Nudibranchs in the Sand

A gloomy nudibranch

A rarely seen nudibranch Heidi found

Kangaroo Nudibranch

 Sometimes when searching for the rare animals it takes adventuring in rarely visited places. Usually when I take underwater photos I visit the most beautiful reefs and underwater landscapes. However, nudibranchs can be quite counter-intuitive to find. You would expect an animal with such bright coloration and patterns to be around bright sponges, coral, and algae. One of our secret dive locations for nudibranchs is a sandy, silt covered underwater rocky plateau in just 15 feet of water. Here we find goomy nudibranchs, kangaroo nudibranchs, white margin and tom smith nudibranchs. And almost every time we visit this special location we come across new species we have never seen before. This dive we found a wild orange and blue nudibranch of which we eventually found 5 or 6 on our 1 1/2 hr dive. At the very end of our searching Heidi called me over and pointed out what I initially thought was a sea hare but what turned out to be another brand new nudibranch. This one was a bit more camouflaged with bubble-like bumps covering it and bright blue spots in between. Absolutely gorgeous!

Nudibranch wrangler in the flesh

beautiful colors contrast the sandy environment

Hawaiian damselfish charging me as they protect their home coral head