November may have fizzled out, but December began on a high note

[MaxBottomtime]

We had pretty lousy conditions yesterday, so today was looking to be a day to sleep in. Merry convinced me to try another dive on the Redondo barge. Visibility was double what we had yesterday. We saw possibly the same large Mola Mola as yesterday, but it was cruising along with no signs of stopping for a Kodak moment.
Inside the barge is a cabezon that Kevin found last week. It must be on a nest, although I didn't see any eggs. I was amazed that it could hang upside down for so long.

I found the tiniest pair of Ancula gibbosa laying eggs on a stick. I bumped the stick with my camera, sending the little guys flying in the current. I caught them and carefully placed them on a small piece of rust from the barge. Soon they resumed their egg-laying duties.

I checked out one of the octopus nests. Fresh eggs hung just inches away from a patch that could be hatching any minute.

 

[TSandM]

Gorgeous photos, as always!

 

[Fundive123]

Beautiful photos, especially of the Ancula gibbosas!

 

[geoff w]

Great photos as ever! Your pictures are the biggest demotivator for getting into underwater photography; it's just so easy to enjoy yours without doing any work so I can concentrate on diving.

I got back from Thanksgiving up north on Saturday night, and the LDS fun dive planned for Sunday didn't happen because of expected poor conditions. A few buddies and I dived Little Dume and like you were very pleasantly surprised by the nice conditions. Octopus, leopard sharks, countless lobster and an inquisitive sea lion were the highlights of our dive, but alas, no pictures