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Wakatobi - The Nudibranchs

Ok, I'm sure I've ID'd some of these wrong, but I think the count is a little over 20 nudi species for my Wakatobi trip (been a bit hectic since I've been back, so I just tried to grab a handfull of pics to represent what I saw - sorry about the not-so-sharp pics!):

Chromodoris annae

Chromodoris dianae (some friends thought he looked a bit like Jack from Jack in the box? - I didn't get a chance to notice if he had a freakishly large head)

Hypselodoris apolegma

Chromodoris kunei

Chromodoris lochi

Chromodoris magnifica

Risbecia tryoni

Chromodoris willani

Dendronotus sp. (Spikey Dentronotus)

Phidiana indica

Phyllodesmium longicirrum

Pteraeolidia ianthina (Serpent Pteraeolidia)

Flabellina exoptata - smallest nudi spotted - of course I had the wide angle lens on..

Flabellina exoptata

Reticulidia fungia

Phyllidia picta

Phyllidia cooraburrama

Phyllidia alyta

Thuridilla gracillis

Nembrotha kubarana

Nembrotha lineolata

Nembrotha purpurelineolata

Post-Thanksgiving dives

Date: 11/30/08

Click link below for pictures:

www.our-sea.com/Diveblog/PV_11_30_08Album/PalosVerdes.html

Date: 11/30/08

Time: 10:25am

Dive Location: Palos Verdes - Dive boat Sea Bass

Dive Site Name: Avalon Wreck / Hawthorne / Platform

Visibility: 10ft at best, foggy, surgy

Water Temp: 61 degrees

Max Depth: 78' / 75' / 83'

Bottom Time: :47 / :42 / :16

Dive Buddy: Bobby / Bob W.

Surface Internal: 1:20 / 1:31

Dive Comments:

A few images from Saturday

I am trying to get better about not posting tons of pics to my album so that people don't have to look at the not so good ones. We'll see how it goes . :)

Here is the album: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v109/divinman/La%20Jolla%202008/112908/

Juvenile sheephead

Sculpin up close and personal

A pair of blennys on the engine block

Shy hermit crab in the san dollars.

Sshhhh, We're Hunting Nudi's

Date: 11/30/2008

Dive Location: Palos Verdes, California

Dive Sites: Wreck of the Avalon, Hawthorne Reef, and an attempt at the old MarineLand swim platform

Viz: 2-12' (milky and murky)

Water Temp: 59-63°f (Suunto)

Max Depth: 77' / 74' / 83'

Bottom time: 44 / 38 / 36 min.

Buddies: RobC&Bob W

See pics/report from others here.

Saturday Rob C, Bob W and I boarded the Sea Bass for another macro critter hunt in PV. This was my third such trip this year, and the second organized by Scott G. Unfortanetly, Scott was unable to join us, due to a last minute ankle injury that left him unable to fin for pics. We were sorry to hear of the news, but we pressed on. Thick fog hung to the harbor and to Palos Verdes for the ride out. As usual, even with a full load (12 divers) all with camera/video rigs/scoots, logistics went very smoothly on the Sko-T charter. It's amazing the difference of being on a charter where everyone is experienced, courteous and friendly.

The first stop was the wreck of the Avalon. I hardly recognized that we were at the right spot with the thick fog and high amount of kelp at PV compared to this summer. The last two times I dove this site we anchored near the crane, but I never managed to find the wreck, as there was so much to photograph on the nearby reef. This time Captain Richard said he was right on the bow of the wreck. Sure enough, as soon as I got to the bottom of the anchor line, adjusted some camera controls and cut through the horrible viz, I was at the bow. My first find was something that looked like a small dorid, but I wasn't sure. Even from the pics, I'm unsure if this is even a slug..

Unknown Nudi

We spent the rest of the dive making a circle around the bow and some of the reef nearby. Surge was much worse then my last two visits here, so the resulting tollerable pic count is very low.

Cadlina luteomarginata

Our next stop was Hawthorne reef, my favorite PV site. Ross-O and the Orion III was picking up it's anchor (with a human powered windlass it appeared) so we waited patiently and then moved in. Ross said conditions weren't great, so our expectations weren't high. Viz and surge was as reported, but of course macro subjects were in abundance here, with an incredibly high count of Sea Lemons.

Lemon Dorid

My first major find was my second ever Simnia snail, or what I'm pretty sure was a Simnia. The mantle (I think) was mostly retracted, so it looked much different then the one I found at Shaw's this summer.

Simnia Snail

Other finds included a swell shark egg (Kevin Lee said he saw several there), Coonstripe Shrimp and many Nudi's (no decent pics of most unfortantely).

Swell Shark Egg

Flabellina trillneata

Spanish Shawl

Cadlina limbaughorum

The decision for the third site was left up to the group. Many people wanted to do a Marine Land dive, so we picked up the anchor and motored south. The wind was ripping through the cove, and we ended up passing on two sites before making an attempt to anchor near the old Marine Land swim platform. We descended down the anchor line to strong surge and dismal viz over a very silty mucky bottom. I followed the anchor line and found several photo subjects, but alas, no platform. The scoot-togs of the boat were able to make the swim and see the platform, and reported alot of life around the still very intact structure. Here are the few pics I got with the lowest amount of backscatter and complete wash-out:

Hermissenda crassicornis

Dendronotus robilliardi (A first!)

Armina californica

Desipite the conditions, a great time was had by all, a common theme for Sko-T charters! Looking forward to the next!

Icky Conditions

With the large surf of the past few days I wasn't expecting much visibility. We had poor vis, even at Hawthorne Reef. The water was green all over the south side of Palos Verdes so we made just one dive. With the crashing waves at Pt. Vicente Fishing Access I don't think we would have gotten in the water at Marineland.

Does any one actually read this?

Because 'Mydivinglife" doesn't provide any sort of 'traffic report' I find I often wonder if anyone is actually reading my little blog of dive stuff.

SO! Leave a comment below, no matter how brief, vulger, snide, so I know SOMEONE besides me visits my blog from time to time.

Thanks

Terry

Rain? So what! Let's go diving! 11/26/08

Below is the blatantly stolen report of Mike H.

My photos can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/5rkr66

===============================================================================
Location: LJS - Vallecitos Point
Descent: 7:15 pm
Vis: 15' at Point, less in shallows
Depth: 73'
Temp: 59 deg
Time: 73 min
Divers: Mike H, Spencer, Terry

After a rather dubious drive through rain and wind, I (we) were all pleasantly surprised to find calm and modestly good conditions.

A light/medium current pushed us further North than expected after walking past the ankle slappers. We found ourselves dropping into not 25', nor 26', but rather 35' (which is closest to 29') Oh my!

After a kicking about 600psi over the 55' contour, we eased our way to the wall and engine block. Rounding the point and following the main wall a bit, before heading in. Lots to see along the way but I will let T and Spencer fill in the blanks.

Pushing Eastbound and down at a depth of ~30' I found a tiny Dendronotus robilliardi and a fleshy Flabellina pricei that appeared ready to lay eggs.

Overall a very nice dive considering the impending storm.

Thanks for coming out guys.

====================================================================

112608 LJS Wed Night

Location: LJS - Vallecitos Point
Descent: 7:15 pm
Vis: 15' at Point, less in shallows
Depth: 73'
Temp: 59 deg
Time: 73 min
Divers: Mike H, Spencer, Terry

Album: http://tinyurl.com/6mayxk

After a rather dubious drive through rain and wind, I (we) were all pleasantly surprised to find calm and modestly good conditions.

A light/medium current pushed us further North than expected after walking past the ankle slappers. We found ourselves dropping into not 25', nor 26', but rather 35' (which is closest to 29') Oh my!

