Mini trip report, video and critter ID help: Paddock Rock & Picket's ledge

[large_diver]

2 enjoyable dives aboard the Cape Ann Diver in the rain/gloom yesterday morning = Paddock Rock and Picket's Ledge. Water temps were in the 52-54F range. Visibility was pretty poor = 10 feet and less at times, making things pretty dim below 60 feet. Max depth 66 at Paddock and 47 at Picket. Marine life highlights were lots of anemones, 2 sea ravens (1 at each site; beautiful red one at Picket) and some feisty lobsters.

I can use some help identifying some critters at 1:39 of the video (link below). Not sure if these are juvenile lobsters or something else. They were hard to see and retracted under the shells/rocks when I went for a closer look.

When you start the video, hover over the "auto" button in the lower right hand corner of the video window and set to 1080p.

Paddock & Picket - 11 Oct 2014 - Zurich-Diver

Chris

 

[DavidInNH]

Great video Chris! I saw at the end where you said the camera and lens you used. What did you use for lighting?

 

[large_diver]

Thanks for the kind comment David.

I've been using this video light from SeaLife. The best thing about it is the compact size. You can see from my footage that shooting macro with this set-up can leave things looking a little shaky.....but I really like the portability, the ability to get it into tight spots and the ability to handle it with 1 hand easily. The lighting takes some experimentation with the GoPro. I find that aiming this particular light just a little away from the subject gives me better results…..or perhaps I should mount some sort of diffuser on it.

Sea Dragon 1200 Photo/Video/Dive Light | Sealife Cameras

The Macromate mini lens works best about 3-4 inches from your subject. On some shots I had it just right…..on others like the moving sea ravens, less than optimal.

I also have the backscatter +10 lens, which is supposed to work well up to 10-12 inches away. My results with the +10 haven't been as good….this again may be due to improper lighting or not being the correct distance from the subject for this lens.

 

[Steve_C]

Don't think it was a lobster. Not that familiar with Northeast species but there are several types of creatures that have tentacles like that including some types of barnacles and worms. They also look like the arms of a brittle star but have not seen one acting like that (yet)

I cut out the part you mentioned:

 

[large_diver]

Steve - thanks for the still capture

Same feeling regarding how they were behaving. Need to go find my North Atlantic fish ID book.....

 

[CT-Rich]

I am going to go with a brittle star. It looks like there are three arm on it and it is just pressed into a corner of the rock. Barnacles tend to have a single arm for feeding and use a scooping motion, retracting it with each pass.

Nice video, good and steady in the harbor. Did you use any de-shaking software to smooth out the image?

 

[large_diver]

Thanks Rich. No specific de-shaking, just using 2 hands above water and trying to keep it as steady possible. Underwater you can clearly see segments where I am hanging in the water vs. having one hand on the bottom to keep things steady


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Learn It]

Great footage! love seeing some north shore dive videos

 

[xroirat]

Thanks for sharing the video Chris. The clarity and color are great! Good job at framing as well.
Jim