Back in the Water Again

Posted by Kathy on Apr 24, 2012

Panoramic View of San Carlos Beach, Monterey California

I haven’t been diving in Monterey since last October so when I first planned to go diving with NCUPS (Northern California Underwater Photographic Society) I thought to leave my underwater camera system at home. Just get in the water, make sure all my equipment was working correctly; you know, a checkout dive. But the wave models looked great and I could resist so I brought the camera.

It turned out to be a beautiful day! The sun was shining and people from all over were enjoying San Carlos Beach in Monterey. We set out our chairs and gear on the grass, got geared up and headed into the water. It felt so good to be underwater again. My buddy and I stayed fairly shallow (25 ft +/-) and the water was a bit green but pretty good vis for shallow at around 20 ft. We saw plenty of fish, lots of feeding barnacles, the kelp was swaying around making pretty patterns and my best find was really exciting.

Feeding Barnacles

I’ve been diving in Monterey since 1991. I have heard over the years of a bright pink nudibranch called a Hopkin’s Rose. Pink being my color I always wished I could find one but never had…until now! I found five or six of them towards the end of our dive. At first I didn’t know what they were. “What is that bright pink thing?” I thought. Then I realized it must be a Hopkin’s Rose. There isn’t anything else that pink underwater in Monterey. The picture below I think may be two of them mating! That means there will be more of them soon. I can’t wait to go diving there again and find some more. And maybe get a better picture.

Mating Hopkin's Rose Nudibranchs

Click on the images to see them full size.

Komodo Reef Fish Ballet

Posted by Kathy on Mar 26, 2012

While I was diving in Komodo Marine Park I was fascinated with the small reef fish. They were all different colors and they would swoop in and out of the coral in a choreographed fish ballet. Here are a few images of the reef fish dancing along the reef.

Reef Fish and Coral Gently Waving in the Current

Nudibranchs, Slugs in the Sea

Posted by Kathy on Mar 16, 2012

Glossodoris cincta

Translated literally nudibranch means naked bronchi (lung). The name is due to the fact that they carry their bronchi (gills actually) externally, outside of their bodies. So their lungs are naked in a sense. Nudibranchs are snails, phylum Mollusca. Unlike most land slugs nudibranchs are beautiful! They often have brilliant colors and their gills and cerrata can be simple or intricate. They don’t need shells for protection as they carry poison in their bodies. Their brilliant coloration is a warning to predators to stay away, “I may be beautiful but I taste awful!” Some have obvious heads and others it is hard to tell whether you are looking at the head or tail. I always take pictures of both ends if I am not sure just in case what I am looking at is not what I think it is.

Yosemite People Photos

Posted by Kathy on Mar 1, 2012

Instead of writing more about Yosemite (which I have covered before in this blog), I am just going to post some images from our most recent trip to Yosemite. This time I concentrated on trying to get images of the people in Yosemite, the tourists, the employees, my friends. This was really fun although I think I need to practice my people picture taking!

Enjoy, Kathy

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