Whidbey Island Critters

[Grateful Diver]

I have seen this peculiar Lingcod markings for some time at Keystone. Now we have two resident fish
at the jetty, one has left side dark, the other right side. Anybody else finding this kind of coloration
at different dive locations ?

This reminds me of an old Star Trek episode. Did they fight each other?

Jan, you're putting that wide-angle lens to exceptional use ... that pic of the wolfie in the pilings is definitely a photo contest winner ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Jan K]

Thanks Bob, unfortunately, it wasn't the right lens for photographing this fight:

[LCF]

Poor little crab!

It's really fun when you get to watch behavior like that. I watched a couple of shiner perch doing what I am sure was a mating dance the other day -- I could have spent the whole dive watching them, but I thought it was a bit unfair to my buddy

[Jan K]

Poor little crab!

Watching critters going about their lives is what keeps me returning to the same dive spots
again and again. I keep asking myself: Why leave Whidbey ? I still did not see everything it has to offer !

[fnerg]

Awesome post. I wish information like this was more easily googlable. Googling something like "scalyhead sculpin diet" gives you a lot of pages with simple lists of stomach contents, but very few interesting tidbits (ha) like this!

[LCF]

Wow -- what a great set of photographs! I have never seen a scalyhead eating ANYTHING, and had no idea what their diet was, to be honest.

Yes, I think you have to be singularly lacking in curiosity to get bored diving where we have so much life to look at.

[Tom Nic]

I have never seen a scalyhead eating ANYTHING, and had no idea what their diet was, to be honest.

They are actually pretty aggressive little hunters. For the longest time I would be lining up on a Scaleyhead and they would flit away. At first I thought they were just running from me, but then as I watched more closely I have often seen them pursuing shrimp or another small prey that was on the structure where I was shooting them.

[Dusty2]

I think they like divers because our lights make their prey visible. i frequently see them grab something as soon as the light hits it. It always makes me feel a little guilty.

[LCF]

I know what you mean, Dusty! I was on a wall in the San Juan Islands, and my light picked up a BIG, pretty female kelp greenling. I was looking at her, and suddenly something dark shot past my head . . . it was a ling cod, and he grabbed her. I felt I had marked her for assassination!

[Jan K]

From the south end of Whidbey:

[LCF]

Wow -- that crescent gunnel picture is the most marvelous study in yellow -- fish, background, and shrimp, too!

BTW, Jan, I want to thank you (if you didn't see it elsewhere) for the information about the sculpins. I spent quite a bit of time watching them at Keystone on Sunday, and actually saw them catching little things. Your pages just continue to enrich my diving, by expanding my knowledge about the cool things we see!

[dwashbur]

I wonder if those barnacle eating dorids are trying to avoid becoming sea star food?

May this thread continue forever!

[Jan K]

Thank you for input

Cloudy eyes- not that uncommon in our waters :(

[Jan K]

Almost a month ago, diving at Keystone, I came upon a strange looking Puget Sound King crab.
Unfortunately, I had fisheye lens on my camera, not the best for smaller critter photography.
When I returned home I started searching for the answers to accompany to the pictures .
I really appreciate the willingness of experts to share their knowledge and opinions in search
for the explanation. I am sharing their emails, so you can get some idea what is involved with
some of the Whidbey Critters .
Maybe some day, I can add the last page to this saga

[Dusty2]

Again you find something rare and interesting. I think mother nature sends things like this your way because she knows you will get answers!

You continually find and document these wonders and are a credit to divers all over.

Thank you for your service to our marine community.

[Jan K]

Thank you Dusty, I am glad you enjoy my musings about the critters we enjoy on our visits
to the underwater world...

[LCF]

Absolutely fascinating, Jan! It just goes to show that there is SO much that is not known about the other 7/8th of the world . . .

[Jan K]

Invitation to colors of the Pass just three feet below the surface:

[LCF]

Fascinating color palette -- it never ceases to amaze me how little use color is in identifying marine organisms!

[Jan K]

Fascinating color palette -- it never ceases to amaze me how little use color is in identifying marine organisms!

And all three color variations are on the same big rock !

[Jan K]

just another octopus

[Tom Nic]

And a fine specimin it is!

[LCF]

Love the wide angle with the pilings -- you are getting some fabulous shots under that pier!

[Scubie Doo]

just another octopus

AWESOME!

[Jan K]

Thank you for kind words. Isn't diving great ?

Moby Dicks of sculpin world: