As my last scuba trip related post, I would like to briefly mention the other critters I got to see on my dives.

A very unusual looking thing. Credit:Krtower via Flickr
A very unusual looking thing. Credit:Krtower via Flickr

Possibly the weirdest looking one was the sea cucumber. The one we picked up had to be about a foot long and thicker than my wrist. At first I had no clue what this strange alien looking thing was…. in general I had always imagined sea cucumbers to be the size of a regular cucumber. Big Orange and spiky, certainly unusual and interesting….Sea Cucumbers come in many varieties however so not all of them are orange and spiky.

The next creature encounter was a small spidery looking crab. I believe it to be a northern Kelp crab, but at this point I’m still unsure. Our dive instructor picked it up and it scampered along our hands before we gently set it back. I met the same type of crab later hiding in some rocks. Funny little creatures.

I spotted several different types of fish, but fish move fast and are hard to identify. The only fish I was able to identify was a Saddleback Gunnel. Gunnels are long slender fish that look more like eels. They seem to slither when they move and this one was hugging the ground for all he was worth (purely a hypothetical he..) I am sure I saw Rockfish, Gobys and Greenings, but its hard to say.

This would be a Nudibranch! Credit:matt knoth via Flickr
This would be a Nudibranch! Credit:matt knoth via Flickr

All and all, the brightest thing I saw was a Lemon Peel Nudibranch (Tochuina Tetraquetra).Nudibranch are like sea slugs, softbodied, shellless mollusks. The Lemon peel was casually perched on the outside of a tire, being easily the brightest thing around in its vibrant yellow.

I am sure there is more flora and fauna I have failed to mention. I plan to continue scuba diving by taking the advanced class. So perhaps there will be more sea related posts as I continue, eventually diving even deeper and at night.