Pushing Eastbound and down at a depth of ~30' I found a tiny Dendronotus robilliardi and a fleshy Flabellina pricei that appeared ready to lay eggs.

Overall a very nice dive considering the impending storm.

Thanks for coming out guys.

La Jolla Tuesday morning at sunrise dive 11/25/08

Location : Vallecitos Point
Descent: 05:36am
Vis: 20ft or better for the most part
Depth: 68 max 44 avg
Temp: avg temp of 58, min of 56
Time: 86 mins
Buddies: Marla, Tony, Kim

When conditions are this good you just have to go diving. It sprinkled a bit but luckly not enough to get my undergarments wet prior to suiting up. Ocean was like glass and clear and calm underneath at well. Could see the flashlights lighting the sand dollars from the surface.....40ft above.

Here is the album: http://tinyurl.com/5w2w4g

Here are some highlights.

The Nudibranchs

I never get tired of photographing the baby things.

112408 Monday Shores DP

Great conditions proved fruitful for all divers as we leisurely rounded the point.

A juvi white Iris and baby Horn shark where the highlights for me.

Photos: http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk145/SoCalSwami/Diving%202008/112408%20shores/

The group, Terry, Kim, Marla and myself, agreed the wave height could only be described as "ankle slappers". There were no overhead sets, as were rumored to be reported elsewhere.

Hope the weather holds out through the holiday.

Thanks for pointing out the Iris Kim! They are becoming a favorite of mine.
** Edit **
Ops. wrong ID. Turns out the guy below is an yet described Dendronotus.

Dude, I need strobe...

DMR x 2

Date: 11/22/2008

Time: 8:20am

Dive Location: Laguna Beach

Dive Site: Dead Man's Reef (backside then frontside)

Viz: 20-30'

Water Temp: 60-63°f (Suunto)

Max Depth: 63' / 48'

Bottom time: 57 / 72 min.

Buddies: RobC / RobC&RG

One thing we should definately be thankful for is November diving in Laguna Beach. Conditions have been stellar lately, and after I had missed a couple weeks of the good conditions I decided to hurry before I missed out and the winter storm action began. Rob C stopped by my place around 8:30am on his way up for San Diego. We loaded up the 'Hoe (which hadn't seen any saltwater in quite sometime since I've had it up in NorCal for several months) with 6 tanks (wishful thinking?) , 2 full sets of gear, and 2 coolers full of water and video/camera rigs.

We shoved off and landed at N. Crescent (a great name to use in dive invites BTW if you don't want to scare away those individuals adverse to long swims out to Dead Man's.) We took a walk down to the beach and saw what looked to be very favorable surface conditions. A decent set of 3-4 footers was seperated by a very long lull.

Before we descended a boat passed between us and shore. I doubt the drivers (of the rental boat) even saw us. Making the long surface stroll out to Dead Man's is definately a risky undertaking. As I was just about ready to deflate the wing a Sheriff boat approach about 30 yards south of us. Using a haler he asked us where our dive float was. I attempted to answer twice, but since the obviously inept officer refused to throttle down his engines (or kill them entirely), my responses fell upon deaf (or should I say daft?) ears. We descended and carried on with the mission we set off to complete. I don't disagree with carrying a surface float out to exposed sites like Dead Man's - but I doubt that it would really make too much of a difference with people in rent-a-boats or even the common private boater (crap, how many times have I had to yell at other boats passing between the charter boat I was DMing for and the class of 8 newbies who periodically were shooting to the surface doing CESA drills?)

