Huge black sea slugs in Laguna

[diver_doug]

I've seen the big black sea slugs in Laguna a number of times, but I was at Diver's Cove a couple days ago and there was a lot of them, and they were REALLY big. In only about 10fsw there was a rock that had 6 on it, and a couple of them were over 2 feet long and about a foot wide. Not sure how long they'll be around, but if you get a chance, try to check them out.

 

[Spg01]

I remember seeing them a few weeks ago when diving around crescent. They looked like large cats or small dog's.

 

[ligersandtions]

I imagine you're talking about sea hares??

I've been seeing big orgies of them recently....in fact, a couple weekends ago, I saw a group of 11 of them, on top of eggs!

 

[Rainer]

LOL, pretty sure you're talking about sea hares. The seem to be mating currently. Eggs are everywhere in Laguna.

 

[USCScubaboy]

Definitely sea hares. First time I saw one, I thought it was a rock. Then it started moving!

 

[diver_doug]

I imagine you're talking about sea hares??

I've been seeing big orgies of them recently....in fact, a couple weekends ago, I saw a group of 11 of them, on top of eggs!

I wasn't sure what they were, I thought "slug" seemed like the most appropriate description...but yeah, I looked up "sea hare" on google and that's definitely them.

 

[Leejnd]

And I've been seeing their eggs everywhere - gazillions of them! (And yes, "gazillions" is an actual number, defined by mathmeticians as 1 less than than a centillion, and 1 more than a googillion... ) Here's a photo of them from a recent dive:

At least, I THINK those are sea hare eggs - somebody told me they were. If they aren't, I'm going to be embarrassed!

 

[Rainer]

They are!

 

[Rainer]

I thought "slug" seemed like the most appropriate description...

Oh, I think it's a GREAT description of what they look like: a really huge nudi.

Knew instantly what you were referring to.

 

[Leejnd]

They are!

PHEW! I'm relieved!

I've seen these tangles of eggs all over the place - Santa Cruz, Catalina Island, Anacapa - more than I ever recall seeing before. Are we dealing with some kind of sea hare explosion? Or is this normal? I just don't remember seeing so many of them in the past, or in such huge blobs.