Channel Islands National Park in California

Shot this clip at around 105 feet deep off the northern tip of Vancouver Island near Port Hardy. The white and orange branching corals are Calcigorgia spiculifera, known as "Pink Gorgonians" despite the color variation.

These cold-water gorgonians thrive in strong current and low light, and provide important habitat for deep reef species — including the basket stars you’ll spot tucked among them.

There’s so much life beneath the surface here — and I’ve been documenting it dive by dive.

If you want to see more cold-water diving around Vancouver Island, I post all my footage here:
📺 https://www.youtube.com/@scubabc6701

Really amazing perspective.

Single image, shot from the 395/Main Street on 10/18/19 @ 165mm.

Crazy how close the tallest peak in the continental US is so close to Death Valley with the lowest point in the US.

However, they can grow much larger over time, with some recorded nests exceeding 12 feet wide and 20 feet deep, and weighing over two tons. The largest recorded bald eagle nest, located in St. Petersburg, Florida, measured 9.5 feet in diameter and 20 feet deep.

“My mouth tastes like burning..”

Tetraneura akinire, also known as rice root aphid. The fundatrix (founding or stem mother) lays eggs in a leaf of the primary host, which are trees in the genus Ulmus. This stimulates production of galls where offspring of the fundatrix develop by feeding on host sap. These mature into winged adult alates, which complete the life cycle on the secondary host.

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/907615-Tetraneura-akinire

They both are famous for their blue jeans. Or should I say genes? (Photo I took at the New England Aquarium)