Kelpscape

Gold-Nose Kelp Bass

Kelp bass turn their noses gold and then form schools, usually swimming to hold still behind kelp stipes. I'm sure this has to do with romance.

Bryozoans on Kelp

Juvenile Treefish

Juvenile Treefish are usually very wary: even more so than the adults.  This one, at Rat Rock at the West end of Anacapa Island, was curious.  After a few snaps he returned to his excellent digs nearby, but then peeked out again.  It was a game of peek-a-boo.  His lips show a little pink, the start of the full pink lips of an adult.

Kelp Perch Under the Kelp Canopy

Kelp perch are usually common and usually shy.  They hang out high in the kelp, a few feet below the surface. 

Kelp Lift Bladders

I used to wonder what gas filled these bladders that kelp use to lift themselves toward the surface.  Now I am convinced that it is oxygen, which these algae, like all plants, produce as a waste product. "Your Inner Fish" says that it was the increase in oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere that allowed multicelled organisms to develop.  Like any answer to "why" questions, this seems slightly incomplete: why was there suddenly enough oxygen around?  Why weren't there lots of plants earlier?

Ling Cod at Rat Rock

This was (and still is) the biggest ling cod I've ever seen.  At first I thought it was a leopard shark. It was in the marine reserve on the north side of Anacapa, at Rat Rock, relaxing on the bottom under a sea palm.  Despite its protected status in the reserve, it took off after I'd taken only a couple of snaps.

Air Bubbles

Physics must set the shape of air bubbles speeding upward from below. These bubbles were from a scuba diver 30 feet below, who was photographing some macro scene. The bubble shapes aren't stable: big bubbles break up (and rejoin) repeatedly on the way to the surface.  The big bubbles look like the north-polar cap of of a sphere, with a flat bottom and vortices trailing behind. Calculations anyone?