Northwest Dive Club

Jan: Another great post. Just minutes ago, I was watching four gray whales feeding near Hat Island (Gedney island). All larger organisms, whales, trees, humans, serve as hosts to a large number of species that normally go unnoticed. I heard a nematode specialist brag that if you could remove every living thing but nematodes, he could reconstruct the biosystem based upon the species specific nematodes present. I watched the grays rubbing against a rocky beach for a couple of days at LaPush. Poor barnacles. I was excited about meeting you and Maria last Saturday.
- Curt

Thank you all for the positive feedback... Since I cannot dive (cough, cough),
at least I search the seashore for inspiration ...
I received another take on the whale demise via e-mail:
"Crazy, the whale dies and the other 10,000 creatures go with it"

It was good get back in water, first dives after prolonged misery of some
kind of cold I managed two dives at my favorite Whidbey spot.
I didn't find any new critter, did not record anything unusual, it was
just the sheer pleasure to be underwater ...

Any of them find a light arm with a CK on it???

<hope hope hope>

Jan, I am so glad to see you back in the water, both because I'm happy for YOU that you can dive again, and because I have missed your images.

Having recently picked up a camera and begun the long process of learning to make images anyone would want to look at, I have an even deeper appreciation for the skill and artistry that goes into your shots. Never stop posting them!

No Rick, nobody found your piece of gear. Yet.

Lynne, I am glad that you too picked up camera and started to record some of the sights from our sometimes murky but always beautiful underwater world. It is rewarding although at times frustrating endeavour (at least for me), but don’t be discouraged, you will get more accustomed to the changing lighting requirements, nice thing about digital, it doesn’t cost the money developing film used to, and you got more then 36 exposures per dive to work with. What I am looking forward is to see what you will find on your dives. Since you dive so often, there is very good chance that you will be able to record something new, something none of us seen or knew was even happening in the marine world. As you know, being there is the most important thing....
And be prepared that there are good photo days and bad ones... I just returned from Keystone and I have nothing to show for it. One of my strobes was giving me hard time, the water was filled with silt, nothing was going right. But just couple days ago, I had nice dives at the Pass and so it goes. I am looking to see your ” Puget Sound Critters” site ! Good luck !

Here are some more scenes from the Pass :

Thanks for the good wishes, Jan! I'll be lucky, if I find anything exciting, if the photographs even render it RECOGNIZABLE

LOVE the Stimpson's sea star pictures. They are one of my favorite things to see, with their lovely colors. I really enjoy the fact that you photograph and put up not just the "sexy" creatures of the Sound, but the ordinary ones, and remind us that we should be enjoying them, too.

Speaking of not "sexy" creatures, the Spaghetti worm fits in that category quite well..

The Bicolored nudibranch on the other end is object of many of the underwater photographer
and critterwatcher

Dismal visibility this morning - so I look for colors in worms

Beautiful Shots Jan, Both the Janlous and the worm shots. That new camera is working out great!

Jan, those are beautiful photographs, and I'm SOOOO envious! I try and try and try to get pictures of tubeworms (they're small and can't leave, so they're perfect subjects for me) but I can't ever get close enough without having them retract. Very nicely done!

Thanks, they are little spooked critters indeed, but in some locations not as shy as in others...

It is sooooo much easier to find white large slugs
Like if they are lit from within ...

Absolutely stunning lighting on that Janolus, Jan! Are you using your can light with a diffuser for off-axis light?

Thanks Lynne, the strobe is off the camera and I constantly fiddle with its position, no diffuser on my
small focusing light. Just lucky to get it sometimes right ...
I managed to get some shore dives in at the Deception Pass, as you know, it is
my favorite site on Whidbey, just love the colors there ...




The fishing at the pass is in full swing now, but the currents and kelp is
not conductive to catching fish, at least I don't see anybody hauling in Lingcod
on any of the many small boats, but I sure see lot of tangled abandoned fishing
line in the kelp. I was able to free one Kelp Greenling female

The male on the other hand did not trust me ....

Great Pictures ! Glad you rescued one Kelp Greenling.

Oh, my goodness! Congratulations on the beautiful kelp greenling photos -- as they are among the most skittish fish I know, it's quite an accomplishment to find one who will sit still long enough for a portrait!

more from the Pass dives :

Oh, Jan, this is a GORGEOUS set!

What is it that the Cuthonas are sitting on? I can't believe the clarity and delicacy of the polyp fingers in that shot.

I love the proliferating anemones. They create such wonderful color on our sites.

Thank you, as always, for this morning's treat!

LCF wrote: What is it that the Cuthonas are sitting on? I can't believe the clarity and delicacy of the polyp fingers in that shot.

Lynne, I think they are the Hedge-hog hydroids (Clavactinia milleri), here some more sights from the
last three days at the Pass, for you morning coffee break

So MUCH color! Beautiful shots, as always, Jan . . .

And it is Lingcod fishing/spearing season at the Pass. Not for me, I still prefer the camera.

When I snapped picture of the speared LingI didn't see the fish inside its mouth ...

Who is stealing my eggs ?

Interesting,,,, Seems a shame. It takes forever for them to complete a cluster of eggs. I have been watching a group working for over 3 weeks on the same nests.

Must be something that likes Shaggy mouse eggs too. I have seen several fresh patches there one day and gone the next.

The waters are really murky these days ...
Send in the Clowns !!