A Giant Kelpfish at Otter Cove 2-25-2015

Yesterday afternoon I drove down to Pacific Grove to take care of a couple of things at our home here and took the opportunity for an afternoon dive at Otter Cove.  Visibility was much poorer than on my last dive four days earlier, about 20 ft.  I again saw several cabezon and a large group of Leafy Hornmouth snails busy laying eggs as well as a scattering of spiny or knobby sea stars and quite a number of bat stars and I again noted that there are very few sea urchins in Otter Cove and thanks to that, healthy giant kelp.  The highlight of this dive was with a Giant Kelpfish, only the second time I've been able to get pictures of this type of fish.  The "giant" is relative - it was about 16 inches long.

 I obviously never tire of taking pictures of Cabezon.

 Kellet's Whelk

 Sea Hare sea slug

 Tube anemone and seascape

I was pleased to see such a large gathering of bat stars.  Largest group of sea stars since the great sea star wasting disease outbreak.  I also saw quite a few knobby or spiny sea stars.  I haven't seen a sunflower star in well over a year.  I am afraid it is locally extinct.

A

A grass rockfish.

Giant Kelpfish

A large group of Leafy Hornmouth gastropods mating and laying eggs.

If you would like to see more pictures from this dive please go to:
https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6120190987931958001?authkey=CKOhx6GHvsSPNw

Another shore dive at Otter Cove, Pacific Grove, 2-21-2015

Conditions continued to be excellent so before starting the long drive home to Healdsburg with Donna I made a relatively early morning dive at Otter Cove for a second day.  On this dive I again had excellent visibility at light and I also enjoyed several encounters with Cabezon, my favorite fish subject here in California.  On this dive I did find a few sea urchins but their were only a few and they were in the usual protected positions.  I wonder why there are so few in Otter Cove while all of Carmel Bay is heavily infested?  Could it be related to the deepwater canyon that goes into tiny Carmel Bay?  Why are there so many more Spiny/Knobby Sea Stars off Otter Cove compared to in Carmel (sadly, I saw that a couple of them were dying of sea star wasting disease).  Water temperature was 56 degrees, so still four or five degrees warmer than usual.  Visibility ranged from 20 ft just off shore to at least 35 or 40 ft out in 45 ft of water at the edge of the kelp bed.

 Having a good scuba dive off Otter Cove always involves a significant snorkel swim to get out to at least 25 to 35 ft of water found around 150 yards offshore.  I decided to shoot a snorkeling shot of the kelp bed as I reached it.

 My first of several encounters with Cabezon on this dive.

 Once you get out to near the edge of the kelp bed in 40 to 45 ft of water you find many very large rock structures.  Diving this area in clear water with good sunlight is a blast.

 Here is the second Cabezon I encountered yesterday, this shot in natural light.  He blends in well.

The Cabezon is easier to see with a flash shot.

 I spotted another nice sized Cabezon watching me swim past his perch.

 I decided to attempt a selfie with the Cabezon....but I kept my eyes on the cabezon instead of looking at the camera.

 A tube anemone with a seascape.

To see more pictures from this dive please go to:
https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6118758625218973121?authkey=CIHD6b7pp4_TFw

Otter Cove, February 20, 2015

I made a solo dive at Otter Cove today.  It was a good reminder of how much more work shore diving is then boat diving.  I had very calm water for an easy beach entry and visibility of 20 to 35 feet with sunny conditions.  Otter Cove is my favorite shore dive, it has excellent rock structure offshore.  I was pleased to see significant kelp offshore, in my other recent dives I've been sorry to see that only a fraction of the usual kelp beds are present from Monterey to Carmel.  I was surprised to see no sea urchins during my entire dive, on my other recent dives there have been thousands of sea urchins, formerly rare outside of crevices, everywhere I went.  Perhaps the sea otters have kept the sea urchin numbers down here.  I also saw more spiny/knobby sea stars here than I've seen elsewhere since the sea star wasting disease swept through the region in 2013.  I saw and photoed one sea star dying of the wasting disease though.  Another thing I was sorry to observe was how few fish are now at Otter Cove.  I see people spearfishing at Otter Cove nearly every time I stop by to look at the cove.  I saw one small lingcod and one very shy cabezon on the dive and a few shy rockfish and one female kelp greenling (right now male kelp greenlings are guarding eggs which makes them sitting ducks for spearfishermen and I suspect that is why the only adult greenling I saw was a female, (would normally have expected to see a dozen or so during a dive here).  For more pictures from this dive, please go to:  https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6118139076405759505?authkey=CJzO1J7xmPmHYg

 Aggregating Anemone

 A knobby sea star dying of the wasting disease.

