It Must be Just Right!
In early spring, male #garibaldi begins to establish a spawning area in his territory that contains specific types of red algae. He continuously grooms and cleans the algae to prepare the nesting site. This takes as long as one month. When the nest is ready the male will approach females and attempt to entice them to come to his nesting site by making a loud clucking sound and then dashing over to the nest. Females are very selective. The nest must be well groomed and already have eggs deposited. They inspect the nest site and if she approves of the nest, egg color, and the male, she will lay her eggs which are then fertilized by the male. He immediately drives away the female to prevent her from eating the eggs. Several females may deposit eggs in the same nest and a female may deposit eggs in several different nests. The male carefully grooms and fans the eggs. He aggressively protects the nest.
Quiet Wonder
Watching California sea lions freely gliding through the water fills me with serenity and wonder. It's simply amazing how fast they can swim and turn so quickly.
I'm Seeing Purple!
Certain dive sites around Santa Barbara Island are among few places other than Farnsworth Bank and Gull Island where you can see purple hydrocoral (Stylaster californicus). While the colonies here are not as large as ones at Farnsworth Bank, but the colonies here looked healthy.
Space?
A huge cloud of fish wrapping around coral reef like an asteroid belt. Sometimes the underwater world reminds me of scenery from a science fiction movie.
Blowing Bubbles at Dive Buddy
Here is my dive buddy looking at me through my bubble ring with an amused look. I just love blowing bubble rings.
