12/16/2005 - San Diego Explodes!

Well, at least an explosion of San Diego dorids at Marineland. It seems that each month there is a new leader in the nudibranch race there. In August the Hermissenda crassicornis, Horned nudibranch could be found in such great numbers that it was difficult to find a rock without at least four or five of them on it. My last few dives have been dominated by Diaulula sandiegensis. They range in color from bright white to orange and dark brown.

I also found a nudi I hadn't seen before, Atagema alba. That makes eighteen different species I have found on the same reef, and counting.

I love looking for the small stuff on the reefs. I usually see more than one hundred nudis on a single dive at Marineland, sometimes much more. I talked with another diver there a month ago who told me he didn't see any. I guess he likes to swim fast.

I spent more than an hour on the main section of the reef before heading back toward my exit at the cove. Marineland is one of the few places where I can dive in less than seventy feet and still rack up some deco time on a beach dive. I had six minutes today.