Picasso and friends

Well, we couldn't resist.  Eric and I tuned in a few times and then pooled our favorite screen grabs from today's E/V Nautilus dive.  [It feels a bit like watching the Olympics. The entire event is short (there are only 4 days left); and, you can tune in at any time and you never know what you're going to see!]

A delicate pink soft coral:

 

This intriguing pink nudibranch was nearby.  The color would be a good match for the coral polyps!

 

A bright Yellow Picasso Sponge, with a great genus name: Staurocalyptus.

 

It was fun seeing different types of sea pens.  The one shown below is called Umbellula.  [Sea pens in this genus can be found down to depths of 6000 meters!]  If you're intrigued by sea pens, check out this paper by Gary Williams (who is on the ship):

 

  

Beautiful stippled patterns on a Deep-sea Sole (Embassichthys bathybius):

 

Thanks again to the E/V Nautilus for sharing amazing live deep sea footage from Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary.  You can tune in here until August 14th.