Capturing the Moment

While showing Jack and Moira our secret tidepooling spot we came across some real gems. The secret is to wait for the lowest tide of the day to occur shortly after nightfall. This gives the hidden creatures a chance to emerge. We were greeted with a hunting baby eel in our first pool, a bloom of tiny sea hares, and a couple of dynamite nudibranch finds. There were quite a few bright orange gumdrop nudibranchs, a very rare marionas hawaiiensis, and one beautiful nudi that I had never seen here before.  I had to send in this video clip of the nudi to our local expert, and even she said she cannot say 100%, however she thinks it is this species:  http:// seaslugsofhawaii.com/species/ Polybranchia-samanthae-a.html  , which has lost its cholorplast.  Who would have known a couple of shallow tidepools in the lava rocks could contain such treasures.   

Arctic Terns at Potter's Marsh Heidi at Turnagain Arm The drive south from Anchorage to the seaside town of Seward takes you through 2 hours of some of the most scenic driving anywhere in the world. And that is only if you don't stop anywhere to explore more...which would be a shame. Heidi and I had already traveled by scenic train, safari bus, and motorcoach, now we had our own little rental car which can only be described as a micro (smaller than a compact), and were ready to tackle the road to Seward. Strolling thru the wildflowers Fresh Water out of the cliff   Just outside of Anchorage the vast fjord called Turnagain Arm comes into view. It has been called that ever since Captain Cook's sailing master, William Bligh (of HMS Bounty fame), was sent in to see if this 45 mile stretch of water could be the elusive Northwest Passage that Cook was after. Instead it only led to another dead end to which Bligh in his disappointment referred to as the "Tur...

  More tidepool finds! This Dendrodoris carbunculosa is a nudibranch that I have only seen in tidepools on Maui's South shore. It looks like a bouquet of flowers and goes to show why I spend so much time searching for nudibranchs. They have such incredible patterns and colors. Next time you pass a tidepool down by the ocean think twice about what you may be missing! Dendrodoris carbunculosa

This beautiful red-margin spanish dancer nudibranch ( Hexabranchus pulchellus) put on a show in this shallow tide pool. Named after a flamenco dancer's skirt, these 'nudies' whirl and undulate as they swim through the water. This spanish dancer swam near the surface sometimes touching its own reflection.    Even though this nudibranch looks like it might be very toxic with its bright coloration it only has slight toxin in its tissues. They are able to absorb some of the toxin from sponges that it eats. It certainly does not rely on camouflage to remain hidden from site. Instead spanish dancer nudibranchs are nocturnal, coming out at night when visibility is low. The egg masses of a spanish dancer look like velvet roses attached to rocks around the reef. The egg mass is protected from predation since the adult passes on the toxins to the mass.   While most nudibranchs are very small, this one can someday grow to an amazing 15 inches! Our tidepool find happened t...

 There are several secret places to find some pretty amazing nudibranchs here on Maui. One nudibranch resource that often gets overlooked is the tide pool. If you go out at night and find a good series of tide pools you can find all kinds of creatures to wonder at. This brightly colored juvenile Spanish Dancer Nudibranch showed off its beautiful colors and patterns as it swam gracefully through the water of one of the deeper tide pools. This nudibranch was about the size of Heidi's finger as you can see in the picture. Hopefully it will grow into a nudibranch as large as her arm!  This almost translucent slug which hasn't forgone a shell like true nudibranchs is called a swollen bubble shell, or Hydatina amplustre. This wild looking nudibranch pictured on the right is Catriona sp. #1, a rarely seen nudibranch first described from Hawaii in 2008.  Heidi found three of these very close to each other in one of the bigger tide pools. ...

Red Margin Nudibranch unfurling It always amazes me what can be found in the little pools in the rocks that form when the tide goes out. These tidepools can be treasure troves of all sorts of rare and unusual sea creatures. I have seen juvenile octopus, moray eels, and cleaner shrimp at night in tidepools. But the real reason I am always checking for low tides shortly after sunset is to find nudibranchs! Heidi and I have seen nudibranchs in tidepools that we have never seen snorkeling or scuba diving. And to think, people walk right by these pools all the time, not realizing what might be lurking nearby. Dendrodoris carunculosa  This nights foray into some of our favorite tidepools was incredible. My nudibranch hunting partner Heidi and I didn't have really high hopes since the tide was not a very low tide, but all that changed when she shouted she found something. We first thought it was a tuberculos nudibranch ( Dendrodoris tuberculosa ) but when we identified it later...

 Heidi and I made an amazing discovery in our favorite tidepools the other night, something we have been searching for time and time again, a nocturnal nudibranch called a Spanish Dancer. It has a similar name to the spanish shawl nudibranchs that we were used to seeing in California but this nudibranch can be over a foot long! However this night was very special, because our spanish dancer happened to be a juvenile. The colors on the juveniles are so vibrant. This animal personifies what makes nudibranchs so highly sought after. They also share a certain skill with the spanish shawls of California...the ability to swim! As this one undulated back and forth through the water I was able to snap a picture just as it reached the surface of the tidepool, making it look like it is kissing its reflection. Reaching out to its reflection