Kelpscape

Blacksmith at Goldfish Point

Goldfish point is next to the Goldfish Bowl on the north side of Anacapa, and is named for the orange garibaldi that congregate there. These were not garibaldi, but their cousin damselfish, blacksmith. They often congregate in big schools. The young ones have the remarkable coloring of their smaller tropical cousins, which gives them their Latin name: chromis.

Opaleye

Opaleye usually have greenish bodies with one or two white spots near the top middle of their backs.  A close look reveals their striking blue eyes.  They are sea chubs and so are related to halfmoons.  Their large upper lips and overbite makes them look slightly like Liberace.  They are fairly common at the Channel Islands, but less common off the mainland coast.  They often travel in schools.  They like to eat young kelp, and the small creatures that live on kelp fronds.  This one was at Garden Spot off Anacapa.

Frenchy's Cove, Anacapa

Frenchy's Cove on Anacapa looks inviting on this calm day. I've had good snorkeling to the right (West) and pretty poor snorkeling to the right (East).  The beach is narrow and mostly pebbles. It's hard to imagine that Frenchy lived for years on this beach, surviving by the generosity of passing boats. Just to the right of the cove is the Pelican Reserve, where the islands is off-limits and most of the year so is the ocean.

Juvenile Kelp Rockfish

I like the way these juvenile rockfish have all the details of an adult, in perfect detail.

Wave at Sands Beach

High surf at Sands Beach today.

Cone Shell

This fellow was crossing the bottom at Tajiguas, keeping a careful eye out ahead.  

Zoom in to the eye:

Sea Pansy

Sea pansies bury their bulk in the sand and extend these tentacles up, to grab food as it swims by, I assume.  This is just a tiny part of the pansy, which might have 100 or so tentacles over a region the size  of the palm of a hand.  The buried bulk is a disc, with a sort of indented cusp on one side: it looks a little like a flower.  Sometimes surge will wash sand away and the pansy will flop around in the currents.  I suppose that they must be colonial animals, sharing one body.

Tiny Rockfish

This tiny infant rockfish was smaller than a pencil eraser.  It was at Tajiguas, hanging out near some sea palms and acid kelp.

Krill

Krill have been plentiful in the channel lately.  This was a particularly dense, but small, clump of kirll I came across at Tajiguas. The dense krill is drawing lots of blue and humpback whales. The large numbers of whales congregating near shipping lanes  motivated the Coast Guard to issue a warning to ships transiting the channel; but ships have not been slowing down. The Environmental Defense Center has initiated a lawsuit demanding that the Coast Guard make speed limits mandatory while the whales are in the channel.

Click on the image for a closer view.

This particular individual seems to be carrying an egg sac. Some of the others are as well.

Angel Shark

Angel sharks are fairly common again this summer, after being rare for about 5 years. The name presumably comes from their large wings. This one was out on top of the sand, and waited patiently through about 10 shots, before shooting off itself.  I try to stay away from the mouth end, because they might mistake my glove for a tasty fish. Angel sharks are related to Atlantic "monk fish", which sometimes show up on restaurant menus.

Here's a more typical view of an angel shark.  Usually the eyes poke through the sand, and sometimes some of the body and tail. 

Or this.