Last week, Merry found two Shag-Rug nudibranchs, Aeolidia loui during a dock dive in King Harbor. I've never seen any south of Morro Bay, so despite the heat and poor visibility, I told her I wanted to make a dock dive today. At times the visibility was less than two feet. If I looked up, I could see our boat and navigate the silty bottom with the dim sunlight. I found a mating pair of Santa Barbara janolus, Antiopella barbarensis, lots of mating Navanax inermis laying eggs everywhere and I even found a small bolt I dropped last Thursday while working on our troubled outboard. Less than a foot from the bolt, after nearly fifty minutes in the water, I found two Shag-Rug nudis! I spent the next twenty minutes trying to photograph them in the silt cloud that is King Harbor.

Aeolidia loui

Navanax inermis

Santa Barbara janolus, Antiopella barbarensis