So, on to the diving. We were able to see the see the reef as we past over, so we knew we were in for some great conditions. The viz opened up to an easy 20'+. One of my first sightings was a coonstripe shrimp. I had seen these guys in La Jolla and Palos Verdes, but this was definately a first for Laguna! I love that these guys are almost always photogenic, and don't scare off as all other shrimp do. As I moved on I came across most of the regular critters, but not much on the nudi front. I found several Spanish Shawl's, and one clown nudi. Rob spotted a Moray, and Lobster were in abundance. Time passed quickly and we both signalled that we were at 1000 psi, so we headed to shallower waters, but not before seeing another Moray and many more lobster. After completing a 3 min safety stop, we stayed at 15-20' and headed in a bit. We were able to clearly see the bottom and the surface from this depth -definately not a bad day of Viz in Laguna! When we surfaced we noticed that a thick fog had rolled in. I'm glad the fog waited to hide our DMR line-up's until AFTER we had completed our dive! :)

During our surface interval we waited for RG to drive down and join us. Our plan for dive #2 was to make a line for north side of the reef, then head to Seal Rock for some seal action. Before we surfaced, Richard asked if we had seen Dead Henge before. We had not, but I understood that it was a heading of someting like 220-240 from the edge of the main reef. Within 5 minutes on the bottom, we coincidentally happened to stumbled upon it! We followed it out and made a right turn once we hit the reef. Lobster and Moray galore! I think I counted 7 eels and countless bugs as we worked very slowly in our planned direction. Movement was too slow to complete the proposed dive plan, but we ended up having an awesome dive. Tons of Garibaldi, Sheepshead, bass, treefish etc etc. We headed back in and surfaced in about 10' of water. Timing couldn't have been better for our exit, and we were quickly (riiiight) back up the stairs. We luckily caught the last 30 minutes of breakfast/lunch service at the Cottage, with the fireplace roaring right next to our table (which was very welcome after 2 chilly SoCal dives). Another great day of diving in Laguna!!!

Bat Star Collecting Shells?

Coonstripe Shrimp (first time I've found one in Laguna!)

Spanish Shawl

Hedgehog Hydroid

Nudi (Sea Lemon?) Eggs

T. catalinae (Clown Nudi)

Cabezon

Moray Eel (Counted at least 7 on Saturday!)

White Sponge of some sort? Thought this might be a nudi for a sec but Scott G. set me straight!

DMR & Shaw's Cove 11/8/08

Report on the way...

Urchin Shrimp

Giant Sea Clam

Spanish Shawl

F. trilineata

Tiniest Sea Lemon I've ever seen (at Shaw's)

P. nobilis - Normal size (at Dead Man's)

Clown Nudi

Catalina 11/1/08

Report on the way...

Baby California Sea Hare

Garibaldi

Gorgonian

Jellies

Obligatory Kelp Shots

Octopus

Rob C.

Sea Star

TDA

SumtinGrowinOnKelp?

Marine Room

Report on the way...

Anemone?

Crab

Flounder

Navanax Eggs

Pipefish (internal flash started to fire)

Plainfin Midshipman (I think)

Roughback Sculpin

Sculpin

Shrimp

Monday morning Dawn dive at La Jolla 11/24/08

Location : La Jolla Shores/Engine Block to the point and back in
Descent: 5:50a
Vis : 15-20 or better. REALLY nice
Depth:108ft max probably 45 average
Temp: avg temp of 57, min of 56
Time: 70min
Buddies: Kim and Marla

Got up early.....went diving.....here are the pictures.
Album: http://tinyurl.com/5rflvo

Large Lazy Lizardfish

Bashful, beautiful blenny

Happy handsome hornshark

Pretty pale polyclad

Such a small sea hare

Ummmm baby kelpfish

The Hogan and Point Loma 11/22/08

Kim already wrote the report so I will just 'borrow' it......

