It's a Microscopic World After All

[MaxBottomtime]

The blue surface water this weekend was deceiving as we descended into poor visibility and surge at Hawthorne Reef. Most of the inhabitants were in hiding and those that weren't were protected from our lenses by the dirty water. We opted for Golf Ball Reef where we had similar conditions but better luck with the tiny critters in the kelp canopy.
Micro Merry found most of the interesting little guys between five and twenty feet. I scoured the bottom with little luck. I found a cabezon with split colorization on his face. Before I could get a second shot he bolted out over the sand. I thought he was just camera shy but apparently he spotted a dead octopus and made a quick meal of it.

Zebra goby

Blue banded goby

California scorpionfish

Swell shark egg

Tiny scallop in the kelp

Flatworm

Simnia snail

Cabezon

Eubranchus rustyus

Dendronotus venustus

Doto amyra

 

[fnfalman]

The scallop on the kelp shot is awesome. I always tell people to look closely at the kelp stalks and leaves because you will never know what might be hiding.