Northwest Dive Club

There you go with the nudie porn again!

I saw a pair this weekend at Hudson too and they really were animated like they were enjoying things. Not just laying there side by side like most nudies do. Kind of made me feel a bit naughty watching.

Oh Dusty, this was not a porn, it looked more like a dance. You are right, most slugs are not much
to look at when they pair up. I noticed that the Diamondback Nudibranch and the Clown are
showing what I could even call tenderness if we were not talking slugs. I wish I was better with
video, for it is interesting behavior. The slugs are taking time to nuzzle and wave their bodies around,
so different from other slugs I watched. For example Dironas slide by each other and in no time all one sees is
bunch of cerata just laying on the mucky seafloor, with Dendronotus you can't even tell if it is one, two or three
of them in a forest of serata... But anyway, looks like it is that time of year for Clowns

It seems spring is in the air, or should I say water it's that time for many of the slugs from large to small. The nobels and Monterrey's, the heaths were all pairing up this week as well as shaggies, 3 lineds, cocerelli's, and quite a few others. The painted greenlings are at it as well as the helmet crabs and red rocks.

Funny thing though, I have seen many nudies with egg masses but I don't remember seeing a clown laying eggs??

Clown's not laying eggs yet, just lot of plankton soup ...

Love the Sondheim lyrics! (One of my favorite, although very sad, songs . . .)

Even the usually red Three-lined aeolids are brown in this water :(

It is a long way to the water ...

In the murky shallows, Tubesnout hordes are busy.

Nice work Jan

Sometimes, I'm just absolutely dumbfounded by your ability to capture gorgeous portraits of skittish subjects -- I can't IMAGINE getting a really good, clear picture of a tubesnout, except by accident!

LCF wrote:Sometimes, I'm just absolutely dumbfounded by your ability to capture gorgeous portraits of skittish subjects -- I can't IMAGINE getting a really good, clear picture of a tubesnout, except by accident!

You should see the amount of DELETE clicks while going through pictures taken trying to capture Tubesnout with my Point and Shoot camera

What a glorious weather above the murky waters ! I enjoyed diving again
with my daughter ... These crabs are not shy and will advance towards a diver
without hesitation. This individual climbed onto her light

LOVE the expression in her eyes!

Crabs amuse me greatly -- many species seem to have subscribed to the principle that the best defense is a good offense. Which may work, except when you're only about two inches across, and the thing you are threatening is six feet tall . . .

In the "Miso Soup Zone" Ochre stars contribute to the low visibility and number of sea stars ...

Nice find Jan

Why does all the neat stuff happens in the two feet visibility zone ?

Wow, Jan, the things you manage to catch on film! I'll say it again, this thread is an absolute treasure for anyone who is diving in the PNW!

We saw a lot of this pre-mating behavior on our dive today. I have seen a Dungeness crab carrying and attempting mate with a female red rock crab. I did not hang around to see the results. I have never heard that the two species will hybridize.
Another appreciative fan here Jan.
-Curt

oldsalt wrote:We saw a lot of this pre-mating behavior on our dive today. I have seen a Dungeness crab carrying and attempting mate with a female red rock crab. I did not hang around to see the results. I have never heard that the two species will hybridize. -Curt

Like this ?

It still amazes me that you manage to catch all this stuff. It's either luck or just the fact that you live in the water. I think it's the later.

I neglected the Driftwood Park for years now. Maybe lack of showers and
restrooms had something to do with it, the few dives many years ago
did not impress me so I choose different Whidbey sites. The thick Bull
kelp and seaweed growth now makes nearby Keystone Jetty a very
difficult entry and exit on low tide - so I decided to check out the Driftwood
Park. Some tires and, of course, two toilets did provide enough critters to
warrant another visit in the future when the visibility improves ...
Here are some of the critters from the junkyard

My favoritist nudie!

Makes me wonder how it manages to move around in the currents of the Pass ...

Got a hunch if he don't molt soon that camouflage might do him in.

Couple days of Deception Pass colors while the world above is gray :

Peter and I drove the horse trailer over the Deception Pass Bridge on Saturday, and all I could think about, looking down, was your great photos from diving there, and how much I really want to do this dive!