Here are some shots from a private charter on the Peace.
We take a group out the last weekend in June each year to the Northern Channel islands. It was considerably rougher this year than last year, but I was able to fire off a few shots.
No wide angles - all Macro this year. The water was really snotty.
I was super sick on Saturday - didn't even make it out for Breakfast or Lunch - so I only got in 7 dives over the three day trip. But once again we had a super time.
Huge thanks to the group. Stellar group, inspired casting once again by my co-MC's of this jolly trolly of love: Chica and Doug Markoo!
Enjoy.
-Ken
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Although I only did 7 dives, I saw things I haven't seen for years on this trip. Among them was several Aegires Nudi's. I've only seen a few (all on the Yukon in SD over the years) and only photographed one - the one on my Nudi card. So when we found this first one (Santa Cruz Island, Day 1) I was jumping out of my drysuit.
When I looked over and saw three more (2 in this shot) I was out of my mind. In, I dunno, 1600 or 1700 dives, I've seen maybe 3 or 4, and photographed one. I couldn't me more thrilled. They were all in one spot, about a 10" patch on the side of a large rock.
Kissing Nudis - this pair of 'tata's we making out on some rock. The flea like thing on big tata's back is an Amphipod. They sometimes hitch a ride on Nudi's. Probably picking off the schmutz (or schmootz if you're from NY.) I got a shot of one on a Flava not long ago: Link
Swell Shark Egg - this beautiful egg was in some red Gorg. There was more gorgonia on this 3-day trip than I've ever seen before - nearly every dive site was covered in it. This was shot at our Friday night spot, Albert's Anchorage on Santa Cruz Island. I love the striations on the egg case, the yolk that's still there and the contrast of the green against the red.
Crabby in the Gorg - Speaking of Red Gorg, this crab was hiding out in this Red Gorg just a few kicks away. I'm telling you, at Albert's the Gorgonia were the dominate species on the reef. What made this little guy so interesting is he LIVES in the Gorg. He has Red Gorg GROWING ON HIM! On his head and on his arms and a couple of his legs. In this first shot, I'm shooting from the side - looking through the gorg like a beaded curtain in New Orleans!
The surge was pretty fierce here. So I hovered over the gorg in hopes it would blow past me while I blew by - so I could shoot DOWN into it - not just through it. A couple of tries and I got the angle I wanted. Looking down INTO the animal, you can see the crabby hanging on with his back feet, and you can clearly see the Gorg growing in this guy's dome. Who knew I was interrupting his dinner... sorry buddy.
Hilton's - We found a fat Hiltons. This year Chica had a pink glove, and I wanted to get a shot of this pink and brown Nudi on the pink glove. He's in good hands!
Scooterbranch? Cudabranch? - This guy was such an excellent subject, we though we'd show him how we roll downtown. He was loving the logo. Good taste. Doubt he'd luv up an SS like this.
White Rose(ette) - At this time of year, the Northern Channel Islands are LOADED with Nudi eggs of all types. This ambitious (and probably very lost large Nudi) climbed up a stick and let it roll. I thought it reminded me of a single white rose. I love the gel along the edge - reminding me these rosettes are just a slim ribbon with about a zillion Nudi eggs in there. It was waving gently in the surge - getting it to settle in on the slack was the fun part.
Tritonia Festival! - The islands were covered with Tritonias. They were everywhere, and if you've been reading me for awhile, you know I love the three colored shot - Tritonia white, Gorg red, water black. These guys are fun, animated and love to show off. Here are a few shots of one of my fav Nudi's to shoot.
Its all about the blowing moustache! That and the Nudi guts!
Reachy face jumping off the screen!
I heart Nudis! Especially when I can get two in one shot. I've looked at this for about a week, and the more I look, the more convinced I have an Albus AND a Diversacolor in the same shot. The Albus (Whitie) has a white line that extends from its 4th Tuft to its tail...which you can clearly see. The Diversacolor (Pinkie) has a white line that extends from the LAST tuft to its tail (which you can kind of see...) While its possible they're both Albus (and one is just pinkish) its also possible the guy on the left is a Diversacolor.... and that would make me smile. I can't tell 100% because the Bryzoan is blocking Pinkie's tail a bit. If you look very close, you can see Whitie slurping the Bryzoan. I like this shot. A lot. I've sent if off to some real Nudi experts - I'll know soon what we have here.
