Hello, this is Koide from Freeway's Sado shop.
We went diving at Mushizaki!
Following yesterday at Ogi, the visibility was outstanding!
I was moved by the beauty of the clear, transparent water.
Meanwhile, my dry suit flooded.
My upper body got soaked, and I nearly passed out.
Here were today's highlights.
A koshimagarimoebi (a shrimp) guarding its eggs.
Koshimagarimoebi is a shrimp found widely from Hokkaido to Kyushu, and it's an extremely common species.
It lives moving among the leaves of seagrass and is a master of mimicry.
Here's a close-up of its belly.
It's guarding them, isn't it? Its eggs.
Koshimagarimoebi usually hop around as they move,
but in this season they're sluggish and easy to photograph!
And the number of himeika (Japanese pygmy squid) is increasing.
Their spawning season is also coming soon.
If you watch patiently, you can see them pairing up and spawning.
It takes good timing and persistence, though.
Even I have never seen it myself (haha)
This year I want to take my time looking for that scene!
As for nudibranchs...
there still aren't many.
Today,
• Emuraminoumiushi (tiny)
• Mitsuirameriumiushi
• Arimoumiushi (tiny)
• Tsukumominoumiushi (tiny)
were the ones we found.
Once the spring cloudiness begins, the nudibranchs increase explosively.
I'm looking forward to March.
The photo below is a tsukumominoumiushi.
And today, I looked for sculpins again.
As the water temperature drops, the variety and number of fish you can observe becomes very limited.
Sculpins are fish you can still observe even now, with the water this cold.
At this time of year, they have their deepest red and most beautiful colors.
The photo below is a sarasakajika (a sculpin).
Thank you for another fun time today!
Today's dive site: Mushizaki
① Village Front (rocky shore side)
② Village Front (offshore side)
■ Air temp: 5°C
■ Water temp: 11°C
■ Visibility: about 20 m
■ Marine life
• Mimiika (a bobtail squid), Himeika, Chagara (breeding colors), Makogarei (marbled flounder), Haokoze (a waspfish), Dainanumihebi (a snake eel), Nijiginpo (a fang blenny), Sarasakajika, Mebaru (a rockfish), Mitsuirameriumiushi, Arimoumiushi, Emuraminoumiushi, Tsukumominoumiushi, Koshimagarimoebi (guarding eggs)
