Another Morning in Monterey

An escalating swell drove us to retreat from Dive plan A, to instead explore the pilings of the municipal wharf. We were rewarded not only with much calmer waters but an astonishing array of unfamiliar critters skittering about. Each piling was covered in dense colonies of colonies of bryozoans of various species, clamoring loxorhynchis decorator crabs, barnacles, anemones, various seastars and more. Even the sandy bottom boasted a surprising abundance of Hermissenda crassicornis nudibranchs, various snails, and sabellid worms. Toward the end of the dive (at which point I was essentially footless and handless with the exception of my shutter finger) we looked up to investigate the debris being showered on us from above to find a feasting sea otter tearing at the marine life on the piling. My first sighting of a sea otter underwater! Another beautiful day in Monterey Bay.

Posted on February 29, 2012 05:03 AM by markham