Whidbey Island Critters

[Dusty2]

Next step... Hip waders!! Cool stuff Jan. Sometimes the coolest things are found in the shallows. That's why snorkeling is so popular.

[LCF]

You have found a whole new frontier in documenting the Sound! (Now find a tadpole sculpin )

[Jan K]

[LCF]

Wow -- I'm always amazed at the amount of work some animals do to create their habitat or find food. And we object to pushing a lawnmower.

[Jan K]

[LCF]

Huge piles of them in the shallows! Who knew?

[Tom Nic]

Awesome....

[Jan K]

still shallow

[Jan K]

[LCF]

I had no idea that anemones would even ingest plant material. That's very interesting, but I suppose foodstuffs are foodstuffs, and if you can't go anywhere to get something to eat, you have to take what the water brings you!

[Jan K]

You have found a whole new frontier in documenting the Sound! (Now find a tadpole sculpin )

Well, yesterday I donned my drysuit and visited Keystone Jetty to see if snorkeling would advance my shallow water critter search. I did find the Tidepool Sculpins. But snorkeling in a drysuit ? It was not pretty. I don't own ankle weights and that was adding to my difficulties. Thankfully, there wasn't anybody there to laugh at me ...
I think I stick with wading through the shallows in my gumboots and preferably to scuba ...

[LCF]

I kowtow to you yet again, Mr. Kocian. Remind me not to challenge you

[Jan K]

Little more color from the first nine inches ...

[Jan K]

On the beach, there is always something to look and poke at

[LCF]

Fascinating, Jan! Love the cartoon with the boots, too!

[Jan K]

One result of my comical attempt to snorkel in drysuit was that I noticed barnacles
colonizing the near surface rocks were releasing tiny specs of what I first thought
were eggs. Too small for my camera to make good ID shots, but searching for answers
on the internet, I came to conclusion, it might be actually larvae being tossed into the
current, sending the kids to colonize more rocks...

[sekhmet]

These are so very nicely laid out and informational Jan! I love the first nine inches posters. Of course, I like ALL your stuff....!!!

[Jan K]

Thank you for your kind words, I am glad you enjoy them. Shallow or deeper
After almost two months, I gingerly re-enter the waters deeper than nine inches.
Here are mixed eggs laid by two different kind of snails and all mixed up on the
Keystone Jetty rocks. I wonder why they do it.

[Jan K]

Dandy little fish showing off - male Scalyhead sculpins .

[oldsalt]

Jan: Welcome back into the water. After my mis-identifying a scaleyhead on a posting, I will never get them wrong again. Absolutely wonderful pictures.
-Curt

[LCF]

A great example of the color diversity in this species! (Sad story about Mr. Harrington . . . I wonder if he had Alzheimer's. My father would leave for places and forget where he was going and how to get home, when he was in the early phases of the disease.)

[Dusty2]

A great example of the color diversity in this species! (Sad story about Mr. Harrington . . . I wonder if he had Alzheimer's. My father would leave for places and forget where he was going and how to get home, when he was in the early phases of the disease.)

Alzheimer's and Dementia are 2 of the saddest ailments there are. To watch a loved one fade away mentally while still physically sound is agonizing for their loved ones especially when you finally have to put them in a care facility knowing that they will never leave. To look in their eyes and realize that they no longer know you is heart rendering.

[Jan K]

My return to diving is still a cautious one, so far I try to take it really easy...
And another creature of the shallows :

[LCF]

I have seen the filaments before, but never the worm. Very cool thing to have caught!

[oldsalt]

Jan: I think your "nine inches" theme worth maintaining even after you are back diving full-bore. Different organisms are present. It provides another forum to demonstrate your creativity.
-Curt