Northwest Dive Club

You can tell its Spring when you start seeing Opalescent nudibranchs Hermissenda crassicornis. After a long absence we've spotted nice ones at both Redondo and Saltwater State Park these past two weeks.

this nicely colored fellow was at Redondo last week.


Here's one from Saltwater state park


It also appears that Janolus fuscus are returning to south Puget Sound this year. I used to frequently see them at Redondo years ago, but hardly any for a number of years. They're one of my longtime favorites.

Here's one at Saltwater yesterday


And for a few months now we've seen very large Frosted Nudibranchs (Dirona albolineata) gathering in groups. No matter how many times I've photographed these I just can't resist.



Dan

Nice shots Dan, I agree on the white lines, They are just to pretty to resist. I hope this is a good sign for things to come. Last year was pretty dismal nudibranch wise. I had noticed that for a long time Redondo has been pretty sparse. I remember years back Redondo had lots of different nudies but they all disappeared. It used to be common for the VW to be covered with shaggies and several others back when you could still recognize it.

Nice shots Dan (especially #3). I'm lovin' the return of the nudis too!

Dusty2 wrote:Nice shots Dan, I agree on the white lines, They are just to pretty to resist. I hope this is a good sign for things to come. Last year was pretty dismal nudibranch wise. I had noticed that for a long time Redondo has been pretty sparse. I remember years back Redondo had lots of different nudies but they all disappeared. It used to be common for the VW to be covered with shaggies and several others back when you could still recognize it.

Yes, Redondo has been pretty sad for awhile. We went a couple of times over the winter and did not see one single nudibranch over the entire dive. And it did not help to see one gooey white patch after another marking the spot where a sunflower star had died.

Last week we saw a really nice variety of nudibranchs; Opalescents, Nanaimo, Leopards, Monterey Lemons and Janolus fuscus. Perhaps things are starting to look up.

Dan

The underwater photographers all around the world would lament forever if nudibranchs ceased to offer their beauty and disappeared...
Nice work Dan, as always.

Seems like cockerels & white lines move to shallow waters. opalscents are away on ropes diamondback in deeper waters . They all have been in the canal all the time never leave

I saw a couple Janolus and a couple shaggy mouse nudis at Redondo a couple weeks ago too. Definitely good to see more life coming back after a very quiet winter.

Great pics! #1 is really nice