We went to Marineland early this morning in search of Rainbow nudibranchs, Dendronotus iris. We dropped down in a very familiar spot, right where we had seen dozens of them before. We spent more than an hour in surge and twelve feet visibility with no luck. I did find more than two dozen Cuthona divaes. I saw what I thought was two on the same hydroid, but it turned out to be a single animal next to four tailing each other. Near the end of the dive I found one laying eggs. The surge and 51F water was getting to me, so I only got one decent shot.
Merry conducted an experiment today. She's been planning for a year to plant fish kabobs in the sand, leave the area and see what shows up later. It didn't take long before Kellet's whelks, sand stars and our old mantis buddy took an interest. Next time, we'll bury the bait deeper.
Fish kabobs
Brittle star on bryozoan
Polycera tricolor
Cuthona divae
As we were pulling anchor a distress call came over the radio. There was a report of a boat in shallow rocks at Pt. Fermin. The Captain was frantically waving a red flag and the man who reported the trouble to the lifeguards said the distressed vessel had a diver in the water, possibly checking for damage. When rescue personnel arrived it turned out that the Captain was trying to warn other boaters to stay clear because he had a diver in the water. That was one of the worst uses of a dive flag I have heard about.
Merry conducted an experiment today. She's been planning for a year to plant fish kabobs in the sand, leave the area and see what shows up later. It didn't take long before Kellet's whelks, sand stars and our old mantis buddy took an interest. Next time, we'll bury the bait deeper.
Fish kabobs
Brittle star on bryozoan
Polycera tricolor
Cuthona divae
As we were pulling anchor a distress call came over the radio. There was a report of a boat in shallow rocks at Pt. Fermin. The Captain was frantically waving a red flag and the man who reported the trouble to the lifeguards said the distressed vessel had a diver in the water, possibly checking for damage. When rescue personnel arrived it turned out that the Captain was trying to warn other boaters to stay clear because he had a diver in the water. That was one of the worst uses of a dive flag I have heard about.
