I went for a pre-dawn jaunt this morning, only to turn around after only two blocks due to the smoke in the air. I thought I would just relax at home instead. That is until Merry woke up. She wanted to dive the Landing Craft to photograph octopus nests. We haven't dived there in years since the wreck collapsed into a pile of rust. I remained topside to work on the boat while Merry finished off a half-empty tank she had been saving for a dock dive.

After a half-hour she popped up, fighting back her excitement. She found three Felimare californiensis nudibranchs on top of a cinder block, and two of them were mating! We've never seen their eggs, so I quickly geared up while Merry swapped out her tank.

I took a ton of shots from every angle, although they hadn't laid any eggs. We may have to return tomorrow. After I'd had enough nudi fun I searched the wreck for an octopus nest. I covered the entire wreck before finally coming upon a nest of the Pacific Red Octopus, Octopus rubescene. It was ten feet from the cinder block. Red Octopus eggs are white, but due to the amount of iron in her diet (or rust covering her nest, the eggs were bright orange.

Octomom was patient while I snapped away. When I had enough photos, I covered her back up and took a few more Felimare photos. Visibility was at least fifteen feet until the incoming tide swept in a lot of sand. Merry said it was even better when she first went in.