Female kelp greenling, the only adult greenling I saw on the dive.

Two Beautiful Dives at Mono-lobo and off Pescadero Point, 2-17-2015

Greg Hoberg and I caught a day with calm seas between many days of large swells running.  Greg's outboard has been restored to health with a new "control module unit" so after some brief sea trials we cruised down to Carmel Bay to dive two of our favorite sites, Mono-lobo and Pescadero Point.  We had 25 to 35 ft of visibility and 57 degree water at the top, 55 degrees at the bottom, so still much warmer than average.  The kelp beds remain nearly non-existent with hordes of sea urchins in many areas.  We spent a lot of time at 65 to 70 ft on the first dive so we definitely needed a safety stop before surfacing and we were quite chilled, nearly to the point of starting to lose control of our fingers....The snicker bar break was excellent before our second dive.  On our cruise back to Monterey we saw humpback whales, Greg had spotted one or more Gray whales on the way down to Carmel.

Below are some pictures from the Mono-lobo dive, for more, please go to:
https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6117433848626061905?authkey=COXO8OSTmsm2HA

 Greg with a lingcod.

 Greg getting a lingcod face closeup.  Note sea urchins in the foreground and note lack of palm kelp..

 Vermilion rockfish.

 A horde of sea urchins starting the assault on the last health kelp holdfast on this rock.

 Cabezon, we saw several cabezon guarding eggs on both dives.

 Greg getting a shot of a male Kelp Greenling.  Just as is the case with cabezons, when the female lays the eggs and the male fertilizes them, the male stays with the eggs to guard them.  It is just about the only time you can get close to a still greenling to get a photo.

Greg with a school of blue rockfish.


Our second dive was on the wash rock off of Pescadero Point.  Normally the wash rock is in an immense, dense, kelp bed and it is difficult to maneuver the boat into shallow enough water to anchor but now the kelp is maybe 10% of normal (with hordes of ravenous sea urchins since the sea star wasting disease devastated the sea star population) so it is easy to precisely locate the boat in relation to the dive site.

 Greg is about to get a picture of a Cabezon guarding its eggs.  The eggs are the dark mass on the base of the kelp holdfast just to the right of the cabezon.

 There is still a stand of kelp near the Pescadero wash rock though it is much thinner than normal.

 Can you see the Cabezon in the center of the picture?  Frequently we don't see the cabezon until after we have inadvertently wandered to close to it.

 There are fields of giant green anemones in the normally turbulent shallows around the wash rock.  When you see Giant Green Anemones you know you are diving at a spot that gets transformed into a giant washing machine when a swell is running.

 Lot's of hydro coral near the wash rock.

Greg getting a shot of a confident Cabezon.

For more pictures from this dive, please go to:  https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6117434351603479537?authkey=COmbzvmgz8OU_gE

The Attack of the Rainbow Nudibranch - Coastguard Breakwater, Monterey, Feb 2, 2015

On Monday I delivered some art to Pacific Grove for Donna and used it as an opportunity to do a solo dive at the Coastguard Breakwater with the hope I could get a video of a Rainbow Nudibranch feeding on a tube anemone.  I had 15 to 20 ft of visibility and 54 degree temperature.  It took some patience to find a nudibranch just about to attack a tube anemone but eventually I got my video.

 Here is a view of the entry beach at the breakwater just before I started swimming.

 As this picture of a group of rubberlip seaperch shows, I had excellent light and good visibility for this dive.

 Tube anemones are all along the breakwater in the sand below about 30 ft.  These were at 45 ft.

 Here is a rainbow nudibranch (Dendronotus Iris, they are usually between four and 7 inches long) in the sand between tube anemones.

 Rainbow nudibranchs come in a range of colors, here is one making its way to a tube anemone.

Here is a rainbow nudibranch atop a tube anemone, I was too late to video his attack...

Here is my video of a rainbow nudibranch climbing a tube anemone, while laying eggs, and pouncing on the tube anemone and being pulled inside when the anemone tries to retreat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKNOBCCgCSU&feature=youtu.be

For more pictures from this dive, please go to:
https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/6112152270551612545?authkey=CKzw3-PKyZLSUg

To see pictures and a video of a tube anemone larva, about 5 mm across, please see the Bodega lab blog:  http://bodegahead.blogspot.com/2015/02/seldom-seen.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheNaturalHistoryOfBodegaHead+%28The+Natural+History+of+Bodega+Head%29