yet more from Redondo

[billandwende]

Here's the tiny lumpsucker we found at Redondo yesterday. While GD was down at the bottle field, we found this little fellow out on the flat somewhere. Here are a couple of the better shots of him, close up so you don't really get a feel for how small he was:

lumpynudi.jpg

Incredible!

[Grateful Diver]

Nice shots, Malinda!

Dave, I noticed a bunch of tiny nudis at TTN earlier on Sunday ... too small for me to get a picture of without a supermacro lens. Wait a month or so ... they'll be a lot more noticeable then.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Grateful Diver]

Last night's lumpie ... I think I've seen this one before ...



Current was kickin' down there last evening ... it was literally moving things around the bottom. That's the strongest I've seen it down there yet. Made it tough to get a decent picture, 'cuz it was a challenge to hold still long enough to frame the shot.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Grateful Diver]

Bagged a trifecta tonight ... three lumpies at the bottle field.

Ran into Kate and Casey as I was heading out. They told me they found a tiny red one sitting on a cell phone (probably trying to phone home) ... I didn't find the phone. But as soon as I got to the bottle field ... this one swam past me ...



It was not the least bit interested in slowing down or stopping for a nice photo session ... and with my doubles on I'm just not as agile in current as I'd like to be, so after stirring up a bit of silt trying to take a few more pics, I moved on.

A few minutes later, I found me a fat one (actually, I suspect it's the same preggers one I saw a few evenings back) ...



This one ... being fat ... was lazy and cooperative. I stuck around a few minutes ... took a few rather uninspiring pics ... then decided to leave it alone and move on. As I turned upslope, there was a third one, sitting on a bottle. That one was really pretty ... bright turquoise and orange ... but also, let's just say, seriously motivated to not get its picture taken. With God as my witness I have never seen a lumpie move so fast ... I didn't even know they COULD! It was pointless to even try to chase after it. First time I've ever spooked one ... but I guess it was bound to happen at some point.

By then I was about 37 minutes into the dive, and almost 25 minutes in the bottle field ... it was time to go. A lovely dive, despite continued poor visibility (I'd put it at 8 to 10 feet at the bottle field). As I hit about 40 fsw coming in, the Redondo River kicked into gear. Total dive time was 62 minutes, max depth 89 fsw.

Got friends coming in from out of state this week-end ... hoping to be so lucky when I take 'em down there next week ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Diver_C]

Great photos Bob (per usual). :biggrin:

[Grateful Diver]

Ursa, Kirk and I did a nice, 65 minute dive to the bottle field this evening. Although we didn't find any lumpies, there was a ton of critters down there.

The kelp and sea lettuce is moving in fast, and only about half the bottle field is even visible anymore ... but it's bringing out some neat critters.

Here's my four favorites from tonight's dive ...

Canned octopus ...



Stubby in flight ...



Matching floor and roof ...



"the Look" ...



... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[spatman]

nice contrast on those photos, bob. i especially like the shadow on the stubby squid. are you using both strobes for these shots?

[Dusty2]

You couldn't have timed that stubby shot any more perfectly and the depth of field on that hermit is awesome!

[Grateful Diver]

nice contrast on those photos, bob. i especially like the shadow on the stubby squid. are you using both strobes for these shots?

Yes ... in this case I had the right strobe pointing more behind the subject than the left one.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)