My full album can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/5znsa7

Location Dive 1: The Hogan
Descent: 09:38am
Vis : 10ft below 60ft, 20-30 above
Depth: 121 max 68 avg
Temp: avg temp of 57, min of 55
Time: 53 mins total run time, 25 mins of bottom time
Buddies: Kim and the Sea Lions

Location Dive 2: Ancient Sea Cliffs
Descent: 12:09pm
Vis : 10ft lots of particulate in the water from the surge
Depth: 91 max 55 avg
Temp: avg temp of 57, min of 56
Time: 58 mins
Buddies: Kim

Had the opportunity to dive the Ugly Yellow Boat yesterday, Dean asked earlier in the week noting that Danny was up for some fun dives again instead of work, so I prodded Terry to join and make us a group of 4, headed to the Hogan and then we would hit one of Deans spot in Pt Loma on the way back. Very foggy morning had us motoring slower than usual for the Hogan, but we got there safe and sound to find pretty nice conditions considering. Surface was pretty flat, not much ambient light yet, but no currents or surge greeted us.

As we dropped in the vis was beautiful and clear above 60 feet, but then got a bit hazy and dark as we got closer to the wreck. Danny and Dean did a great coordinated effort to drop the anchor in the sand not 5 feet from the stern so the lower vis really didn't matter. Terry and I splashed after Danny and Dean to stagger our dives a bit. We toured the entire Stern from top to bottom. Huge Vermillion Rockfish and Bocaccio, Sand Bass, and all the other fish that hang out here. I had not been to this section of the wreck on my last dive here so peering inside all the openings and sides of the wreck took most of my time. We hit our bottom time and started up right on schedule, made our predetermined stops and as we got to 40 feet Terry points behind me to a Sea Lion who has joined us. This ended up being one of the best deco stops I've ever done. The 1 Sea Lion shortly after turned to 2, as they would swim around and pose in front of Terry's dome port. I'm pretty sure they could see their reflections, I know I can, and kept coming back to try and figure out what it was they were seeing. They would surface together then come back down. Danny and Dean were on the tag line under the boat doing their stops and Terry and I stayed at the anchor to play with the Sea Lions. Apparently we missed the squid that came by them. I tryed to get some pics of the Sea Lions as they posed for Terry, got some okay ones, nothing spectacular.

After all were on board and the doubles were strapped down we headed to Pt Loma to one of Deans spots he calls The Drop Off. Terry and I jumped in first this time and though the vis wasn't what we hoped. Lots of particulate in the water due to the surge which was easily a 5ft swing. But you could clearly tell why this is called a drop off. The relief on the walls on both sides of the sand channel were easily 20 feet. The tops of the walls were dotted with what looked like mushroom heads. Tons of critters, Greenlings, Sculpins, Top Snails were everywhere, and lots of the usual nudis as well. We worked our way up one side of the channel til it started to work its way to a crevice then crossed over and went down the other side til it was a wide sand channel again then crossed back to find the anchor, Danny and Dean were just before us going up. No Sea Lions to entertain but we spent our stop meandering thru the kelp which we could clearly see from the anchor as once again the vis above 60 ft was a beautiful 20-30 ft.

A couple of really nice dives, thanks to Danny and Dean for the invite, thanks to Terry for tagging along. Phil's after was really tasty and it was great seeing Cyndy and Soraya for eats after diving.

Morning Fog at the boat launch

Hogan wreck life

Sea lion safety stop

Pt Loma stuff

Full House At Marineland

More than thirty divers made their way to the 120 Reef today. I may have been the only one who ventured to the Point. Along the way I looked down through blue water and could clearly see the sand far below.
I dropped within ten feet of Ted's Pinnacle where the visibility was only about eight feet with a strong current heading southwest. I had to kick against the current all the way back to the cove, so I held my dive to an hour. The visibility along the perimeter of the reef was at least fifteen feet.
The nudibranchs that can be found by the thousands in the Spring are pretty absent now. I only found six species today. As I neared the cove I stopped to feed Abby. The greenling that was there last week was still hanging about. Maybe he eats abalone poop.
When I got back to the parking lot I had to laugh at the great job Evil Jeff did on the bumper stickers. It seemed as if half the cars there had one.

The tide was up to Jeff's Rock again.

Part of a large group heading to the 120 Reef

Cyber guards my gear

Beach dog with beach cat

Our Lady of the Garden

Olive rockfish

Grass rockfish

Who are you calling a shrimp?

