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On Jan. 31st, 2009, I was diving in front of the Yellow House in Hoodsport, WA (South Hood Canal) when I came across this cool guy. It was about 10pm and I started seeing these guys at 100' on the silt bottom evenly distributed about 15-20' apart. They were unresponsive to my light or me, and the only time one moved was when I got a little too close taking a picture (within a foot). It swam off quickly just to settle down 10' to 15' away from were it originally was. I had no idea what they were, so I snapped a picture. On this particular dive I saw about fifteen of them and all were beneath 100'. They were about 8" - 10" in length. [Note, Rhoda Green also found one of these in South Hood Canal in 2007 - visit the archives for another view of this ultra cool and rarely-seen-by-divers fish]
Attached is a photo I took last night at Alki Junkyard of a snailfish. I took the photo at 45 feet, about 6:45 PM. You can tell the size of the fish by the piece of eelgrass in the lower right corner of the photo. My camera is a Canon Powershot. [Note: Snailfish are extremely difficult to tell apart. The more common ones seen by divers are the Showy Snailfish and the Marbled Snailfish. While we think this is a Showy, it's always up for debate - Janna] - Ed Gullekson
On our first bi-weekly REEF survey of 2009, Rhoda Green and I chose one of the sites we often dive -- Les Davis. Based on the heavy rains the previous week and the high tidal exchange we selected a site that was less current sensitive and also had some depth to hopefully avoid having to dive by braille, by dropping below the low viz layer. This site has proved rewarding in the past for a wide variety of species. Looking into the water before the dive; it was pea soup. We could barely see the bottom even in the shallows. We ended up dropping down to about 80 feet and were slowly searching the silty bottom when I spotted this fellow. He was about 4 inches long, and holding very still. It was obvious from the get-go that it was a species that neither of us recognized. I was able to take a couple of photos before stirring up the silt. - David Jennings and Rhoda Green
Since the pilings at Titlow are on the chopping block for removal sometime in the near future, I now bypass the ledges altogether and spend my dive surrounded by life in the "cathedral". After a leisurely, relaxing dive, my buddy and I were slowly making our way back to shore in the shallows poking around hoping to spot a Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker. Instead, I found the most unusual creature with a face only a mother could love. He was tucked into an old rusty pipe in about 8 feet of water. The prominent ridge on his forehead caught my eye as he lay completely motionless. After snapping a few pictures, I tried gently moving the pipe to see if I could get a better look at the mystery critter. He didn't even move a muscle, but I could see that he was around 7-8 inches long and about as fat around as a "Ball Park Frank". I watched him for several more minutes before continuing to shore.
I am accustomed to seeing tidepool sculpins, northern clingfish, and gunnels while tidepooling. I've even seen a longfin sculpin and a grunt sculpin in tidepools and plainfin midshipman under intertidal rocks. The rockhead was a real surprise. I found it at Rosario Beach at Deception Pass State Park. It was swimming very slowly when I saw it so it was easy to scoop up into my hand. It was in a rocky high energy intertidal area in about 3 inches of water where the tide was rapidly receding to the -2.3 feet level. This area has thick kelp growth during the summer months that dies back in the winter so we can see a lot more of the intertidal invertebrate life during evening low tides. It was a strange looking little dude. I couldn't figure out the cratered look on the top of its head until Janna pointed out the picture in the Andy Lamb/Bernard Handby book, Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest. That's the great thing about tidepooling and scuba diving; you never know what you'll find! |
