Not the usual suspects.

[Merry]

At Honeymoon cove, bat rays cruised past us five times, during which time vis steadily deteriorated. Phil suggested that they might have been stirring-up things while feeding in the sand off the reef.




A second school of ~ 100 barracuda surprised us on Buchanan’s reef.



This yellowfin fringehead is from the Flat Rock area. These tiny fish are probably more common than we detect.








Kelp at White Point outfall pipe supports an astonishing array of species.
Channeled topsnail, Caliostoma canaliculatum








It’s relative, the blue-ring topsnail Caliostoma annulatum




The kelp at White Point outfall is fairly heavily populated with the infrequently seen lion nudibranch, Melibe leonina




Intriguing tiny crustaceans crowd the surface of kelp fronds.







Perfectly matching our red sponges, Rostanga pulchra is about as frustratingly cryptic as a nudi can get. (Merry's Reef.)



Phil's favorite garibaldi can always been found in the same spot on Resort Point Reef.




Worms from Buchanan's Reef.

 

[Fundive123]

Nice photos, especially the last one, haha. Very cute!

 

[TSandM]

The lighting on the first worm picture is really ethereal!

Who was your little friend, and how on earth did you get him to sit on your hand?

 

[bowlofpetunias]

What spectacular shots.. thanks so much for sharing!

 

[koozemani]

Beautiful.

 

[drbill]

I absolutely hate bat ray "season..." usually in May-June here around Casino Point. It can be worse than a dozen OW classes! I was doing survey work a fgew years back, trying to locate a series of underwater light sensors in Descanso Bay (adjacent to the dive park). There were so many bat rays feeding that visibility near the bottom dropped to less than a foot. I was cruising about 3' off the bottom and couldn't see the bat rays under me until they scooted off as I passed over them. I think bat rays should be banned!!

 

[Merry]

The lighting on the first worm picture is really ethereal!

Who was your little friend, and how on earth did you get him to sit on your hand?

Thank you for your kind words, Lynne! That's my daughter's hamster, Sugar, that we've spoiled rotten. She's packing away cantaloupe seeds.

I absolutely hate bat ray "season..." usually in May-June here around Casino Point. It can be worse than a dozen OW classes! I was doing survey work a fgew years back, trying to locate a series of underwater light sensors in Descanso Bay (adjacent to the dive park). There were so many bat rays feeding that visibility near the bottom dropped to less than a foot. I was cruising about 3' off the bottom and couldn't see the bat rays under me until they scooted off as I passed over them. I think bat rays should be banned!!

Aha! That might also explain the 2 strands of squid or octopus ink that came wafting by during the silt-out. Had we realized what was going on, we would have moved to the other side of the reef!

 

[TSandM]

We have the same problem with seals. In the wintertime, the harbor seals at one of our favorite dive sites have learned that divers' lights are great to hunt by. Unfortunately, nobody has taught the seals non-silting propulsion. As a result, a team that picks up a seal or two will dive in their own personal bubble of lousy viz. We have seal-avoidance strategies!

 

[fnfalman]

Badass pics as always. That channel top snail is cool. One more critter added to my must-find list.