Santa Barbara Island 7/31/10

[Larry C]

We only got two dives here because we had a five hour ride back to Ventura in the afternoon, but they were the best of the trip.

More Nudis
Flabellina Iodinea (Spanish Shawl)

Hermissenda Crassicornis (Horned Aeolid)

Chromodoris

Navanax

and tons of Sea Hares, including this California Sea Hare

but the Sea Lions were amazing. They followed us everywhere and played with anyone who responded to them.

but eventually, we had to say goodbye

You can view the whole album here
7-31-10 Santa Barbara Island pictures by Larry_C - Photobucket

 

[bvanant]

Great stuff, I love the Navinax and the hermessinda.

Bill

 

[Gilligan]

Great shots Larry. The Sea Lions are my favorite especially the first one with the five of them.

 

[ligersandtions]

Man, you know it's a bummer when nudibranchs (Limacia cockerelli, Triopha catalinae) are getting in the way of other nudibranchs (Flabellina iodinea, Hermissenda crassicornis) in your pictures

Great pictures! Would love to dive Santa Barbara Island one of these days!

 

[victor]

Larry
Are these all shot with the 60mm?
Great photos, I will have a look at the album as well.

 

[robint]

Fantastic photos! We did Santa Barbara Island once, on the Great Escape out of LA area and loved it. The sea lions are sooooo much fun!!

robin

 

[Larry C]

Thanks, Bill & Jim!

Man, you know it's a bummer when nudibranchs (Limacia cockerelli, Triopha catalinae) are getting in the way of other nudibranchs (Flabellina iodinea, Hermissenda crassicornis) in your pictures
Great pictures! Would love to dive Santa Barbara Island one of these days!

Yeah, I know! I forgot to mention the hitchhikers! Note that there are no "Hi Moms" crowding into the picture of the Navanax! My wife dove Santa Barbara on a lobster trip last year and had raved about how beautiful it was. She didn't lie.

Larry
Are these all shot with the 60mm?
Great photos, I will have a look at the album as well.

Thanks, Victor!
The macros were shot with the 60 AF-D in the standard flat port. The Sea Lion shots were done with the Tokina 10-17 in the fisheye dome, all at 10mm (I don't have a zoom gear for it yet). Had I been diving the dome on the first dive, I might have gotten the Giant Black Sea Bass that Carol saw while I had my nose in a hole shooting nudis!

Thanks, Robin. I might have to dive the end of the Breakwater Pier or get down to Lobos Rocks now sometime to satisfy my Sea Lion habit. We're used to seeing the occasional one or two swooping down at a distance, but although the 10mm lens distorts the distance, these guys were playing 2-4 feet away. We were in Sea Lion heaven!

 

[promocop]

how COLD was the water? Great shots

 

[Larry C]

how COLD was the water? Great shots

Varied from 58-68°f with steep thermoclines at about 25-35'. Chillier than usual, as the spearfishers on our trip look for high 60's to 70's there for yellow-tail and white sea bass. We didn't get much action for the hunters.

 

[bvanant]

We did 4 dives off Anacapa a week ago and everyone saw tons of giant black sea bass, except my nose was always in a hole playing with the tiny things.

Bill