Carmel/Monterey pics 10/9/10

[Larry C]

First dive was at Mono Lobo, between Carmel River State Beach and Point Lobos Reserve. Second dive was Mt. Chetron off the Aquarium.
Carmel:
Dock Shrimp

Male Kelp Greenling

Hermit Crab

Lingcod

1/4" Jelly (Looked like a tiny football)

Snail on Kelp

Monterey:
I'm told this is a Juvenile Yellow Eye

When I shot this, I thought it was a Jelly. I have no idea.

A young Mola (about 16") in it's pre Sea Lion frisbee condition. (More on that in the next set from last weekend.)

 

[stakanak]

Nice pics! That shot of the Greenling is magnificent.

 

[fuggler]

Nice mola! I still haven't seen those things in Monterey.

 

[muzikbiz22]

Gotta love the Mola Mola. Nice "catch" !

 

[Peter_C]

Cool shots. I like the colors on the shrimp.

 

[Gilligan]

Nice shots Larry.

I didn't know that had Mola Mola there?

I always appreciate your cold water pics because I know I will never see that area

 

[Larry C]

Thanks Stakanak, Fuggler, MusicBizz, Peter & Jim.

Nice mola! I still haven't seen those things in Monterey.

I didn't know that had Mola Mola there?

Generally, we see Mola here a couple of times a year, usually in the Aquarium area or over the shale. I've also seen them being cleaned by blue rockfish and perch. Most of the time they're babies-12-16"-and most of the time, they don't survive. Sea Lions like to tear off their fins and play frisbee with them on the surface, to the delight of the Gulls, who gather around them to pick up the bits. They don't get eaten, though. They end up on the bottom, sometimes flapping about finless, until the Sea Stars clean up the mess. Last week we counted five dead Molas, all about the same size on a single dive. I also was about to shoot a picture of a live one when a Sea Lion swooped down and grabbed it at about 70'. I had the capture in focus and framed with my 60, but naturally something had rubbed on the metering dial and it was set to area instead of spot and thought it was too dark or something, failing to fire. Probably wouldn't have looked like much as it was about 10' away in moderate vis, but it's the kind of shot you only get one chance at. I have a bunch of pics of the remains in my next set.
We saw one really good size Mola last year when it hung around the fuel dock right at the surface, and I got some nice topside pics of it, including one with a large boat in the background for comparison. It was about 5-8'
Here's the one at the fuel dock

 

[FrankPro1]

"When I shot this, I thought it was a Jelly. I have no idea."

I believe this is a Pegea confoederata Salp, a type of colonial jelly. In this instance it is only a single individual. They usually break up their chains due to disease, attack etc.etc. I've been seeing them a lot down south both in colonial and single form.

A couple shots:

Short vid of a larger chain being munched on: YouTube - Pegea confoederata Salp at Long Point: Marineland, Palos Verdes Peninsula "Uedited" "RAW"

By the way, great set of shots! Really like the Juvenile Yellow Eye and Snail on Kelp shot. Your posts always make me want to buy a drysuit and start exploring the frigged north.

 

[Larry C]

Thanks, FrankPro. It sure looks similar. I was thinking at the time it might be a salp, but when I saw what looked like eyes, I thought it might be some sort of larva, still developing.

 

[clgsamson]

nice set, Larry. I think the Snail on kelp is cute.

ps - I'd like to see a mola mola someday.