Whidbey Island Critters

[Jan K]

Skyline, July 8, 2023
Some sea stars...

[Jan K]

Skyline. July 8,, 2023.
Scaled crab.

[Jan K]

Skyline. July 8, 2023
Fish encounter...

[Jan K]

Skyline, July 8, 2023.
Finally wrapping up the critter-photo-fest from a pleasant dive at Fidalgo Island.

[Jan K]

Deception Pass, July 9, 2023 dive.
Sea stars- all healthy.

[Jan K]

Deception Pass, July 9, 2023 dive.
Sea stars- all healthy.

[Jan K]

Deception Pass, July 9, 2023.
Graceful decorator crab.

[Jan K]

Deception Pass, July 9, 2023.
Monterey dorids.

[Jan K]

Deception Pass, July 9, 2023
Fish encounters.

[Jan K]

Roche Harbor, San Juan Island. July 27, 2023.
I might not having scuba gear handy, but I am on an island and have mask and snorkel. And there is small pond in nearby old rock quarry. I just had to poke my nose under the surface to make sure I am not missing something. Firstly, it was not as warm as I was hoping for and the visibility was about 5 feet. But I did enjoy the swim and besides seeing rocks and slimy algae, I did spotted few shy fish. Thanks to Greg Jensen who identified them for me, I added juvenile Bigmouth Bass to my critter list ...

[Jan K]

Langley Harbor, July 30, 2023.
First dive after three weeks of dry gills almost didn't happen. As I was suiting up, the wrist seal on my drysuit decided to tear open just as was ready to get in. I jerry-rigged solution using an old dive knife strap, and it worked. Only half of my sleeve got wet.
The dive itself was a sad story unfolding in the world of sea stars. Wasting is starting to unfold in a big way, even if only in the shallower, up to 25 feet depth. The deeper part of the harbor was not as bad. Yet. Month ago there was an abundance of small Sunflower stars, this time I found only eight and half of them are starting to show category 1 stage of wasting. Mottled stars are wasting in large numbers, their arms littering the bottom along the seawall. The Ochre stars
are twisted and some with arms hanging listlessly, that too is sign of distress. here are still many healthy sea stars, hopefully they will survive the rising temperatures...

[Jan K]

Langley Harbor, July 30, 2023.
Mottled and Ochre stars are also starting to waste in larger numbers.
And the temperature rise marches on. No cooling off in sight

[Jan K]

Driftwood Park, August 1, 2023
Juvenile Wolf-eel encounter.
One lives in a bottle, the other in the toilet...

[Jan K]

Driftwood Park, August 1, 2023.
Did you know octopuses have eyes in their skin ?

[Jan K]

Driftwood Park, August 1, 2023 dive.
More from the Red octopus files

[Jan K]

Driftwood Park, August 1, 2023.
Sculpins, lots of sculpins. I am used to see Buffalo sculpins sometimes in great number showing up in one place.
But not this close together. And Great sculpins ? Never before so many in one area.

[Jan K]

Possession Point Fingers. August 3, 2023 dive.
Wasting stars now appear here too :(

[Jan K]

Keystone Jetty, August 5, 2023 dive.

[Jan K]

Keystone Jetty, August 5, 2023 dive.

[Jan K]

Skyline, August 7, 2023 dive.

[Jan K]

Skyline, August 7, 2023 dive.
Wish upon a star, maybe to be in a cooler place ?

[Jan K]

Skyline, August 7, 2023 dive.
And the rest of the pixels ...

[Jan K]

Driftwood Pond #2, August 8, 2023 dive.
Time to check on the pond to how what this weather affects the shallow pond. Well, it doesn't look good. The sunshine and heat gives the green heir algae boost and it now covers everything. I did not see any jellyfish at all. Only the Three-spine sticklebacks zip around, their nests built in the algae already empty. Glassy Bubble shell snails and Japan mussels are finding place to crawl on. But for not much to offer for my camera...

[Jan K]

Langley Harbor, August 11, 2023 dive.
Like a broken record repeating same bad news.
The Sea stars are wasting away... :(

[Jan K]

Keystone Jetty, August 14, 2023
Another visit to the Underwater Park.