Photos from the porridge.

[Merry]

It's been a little like squeezing blood from a turnip, or any number of old adages that you can think of. However, a few interesting animals popped up. Here's a shrimp that I dislodged from a rusty plate on the landing craft.

Alpheus bellimanus







This flatworm, Stylocus insolitus, near the Avalon wreck, was snapped up by a ronquil before Phil could get a shot. To see it in its full glory, see Kevin Lee's shots http://www.diverkevin.com/North-America-Diving/Latest-SoCal-Dives/6060136_SSBqRW#!i=1923823033&k=ZmWBprS




Large rubberlips and small rockfish abound on Buchanan's Reef.






Blue rockfish




Hermissenda rumble on the barge! These were taken with your wet diopter, Margaret.










Tritonia festiva that you've seen a million times...

 

[bperc]

Great photos again! The hermissenda battle photos are great. Which diopter are you using?

 

[TSandM]

That's a very cool and unusual shrimp. Nice find!

 

[SPKelpDiver]

Great photos Merry. I know how picky you are about what shots you post. Terrible visibility aside, you still managed to nail some clean shots. I am surprised you managed to get the rubber lip without any back scatter. Love the Tritonia Festiva shot. Very pretty little slug.

Frank hasn't been feeling well this week and I have been hell-bent on diving so I have made a habit of cruising down the coast to scope the local sites almost everyday. I have been totally skunked by this brown water despite the flat ocean conditions, but I did manage to get one really beautiful dive at Haggerty's last Friday. It was my first time diving this site, and I was pleasantly surprised. I used the trail next to the church to get down to my entry. I read about this trail in Phil's book, otherwise I wouldn't have known it was there. The rope staked down in the trail was a huge help, especially getting back up. Vis was a nice 20 feet, maybe even 25 feet in some spots. Not much reef life, but tons of fish and a sprawling kelp forest.

I hope this brown water scourge passes soon...for us all.

 

[Merry]

Margaret and Scott Webb let me try their Woody's wet diopter (Nexus) with my 60mm lens. It's simply placed on the front of the port, and can be removed and replaced in the water. It increases the image size by 20%.

 

[FrankPro1]

Excellent Series! Love the Hermissenda battle captures. What is the translucent cone shaped mats in the upper portion of the flatworm capture?

 

[Merry]

Those are the food particle-filtering tentacles in the lophophores of bryozoans. So much fascinating stuff goes on UW, but we really need a microscope to see and appreciate it.