Watch out for the sun!

This unidentified nudibranch seems to take protecting against harmful UV rays from the sun rather seriously, especially given the fact that this photo was taken at around 60ft below. Still, I do wonder about the real purpose of the fancy umbrella. Maybe it is a fashion... thing...

Oh yeah, I did purposefully overexpose the shot to make it look like he was bathing in the sun. Right....

Like a whisp of vapor

I've have always been intrigued by jellies. They seem to be made of almost nothing at all, yet they go about their business in the oceans just like any other fish would. They can be rather hard to photograph - at depth using the strobes can make them look rather messy and detached and even in the shallows when using just natural light (as in this case), it is really hard to get the focus right. The trick is to use manual focus and just snap a ton of exposures while moving the camera back & forth.

I have not been able to ID this specimen. I thought the not-totally-but-somewhat-transparent tentacles looked rather curious, sticking out like that out of nothingness.

Watch out for your head!

Every time seeing this image makes me wince. I know from personal experience that the spikes of a Sea Urchin are super sharp. Once I managed to hit my knee on one, which caused several punctures in my dry suit (the Sea Urchin was not harmed in the incident). Poor Randy at Blue Water Aquatics spent the better part of a day trying to locate the holes, since they were in an area where there are two layers of material. Best $20 I've ever used to have a professional take care of business...

The little fish is called a Blackeyed Goby. I always sense a certain level of sadness from these little fellas as they look around with their black eyes. It's like they really would like to be a giant whale shark, rather than tiny little themselves. I say look at the bright side - at least you are not bothered by divers trying to hitch a ride on your back.

Fish eating anemone

There is one thing I don't quite understand about fish eating anemonies (pictured) - supposedly the thing in the middle is the business end of the the whole 'fish eating' part. Since these things don't look like it's the speed that works to their advantage nor do they exactly try to hide themselves for some stealthy action, I'm unsure as to how they bring food to the table.

I've spent good amounts of time on several dives observing these creatures, but I'm yet to see one successfully catch some lunch. In fact, it seems like the little fish avoid these things like the plague. Anyhow, they do make pretty satisfying targets for photos, with what all those tentacles and the crazy colors and patterns in the middle.

Streeeech

Ah yes, a Spanish Shawl... One of the more frustrating subjects for an underwater photographer. While they don't move around much under their own power, they do seek out spots where the surge is strong. They anchor one end of their body to the underlying substrate and let the other end flap wildly in the surge.

Now there are two ways a diver can approach this situation. You can let your whole body to be carried about by the surge and try to take a 'fly by' picture, or you can mimic the Spanish Shawl by anchoring your hand (I usually just stick my pinkie onto an exposed rock) and let the rest of your body flap around in the surge. Since the shutter lag of my age old camera is measured in seconds, my approach is more of the latter. A good stretch is great for your body they say...

Lost

Look at this poor little fella. He seems have gotten himself into a bit of a precarious spot - I felt compelled to reach out to him and help him out of his predicament. I could only watch in horror as it seemed that he would get stuck with his beautiful shell any moment.

Jewel top snails (as pictured) are fairly common in the Monterey bay waters. For whatever reason they seem to seek out satisfying photographic backgrounds (kelp, hydrocoral, etc.) as if trying to highlight their amazing shells. Many times they have served as a consolidation prize on otherwise disappointing dives.