What you see above is a new 360-degree video from “Diver Laura” James, a look at the “Junkyard” area off Alki Beach earlier this week, as she and dive buddy Lamont tested a new camera array. If you haven’t viewed this type of video before, it’s an active experience rather than passive – after you hit “play,” click and grab the video to see above, below, and all around. (We enjoyed looking up at the fish swimming near the surface.) Here are the accompanying notes from Laura:

The site is in full summer colors, with healthy looking and very ‘tall’ eelgrass and numerous fish. In the video I think I can make out 3 or 4 separate species of schooling fish. Shiner Perch, sand lance, tube snouts and possibly a salmon swimming through disturbing them all :)

There is still evidence of Sea Star wasting syndrome, when the small sunflower stars reach a certain size (just bigger than my hand) it seems some specimens become susceptible to the disease and proceed to tear themselves apart. There are numerous leather stars, and on the artificial habitat further towards the beach house noted several generations of rockfish from tiny, tiny babies to moderate-size adolescents and an adult or two.

We un-snagged a crab trap that had gotten wrapped around the bathtub and daisy-chained it’s rope so it won’t re-snag. So if a reader happened to have a snagged pot out there, well, it’s now free for you to collect.

Of note, folks should be aware that in the nearshore area there is often a fair bit of ‘habitat’ (read: our cast away junk that becomes home to critters) and it is very easy for the sinky nylon crab pot line to get entangled in the shifting currents and up and down tides. Often these free themselves after a night or so of current/tide changes, but if someone does snag or loose a pot not to far from shore where there is public beach access (and if no beach access maybe they could contact the homeowner and gain one time access), and then perhaps could post to the WSB Forum and that way a local diver could go un-snag it and therefor not have it continue fishing without supervision. This is obviously no guarantee, because the diver would be doing it out of the goodness of her heart, time allowed.

BEHIND THE SCENES: Since sharing the video earlier this week, Diver Laura also has sent a clip showing how she set up the 360 camera, and also her work with the aforementioned crab pot. You can watch that video here.