Video: See what’s in the sea off West Seattle’s shores

| Seen at sea | West Seattle news

Puget Sound in the Spring… from Laura James on Vimeo.

On this holiday morning, take a peek beneath the surface of Puget Sound, just off West Seattle, in this video shared by “Diver Laura” James (thanks!). Unlike some underwater videos, this one identifies most of what/who you’ll see – unobtrusively; if you want to find out more about any individual creature, you then can look it up via a site like this.

P.S. Laura says they wouldn’t have been able to do this if the noctiluca bloom hadn’t begun to let up (that’s the orangish-red water that seems to show up every year – here’s the photo we published a week ago).

Sea-star May 26, 2014 (10:56 am)

Thank you Diver Laura for sharing this awesome video!! So fun to learn about the diverse sea life that lives in our very backyard.
:)

gatewood May 26, 2014 (11:01 am)

Totally amazing and beautiful!

Tbone May 26, 2014 (11:32 am)

Beautiful! Thank you

Raincity May 26, 2014 (1:03 pm)

Thank you for sharing – that was amazing.

westseattledood May 26, 2014 (1:15 pm)

Much gratitude Laura! Beautiful shots. Could be my imagination, but I could almost hear the eel saying “Get off my lawn kid!” No? ;)

If we are allowed to take requests for future videos, I would be so joyously grateful if you find opportunities to capture our precious, beautifully evolved sculpins. The grunt is awesome as revealed in your shot.

But it’s my impression 98% of folks have no idea what they are and how many varieties live within Puget Sound waters. I was an assistant as an undergrad doing research on our Puget Sound sculpins years ago. They are not only architecturally elegant creatures, they are behaviorally fascinating and very important critters.

Thanks, as always, for sharing and teaching.

Well done!

Al May 26, 2014 (1:34 pm)

Very nice video! Thanks!

Kim May 26, 2014 (4:34 pm)

Absolutely mesmerizing. Thank you for sharing!

Mia May 26, 2014 (5:07 pm)

Loving the Daft Punk soundtrack!! Great choice of music!

k May 26, 2014 (5:27 pm)

Great video! Thanks Diver Laura!

m May 26, 2014 (7:49 pm)

Rich and stunning video! Thanks so much, Diver Laura. Any updates on how the sea stars are faring in our waters?

ML May 26, 2014 (11:00 pm)

Thank you!!!! Loved the whole thing–video, captions, and music…

BB May 27, 2014 (6:49 am)

Wow! That made my day, and I haven’t even gotten out of bed yet!

diverlaura May 27, 2014 (1:01 pm)

Thank you all for your kind words! Westseattledood, I’m looking at doing more ‘series’ of critters as part of curriculum for a project i’m working on to livestream dives into classrooms (with two way communication, too and from the diver underwater). I can see doing a montage of sculpins :)

Along those same lines, in the next few weeks I’m going to be doing some test runs with the live dive equipment, and still sorting out internet access from the beach. So I’m going to be asking around of local businesses (or homeowners?) on the water who would be willing to donate 30 min of their wireless network.. I’d be willing to pay a little for its use. I know its kind of a big request, but for the pilot I’m doing this on a shoestring until I can get some funding, and want to show potential funders that it is possible :)

I would be eternally grateful and give a huge thanks to participants on the website :)

miws May 27, 2014 (7:10 pm)

Thanks for another “In-Depth” look at our area Wildlife, Diver Laura, and WSB!

And to anyone in the dive area that might be able to provide the wireless access that Laura is requesting; I urge you, if at all possible, to donate the access to Laura at no cost, if you are able. What Laura has done, and continues to do, for our Community and our Local Environment is monumental.

For anyone new to Laura’s contributions, here is a great example from a couple of years ago:

https://westseattleblog.com/2012/03/video-the-great-battery-roundup-of-2012-updated/

Mike