Eggs...scuse me!

Margaret Webb joined us for a dive on the Redondo Artificial Reef this morning. After seeing the Cabezon eggs Frank Lukowski shot on Thursday, we wanted to get a chance to see them up close and personal.
When I dived this reef for the first time on Monday there was a California Scorpionfish on some concrete. When we went back on Tuesday there was a cabezon in the same spot, but no eggs. I shot a few pictures and Merry shot video. Frank found the eggs on Thursday and today the same cabezon was there, keeping a close watch.
I took a few shots but didn't want to bother him, so I pointed him out to Merry and Margaret so they could do it. Margaret shot enough pixels to make him hide under a ledge, then Merry moved in for some macro shots of the eggs. Margaret didn't notice the eggs, so we're going to make a do-over dive tomorrow.
After a very short bottom time I moved the anchor, took an obligatory metridium shot and then followed the Two Chicks up the line. A fiesty sea lion zoomed by a few times while we were ascending, but the upper column of water was too dirty for a shot. Visibility was a cloudy twenty feet, with 51°

Love the Coweri and the Cabezon with eggs. Very cool you were able to get in and snab some pics without him fleeing. The final scallop shot is awesome as well. Dig the Gorgonian background and him with his Staghorn Bryozoan top hat

Wow -- I've never seen white Cabezon eggs! We have a lot of cabezons up here, and they are often sitting on egg collections that are clearly from multiple females. They range from medium pink to deep purple, but I have never seen white ones.

Females lay white, pink, maroon, crimson or blue-green eggs. As they mature, the eggs become olive. The males guard the nest until the eggs hatch, usually within 3 1/2 to seven weeks.