Our local reefs remain largely covered in a kind of brown debris, and we're still not seeing the typical lush carpet of invertebrate life. Perhaps this is fallout from a couple years of abnormally warm water along the Pacific coast, which had a dramatic effect on the food chain. Water temperature also fueled long-lasting algal blooms, some of which were toxic. There's a good article about the this in the Sept. issue of National Geographic titled "Heat Wave". Whatever the cause, or if this is just a normal periodic cycle, we're hoping for a rebound soon.

Photos from Haggerty's Crane, Kevin's Reef, and the barge.

A couple of new-to-me sea stars:

Fat blood star, Henricia sanguinolenta

Fragile rainbow star, Astrometis sertulifera

Astrometis sertulifera is one of the sea star species that have claw-like pedicellaria surrounding each spine. These are used in defense, capturing prey, and controlling fouling organisms.

Barred sand bass

Calico bass

Island kelpfish

Naked clam, Chlamydoconcha orcutti

Another difference we've noticed this past year is that some of the typically uncommon nudibranch species are abundant, while the historically common species are in short supply.

• Re: Invertebrate life still sparse seahunt 14:41:53 10/26/16 (0)
• Re: Invertebrate life still sparse Merry 16:41:38 10/25/16 (0)
• Re: Invertebrate life still sparse Chris 12:13:55 10/25/16 (0)