March 29 and 31 - Rockaway: Changes

It rained all day Thursday, so I thought the water would be all mucked up and the dive would be lousy.  I was wrong.  I left my camera at home so I could get some much needed underwater therapy and contemplate the nudibranchs in the sand and the barnacles on the rocks.  The signs of spring so prominent just a few weeks ago all but disappeared with the green, red and brown seaweed covering the line with ruffled and dimpled leaves being our barometer of impending change.  Only a few copper rock fish could be found on the main reef with even fewer on the deep reef.  A month and a half ago there was a plethora of copper rockfish on the deep reef.  A multicolored dendronotid adorned the edge of the main reef with its yellow tips swaying gracefully with the current.  As Steve photographed I meditated on hundreds of small barnacles covering the rocks extending their feathery feet extending in a rhythmic dance capturing plankton and other detrius for their consumption.   

Monterey Lemon Peal Nudibranch

Lucas, Russ and I returned 2 days later continuing the exploration of the reef for additional signs of spring.  Frosted nudibranchs were scattered among the seaweed that seemed to have grown in number and size from my previous visit.  We made our way around the main reef, fins periodically kicking up the silt on the bottom as we moved to close to the floor of Puget Sound.  Juvenile red rock crabs, no bigger than a dime, raised their claws towards the surface as if in joyful praise for being alive.  An octopus lounging in its den and a copper rockfish part way down the rock were one of the few signs of life as we crawled along the reef.  At the end of the reef I veered towards the line going towards the deep reef until I felt a tug on my fin.  Russ and Lucas were turning around to head back to the line.  The deep lemon yellow of the nudibranchs against the burnt orange of the sea cucumbers attracted my attention.  Lucas found me later contemplating the flowing, translucent cerata of the frosted white nudibranch making its way along the sand.  We headed to the small reef exploring the crevices and holes and finding a mosshead warbonnet deep within its home.  I became cold and we headed back to the beach.

Frosted Nudibranch

Decorator Crab on Anenome

The final dive was along the shallows at 15 to 20 feet heading South.  We were looking for small reefs at the inlet to Blakely Harbor.  We only found sand and turned around.  As you travel from the one small bay to the next along the contour the ecosystems change from rocky at Rockaway to sandy with stands of eel grass then kelp before hitting the Metridium Reef.  Anemones are scattered throughout the dive with feather duster worms of all colors from white to burgundy and brown staying clustered in the small bay South of Rockaway.  They seem to sense the slightest movement in the water and pull themselves inside there calcified tubes before I can get close enough for a photograph.

We ended back at the beach after an hour and a quarter under water.  A bit cold, feet numb and happy for another dive in Puget Sound.