Tentacles Photos

Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Tentacles in the Sand
This is one of the first shots with my underwater housing for
my camera. I've had it for a while and have not had a chance to
use it. The extremely low tides this week were a good opportunity
to go wading through the tidal pools taking pictures. 'Course, the water
was so shallow they were all extreme close ups, but that's just fine with me.
These guys are really
beautiful, they are related to jelly fish, but they stay on
the bottom, usually anchored to a rock under the sand.
The pretty colors come from a symbiotic algae living in
their translucent tissues.

Monday, September 8, 2008
Creatures from the deep
Actually, I guess they are "creatures from the shallow".
Or even creatures from the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
But you get the point.
This is from our last trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
On my way to their Online Field Guide to identify these critters
I found out that their Jelly fish exhibit is going to end
on Sunday. If you find yourself anywhere near Monterey this
week you should stop in and see it. They are really beautiful.
I am sure going to try to get there.
I think they will still have jellies after Sunday, it's
just the bigger collection of rare ones that is over... "Jellies: Living Art"
I did find the details on these guys too:
Tube Anemone
an interesting adaptation of an Anemone that can retreat into that
long tube. And the crazy thing on the left is a
Sea Pen,
but he is not at a good angle to appreciate why he got his name.
When they are standing up they look like a big fancy feather quill.
I'll try to get a better picture when we go to see the jellies.

Saturday, August 18, 2007
Wispy Jelly
I was in the mood for something a little different today
when I was looking through some older images. I realized
that none of my jelly photos from our last trip to the
Monterey Bay Aquarium made it to the Photo of the Day
so it is time to fix that.
Of course, as with most
photos, the lighting makes all the difference.
Without it this guy would be virtually invisible.
However unlike
most of the photos on my site that are artificially
lit I can't take credit for the lighting on this one.
The Aquarium has a wonderful display that is designed
to perfectly light the critters so you can appreciate
their delicate beauty.

Friday, January 26, 2007
On The Ocean Floor
This is another shot from our recent visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was a fun trip, but it is quite a crowded place. If you don't like pushy people you should probably prepare yourself for a rough day. Personally, I think it is time to take my camera SCUBA diving and leave the crowds behind!

Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Sea Flower
The beaches in Santa Barbara are beautiful. And, if you
time things just right when there is a really low tide
you can see amazing things in the tide pools.
This is a Starburst Sea Anemone. And, contrary to the title
of the image it is not a plant. It is actually a meat eating
animal, a cousin of the Jellyfish.
The color however, is all plant (or mostly anyway). It comes from a symbiotic algae living in
the translucent tissue of the animal and can range from blue-green,
like this, to a much deeper green, or even near white if the animal lives in shade.
The rocks in the low tide around here can be covered with
these. When they are in the air they fold their tentacles
in and you can only see the outside which is covered with
broken pieces of shell and rocks. So, if you are walking on the
beach, and see a rock that seems to be covered with
a bunch of broken shells, it is probably covered with Anemones
just under the shells.
This picture is for my Mom. She has always loved tide pools
and I have many great memories of wandering on the beach
looking for exciting things at the edge of the water with her.
Unfortunately, when she visited Santa Barbara, the tide
was a little too high. Next time, we will check the tide charts
first!