Greg Hoberg and I had two excellent dives at Mono-lobo in Carmel Bay on Tuesday. We had 35 ft of visibility and 55 degree water. We saw, for the first time, kelp greenling laying eggs and fertilizing them and we also saw several different cabezon males guarding egg masses. The conditions were wonderful so I shot a lot of pictures. If you want to get a feel for the richness of life at Monolobo and the amazing submarine terrain, see the pictures here:
https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6083619285302523937?authkey=CLWX6bbUwN_MZw
Greg is getting a photo of a female kelp greenling, just right of center in photo, laying eggs.
Male kelp greenling in special coloration, fertilizing eggs.
The male kelp greenling's body vibrates when he is fertilizing the eggs.
First time we've ever seen this. Would have been a great video....
The female kelp greenling.
When I took this photo of the vermilion rockfish I didn't even see the sea lion zooming in for a look.
Vermillion rockfish are bright red in a flash picture, red is simply a dull dark shade without artificial light at this depth (40 to 60 ft or so).
Greg getting a cabezon photo.
A large cabezon next to his greenish mass of eggs just below the kelp holdfast.
Monolobo has fantastic rock structure and diving through the kelp bed when the water is clear and the sun is shining is fantastic.
A beautiful trio of large sea anemones, each around 10 inches or so across.
Another beautiful cabezon.
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