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.

 

June sailing - part 1

This June we spent two weeks on our boat. Bur before I begin with that, here are a few photos from our last visit with my mom in Prekmurje in the beginning of June. We ate in restaurant Oaza Grill that is located on a pond with Water lilies (lokvanji)...

 

...and some pretty animals - there were plenty of dragonflies there, most were too fast to photograph, but this Blue Emperor (veliki spremljevalec or Anax imperator) was still, it looked like it was laying eggs.

And we also saw a Heron (siva čaplja or Ardea cinerea) near the water, there must have been some fish in the pond.

We drove to Skradin marina on Friday, 12th of June. We loaded the boat with lots of food and sailed out to sea straight away. We anchored on the NE side of the island Prvič. The weather was rather fresh and water as well,  but we managed a short dip in the sea. And I thought it will take days and lots of sunshine until the water is nearly warm enough for snorkelling. 

Next morning we checked the weather forecast and it looked like the South wind will continue for a couple more days, so we decided to sail North. I was hoping we would manage to get as far as to Olib and I was also hoping that sea would get warmer by then so I could do some snorkelling there.

There were many cute small islands along the way...

...and in the afternoon we anchored on NE side of island Gargano. We had a beautiful sunset in the evening.

A gentle South wind was blowing all night and produced some waves that came into the anchorage, so the night wasn't totally calm, but it wasn't too bad. And a beautiful view in the morning made up for it.

After the breakfast we continued towards North. There wind was light so our speed was not very high, but it was very nice and gentle sailing. We made it to the bay just N of Ždrelac, the point where the islands Pašman and Ugljan are connected with a bridge. Sea here was just a tiny bit warmer than previous days, so we were able to swim for a bit longer.

In the evening a flock of white egrets flew by...

...the light became soft...

...and we had another great sunset.

Next morning wind was almost gone, and we continued our journey North under engine. While we were sailing by on many fish farms between Ugljan and Dugi otok we saw several groups of dolphins, but they were too far for a good photo. 

But we got a good look at two of them that waited for us in the bay of Brgulje on island Molat. They swam between the anchored boats and then slowly swam out of the bay. I was sooooo happy!

The bay is very deep, some two miles, and very spacious, there were only several anchored boats there, and it didn't feel crowded at all.

In the evening we were observing the new moon and Venus, and also Mercury wasn't far away.

After a very calm night we had a lazy day. There was no wind, so we decided to stay here for another night. We went for a short swim a couple of time during the day, but it was still too cold for snorkelling. And unfortunately the dolphins didn't came back.

In the evening there were again only several boats anchored around us, all at a very good distance.

Next day we sailed off in the middle of the day towards Olib. Right on the West side of Molat we met couple of dolphins again. I was so happy, I haven't seen so many dolphins in just a couple of days for a long time.

We sailed through the strait between Molat and Ist...

... and partly sailed partly motored to Olib, where we anchored in early afternoon. We anchored in the bay on the West side, near the area where we usually anchor. We weren't completely alone, but the nearest boat was at least 300m away. The sun has managed to slightly warm up the sea in last few sunny days, and I immediately went snorkelling. It was a bit of a struggle to put my ears into the water, but it was all worth it.

I mostly met the usual suspects - under the rock I've found this prettu duo - the Red-spotted horseshoe (apnenčasti cevkar or Protula tubularia) on the left and Blood-red tubeworm (oranžni cevkar or Protula intestinum) on the right. And the red thing on the letf is a tunicate.

I've seen plenty of clusters of Murex snail eggs (jajca čokatega voleka or Hexaplex trunculus).

This is an European thorny oyster (morsko kopito or Spondylus gaederopus), a quite big and not too common mollusc. And it was alive.

I often photograph the Slime tube worm (peščeni cevkar or Myxicola infundibulum), but this one has its pouch also visible...

...and this is how it looks when the tube worm retracts into it.

In the evening we had a beautiful sunset...

...and after that a very calm night.

Next day I went snorkelling already before noon. Almost right under the boat I found this Black Sea-Squirt (črni kozolnjak or Phallusia fumigata).

This is its cousin, the White Sea-Squirts (bradavičasti kozolnjak or Phallusia mamillata) in company of Star ascidian (zvezdasti zdrizavec or Botryllus schlosseri). First I thought it might be some kind of sponge, but after a little bit of research I'm pretty sure it is a tunicate as well.

This is a Bald scallop (mala pokrovača or Protopecten glaber), I don't find them very often. Those blue dots around its rim are its eyes, two of them are really sparkling.

This pretty thing is one of the Moon snails, their Slovene name is Marogasta popika (Natica hebraea).

The Purple sea urchins (vijoličasti morski ježek or Paracentrotus lividus) can be of different colours, not all are purple.

I'm not sure which mollusc this is, I'm stil searching...

This year there were really plenty of these guys - it is a Black goby (črni glavač or Gobius niger), and it is a main food of European shags (vranjekov or Gulosus aristotelis). And we saw also plenty of those every day as well.

This is a Red encrusting bryozoan (mahovnjak rdeči skorjevec or Schizobrachiella sanguinea), the fuzzy layer around it are its tentacles.

Here are some more tunicates, these are the Social seasquirts (zadružni plaščarji).

And I had to make a few above water photos of this gorgeous place.