OK, as I mentioned in the last post, I had been on three dives before my exceptional viz snorkel session but did not have the opportunity to post pictures. So here goes for the first dive at Swanpool with Thomas Daguerre. Swanpool is a nice little beach but I was sceptical about it, as it is mainly, well, beach. Thomas wanted to try to find some sand-dwelling creatures though and I was up for trying something new so in we went. See him at work below in some seriously murky water! 
Again, spider crabs were common, sitting still but running away when getting closer, stirring up the sand. There is some sparse seagrass, arranged in thickets parallel to the strandline, some Sand mason worms Lanice conchilega can be seen in the foreground. A Spiny starfish Marthasterias glacialis was eating up a Pod razor shell Ensis siliqua. A little swimming crab hid in the sand, not sure which species.
Also, jelly season has started, I saw several Northern Comb Jellies Beroe cucumis. They are exquisitely beautiful and very hard to focus on, which makes for a photographers nightmare. Apart from a Compass jellyfish, I noticed a Blue jellyfish Cyanea lamarcki. It appears to have two parasites, which could be the amphipod Hyperia galba. All in all not a bad dive. Also, I found a frisbee and a decent pair of sunglasses!
Tag Archives: Blue jellyfish
a very low tide at Falmouth part 1
Low tides over the weekend, see the previous post for the trip on Saturday in Flushing. On Sunday the wind resulted in the water being swept up quite high on the shore unfortunately (the next very good tide I will make sure to check the wind a bit better, probably would have been a good idea to have gone to the north coast). Also the rain made swiping my iPhone very difficult and I was absolutely drenched. Luckily I had already taken a long lunch break on Friday when it was sunny! As I found a good number of species I will divide them up over two short posts instead of a very long one. In this post some species that have featured before, but that I now have taken better pictures of: a Shore clingfish (or Cornish sucker) Lepadogaster lepadogaster, a particularly purple Spiny starfish Marthasterias glacialis, a particularly orange Painted topshell Calliostoma zizyphinum as well as a close-up of the ‘normal’ colour variety, Blue-rayed limpets Helcion pellucidum, Seven-armed starfish Luidia ciliaris and a Bull huss (Nursehound shark) Scyliorhinus stellaris mermaids purse. Nice colours all around:
two great encounters
Another snorkeling post. Last weekend off Gylly Beach and without a wet suit (sea water temperature close to 20C now!). Plenty of fish about, with my first snorkel sightings of Sea bass Dicentrachus labrax and small groups of Red mullet Mullus surmeletus. Much to my surpise I also spotted a Cuttlefish Sepia officinalis half hiding between dead seaweed drifting in the shallows. It was not particularly scared and stayed put while I swam around it but after a while it let out a squirt of ink and moved on. Of course this was just when I did not bring my lumix camera, so the next day I went back and luckily it was in exactly the same spot:
It did not end there. I next spotted a beautiful Blue jellyfish Cyanea lamarckii gently pulsating through the water column. Inbetween the tentacles three tiny fish were hiding, most probably juvenile Horse mackerel Trachurus trachurus:
An Bollenessor 