Great dives, great hang.
As Claudette said, "19 species. It was silly. It was shocking. It was wonderful.
It was more than that... as Ken said later, it was "Nudiful".
Here are a few of the zillions of Nudis we saw. Full gallery here: Linky
Many thanks to 'Chica. We did three long, deep, cold dives. If I couldn't dive with a strong, fit, skilled, patient buddy with mad game and wild enthusiasm - I would not be able to do this stuff.
First in last out is my motto. Taking down the 130's and staying longer than a half-boat filled with doubles divers, while maintaining "walk-away" profiles is definitely my idea of fun. And you are the only person I've ever met that want to hit it as hard as I do. You rock!
Enjoy, all.
---
Ken
Hiltons. My newly crowned king of SoCal Nudis. Seen them a couple of times, but never photographed one. I'm smitten. I want to see more of these. Its time to head to Refugio again - the place is just stupid with Hiltons. This one was HUGE. Way too large to photograph from the side with the 105mm lens. We NERP'ed (Nudibranch Emergency Relocation Program) him, and all was good.
I love it when I can find a Nudi "doing something"... this one was hanging upside down. OK - not much, but it made for a fun shot.
Nudi's "doing something" - lifting your butt after being NERP'ed counts. This McFarlands looks like the bacon he's sitting on is a little too hot on his tushie.
And now, a break for some Falvah.
I've seen a handful of Berthella - the Giants in La Bufadora, and the really big ones in Seattle. This one seemed to small (maybe 1.5") - not too small for a SoCal nudi, but way small for a Berthella.
Shrimpy. We saw dozens of these on Dive 3 (Josh's RocketMan dive)
I love these guys. The wall on dive two was covered with them. Tritonia. The surge was wicked, and as the wall had no place to brace, most of the wall shots were free-handing. I love the colors.
I love it when I can shoot Nudi's and their buddies. Here's a Fed Ex and a juvi TriLinny
Nudi's and their buddies? OK - How about a Sandy and a Bat Star?
The first one of these I've ever seen. This little guy (think index fingernail size) is a Rostanga pulchra (Ken-named "Rosta"). Love the funky Rhinophores (the horn things on his little head.) Tear-dropped shaped, Claudette found this one and later said, "I've never had to look so long at something to determine whether it was a Nudi or not." It was!!!
TriLinny. Not a great shot, but its rare I get to see one in a vertical attitude from the top. Their white lines (the three namesake lines) are so well defined from the top. I love these guys. They come in red and orange. I don't see too many Orange ones.
This is a Facelina stearnsi - they look much like the TriLinny's with out the white lines. They are almost always orangish - blending in nicely with the Coryinactis Anemones.
Tritonia. There were several on the wall on dive two. I shot so many, I'll be processing them for another several days. There are few Nudi's I find as beautiful, and none I find more striking than a Tritonia on a red Gorgonian.
.
.
.
.
.
.
As Claudette said, "19 species. It was silly. It was shocking. It was wonderful.
It was more than that... as Ken said later, it was "Nudiful".
Here are a few of the zillions of Nudis we saw. Full gallery here: Linky
Many thanks to 'Chica. We did three long, deep, cold dives. If I couldn't dive with a strong, fit, skilled, patient buddy with mad game and wild enthusiasm - I would not be able to do this stuff.
First in last out is my motto. Taking down the 130's and staying longer than a half-boat filled with doubles divers, while maintaining "walk-away" profiles is definitely my idea of fun. And you are the only person I've ever met that want to hit it as hard as I do. You rock!
Enjoy, all.
---
Ken
Hiltons. My newly crowned king of SoCal Nudis. Seen them a couple of times, but never photographed one. I'm smitten. I want to see more of these. Its time to head to Refugio again - the place is just stupid with Hiltons. This one was HUGE. Way too large to photograph from the side with the 105mm lens. We NERP'ed (Nudibranch Emergency Relocation Program) him, and all was good.
I love it when I can find a Nudi "doing something"... this one was hanging upside down. OK - not much, but it made for a fun shot.
Nudi's "doing something" - lifting your butt after being NERP'ed counts. This McFarlands looks like the bacon he's sitting on is a little too hot on his tushie.
And now, a break for some Falvah.
I've seen a handful of Berthella - the Giants in La Bufadora, and the really big ones in Seattle. This one seemed to small (maybe 1.5") - not too small for a SoCal nudi, but way small for a Berthella.
Shrimpy. We saw dozens of these on Dive 3 (Josh's RocketMan dive)
I love these guys. The wall on dive two was covered with them. Tritonia. The surge was wicked, and as the wall had no place to brace, most of the wall shots were free-handing. I love the colors.
I love it when I can shoot Nudi's and their buddies. Here's a Fed Ex and a juvi TriLinny
Nudi's and their buddies? OK - How about a Sandy and a Bat Star?
The first one of these I've ever seen. This little guy (think index fingernail size) is a Rostanga pulchra (Ken-named "Rosta"). Love the funky Rhinophores (the horn things on his little head.) Tear-dropped shaped, Claudette found this one and later said, "I've never had to look so long at something to determine whether it was a Nudi or not." It was!!!
TriLinny. Not a great shot, but its rare I get to see one in a vertical attitude from the top. Their white lines (the three namesake lines) are so well defined from the top. I love these guys. They come in red and orange. I don't see too many Orange ones.
This is a Facelina stearnsi - they look much like the TriLinny's with out the white lines. They are almost always orangish - blending in nicely with the Coryinactis Anemones.
Tritonia. There were several on the wall on dive two. I shot so many, I'll be processing them for another several days. There are few Nudi's I find as beautiful, and none I find more striking than a Tritonia on a red Gorgonian.
.
.
.
.
.
.
