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I got to do a dive for the first time in four months! (recreational) with @RossWhippo. Check out this ratfish encounter! Don't look directly into the eye, it might freeze you in place! (JK, the eye is the best part)... Special creature! Deadman's Bay, San Juan Island, 13 m depth.
There were many fun friends to visit! A solid blue Solaster stimpsoni [I think] (this species usually has striping, the solid color was outrageous and striking and first for me)....
![There were many fun friends to visit! A solid blue Solaster stimpsoni [I think] (this species usually has striping, the solid color was outrageous and striking and first for me)....](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ec2fmNYUcAA7Ccw.jpg "There were many fun friends to visit! A solid blue Solaster stimpsoni [I think] (this species usually has striping, the solid color was outrageous and striking and first for me)....")
And check out these friends! Many large whelks [Hairy Triton; Fusitriton oregonensis] guarding their egg masses! Careful, looking at the egg spirals might make you dizzy! [first pic]. Some had eggs of their buddies laid on top of them! [second pic] LOL, should we tell them? Nah.
![And check out these friends! Many large whelks [Hairy Triton; Fusitriton oregonensis] guarding their egg masses! Careful, looking at the egg spirals might make you dizzy! [first pic]. Some had eggs of their buddies laid on top of them! [second pic] LOL, should we tell them? Nah.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ec2iHJ6UwAAKhkK.jpg "And check out these friends! Many large whelks [Hairy Triton; Fusitriton oregonensis] guarding their egg masses! Careful, looking at the egg spirals might make you dizzy! [first pic]. Some had eggs of their buddies laid on top of them! [second pic] LOL, should we tell them? Nah.")
![And check out these friends! Many large whelks [Hairy Triton; Fusitriton oregonensis] guarding their egg masses! Careful, looking at the egg spirals might make you dizzy! [first pic]. Some had eggs of their buddies laid on top of them! [second pic] LOL, should we tell them? Nah.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ec2hf56U0AAI4u0.jpg "And check out these friends! Many large whelks [Hairy Triton; Fusitriton oregonensis] guarding their egg masses! Careful, looking at the egg spirals might make you dizzy! [first pic]. Some had eggs of their buddies laid on top of them! [second pic] LOL, should we tell them? Nah.")
But wait, more exciting companions are lurking! There were some very _girthy_ reef denizens! My patronus in the #invert realm: the red urchin [Mesocentrotus franciscanus]. Hard to convey the mass of this absolute unit, but see my hand for scale! Most of that is TEST, not spines.
![But wait, more exciting companions are lurking! There were some very _girthy_ reef denizens! My patronus in the #invert realm: the red urchin [Mesocentrotus franciscanus]. Hard to convey the mass of this absolute unit, but see my hand for scale! Most of that is TEST, not spines.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ec2kjFRUYAEZNMa.jpg "But wait, more exciting companions are lurking! There were some very _girthy_ reef denizens! My patronus in the #invert realm: the red urchin [Mesocentrotus franciscanus]. Hard to convey the mass of this absolute unit, but see my hand for scale! Most of that is TEST, not spines.")
![But wait, more exciting companions are lurking! There were some very _girthy_ reef denizens! My patronus in the #invert realm: the red urchin [Mesocentrotus franciscanus]. Hard to convey the mass of this absolute unit, but see my hand for scale! Most of that is TEST, not spines.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ec2kqicU0AEHTk3.jpg "But wait, more exciting companions are lurking! There were some very _girthy_ reef denizens! My patronus in the #invert realm: the red urchin [Mesocentrotus franciscanus]. Hard to convey the mass of this absolute unit, but see my hand for scale! Most of that is TEST, not spines.")
The seaweeds want you, dear reader, to know that this wasn't just a dive for fish and inverts. No, no, no. Never forget the seaweeds! #TeamAlgae #PhycYeah! We slithered through bushels of kelp. Many genera. Alaria, Cymathere, Saccharhina, Egregia, Pterygophora, Nereocystis, more!
The photo does not do it justice, but to be specific about these bodacious #kelps, I'd have you know that I ran into the longest feather boa kelp [Egregia menziesii] that I've ever seen, >5 m? Impossible to say without tape. It was a mellow bay and the boa was fouled and brittle.
![The photo does not do it justice, but to be specific about these bodacious #kelps, I'd have you know that I ran into the longest feather boa kelp [Egregia menziesii] that I've ever seen, >5 m? Impossible to say without tape. It was a mellow bay and the boa was fouled and brittle.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ec2oOv_UwAAXIeD.jpg "The photo does not do it justice, but to be specific about these bodacious #kelps, I'd have you know that I ran into the longest feather boa kelp [Egregia menziesii] that I've ever seen, >5 m? Impossible to say without tape. It was a mellow bay and the boa was fouled and brittle.")
And then, as we returned, my brain simply exhausted from the explosion of joyous encounters, a jelly jelly inserted itself into our safety stop as if to say: don't forget your gelatinous friends! Indeed, how could I forget! I guess it is a fried egg jelly [Phacellophora]? Fin.
![And then, as we returned, my brain simply exhausted from the explosion of joyous encounters, a jelly jelly inserted itself into our safety stop as if to say: don't forget your gelatinous friends! Indeed, how could I forget! I guess it is a fried egg jelly [Phacellophora]? Fin.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ec2su8wU0AIVmrE.jpg "And then, as we returned, my brain simply exhausted from the explosion of joyous encounters, a jelly jelly inserted itself into our safety stop as if to say: don't forget your gelatinous friends! Indeed, how could I forget! I guess it is a fried egg jelly [Phacellophora]? Fin.")
