More snorkeling photos

Here are some more photos, mostly under water ones. Since last post I even learnt some new things, one of them is that gelatinous ball on one of the photos is actually bundle of eggs of some creature, but no one knows of which. And that  pretty orange sponge lips from the last photo are placed on the shell named Noah's ark shell (noetova barčica or Arca noae), here it is without the lipstick.

Another good find in Olib was this Red comb starfish (oranžasta morska zvezda or Astropecten aranciacus), even with missing half of one arm.

 

 

 Did I mention that Olib is one of my favourite snorkelling grounds? I always find most interesting things there, like this Carpet flatworm (bradavičasti vrtinčar or Thysanozoon brocchii). I only saw it once before, of course also on Olib.

There were also several of these guys there, they are called Green spoonworm (smaragdni zvezdaš or Bonellia viridis), because their body is often green. But the body is mostly hidden under some rock and what one sees is this long tentacle, that ends in what looks like mustache.

There were also more ordinary thing there, like Mediterranean scallop (velika pokrovača or Pecten jacobeus). Although, I don't see these often elsewhere.

And another big discovery, a Banded bootlace (zelenobeli nitkar or Notospermus geniculatus). It is a nocturnal animal and I never saw it before. What is was doing out in the open in the middle of the day, I don't know, but I was very happy to be at the right time in the right place.

And here is also a close up, just because it's so special. And then it disappeared under the rock.

The Cylinder anemone (peščena roža or Cerianthus membranaceus) looks almost too mundane in company of such rare creatures.

Mediterranean fanworm (spalancanijev cevkar or Sabella spallanzani) has a sepia egg tied onto its tube.

And here is one obligatory over-water photo for this post, it is of a classic sailboat with latin-rig (latinsko jadro). It was taken in bay in front of town Murter, where we were waiting out some stronger wind, but also got some very tasty ice cream.

Following photos were taken in a bay near Tisno, maybe things I photographed were not so very unique, but they are pretty. I don't even know which shell this is, it is so overgrown, it is impossible to see any pattern or grooves on it to identify it.

And I couldn't resist one more Hope's elysia (pisanček or Thurdilla hopei).

I found this red sponge in company of two tube worms so very pretty.

And here is the detail of Red encrusting bryozoan (mahovnjak rdeči skorjevec or Schizobrachiella sanguinea).

This year I saw a lot of Banded dye-murex (čokati volek Hexaplex trunculus) laying on their back with exposed body. I really don't know why. But you can see why it is called "banded" murex, the bands are visible around the opening.

And one more very colourful Mediterranean wormsnail (spiralasti polž or Serpulorbis arenarius)...

...and here with its "face" exposed.

Next photos were taken on Zmajan, another very good snorkeling location. I had my eyes peeled for nudibranchs (gološkrgarje), but couldn't find any this time. But I saw a Flounder and a Greater weever (morski list in navadni morski zmaj or Arnoglossus spp. and Trachinus draco) together,...

...a Slender goby (peščeni glavač or Gobius geniporus)...

...and some young Mediterranean chromis (črnik or Chromis chromis).

There were also lots of other fish there, like these young Salemas or Dreamfish (salpe or Sarpa salpa),...

...and a Sharpsnout seabream (pic or Diplodus puntazzo).

This is another thing that I saw often, but couldn't find information about it, so I don't know if it is again eggs of some creature or merely algae.

Here is another pretty Mediterranean red sea star (ognjenordeča zvezda or Echinaster sepositus)

And here are the sponges - the pink sponge with brown Kidney sponge (vijoličasta zobčasta spužva in ledvičasta spužve or Dysidea avara and Chondrosia reniformis)...

...one of my favourites, the Orange Puffball sponge (morska pomaranča or Tethya citrina),...

...and a Yellow Clathrina (mrežasta spužva or Clathrina clathrus), that is also already on previous photo. This one is maybe even prettier than the Orange Pufball sponge...

More in next post.

And here they are...

 ...the many snorkeling photos, as promised. In my defense, these are only the small fraction of all the photos that I've made during my almost 4-week long stay on Heron. And I will have to write several posts to incorporate even only my favourite ones.

Our sailing playground this year was Northern Dalmatia, all the way from Olib in the North to Kornati and Zmajan in the South, as we made a small town of Petrčane near Zadar our "base camp". Most of the time we were not alone on the boat, but had our friends with us, and most of them were already  sailing with us in previous years. Although it was mostly quite lively on the boat, I found lots of time for snorkeling.

