June sailing - part 2 (snorkelling in Olib)

In the afternoon on Friday, 19th of June, I went snorkelling again. This time I didn't stay in the water very long as the Mistral, the afternoon wind, was quite fresh and the water was rather choppy. I saw several clusters of eggs (those almost translucent balls) of some Bristle worm (mnogoščetinca), obviously it was the right season.

I couldn't resist another photo of the pink Social seasquirts (zadružni plaščarji). It is fascinating to see all the structures inside the bigger holes, the outtakes, and if you look closely you can see the pretty rosettas around the smaller holes, the intakes.

There were many fish in the bay, among them also this large group of Salemas (salpe or Sarpa salpa).

After another calm night we were again greeted by this incredibly blue sea in the morning. The wind and currents pushed the boat almost directly over the anchor.

After a good breakfast and as soon as the sun was high enough for good photos, I was in the water. Luckily with the sunny and warm weather the temperature of the sea was also a bit warmer every day. 

This is a Peacock worm (pahljačasti cevkar or Sabella pavonia), a very camera shy tube worm, that disappears into its tube at the slightest movement of water or change in light.

I haven't seen the Tentacled blenny (rogata babica or Parablennius tentacularis) for quite some time, and this one was very shy. This is the best photo I managed.

 And finally I found the Yellow triplefin  (rumeni sprehajalček or Tripterygion delaisi) again.

Here is one more photo of it, just because it's so special.  Here you can also see the Parasitic Isopode (ribja uš or Anilocra physodes) on its neck.

This year I saw many Red-mouthed gobies (rdečeusti glavač or Gobius cruentatus).

Above the Red mullets (rdeči bradač or Mullus barbatus) there was an East Atlantic peacock wrasse (lep or Symphodus tinca) swimming, and by the look of it I would say it was a female and very pregnant.

This pretty pair is a Twin fan worm (dvoperjaničar or Bispira volutacornis).

And this is one of the reasons I love to snorkel at Olib so much - I almost always find some nudibranch, this time it was again a Redbrown leathery doris (ploščati perjaničar or Platydoris argo). The brownish "lace" at its back on the right are its gills...

...and two small horns on the right are its sensory organs called rhinophores.

The group of Commno two-banded seabreams (fratrci or Diplodus vulgaris) was hiding beneath the rock.

There is an area of this bay where they are growing sponges and also elsewhere there were plenty of them around - it is a Horse sponge or Honeycomb bath sponge (konjska spužva or Hippospongia communis), that is used for washing.

This pretty family of White Sea-Squirts (bradavičasti kozolnjak or Phallusia mamillata) was growing in a shell.

I often saw Parasitic anemones (progasta stražna vetrnica ali Calliactis parasitica), they are usually riding on the shell in which some hermit crab lives, but for this one I wasn't able to determine if there was also some hermit crab underneath it.

What a lovely scene - Black goby (črni glavač or Gobius niger) on the left, White Sea-Squirts (bradavičasti kozolnjak or Phallusia mamillata) in the middle and a Sea snail, the marine gastropod mollusk (priraščeni polž or Vermetus spp.) on the right.

Each day several Yellow-legged gulls (rumenonogi galeb or Larus michahellis) came to the boat to check if we were having a meal and if there are going to be some left overs.

In the afternoon it was time for another snorkelling. I saw this Common stingray (navadni morski bič or Dasyatis pastinaca).

This is probably a Yellow boring sponge (rumena vrtalka or Cliona celata).

One of the most interesting things that I saw this time was that many Tubular sea cucumber (navadni brizgač or Holothuria tubulosa) were standing upright instead of laying on the ground. I have seen it before and it is the sign that cucumbers are preparing to mate and release their eggs and sperm into the water.

And this time I even managed to take a photo of it - this one was releasing this milky substance.

And here is its face - I guess the milky substance was released from its "mouth".

This might be another Peacock worm (pahljačasti cevkar or Sabella pavonia).

Here is another fish I don't get to see very often - the Pompano (pegasta lica or Trachinotus ovatus).

These are much more common - the Mullets (ciplji or Liza spp.).

Among other sponges there were many Golden sponges (spužva žveplenjača or Aplysina aerophoba) as well.

This looks like it might be their skeleton - I haven't seen it before.

This Cylinder anemone (peščena roža or Cerianthus membranaceus) was missing several arms.

After another calm night we again woke to this pretty sight. 

I tried to take it all in, after three nights in the same bay we were leaving Olib.