Month: May 2014
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Photo of the Week: A Wolf Eel on the USS Hogan Wreck
The USS Hogan wreck is pretty much the perfect San Diego dive site–the conditions are usually excellent, the sea life is abundant, and the depth and distance from port are such that the site has an air of exclusivity to it. It’s also so rife with wolf eels that it almost–note I said almost–renders them…
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The Purple-Striped Jellyfish/Sea Nettle (Chrysaora colorata)
There were ripping currents on the deep wrecks this past weekend, and with the currents came a whole slew of jellyfish and tunicates. I’m mildly obsessive about the Black Sea Nettle bloom we sometimes get in San Diego in the summers, and I’m well-known as a nudibranch zealot, so it should come as no surprise…
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Back to the Fuchsia
Everything came together. I navigated through crappy visibility. I clambered around in surge that felt like the spin cycle. I stared at rocks until my vision focused on tiny fuchsia Spanish Shawls, my favorite nudibranch. I shed the responsibility of someone else’s good time, and all I had was my own.
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Throwback Thursday: Dead Dolphins and Live Whale Sharks
It was with a smug superiority that I returned to vacation: living it up while climbing ruins, rafting rivers, and stalking whale sharks was the name of the game. To summarize: The Belizean landscape was raw and rife with exotic wildlife. The Mayan ruins were breathtaking and fabulous. The whale sharks were one of the…
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Photo of the Week: The Hitchhiker
If I’d had the ocular fortitude to spot the microscopic amphipod hitchhiking a ride on this nudibranch’s back, I would have spent all damn day shooting those two little guys. However, I never even saw it until I was home, my gear was rinsed and drying, and I was on the computer, heavily cropping this…
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Cartoonize Your Photos with Topaz Clean
You’re not going to be using Topaz Clean on all of your photos. It’s not going to be one of your workhorse apps that becomes an essential part of your workflow, like Topaz Detail is. But if you want to do something different, and spice up your photos with a cool, cartoony, vector-art-type effect, you…
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Updated Flickr Gallery: Anilao Muck Diving
I’ve added new photos to my Anilao, Philippines muck diving gallery on Flickr, including underwater photos of pipefish, ribbon eels, and mantis shrimp. Enjoy :)
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Back in Sun Diego: Solar-powered sea critters
Yesterday, while enjoying the heat at the pool, I briefly considered the possibility that maybe I was actually solar-powered. I don’t need food anymore, I thought, All I need is warmth. This of course was incorrect, and I shuffled my flip-flops home almost immediately thereafter and ate some soup. But it reminded me of critters…