here's a new friend we found at Oil slick leap

and Diver Adam took this one of an eel

Nice shots Debbi!

Wow! Nice photos!

You aren't too close to (touching?) the living things, are you? I don't know... I just stay farther away, but that's just me. And I'm reminded that distances are hard to figure in pictures...

Nik, I can see a shadow on Deb's hand so there appears to be no contact between her hand and the seahorse. Right, Deb??? They are definitely "in your face" shots, tho. Carole

The seahorse photo is beautiful. I had no idea that seahorses can be that size.

Debbie and Adam ... Great shots! Love the one of our new friend at Oil Slick and the eel one has a great perspective! Niki ... I have been diving with Debbie and Adam and you would be hard pressed to find anyone with more respect for all that lies under the sea. Debbie would be the first to be unhappy with someone touching!

well.I have to tell you I was practically standing on my head with my fins in the air and twisting my neck to get my face close to the little guy , and then not blow any bubbles...but was done without touching anything,,,,well maybe one finger on the sand....we really try hard not to make any contact with the reef or chase the animals...although I did pick up this dead lobster someone left down there..he was huge! that must have been some meal

Possibly a feast or buffet for a gaggle of creatures? It is a good sized lobster! Respectful in size, for sure. (but it lives no more....)Carole

Excellent pictures, Debbi!! We just returned from Bonaire and saw our first seahorse! What a thrill! I could have spent the whole dive just watching it. My husband took a couple of pictures and they came out well :-).
Thanks for sharing! ML

Debbi, was it a huge dead lobster or a huge lobster molt? Inquiring minds want to know. We found a very large molt, and then the lobster who ( maybe) went with it.

Nice photos. What's your U/W setup?

Well...found this lobster shell at the Oil slick Leap site...looked to me like someone topside had a feast then threw this overboard...I might be wrong..when the lobsters molt do they leave antenna and everything behind ? this still had antenna..the camera Adam is using is an Olympus 40/40 digital camera in an Olympus PT10 housing and Epoque external strobe...and NO FILM ! ha! I love being able to view the photos every evening..digital is great !

Here's a great octopus..looks like a real "brain"

Debbi, here is Mary with the lobster molt. I too thought it was a dead lobster until I realized there were no meat bits in it.

seb

Lobsters leave everything behind when they molt. They split across the back just between the main part of the carapace and the start of the flexible part of the tail. They pull the front part of their body out including the antenna and legs and then 'walk' their tail out. They then hide for several hours until their new shell hardens.

Oops, I meant they take everything with them and leave nothing behind but the old out-grown shell. As usual my brain got ahead of my fingers.

good linnea, get your story straight gal we have a 15 pound resident lobster (Boris) at the ocean institute, and we have one of his "molts." The staff biologist also said that after they molt, and go into hiding for a couple of weeks until the new shell is hard enough to venture out, they "puff" their bodies up with as much water as possible so that when the new shell hardens, there is room for growth!

oh, and they leave their "claws" or in the case of Boris the California Spiny Lobster, their spiney spines!

Well thanks for the info pertaining to the molting..I guess this was a molt then reading your description of the condition of the shell....thats one biggggggg lobster down there....Oil Slick Leap is also a great place for a night dive..tie a light off at the ladder and easy to find your way back...first time we stayed pretty close to the ladder area