SEA SPIDERS!!!
In however many dives I have, I've seen one.
ONE.
In 11 years of diving. ONE Sea Spider. In San Diego, many years ago. I got some shots of it, and have been looking ever since.
On this trip, I spotted one flapping on a kelp leaf. The surge was blasting and whipping the leaf like a flag, so I'd get set, brace, it would blow away, it'd blow back and I'd try to focus and snap. It was nearly impossible. Then I looked up, and saw another. Then another. Then another. There were, like 4 or 5 in this small area! I got some shots, and about 5 minutes later we saw another 3. It was Sea Spider heaven! This was the US highlight of the trip for me - finding many Sea Spiders.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Naughty Spider - this guy was far away, under a leaf. He emerged and made a beeline across this leaf to its edge, hanging on for dear life. If you look really close, you can see why. Dude is totally chewing on some Nudi eggs on the underside of the leaf!
Side Angle Shot - When the surge blew the leaf by, I grabbed a shot of the edge so you could see the Nudi Eggs at the all you could eat buffet. Sorry the focus is soft - I got blown off the rock right a I squeezed the shutter.
Flying Spiders! - You need to understand, these things are smaller than your little finger nail when they're wide open - so she was trying to hold the leaf still so I could get a shot of this tiny thing with my huge rig while the surge blew us all over the place. The leaf she was holding down got pulled out when she got blown off the rock in a huge bit of surge - so here she is, holding this leaf with a Sea Spider on it.
The Sea Spider wanted no part of this and literally said "goodbye cruel world" and walked with purpose to the edge of the leaf and just flung himself off - into the open sea.
She and I looked at each other with huge eyes, and I started firing as this suicidal spider started tumbling in the water column. So here you go: a Flying Sea Spider
.
.
.
.
.
.
We take a group out the last weekend in June each year to the Northern Channel islands. It was considerably rougher this year than last year, but I was able to fire off a few shots.
No wide angles - all Macro this year. The water was really snotty.
I was super sick on Saturday - didn't even make it out for Breakfast or Lunch - so I only got in 7 dives over the three day trip. But once again we had a super time.
Huge thanks to the group. Stellar group, inspired casting once again by my co-MC's of this jolly trolly of love: Chica and Doug Markoo!
Enjoy.
-Ken
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Although I only did 7 dives, I saw things I haven't seen for years on this trip. Among them was several Aegires Nudi's. I've only seen a few (all on the Yukon in SD over the years) and only photographed one - the one on my Nudi card. So when we found this first one (Santa Cruz Island, Day 1) I was jumping out of my drysuit.
When I looked over and saw three more (2 in this shot) I was out of my mind. In, I dunno, 1600 or 1700 dives, I've seen maybe 3 or 4, and photographed one. I couldn't me more thrilled. They were all in one spot, about a 10" patch on the side of a large rock.
Kissing Nudis - this pair of 'tata's we making out on some rock. The flea like thing on big tata's back is an Amphipod. They sometimes hitch a ride on Nudi's. Probably picking off the schmutz (or schmootz if you're from NY.) I got a shot of one on a Flava not long ago: Link
Swell Shark Egg - this beautiful egg was in some red Gorg. There was more gorgonia on this 3-day trip than I've ever seen before - nearly every dive site was covered in it. This was shot at our Friday night spot, Albert's Anchorage on Santa Cruz Island. I love the striations on the egg case, the yolk that's still there and the contrast of the green against the red.
Crabby in the Gorg - Speaking of Red Gorg, this crab was hiding out in this Red Gorg just a few kicks away. I'm telling you, at Albert's the Gorgonia were the dominate species on the reef. What made this little guy so interesting is he LIVES in the Gorg. He has Red Gorg GROWING ON HIM! On his head and on his arms and a couple of his legs. In this first shot, I'm shooting from the side - looking through the gorg like a beaded curtain in New Orleans!
