8-16-08 Santa Cruz Island pics

[Larry C]

These are the last of the Vision trip to the Channel Islands. We did 3 dives on Santa Cruz Island before heading the last few miles into Santa Barbara. First dive was Palm Park.

Octopus Bimaculata (Two Spot Octopus)
This Octo has two false eyes with a fully interwoven blue ring.

Spanish Shawls were everywhere we went on both Catalina and Santa Cruz

Last two dives were at Arch Rock. The Cove was strewn with piles of mussel shells, and hordes of huge Sea Stars of every variety picking over them. Some Sea Mammal feeding ground I presume.

This odd couple didn't seem comfortable with their proximity: A Sunflower Star and a big Ochre Star. When one would feel around over the other, it would pull its arms away, but not for long before going back to picking at the shells.

Apparently, there was a reason for so many Spanish Shawls. This could be it.

Copper Rockfish

Juvenile Treefish

Adolescent Black and Yellow Rockfish

And what trip to SoCal would be complete without at least one Garibaldi?

 

[blesi varney]

Larry- Wow! on the octopus. You all have such interesting sea stars with different colors in So. Cal. We don't see those here on Maui. Also, can you please tell me how the tree fish got its name? Great photos.

 

[AndyT]

Great pics Larry. I am so envious that we don't have Garibaldi's or Spanish shawls over here - they make great subjects.

 

[SterlingDiver]

Very nice pictures. I have a soft spot in my heart for Santa Cruz. My family and I backpacked on the island for three days several years ago. We only had our snorkeling gear and a sea kayack but we had a ball. I was amazed at how good the viz. was. I also saw my first and only blue shark there. It was a youngster about 3' long and was very beautiful. We also had a harbor seal hang out with us for about an hour in the kelp forest. When we came back in to hang out on the beach to warm up it followed us and layed within a few feet of us for the rest of the afternnoon.

Very special trip. I wish we had had our scuba gear with us.

Thanks again for your great pictures. It brought back a host of fond memories.

Good Diving,

Dave

 

[parabolic]

Superb California collage Larry. BTW I took your advice and got busy on my bucket list item (black sea bass). I have asked Catalina Scuba Luv to put together a 2-3 day land-based trip sometime in October. They can arrange everything for me, lodging, boat, etc. That should maximize my chances for seeing one. Thanks for getting me fired up on this
++Ken++

 

[Larry C]

Thanks Blesi, those are the first two-spots that I've seen. I have no idea how the Treefish got it's name, I even looked up the etymology on the internet and all I could get was the origins of its scientific name. You can't go 10 feet in CA without seeing some kind of Sea Star. They're pretty much everywhere because there are so many food sources for them.

Thanks Andy. We get kind of numb to the local stuff here because it is so common, just as I'm sure people who live in the tropics could care less if they see one more Angelfish, but sometimes you just can't find anything else to shoot and you remember what a great picture some of these things make. As far as Garabaldis, even though they're the state fish (Ocean) of California they're pests. On this trip though, they were kind of hard to shoot because they seemed to be nesting and were very aggressive with both other fish and divers. Usually they get in your lens and won't go away.

Sterling Diver: Glad I could bring back some memories. Haven't been onshore at Santa Cruz myself, but the diving always seems pretty nice.

Ken, glad to here you're going to get out and find those big fellas. Hope the seas stay friendly until you get over there and that the Bass are still hanging around.