Kelpscape

Juvenile Senoritas

Juvenile senoritas in a big school.  This is the time of year when these little fish wheel around, learning about their world before either getting eaten or growing into larger (but still small) fish.

Red Urchin

Spines and feet of a red urchin.  The urchins are eating the kelp: they are out of control because the sheephead and lobsters are so scarece; but there was lots of kelp because the abalone were killed by overfishing and disease; and the abalone were plentiful only because the otters had been hunted out. 

Pipefish

Pipefish are relatives of sea horses.  Although they're slow swimmers, pipefish are faster than me and can usually stay ahead of me underwater.  This fellow was interested enough in me to watch for a few seconds: after which he was off!  He was in about 15 feet of water, in a tangle of torn-off decaying kelp.  I think this must provide food for his prey.

Octopus at Refugio

This two-spotted octopus was hanging out under a ledge in the shallow water just off Surfer's Point at the west end of Refugio Cove.  I think it was enjoying a quick lunch.

Happy Earth Day!

Scalyhead Scupin

I think that this is a scalyhead sculpin because of all the flesh tabs on the face.  It was on bare rock reef at Refugio.  The orange patch makes it look like a sponge -- or a nudibranch, which is what I initially thought it was.  I'm baffled how something that has such different colors and textures can be so well camouflaged. 

Waiting for Divers to Return

Waiting for divers to return to the Vision, at Wycoff Ledge south of  San Miguel Island.  The back side of San Miguel is to the left, and Santa Rosa is straight ahead.

Kelp at Judith Pinnacle

Giant macrocystis kelp kelp at Judith Pinnacle. This pinnacle rises to as shallow as  50 ft, from a surrounding bottom at 120 ft.  Lots of kelp grows atop the pinnacle; in my few dives there I've never seen it reach the surface, although it gets as shallow at 25 ft.  Sometimes the kelp seems to deceive the depth finder on the boat into thinking that the pinnacle gets up that high.  It can be a tricky dive.  I always end up holding onto the kelp as I do the safety stop.

Invertebrates at Judith Pinnacle

Clones of corynactis (a.k.a. strawberry anemones) interspersed with feather-duster worms on the side of a rock atop Judith Pinnacle.

Blue Rockfish at Judith Pinnacle

Hundreds of blue rockfish float above Judith Pinnacle, on the south side of San Miguel Island.  This region is a marine reserve, and doesn't get dived too often.

 

Krill in the Kelp Forest

Wycoff Ledge off San Miguel Island was thick with krill.  The krill seem to form rivers as they flow across the underwater terrain.  Each stream is made up of one size of krill.