Whidbey Island Critters

Fish & Invertebrate sightings and descriptions, hosted by resident NWDC ID expert Janna Nichols (nwscubamom).
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

Dead man's fingers, somewhat unflattering name for an algae ...
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by nwscubamom »

In the new REEF invertebrate monitoring program for the Northeast US & Canada, Dead Man's Fingers (Codium fragile - same species) is included. Another name for it is 'Oyster Thief' - when this plant grows on an oyster or scallop shell, (instead of the bottom habitat), it can become buoyant, and lift the oyster or scallop up in midwater, which eventually kills the mollusk. :(
It's an invasive species for their coast, and was first spotted there in 1957. It's now spread and is quite prolific, and is a pain for boat owners and beachcombers.

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(info taken from Andy Martinez's 'Marine Life of the North Atlantic')
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

The bad news is here. Signs of the Sea Star Wasting Syndrome are now appearing again in Langley, the only site on Whidbey with abundance of sea stars ( besides Penn Cove where only the Mottled stars thrive).
So far, Sunflower stars, still small, are the only species unaffected. At this time, vast majority of the wasting stars appear in shallower part of the harbor in depth of 10- 30 feet .
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

Even with fish eye lens, the plankton soup in which this swarm of Fried eggs jellies swim made it impossible to show, how large the congregation actually was. And then, as I was trying to switch mode from Manual to video, the ring on top of the camera which controls the modes fell off and the camera was stuck in "art" with no sync to the strobes and ridicules shutter speed setting.
So I got just few pictures of the jellies from that dive ...
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

Another tide cycle at Deception Pass. Still not tired of it :)
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by bradmond »

Glad your not tired of it. Looks like you're running fast with your fins on to put out that fire. Good job.
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

More from the two days at the Pass. 12-50mm lens on Monday, 8mm wide angle on Wednesday.
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

How do you perform Heimlich Maneuver on fish ?
This youngster Copper rockfish looks like it could use it.
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

I was hoping not to see this again, but the morbid scenes on wasting stars is reoccurring again here in Langley.
It is depressing... :(
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by LCF »

You know, as I recall, the ochre stars were hit less hard and later than the sunflower stars, the first time around. I wonder if there were susceptible individuals who survived the first plague and are now getting sick, as opposed to the sunflower stars, where anything that survived was pretty resistant.
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

There was hope that the new stars will be more resilient. But now when I see that even the new ones dying , I am really worried. Where will the next generation come from if the new ones die off before they are old enough to spawn :(
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

Little fun with algae and the internet :)
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Re: RE: Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by verrinne »

Jan K wrote:Little fun with algae and the internet :)
[img]http&#58;//jankocian&#46;smugmug&#46;com/Other/New-Arrivals/i-kX7Qn6x/0/XL/7&#46;4&#46;15%20Green%20hair%20algae%20JK%20S%20-XL&#46;jpg[/img]
[img]http&#58;//jankocian&#46;smugmug&#46;com/Other/New-Arrivals/i-ZzQQ5v9/0/XL/7&#46;2&#46;15%20Pillars%20of%20creation%20algae%20S%20-XL&#46;jpg[/img]
Are you the marine biologist
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

No I am not biologist of anything, but I would like to play with the dolphins .
So looking at algae is what I do when nothing else shows up during my dive :)
Last edited by Jan K on Sun Jul 05, 2015 5:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by verrinne »

Ok
From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free.-Jacques-Yves Cousteau
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

Are you one of us ? :)
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by verrinne »

Yes but im normally looking at the ground for cool little creatures and rocks. My uncles a geologist
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

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And back to Deception Pass. The currents were stronger and the slack much shorter this time around ...
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by YellowEye »

Nice Jan!
Cool find on that sea spider, I haven't heard of that one before!
Very interesting about that RIL!
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by ScubaJess »

Great pics Jan! Those Sculpins & RIL are so fun to watch! Also cool sea spiders. Not sure why they are so cool under water but freak me out on land?
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by oldsalt »

Jan, It seems to me that the Irish Lord changes its color to match the background. Your picture is consistent with my conjecture. Have you noticed the same thing?
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

oldsalt wrote:Jan, It seems to me that the Irish Lord changes its color to match the background. Your picture is consistent with my conjecture. Have you noticed the same thing?
-Curt :questionmarks:
Yes Curt, I noticed how different they look on the south end of Whidbey, Possession Fingers don't even come close to the color riot of Deception Pass.
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Jan K
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

Most of my encounters with Ratfish were on the bottom, This one at Keystone accompanied me at the surface...
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Scubie Doo »

Wow, Jan that is really cool. I've been trying to get that photo from underneath the ratfish for several years. I love it :)
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Re: Whidbey Island Critters

Post by Jan K »

Scubie Doo wrote:Wow, Jan that is really cool. I've been trying to get that photo from underneath the ratfish for several years. I love it :)
Thanks, it was fun to swim along, not sure what the fish was up to, not much to eat where it was ...
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