma jar was about even for the day.

Calvin wrote:Janna - yes, I am taking baby steps. I've come a long way since I showed you that video of Maverick, Nailer and I.

On the bright side, I ordered the steak instead of the marlin that night - so my karma jar was about even for the day.

Hey! I was NOT part of that! Go back and check- I think you'll find that was either our long-lost pal Dave, or our other long lost pal Doug E Fresh- don't lump me in with your fish-molesting buddies!

Nailer99 wrote:

Calvin wrote:Janna - yes, I am taking baby steps. I've come a long way since I showed you that video of Maverick, Nailer and I.

On the bright side, I ordered the steak instead of the marlin that night - so my karma jar was about even for the day.

Hey! I was NOT part of that! Go back and check- I think you'll find that was either our long-lost pal Dave, or our other long lost pal Doug E Fresh- don't lump me in with your fish-molesting buddies!

That's right, I forgot that you molest mammals only. Sorry, Nailer was not part of it.

LOL!!! I remember when Calvin and Dave proudly showed me that Wolf Eel video in a Fish ID class we had at Tacoma Scuba, and were so excited!!! And then Calvin kept turning around to see my reaction - it was quite amusing!!

- Janna

I wish I had a video of my face as comprehension set in as to the fact that there was something wrong with what we were doing.

"look at this! hahaha ha ha... ha.... uh, this isn't good.. is it?"