My Twentyone Favorite UW Photos for 2016

Based on the latest local marine forecast here on December 27th, I've concluded that my 2016 diving season has come to an end.  I had quite a number of good "local" dives in Monterey and Carmel this year with Guy Foster and Greg Hoberg.  In June/July I had an outstanding dive trip, a trip I had wanted to take for over thirty years, to Cocos Island off Costa Rico on the Undersea Hunter with Tom Campbell and Beth Davidow.  In November I made a dive trip to the Channel Islands on the Vision with Richard Salas, Tom Campbell, and Beth Davidow.  Here are my twentyone (why twentyone you ask, good question) favorite uw pictures this year, favorite means just that as opposed to necessarily being what I think were my best pictures.  To see my file of 84 favorite dive photos from 2016 please go to: https://goo.gl/photos/8a5XkpYvTh3Mr9teA

As 2016 started the Monterey and Carmel kelp beds - giant, bull, and palm kelp - had been decimated by hordes of sea urchins following the demise of one of their major predators - sea stars - in 2013.  Happily as the year wore on many of the kelp beds, with the help of hungry sea otters, were coming back.

                          This is a very large, beautiful Fish-eating Anemone at Otter Cove.

                                          Tube anemone, Otter Cove, Pacific Grove

                                         Beautiful Cabezon, Mono-lobo, Carmel Bay

                                         Hydra coral forest, Carmel.

                                Brown Boobie at bait ball, Cocos Island

                               Dolphin and boobies, bait ball off Cocos Island

  The Three Amigos, Yellow Trumpetfish, Golden Snapper, White tipped Reef Shark, Cocos Island

    Scalloped Hammerhead, the number one subject at Cocos Island.  We saw hundreds!

    Scalloped Hammerhead, Cocos Island, approaching a cleaning station.

   A huge lurking Tiger Shark, Cocos Island.  We saw this shark, some think 14 ft long, others 18 ft, repeatedly on several days of our trip.  Beautiful, awesome.  There are fewer sea turtles around Cocos Island since the Tigers moved in about five years ago...

                                   Bacalao Grouper and Trumpet Fish, Cocos Island

                                Pelagic lobster, aka tuna crab, Lover's Point, Pacific Grove
Monterey Bay received several swarms of Pelagic lobsters this year, on one of those days, Guy Foster and I happened to be diving and got to take many pictures of them.

                     Vermilion Rockfish, Shale Reef, Monterey Bay

                        Chromodoris macfarlandi, first for me, Coastguard Breakwater, 10-4-16.

                               Octopus, Coast Guard Breakwater

                               Wooly Sculpin, Coast Guard Breakwater, Monterey

    Seascape with Garibaldi, Channel Islands with the Vision

                                Spanish Shawl, north coast Santa Cruz Island

    Eureka Oil Platform off LA, with the Vision

                                         California Sheephead, Channel Islands

Last three dives of six day Vision Channel Islands Trip 11-19-16

Saturday, November 19th was the last day of our six day trip on the Vision to the Channel Islands.  Our last day we did three dives off the north side of Santa Cruz Island in order to have a relatively short run back to Santa Barbara.  The first dive was on a pinnacle just offshore.  Below are some pictures from this dive, you can see more at:  https://goo.gl/photos/9jMETTiZKCkADBCR7

                                          Chestnut Cowry

  Spanish Shawl nudibranch, about 2 inches long, feeding on hydroids, surrounded by Strawberry Anemones.

Our second dive was in a tiny bay on the north side of Santa Cruz Island, below are a few pictures from this dive, to see more:  https://goo.gl/photos/X6MGSx99oB5YixFV6

                                         A lingcod gets tense at my close approach.  I left him in piece.

                                A large male California Sheephead

                  A Bluebanded Goby.  We don't have these as far north as Monterey (they stop at Morro Bay).  The largest bluebanded goby in a group becomes male from female (and they can go back and forth...).  I'm very pleased at this shot from our second dive since I was using my wide angle 10-17 mm Tokina Fisheye lens.

                                          Green Anemone, not to be confused with Giant Green Anemone...

 As professional underwater photographer and videographer Tom Campbell would say "Have a conversation with your subject"!  In this case, a juvenile Garibaldi.

                                                 Juvenile Garibaldi

                                Spanish Shawl nudibranch

    Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

                          A Senorita, earlier in the trip I got shots of these cleaning Blacksmiths.

Our final dive was outside Painted Cave.  Painted Cave is one of the largest natural sea caves in the world and since conditions were ideally calm, our captain took the Vision completely into the cave, maybe a couple of hundred feet!  The cave goes back something like 1200 ft!  Below are a few pictures from my final dive of the trip, to see more please go to:  https://goo.gl/photos/ND1REffWsMY5f5N56

    Spanish Shawl nudibranch feeding on hydroids.  Nudibranchs are short lived and seasonal, I saw many times more Spanish Shawl nudibranchs on this trip than in all my previous California diving, combined....So of course I kept taking their pictures, though I stubbornly refused to switch over to my 60 mm Canon Macro lens.

                                This is why I like to stick to my wide angle Tokina fisheye lens, because you never know.  I was buzzed without warning several times on this dive, this was the best sea lion shot I managed to get...
                             

                                                  A glowing yellowish Green Anemone.

                                A Crowned Sea Urchin

At the end of this final dive I rinsed off ASAP and crawled back into my bunk for the 2 hour or so trip back to Santa Barbara.  The nap equipped me for the 394 mile drive home that I started at 5:30 and ended at home at Midnight.  Great Trip!

Dives at Judith Pinnacle, Wyckoff Ledge, and Abalone Alley

Friday, November 18, was Vision's day of diving at San Miguel Island.  Judith Pinnacle had a good population of California Sheepshead, Vermilion Rockfish, and Lingcod.  Below are some shots from this dive, you can see more at:  https://goo.gl/photos/rWs57G86Ups4cuXFA

                                                       Dawn at San Miguel Island

                                         A large Vermilion Rockfish, probably loaded with eggs.

                                       A patient Lingcod

Our next dive was at Wyckoff Ledge, a rich, beautiful dive site.  Below are a few shots from this dive, to see some more beautiful pictures please go to:  https://goo.gl/photos/BJDkMakkVNUirv4BA

As you know by now I can't resist taking pictures of Treefish, this one together with a White Spotted Rose Anemone.

The wall of Wyckoff Ledge has amazing color and density of invertebrate life and its capped with a thriving kelp forest on top.

 I'm very pleased with these Spanish Shawl nudibranch shots, especially since I took them with my wide angle 10-17 mm Tokina Fisheye lens. The nudibranch was only about 1 1/2 inch long.

  My favorite California fish subject, a beautifully colored Cabezon, just under the Vision as I was about to start my way up to my safety stop followed swiftly by boarding and hot chocolate!

The third, and final, dive of the day was Abalone Alley.  Well named, it was really encouraging to see a thriving colony of abalones in the Channel Islands.  They are all protected and hopefully will spread.  Below are some pictures from this dive, more can be found at:  https://goo.gl/photos/ZwyURcgSWGn6m4x98

Abalone Alley is well named for it's thriving abalone colony, great to see in the Channel Islands.

                                A patient Copper Rockfish

    This Treefish was much more patient with me than they usually are, not sure if this was an editorial belch on his part....

                         This was the end of our fifth day of diving on our fifth day Vision Trip.