On Saturday, we tried to dive Buchannan's Reef, but the current was so strong that the boat's propeller was turning. Instead, we moved back around the peninsula to our favorite local wreck, the Avalon. Surface water was green, but below the thermocline, it opened up nicely to over thirty feet; water temperature was 54 degrees on the bottom.

The Garibaldi (Hypsypops rubicundus) is California's State Marine Fish. Newcomers to California love to see the bright orange fish in the green kelp. For those of us that dive here, they are so common that we often ignore them completely. Like other damselfish, male Garibaldi carefully grow an algae garden in hopes of attracting a female. If the female Garibaldi chooses the male's nest, she will lay her eggs there and he will fertilize them. While the eggs develop, the male guards the nest with the ferocity of a junkyard dog, chasing away anything that might eat the eggs.

This male Garibaldi is tending his brood of eggs, the lighter color patch in the darker algae.

Here's a closeup of the eggs, taken with stacked macro lens adapters.

A juvenile treefish (Sebastes serriceps)

Coonstripe shrimp face (Pandalus gurneyi)

Another colorful denizen of California's reefs that is so common that we tend to ignore it. Spanish Shawl nudibranch (Flabellina iodinea). Yes, those are eggs.

On Sunday, I drove up to Ventura to dive on the Spectre with the Los Angeles Underwater Photography Society and its annual Anacapa Shootout. You'll just have to wait until after the next meeting to see the pics. ;-)

• How pissed off was the Garibaldi? Chris 20:24:52 09/13/05 (1)
  • Very mellow. + jlyle 07:11:28 09/14/05 (0)
• Yes, cool eggs! (+) Dick J 16:55:56 09/13/05 (0)
• Nice Garibaldi Eggs Elaine 10:52:30 09/13/05 (0)