Barnacles Amidst Corynactis Anemones

Two barnacles in a field of strawberry anemones (Corynactis)

A barnacle (above center) extends its cirri to scoop small prey from the water, while a closer one (lower left) has retracted its cirri to examine what they have netted. The net is about the size of my thumbnail. Both barnacles and the surrounding substrate are covered with red corynactis anemones. I took this photo on film, in the year 2000, at Underwater Island on the south side of Anacapa. Nowadays corynactis is much less common at the Channel Islands and off the Santa Barbara coast. I don't know the reason for this, but I suspect that it's some combination of disease, changes in water temperature and storm frequency, overfishing, competing invasive species, and too many clumsy divers. Underwater Island, being on the South side of Anacapa, didn't get into the marine reserves and is pretty much a moonscape nowadays.

For photography buffs, I used a Nikon F5, in a Subal housing with two Sea & Sea YS-120 strobes. I called these my "photon howitzers". I used Fuji Velvia film, with ISO 50. Digital cameras are much more sensitive than film, so strobes are less powerful and ISOs are higher.