The surge was pretty fierce here. So I hovered over the gorg in hopes it would blow past me while I blew by - so I could shoot DOWN into it - not just through it. A couple of tries and I got the angle I wanted. Looking down INTO the animal, you can see the crabby hanging on with his back feet, and you can clearly see the Gorg growing in this guy's dome. Who knew I was interrupting his dinner... sorry buddy.
Hilton's - We found a fat Hiltons. This year Chica had a pink glove, and I wanted to get a shot of this pink and brown Nudi on the pink glove. He's in good hands!
Scooterbranch? Cudabranch? - This guy was such an excellent subject, we though we'd show him how we roll downtown. He was loving the logo. Good taste. Doubt he'd luv up an SS like this.
White Rose(ette) - At this time of year, the Northern Channel Islands are LOADED with Nudi eggs of all types. This ambitious (and probably very lost large Nudi) climbed up a stick and let it roll. I thought it reminded me of a single white rose. I love the gel along the edge - reminding me these rosettes are just a slim ribbon with about a zillion Nudi eggs in there. It was waving gently in the surge - getting it to settle in on the slack was the fun part.
Tritonia Festival! - The islands were covered with Tritonias. They were everywhere, and if you've been reading me for awhile, you know I love the three colored shot - Tritonia white, Gorg red, water black. These guys are fun, animated and love to show off. Here are a few shots of one of my fav Nudi's to shoot.
Its all about the blowing moustache! That and the Nudi guts!
Reachy face jumping off the screen!
I heart Nudis! Especially when I can get two in one shot. I've looked at this for about a week, and the more I look, the more convinced I have an Albus AND a Diversacolor in the same shot. The Albus (Whitie) has a white line that extends from its 4th Tuft to its tail...which you can clearly see. The Diversacolor (Pinkie) has a white line that extends from the LAST tuft to its tail (which you can kind of see...) While its possible they're both Albus (and one is just pinkish) its also possible the guy on the left is a Diversacolor.... and that would make me smile. I can't tell 100% because the Bryzoan is blocking Pinkie's tail a bit. If you look very close, you can see Whitie slurping the Bryzoan. I like this shot. A lot. I've sent if off to some real Nudi experts - I'll know soon what we have here.
SEA SPIDERS!!!
In however many dives I have, I've seen one.
ONE.
In 11 years of diving. ONE Sea Spider. In San Diego, many years ago. I got some shots of it, and have been looking ever since.
On this trip, I spotted one flapping on a kelp leaf. The surge was blasting and whipping the leaf like a flag, so I'd get set, brace, it would blow away, it'd blow back and I'd try to focus and snap. It was nearly impossible. Then I looked up, and saw another. Then another. Then another. There were, like 4 or 5 in this small area! I got some shots, and about 5 minutes later we saw another 3. It was Sea Spider heaven! This was the US highlight of the trip for me - finding many Sea Spiders.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Naughty Spider - this guy was far away, under a leaf. He emerged and made a beeline across this leaf to its edge, hanging on for dear life. If you look really close, you can see why. Dude is totally chewing on some Nudi eggs on the underside of the leaf!
Side Angle Shot - When the surge blew the leaf by, I grabbed a shot of the edge so you could see the Nudi Eggs at the all you could eat buffet. Sorry the focus is soft - I got blown off the rock right a I squeezed the shutter.
Flying Spiders! - You need to understand, these things are smaller than your little finger nail when they're wide open - so she was trying to hold the leaf still so I could get a shot of this tiny thing with my huge rig while the surge blew us all over the place. The leaf she was holding down got pulled out when she got blown off the rock in a huge bit of surge - so here she is, holding this leaf with a Sea Spider on it.
The Sea Spider wanted no part of this and literally said "goodbye cruel world" and walked with purpose to the edge of the leaf and just flung himself off - into the open sea.
She and I looked at each other with huge eyes, and I started firing as this suicidal spider started tumbling in the water column. So here you go: a Flying Sea Spider
.
.
.
.
.
.
I miss diving in the N. Channel Islands. You don't see anywhere near as many nudies down in southern islands, not in summer anyhow (that is the only time we are out there). 