Olib remains one of my favourite snorkeling locations in Adria. Nowhere else I found the Black goby (črni glavač or Gobius niger) posing so willingly for me.

I'm not sure what this is, it looked like a small gelatinous ball, maybe it is algae of some sort.

This is a small young Slime tube worm (peščeni cevkar or Myxicola infundibulum) of very light colour and even the small pouch in which the body of the worm is hidden, is visible.

The brown thing in photo is Brown encrusting sponge (rjava skorjevka or Hemimycale columella), orange thing above is probably Red encrusting bryozoan (mahovnjak rdeči skorjevec or Schizobrachiella sanguinea) and the red circular things in it are parts of Boring sponge (spužva vrtalka or Cliona spp). And there are even a couple of tube worms there. Full of life, isn't it?

This is one of very few over-water photos, it was taken in Vir.

And this time it's some Yellow boring sponges (rumena vrtalka or Cliona celata) in Red encrusting bryozoan (mahovnjak rdeči skorjevec or Schizobrachiella sanguinea)

Mullets (ciplji or Liza spp) are very common, also because they can live in less than perfectly clean water. But they are quite pretty, too.

This was one of my best finds, a Redbrown leathery doris (ploščati perjaničar or Platydoris argo). I'm always so excited when I find a nudibranch. The "crown" on its back are the gills.

This sea star was placed almost as an ornament right beneath Heron, when we were anchored in Olib. It has 6 arms, but it looks very much like Spiny starfish (bradavičasta morska zvezda or Marthasterias glacialis), that is supposed to have only 5 arms

Another very good snorkeling ground was a bay near Tisno on Murter. Although it is very closed bay, excellent for shelter in bad weather, with less than perfect water, it turned out to be full of life, maybe because of the strong current and masses of water that move through the channel between mainland and Murter.

Unfortunately were all the Fan mussek (leščur or Pinna nobilis) that I've seen this year dead. There was a invasion of some parasite that killed off the shells not only in Adria, but also elsewhere in Mediterranean.

I saw plenty of Red encrusting sponges (rdeča skorjevka or Phorbas fictitius) there.

There were also several Hope's Elysias (pisanček or Thurdilla hopei).

Although it looks like a tube worm, it's actually a snail, I couldn't find the English name (spiralasti polž or Serpulorbis arenarius). There are at least two kinds, both in different colours, this kind has translucent last part of the tube.

I guess this is a tunicate or sea squirt (plaščar) of some sort.

I love the bright green colour of this Cyanobacteria (kalotriks or Calotrix spp).

I think this is my first photo of Peacock blenny (pavja babica or Lipophrys pavo)

This is a very pretty Banded-dye murex shell (čokati volek or Hexaplex trunculucs)

Red tube worm (pisani pokrovčkar or Serpula vermicularis) of a bit different colour in company of yellow boring sponge

This little Sea bream (orada or Sparus aurata) was following me for whole two hours while I was snorkeling and often tried to place herself in front of my camera.

This is another tunicate or sea squirt, I couldn't find the English name (črni kozolnjak or Phallusia fumigata)

Not the best photo, but these fishes are moving so fast - they are Bogues (bukve or Boops boops).

And this is an adult, darker Slime tube worm (peščeni cevkar or Myxicola infundibulum), with its body hidden in the sand

A very pretty Red-mouthed goby (rdečeusti glavač or Gobius cruentatus) showing off his stuff.

And another sea slug that made me happy - a Mottled sea hare (veliki morski zajček or Aplysia fasciata)

A bright Red sea squirt (rdeči kozolnjak ali morska breskev or Halocynthia papillosa)

I couldn't resist taking another photo of  Red tube worm (pisani pokrovčkar or Serpula vermicularis)

It is very obvious that there is much more marine life to be seen where there is a good flow of water, on exposed places like on North point of Dugi otok. There were plenty of Flounders (morski jeziki ali Arnoglossus spp).

This is the only octopus I've seen in whole 4 weeks. It tried to disappear into the hole when I approached, but didn't want to let go of the shell it was eating.

I think this is a Mediterranean red sea star (ognjenordečardeča zvezda or Echinaster sepositus)

An empty shell of a Heart urchin (srčasti morski ježek or Spatagus purpureus)

This sponge that encrusted a shell looks like huge orange lips.