Sea hares, a kind of sea slug, will form large groups of individuals all involved in the process of reproduction. Each individual sea hare has both male and female reproductive systems, and each is capable for providing and receiving sperm simultaneously with other sea hares. The result is large masses of yellow eggs in strings that look like cooked spaghetti.
Read MoreIridescent Algae
Marine algae use the energy in sunlight to make food. The production of the soft blue light by the marine alga is the result of an interaction with sunlight that has nothing to do with photosynthesis. How is it produced?
Read MoreSunrise Over Anacapa
Anacapa Island lies at the eastern end of the chain of islands forming the northern Channel Islands group. This chain of islands is an extension of the Santa Monica Mountains to the east. The east-west orientation of these mountains and islands is the result of massive tectonic forces twisting large chunks of the North American continental plate in a clockwise direction.
Read MoreEye of the Sea Hare
Sea hares are sea slugs that cruise the bottom looking for algae snacks. The California sea hare (Aplysia california) will excrete a purple ink when disturbed by a predator. Native Americans living near the coast used this ink to dye some of the materials they made.
Read MoreFlaming Tentacles
Sea anemones are among my favorite underwater photography subjects. The beautiful colors and abstract forms captured in close-up compositions make for very interesting photos. Like all anemones, this white-spotted rose anemone (Urticina lofotensis) using stinging cells studding its graceful tentacles to capture passing prey.
Read MorePurple Mountains
The peaceful purple Swan Mountains lie beneath a forbidding layer of clouds moving or the Flathead Valley in northwestern Montana as the sun sets. This peaceful scene belies the tremendous forces and upheavals that were responsible for the creation of this landscape on the North American continent some 100 to 125 million years ago.
Read MoreNorth Fork
The North Fork of the Flathead River originates in British Columbia, Canada, and flows 153 miles (246 Km) south through Montana in the United States. It is one of only four rivers in Montana to bear the designation of Wild and Scenic. As it flows south from the Canadian border it forms the western boundary of Glacier National Park.
Read MoreBowman Lake
Bowman Lake is one of the large outflow lakes in Glacier National Park that provide evidence of the areas glacial past. While most of the glaciers are gone, the evidence of their erosional work clear stands out.
Read MoreThe Pulpit
The Pulpit is a formation of Navajo Sandstone that stands in the Temple of Sinwava in Zion National Park. Like much of the geology of southwestern Utah, the Navajo Sandstone is the dominant rock type seen in Zion.
Read MoreMore Psychedelia
Like many tropical nudibranchs, Carlsonhoff's phyllidia (Phyllidia carlsonhoffi) has a striking color palette with a black velvety background, orange rhinophores, and yellow-capped bluish tubercles.
Read MoreCalifornia Sea Lion
California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) may number more than 350,000 individuals in their range from southeast Alaska to central Mexico, including the Gulf of California. They may be so abundant along the Pacific coast of the United States that the population is at or near the natural limits of resources to support them. Natural populations fluctuations seen when populations approach these limits may be part of the reason more malnourished and sick sea lion pups are found along our coast.
Read MoreMisty Creek
Malibu Creek flows 13.4 miles from its source in the Santa Monica Mountains to the sea. It a true gem in southern California, and portions of its watershed have appeared in numerous TV series and movies. Its lower reaches are also home to steelhead trout, a form of rainbow trout to migrate out to sea like salmon. The creek is impacted by many factors that make life for the steelhead very challenging.
Read MoreSpines of the Sea Star
Sea stars belong to a group of marine animals sharing the characteristic of having hard, spiny inclusions in their outer body covering. The knobby sea star (Pisaster giganteus) has a whole array of blunt spines scattered across its upper surface. While usually having a blue ring surrounding each spine and a brown or tan background color, the individual in this photo is more yellow/orange with white rings.
Read MoreTiny Tentacles
Hydroids are relatives of sea jellies and sea anemones. All possess stinging cells in their tentacles. Hydroids are colonial, with individual polyps connected through a common base through which nourishment is shared.
Read MoreA Straight Zig Zag
Captured while exploring the banks of the Missouri River in Omaha, Nebraska on a bright, sunny afternoon, this shadow pattern caught my eye. What is it?
Read MoreShadows and steel
Looking for shapes and shadows on a cold, windy, and sunny March afternoon in Omaha, Nebraska, I came across a bridge whose structure and shadows seemed to come together to make the red umbrella at the end a major focal point.
Read MoreCurves
The Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge linking Omaha, Nebraska and Council Bluffs, Iowa across the Missouri River has a sensuously curving deck that caught my eye while exploring Omaha on a recent trip.
Read MoreUndersea Alien?
Sea cucumbers, relatives of sea stars and sea urchins, come in quite a variety of shapes and sizes. Those common to my neck of the woods are typically a bit larger than a very good-sized banana. But I’ve never seen a monster like the one in today’s photo until I made a dive on Rainbow Reef off Vanua Levu in the Republic of Fiji.
Read MoreThe Thin Blue Line
The California blue doris (Felimare californiensis) is a dramatically colored nudibranch found of the coast of North America from Monterey Bay, California to Bahia de La Paz in Baja California Sur, Mexico. It apparently became extinct in the northern part of this range, and was completely gone from California by 1984. It began to reappear in a few isolated places in 2003. Apparently Santa Catalina Island is one of those isolated place, as this was where today’s photo was taken in 2015.
The reason for the local extinction in the northern part of the range is unknown, but it is speculated the disappearance along the mainland coast of southern California, but not at Santa Catalina Island could be due to industrial pollution reducing this nudibranch’s preferred prey, sponges in the genera Stelleta and Haliclona.
This photo was taken with a Canon EF100 mm f/2.8 macro lens on a Canon EOS 5D Mk. III in an Ikelite underwater housing. Lighting was provided by an Ikelite DS161 strobe set to eTTL exposure. The exposure was set to 1/60 sec at f/11 and ISO 200.
A Bit of Psychedelia
Nudibranchs, essentially shell-less snails or slugs of the marine world, are known for their often bright and outlandish colors. The ocellated Phyliddia (Phyliddia ocellata) is no exception to this trend. With a basic background color varying between orange and gold, and various black patches typically surrounding yellow tubercles with white rings, this nudibranch is a real stand-out on the reef.
Like most nudibranchs, the ocellated Phyllidia feeds on sponges and other small encrusting creatures on the reef. The pair of rhinophores perched atop the head end of this slug provide sensory cues used to locate prey and avoid predators. And like most nudibranchs, the bright colors serve as a warning to would-be predators that this creature would be a noxious snack.
Today’s photo was made on a dive in Dolphin Cove on the island of Taveuni in the Republic of Fiji with a Canon EF100 mm f/2.8 macro lens on a Canon EOS 5D Mk. III in an Ikelite underwater housing. Light was provided by an Ikelite DS-161 strobe in eTTL exposure mode. The exposure was set to 1/60 sec. at f/6.7 and ISO 100.