Greg's Pipe sporting a kelp toupee

Abby

Abby and friend

Anisdoris nobilis

Cadlina luteomarginata

Acanthodoris hudsoni

Acanthodoris lutea and Laila cockerelli

Acanthodoris lutea

Laila cockerelli

Full house

The work of Evil Jeff

Pre-Thanksgiving Laguna Beach Dives

Date: 11/22/08

Click link below for pictures:

www.our-sea.com/Diveblog/DMR_Crescent11_22_08Album/DMR_Crescent11_22_08.html

Date: 11/22/08

Time: 10:25am

Dive Location: Laguna Beach

Dive Site Name: Dead Man's Reef

Visibility: 20-30' visibility! Very nice! Cloudy, flat and calm

Water Temp: 61 degrees

Max Depth: 64'

Bottom Time: :62 minutes

Dive Buddy: Bobby

Surface Internal: 1:30 minutes

Date: 11/22/08

Dive Location: Laguna Beach

Dive Site Name: Crescent

Visibility: 20-30' visibility! Very nice! Cloudy, flat and calm

Water Temp: 61 degrees

Max Depth: 48'

Bottom Time: :68 minutes

Dive Buddy: Bobby & Richard

Laguna Beach Dive's

Date: 11/8/08

Dive Report to added soon. Click link below for pictures:

www.our-sea.com/diveblog/dmr11_08_08album/dmr11_08_08.html

Date: 11/8/08

Dive Location: Laguna Beach

Dive Site Name: Dead Man's Reef/Shaw's Cove

Visibility: 15ft/10-15ft

Water Temp: 61 degrees

Max Depth: 65' / 46 '

Bottom Time: :48 / :71

Dive Buddy: Bobby

Surface Internal: 2 hours

Catalina Island Dive's

Date: 11/1/08

Dive Report to added soon. Click link below for pictures:

www.our-sea.com/Diveblog/Cat11_01_08Album/Catalnina11_01_08.html

Date: 11/1/08

Boat: Sundiver

Dive Location: Laguna Beach

Dive Site Name: Goat Harbor / Little Gibraltor / Yellowtail

Visibility: 50-70'! Cloudy but awesome visibility.

Water Temp: 61 degrees

Max Depth: 90' / 70' / 37'

Bottom Time: :60 / :48 / :59

Dive Buddy: Bobby

Surface Internal: :58 / 1:23

Not So Great Conditions Today

After the 20'+ vis earlier in the week I expected something better than what we had today. We had larger surf than Wednesday and the surge was stirring the sand down to 50 feet. We went back to the area where I found the Polycera hedgpethi on Monday. After less than a minute of searching, Merry spotted another one.
The area known as the Salad Bowl seems to have been covered by sand the past month or so, so nudi hunting has become pretty tough. Aside from the hedgpethi we saw only a few small Spanish Shawls.
These are my meager shots from today. It was tough to focus in the sandstorm. The octopus was from Wednesday afternoon.

Dawn Patrol at the Shores 112108

It's easy enough to copy the dive details from Terry's report, but getting the same quality photos is another problem altogether.

My photo ablum

Location Dive 1: just south of the Engine Block to Vallecitos Point

Descent: 06:01am

Vis: 10-15ft

Depth: 69 max 41 avg
Temp: avg temp of 60, min of 58

Time: 84 mins

Buddies: Terry, Kim, Marla

There has to be a Robillardi on here somewhere!

Walk for the Cure this weekend (*)(*) !!!

Friday morning Dawn dive.....again

Had a great Dive with Kim, Marla and Mike today. Conditions remain very nice at La Jolla and we were treated with many photogenic subjects.

Location Dive 1: just south of the Engine Block to Vallecitos Point

Descent: 06:01am

Vis: 10-15ft

Depth: 69 max 41 avg
Temp: avg temp of 60, min of 58

Time: 84 mins

Buddies: Kim, Marla and Mike H.

