Spanish Shawl Nudibranch in Point Loma Kelp Beds, San Diego

Nudibranchs: Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

After more than a month out of the water, and two months out of the cold California water, I finally got to go diving again! We spent the weekend on the Horizon dive boat diving San Clemente Island and the kelp beds of Point Loma, San Diego. I saw lots of sea lions and a couple of sharks, but really focused on the small stuff this trip.

For example… my favorite nudibranch, the Spanish Shawl nudibranch (read more about them here). Nudibranchs are one of my favorite things to look for underwater, especially in colder water such as California’s or New England’s. They’re very small–usually only an inch or two long–and sometimes very challenging to spot, even when they’re bright colors like the Shawl is. I just think it’s really rewarding to move slowly and find these little guys crawling around on the bottom! A lot of people don’t realize how interesting all the tiny organisms that live in our oceans can be.

Another Spanish Shawl and a juvenile:

Spanish Shawl Nudibranch and juvenile Spanish Shawl in Point Loma Kelp Beds, San Diego

 

sharing with jaymi, create with joy, project alicia, jenni from the blog, and then she snapped, through a photographer’s eyes, communal global, m3b, live and love out loud, kent weakley, and owt

Comments

16 responses to “Nudibranchs: Spanish Shawl Nudibranch”

  1. Jaymi Avatar
    Jaymi

    these are so cool! i went diving once, in hawaii a long time ago, and loved it! I’d love to do it again with a camera some day!

  2. Marie-AZ Avatar

    The Spanish Shawl is stunning! So much beauty under the water! Wow!

  3. Jill Wellington Avatar

    Oh,my GOSH! I can’t believe nature is this amazing! I wish I could photograph marine life like that. Great job!

  4. Joyful Avatar

    These were special as I’ve never heard of, or seen, a Spanish Shawl before.

  5. Jen Avatar

    Wow this looks so cool!

  6. Tina´s PicStory Avatar
    Tina´s PicStory

    wonderful pics! :)

  7. Life with Kaishon Avatar

    What a beautiful sea creature. Perfect pictures of the prettiest fish!

  8. Amy at love-bug-blog.com Avatar
    Amy at love-bug-blog.com

    WOW! Beautiful! My mom is a diver as well, I’ve wanted to..but I wonder if I just don’t have that gene. I get so afraid of deep water like that (and I was a competitive swimmer…I know, so weird). Anyway, I admire your adventure. It really is beautiful down there!!

  9. Kent Weakley Avatar

    Wow, the color is spectacular. Awesome!

  10. Jamie Avatar
    Jamie

    Wow!! Amazing pics!

  11. Teresa Avatar

    Amazing shots! I love those brilliant colors.

  12. Betty Manousos Avatar

    that is amazing! i love it.:)

    happy thursday!

  13. deb duty Avatar

    These are amazing! The colors are so beautiful and vibrant!

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