diver.net

When it rains, it pours mola molas.


dive-instructors.com, the first place to look for a dive instructor


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ California Scuba Diving BBS ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by Merry on December 05, 2011 at 10:21:06:

Any sighting of these unearthly looking fish is a rare treat, but to find mola mola cleaning stations on 3 consecutive dives is remarkable. Within a week, we saw them on the Redondo Barge, the PV Underwater Arch, and the crane off Haggerty's. Could this be an annual occurrence?

At Haggerty's Crane yesterday, I counted 6 mola molas of approximately 16 inches. They were much less skittish than the others previously encountered.

Photobucket

Photobucket


On Sat., we encountered almost every sea state we could imagine, from getting trounced on the way to the fuel dock to flat calm later in the day at the Underwater Arch.

Photobucket


The surface vis was miraculous at the Underwater Arch - from deck, we could see the scales on schooling fish and it was darn nice at depth. There was certainly no shortage of widely different photo subjects. After a nice 1 1/2 hour dive, I saw several mola molas being cleaned by half-moons right behind the boat.

Photobucket

Photobucket


Another surprise was this adult giant kelpfish, Heterostichus rostratus.

Photobucket


Before we dropped Phil found a 2-inch comb jelly, Beroe forskalli, at the surface. I chased after this nimble, predatory, spiral-swimming little thing, mesmerized by its shimmering comb rows.

Photobucket

Photobucket


The wide end is the mouth, which contains macrocilia used to chomp on or engulf other jellies. Some can be seen in this photo.

Photobucket


Besides Chromodoris macfarlandi and Berthella californica, the Arch holds Phil's coveted nudi, Dendrodoris behrensi.

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket


Many different species of sponge and tunicate can be found at the Arch. We need to showcase more representatives from there.

Gray tunicate.

Photobucket


Gray puffball sponge

Photobucket




Follow Ups:


Name:
E-Mail:
Subject:
Message:
Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:
Optional Image URL:
Post Background Color: White     Black
Post Area Page Width: Normal   Full
You must type in the
scrambled text key to
the right.
This is required to
help prevent spam bots
from flooding this BBS.
capcha
Text Key:

      


diver.net