Banditos Boat Scuba Trip

At the end of May Travis and I went diving with Banditos Charters in Seattle with our friends Justin and Debbie. We dove Z's reef and Point Defiance North Wall.

We met up the night before the charter with Justin and Debbie for some good dinner and then went to Alki Cove II for a night dive together. Other divers let us know the viability was pretty poor so I didn't bother taking my camera in. The next morning was the charter boat.

Justin was so anxious to get in the water he was suited up long before the boat reached the spot where we needed to start suiting up.


Buffalo Sculpin (Enophrys bison)


Decorator crab of some sort.


Another pinker looking Buffalo Sculpin (Enophrys bison).


Copper rockfish (Sebastes caurinis)


Another fuzzy crab




Nudibranch eggs


This sea star, which I don't think I've seen before, has a lot of common names: striped sunstar, Stimpson's sun star, sun star, orange sun star, and sun sea star (Solaster stimpsoni) hanging out with a crab


Itty bitty crab on a pale starfish that I think is a short-spined sea star (Pisaster brevispinus)


These must be eggs, but I've no idea what kind.


A small crab in a hidey hole


At first I thought this was two sunflower stars either getting frisky or trying out cannibalism, but now I think it's just one big one that's a contortionist.




A red sculpin of some sort.




Blackeyed hermit crab (Pagurus armatus)


Another mystery sculpin.


I can't even begin to find what this is.


Janolus fuscus nudibranch


Another buffalo sculpin


Anemone


Anemones


Another Janolus fuscus nudibranch


Flabellina Trophina nudibranchs


What's that bright white translucent thing over there? Oh, it's a bleached out old section of a crab legs. It was weird to see though.


Bering Hermit Crab (Pagurus ochotensis)


Bering Hermit Crab (Pagurus ochotensis) with somebody else taking a ride on its shell


Coonstripe shrimp


Another sculpin


Painted Greenling (Oxylebius pictus)


Don't know what this is either.


Can you see it? This was the most decorated crab Travis or I have ever spotted. You can see a little bit of one of its claws below the center.


Kelp crab


Tiny Widehand Hermit Crab (Elassochirus tenuimanus) with a little barnacle dominating its little shell.


Another sculpin


Leather star (Dermasterias imbricata) 


Another crab with some fancy duds on


Itty bitty baby star


Widehand Hermit Crab (Elassochirus tenuimanus)


Another Janolus fuscus nudibranch


Little jellyfish ran into some kelp on the seafloor.


That was a good boat charter! The water visibility was awesome too with 40-50 feet on the first dive and about 30 feet on the second dive.