Last week, Merry found two Shag-Rug nudibranchs, Aeolidia loui during a dock dive in King Harbor. I've never seen any south of Morro Bay, so despite the heat and poor visibility, I told her I wanted to make a dock dive today. At times the visibility was less than two feet. If I looked up, I could see our boat and navigate the silty bottom with the dim sunlight. I found a mating pair of Santa Barbara janolus, Antiopella barbarensis, lots of mating Navanax inermis laying eggs everywhere and I even found a small bolt I dropped last Thursday while working on our troubled outboard. Less than a foot from the bolt, after nearly fifty minutes in the water, I found two Shag-Rug nudis! I spent the next twenty minutes trying to photograph them in the silt cloud that is King Harbor.
Aeolidia loui
Navanax inermis
Santa Barbara janolus, Antiopella barbarensis
Aeolidia loui
Navanax inermis
Santa Barbara janolus, Antiopella barbarensis
