New To the Board

[dwashbur]

Hey all,
My wife and I just arrived from Boise, Idaho and are going to be in the Monterey/Salinas area for about 3 months. We come here to dive; the jobs are just a means of paying for air fills. In any case, we've done some diving in the area before and are looking forward to doing more. I like to hang out on online boards and pick up ideas, so I'm looking forward to interacting with folks. We're total critter freaks, and as far as we're concerned, diving without a camera is a bit like playing the piano without fingers. So I might share a picture or two from time to time, as well. We've done a fair bit of diving in Puget Sound, and one thing fascinates me: the Hermissenda crassicornis down here have much more vivid coloring than the ones up in the Sound. I'm wondering if anybody has any idea why that's so? The ones in the Sound are beautiful, but the ones here practically radiate color. Is it something they eat, water temperature, these guys are happier, the ones in the Sound drink too much, curiosity overwhelms me.

 

[sarita75]

Wow. I love the Hermissenda's as well, but not sure why there are different colors, etc. Regardless, a warm Northern California welcome to you!

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

There are at least three of Hermissenda colorations, and USUALLY matings seem to occur between
the same coloration, but I've seen different ones mating occasionally. Dunno if the mating of same colors is
nudi preference or geographic.

 

[dannobee]

Do they look something like this?

Picasa Web Albums - dannobee - Point Lobos w...

 

[bbianchi]

Welcome! Perhaps ill see you on a dive or two sometime soon.

 

[Annie Crawley]

Hey there,

Welcome to California. You might never go back! I'm just building a site with photos and video all over promoting diving in California (and the world)! I know nudis often get their coloration from the food they eat but are not sure why you are noticing these are more brilliant down south.

Make sure you get out to the Channel Islands if you can. The northern are much more colorful than the southern ones...but they each have their own beauty.

Life is just a surface interval, dive into your imagination with me!

 

[dwashbur]

Hey there,

Welcome to California. You might never go back!

Actually, I grew up in Stockton and couldn't wait to get the h*** out I don't mind coming back on occasion for the diving, though

 

[Ben_ca]

Hey all,
My wife and I just arrived from Boise, Idaho and are going to be in the Monterey/Salinas area for about 3 months. We come here to dive; the jobs are just a means of paying for air fills. In any case, we've done some diving in the area before and are looking forward to doing more. I like to hang out on online boards and pick up ideas, so I'm looking forward to interacting with folks. We're total critter freaks, and as far as we're concerned, diving without a camera is a bit like playing the piano without fingers. So I might share a picture or two from time to time, as well. We've done a fair bit of diving in Puget Sound, and one thing fascinates me: the Hermissenda crassicornis down here have much more vivid coloring than the ones up in the Sound. I'm wondering if anybody has any idea why that's so? The ones in the Sound are beautiful, but the ones here practically radiate color. Is it something they eat, water temperature, these guys are happier, the ones in the Sound drink too much, curiosity overwhelms me.

Welcome (back) to Monterey diving... I was the guy in doubles parked next to you last Sunday... I hope you had a nice dive.

 

[micboucher]

Welcome back! I hope to get a chance to meet and dive with you sometime.

 

[dwashbur]

Welcome back! I hope to get a chance to meet and dive with you sometime.

That sounds like fun. Maybe you can take us to the Metridium field, we still haven't actually gotten there! We've followed the pipe a couple of times, but there's just so much to see along the way and we go so s......l.......o........w that we end up having to turn around before we get to the end. We don't mind too much, because all that stuff to see is why we're there.

We're big nudibranch lovers, by the way. This trip so far we've seen our first-ever giant nudis, Dendronotus iris, and it seems that once we got past that first one, they're everywhere. So we're loving this.

If we're around, you can spot us in the dark green minivan with Idaho plates and dive stuff hanging on a rod in the back