Stonington Point Report - Found Fin (Thrustmaster)

[ScubaSarus]

Went out with Divers Cove Wednesday Night Fun dive. And fun it was as 25+ divers showed up. All divers seemed to enjoy the romp about the Point. There was also plenty of dive masters and experienced advanced divers on hand helping the new divers. The shop seemed to be as busy as a beehive getting all the divers ready for the trip.

An accident on the Baldwin bridge gave us a late start as some of us got to the point early and waited for the rest of the crew.

The vis was a spotty 10 ft at times but once night came and the winds died down we got 15 ft with a turquoise tinge in the water and it was absolutely nice IMO. Water temps were a balmy 65 deg F. I wore a 7mm full suit with a 3mm homemade shorty over it and was good for a 75 minute dive.

Of note: I saw for the first time and strange looking white colored anemone type critter sticking out of the sand with tentacles. It was procreating pro-furiously (probably happy to see me) and one of the neatest sights to see in my 9 years of diving. We saw a few more as night fell. Afterwards, I stayed behind and ate a 9:30 pm supper on the beach.

Found one lost fin a Thrusmaster yellow and black fin I'll try get back to the shop or keep in my trunk. Someone message me if they know who the owner is.

Nice to get back to some fun diving.

 

[jpiolu]

I think those tentacled spiny white critters might have been a kind of sea cucumber. I had never seen them before either.

That fin wasn't the only thing lost last night. I lost a yellow snorkel, and somebody else left a pair of shoes under one of the picnic tables.

Thanks for helping me look for lobsters. It's too bad we didn't have more time. They were just beginning to emerge from their daytime hiding places.

--
Joe P.

 

[ScubaSarus]

Yea I gotta Id those. Were is RIO.

Spread the word I have the fin Joe.

Another hour and those lobsters would have been crawling on the rocks.

 

[fencingfish]

Could be a Northern Cerianthid. I took a picture of one I saw at Niles Beach. It's posted under my photos. Is that your sand anemone?

 

[ScubaSarus]

Not even close fencingfish. I see Northern Cerianthid all over. This was a rare sight and believe they may have just colonized.

I looked like a white albino seacucumber (1 inch diameter) coming out of the sand about 2 inches with radial tentacles around the mouth (top) with lots of sperm being released (shot all over the place) (don't mean to be too graphic. but its biology).

The tentacles were not cucumber-like more like northern red anemone-like. Thick and long with suction cups.

I need to go back with someone to photograph these so whoever has a good camera lets plan a trip possibly a nightish dive as more came out as it got darker or because lots of divers has exited the water. We were the last divers to leave the water at 9 pm; most had already packed up and left.

 

[fencingfish]

my apologies. I got nothing. weird! good luck with the ID

 

[ScubaSarus]

Thanks guy but it was worth a shot. Believe me Ive dove Stonington quite a bit and this is a first. wondering iF we have a new invasive species.

 

[jpiolu]

Chris,

Andrew Martinez' book _Marine Life of the North Atlantic_ (Canada to New England) contains a photo of what he refers to as a burrowing anemone (Edwardsia sp.), which might have been what we were looking at.

The spiny trunk of the critter we saw led me to think that it was a sea cucumber. From my recollection, the top view looks almost exactly as seen in the photo in Martinez' book. The photo doesn't show a side view, unfortunately.

--
Joe P.

 

[ScubaSarus]

Not much out there for any type of picture of what we saw to confirm it. Hopefully when my buddy gets his gear back we'll go out and video tape it. Looks like 2 more appeared once it got dark.

Wondering how long will they stay there, if they will still be procreating, do they burrow completely in the sand at times, and how they got there.

 

[RIOceanographer]

Yea I gotta Id those. Were is RIO.

Sorry, been a bit busy.

I don't know from the description but it sounds like it was probably either a species of burrowing anemone (there are several genera including the affore mentioned Edwardsia as well as Nematostella, Haloclava and Actinothoe). The salinity was probably too high in that spot to be Nematostella.

If it had branching tentacles (though it sounds like it did not) a sea cumber is also a possibility.