Where have all the nudis gone?

[MaxBottomtime]

After three days of Santana winds I expected great conditions. The day began well, with flat seas and a half dozen Gray whales putting on a great show for us at Pt. Vicente.


We needed to fuel the boat, so we made a dive on the wreck of the F.S. Loop just off the Los Angeles Federal Breakwater. We had the best conditions I have ever had on the Loop last year. Today was the worst. Dark, less than three feet visibility and a soup of gunk rushing by.


We didn't find the large number of Doriopsilla spaldingi we usually see here, and not a single Tritonia festiva was spotted. None of us reported anything good after surfacing.

After topping off with petrol, we headed for Marineland in search of nudibranchs. They have been suspiciously absent from our recent dives. Even Marineland was a disappointment. I only found a few species at a spot I found seventeen on a single dive before. Maybe the cold, dirty water is scaring them away.
I'm getting really tired of saying this, but I hope conditions improve soon.

 

[drbill]

Of course here on the island most nudis tend to be deep (> 100 fsw) in colder water so I'm always amazed at the reports of you and other divers off the "Big Island" where you get to see them in much shallower water.

 

[3D diver]

Great pics, always enjoy your posts.

No answer to your question, except to note that on many of the other forums I hang in a thread title like that would elicite a host of ribald responses---a few Simpsons-esque references to nudi-bars at the very least.

 

[fnfalman]

I too wonder where are all the nudies at? I hardly saw any at Farnsworth. East end of Anacapa showed me a handful of white-spotted yellow dorids and San Diegos. That's it.

 

[HBDiveGirl]

Ronnie and I dived the area of Old Marineland around "Ted's Rock" on Wednesday January 2nd, about 10am, on a rising tide.

The Nudibranch Light turned on at 50fsw and we tallied 14 species on a 90 minute dive.
Most were found between 50 and 68fsw.
We saw many large Sea Lemons in the 40-50fsw zone as we headed back towards Cobble Beach.

It's always an Easter Egg hunt...for very very small "eggs".

The day before, Chris and I saw many individuals of 7 species all over the wreck of the ACE I.

Thankfully, both these sites are stupid with glorious life of the non-opisthobranch varieties as well.

Hoping for more clear water every chance we get!

~~~~
Claudette



"...and the next step is a naked midget."
--Mo2vation

 

[drbill]

Phil.... I went out on the King Neptune yesterday and did three dives at depths of 81-114 fsw. Although I wasn't looking for them (squid was the target), I only saw ONE nudibranch the entire day. Looks like even the deeper waters here are affected. At the third site (my deepest dive) I used to see tens to hundreds of nudis in the depth range I dove. NONE of the ones commonly seen there were present as far as I could see.