The beauty under the water is just as amazing as above the water here in Washington. There is a herd of deer that wander around the campus eating the grass and eyeing you as you walk past. They are not that skittish, and you are actually able to get quite close and look at their big eyes. Although you probably wouldn’t want to touch them because they look pretty dirty.
Photo credit Stina McKenna
The world under the water is teaming with many different organisms from fish to nudibranchs, and many varieties of algae. There are even Pisaster ochraceus the purple seastar! You may remember that I did my invert presentation on this species in the fall and I am quite excited to finally make their acquaintance. Seeing all the different species of invertebrates is really quite amazing!
Dirona albolineata Photo credit Chris Marks
Pycnopodia helianthoides Photo credit Chris Marks
Henricia leviuscula Photo credit Chris Marks
Triopha catalinae Photo credit Robert Murphy
On one of my dives I dove along a wall a little offshore from the lab 6 beach, and there is so much to see all the way down past my 60 ft certification. There are huge sea urchins, though not as big as the Diadema from Panama, different types of rock crabs, many varieties of rock fish, lots of sea cucumbers and all of that is surrounded by beds of kelp! The kelp grows so much larger here than on the East coast, and it is really amazing to dive among it!
Cancer productus Photo credit Chris Marks
Cribrinopsis farnaldi Photo credit Chris Marks
Parastichopus californicus Photo credit Robert Murphy
We have also been diving in the Zostera marina seagrass beds collecting data for a baseline survey. Diving in the beds is fun but takes skill to be sure not to kick up too much sediment from the bottom, because soft bottom substrates are where Zostera grows.
Epiactis prolifera on Zostera marina Photo credit Chris Marks
The diving here has been amazing, and being able to see what is living under the water is definitely worth suiting up to go into the cold water!
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