Hawthorne Reef is a great place to find rockfish, sponges and nudibranchs. We spotted fourteen distinct species of nudibranchs in less than forty minutes on the reef. Several species of rockfish seemed more interested in us than we were of them. Each time I looked up for taking a nudi photo a vermilion, olive, copper, gopher, kelp, blue or honeycomb rockfish would be inches from my face. All of them together wouldn't match the size of a lingcod I found hiding in a crack.

Visibility from the surface to fifty feet was less than five feet in green water. Below the thermocline we enjoyed fifteen feet plus in 51° water.

Cypraea spadicea

Cadlina luteomarginata

Aegires albopunctatus

Hermissenda crassicornis

Doriopsilla albopunctata

Flabellina trilineata

Flabellina iodinea

Diaulula sandiegensis

Peltodoris nobilis

Triopha catalinae

Cadlina flavomaculata

Ategema alba

Others spotted but not photographed included Tritonia festiva, Mexichromis porterae, Cadlina limbaughorum and Acanthodoris hudsoni.

• Re: Swarming slugs maggieD 09:03:37 06/16/13 (0)