Album: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v109/divinman/La%20Jolla%202008/112108/

Here are a few of my favorites.

The now famous 'engine block blenny"

yellowfin fringehead

Shrimp with brittlestars

Skinny Dendronotus nudibranch

One of many two spot octopus at The Point

Juvenile Sheephead abound

Two evening dives....one great night of diving. 11/19/08

Location Dive 1: just south of the Gardens to Vallecitos Point

Descent: 05:03pm

Vis: 15-20

Depth: 94 max 51 avg
Temp: avg temp of 58, min of 57

Time: 71 mins

Buddies: Spencer, Mike, Dustin, Kim

Location Dive 2: Engine Block to Vallecitos Point

Descent: 07:38pm

Vis: 15-20

Depth: 63 max 42 avg
Temp: avg temp of 58, min of 57

Time: 84 mins

Buddies: Kim, Mike, Dustin

First dive was to be the Gardens but we dropped one draw too far south, problem being you never know you were too far south until you are too far south where the topography changes and then its too late to turn back. Surf was maybe 1-2 feet, the fog had moved east, no wind, nice glassy surface for the swim out. After dropping in and heading west a couple kicks we turned south and I have to say we saw more than a dozen different Sheep Crab on the slopes tearing apart the tubeworm structure and having a feast. When we finally decided to turn upslope the main wall of the point was right in front of us. Did the tour and then gradually made our way back.

Did a sufficient SI, changed tanks, had a small snack and jumped right back in. Spencer had such a great dive on the first one he decided to go home early and skip the second. I had a close encounter on the swim out with a jetfin shark, funny Dustin, I owe you one. So we headed back out to the main wall trying to hit far enough north to see the engine block. Terry saw it, I didn't, we dropped right on the south edge of the draw where the block is and I didn't recognize where we were. No wonder, I was having my buttons push too easy and what is the camera doing and how do I stop it moments at the beginning of the dive. Finally got it where I wanted and again no disappointment in critter sightings. We made it all the way down and around the point again and the slow return over the sand dollars and sand.

Was a really good night for critters, Blade Shrimp, Heaths Dorid, Porostomes, Stearns, Shawls, Cuthonas, Dotos, Dedronotus, Trapania Velox (only the second one I've ever seen), Terry found Aplysiopsis again (little sapsucker nudis in algae), baby Scorpionfish were really abundant, baby Giant Kelp Fish, Hermit Crabs, Rockfish, Banded Guitarfish, baby Thornback Rays, Midshipman, all different variety of Crabs and other Shrimp, Sculpins, Horn Sharks big and small, Yellowfin Fringeheads, Sarcastic Fringehead, Blennies, Octos, Lobster, and all the fishies you normally see.

Great couple of dives, can't wait to get back out. Thanks for driving down Mike and Dustin and for the invite and for forgiving my inability to find the gardens!!!

Pretty sculpin

Trapania velox nudibranch- A first for me.

There are still baby scorpionfish every where.

A blenny and friend share some time on the engine block

Several nice hermits out last night

My first decent shot of the Aplysiopsis.

85 minutes of La La Jolla 11/18/08

Had a really nice dive this morning. Surface was dead calm with nary a ripple. Kim, Marla and I all geared up and after plugging an intentional hole in my drysuit, we were on our way. Kim already posted the report so I will supply the pictures. I took the WA lens out again this morning and while conditions are not optimum and my skills are not 'there' yet, I still had a great time blinding my dive buddies.

Thanks for the great dive girls. MMMMmmmmmm cofffeeeee.

Morning Glass

Kim and Marla on "The Point"

Marla and the hermit crab

Kim coming over the ledge
Large two-spot octopus

Kim: It's right THERE.
Marla: "huh???"

Kim: RIGHT THERE!
Marla: WHERE?

Marla: OHHHH THERE!

I handed the cam to Kim and she snapped the rare image of ME underwater.