Three Square Meters - A Monterey Bay SCUBA Critter Hunt | 7/26/2020

Nudibranchs and flatworms, disguised invertebrates and cryptic fishes-you don't need to travel far in a kelp forest to find ridiculous critters hiding in plain sight. Dive into a critter hunt exploring three meters square in the classic Monterey Bay rocky reef of North Monastery Beach, and discover a sample of the abundance of life along the Central California coast. Backstory: About two weeks ago, my buddy Thomas and I somehow got the bug for some macro-video; we knew then that a critter hunt was in store. What's a "critter hunt"? Well, I'm not sure the exact rules but generally speaking: 'Tis a dive focused around finding discrete, individual animals that are usually small and/or hidden and/or "rare"-effectively, the Easter eggs in the "background" as you swim by; the countless incredible beasties on a scale that is too easily invisible unless you plop yourself down in one spot and soak it all in. Now, each diver will tend to see their own kind of critter, depending on what they're focused on, and what kind of gear they brought. I didn't have my macro lens this day, so most things here are about two inches and smaller on the critter side. On this dive, Thomas and I explored a patch of about three boulders that were about three square meters of area in total, and this is the better stuff of what I managed to film in about 80 minutes. Not labeled are tube snails or bryozoans or tunicates or sponges or worms that I wasn't specifically targeting-too common or conspicuous for my critter hunting sense that day; though on a different day critters they 100% would be. Hope you enjoy the video! It's truly amazing all the life you can find in Monterey Bay in just a few meters square. Music: Whispers Now by Benjamin Greenspan premiumbeat.com Subscribe! (if you want to no worries): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM5q1XHkIgVm0rG5biqbGMQ?sub_confirmation=1 Thanks to all of you underwaterPatrons that support my work: Model Warren Carra O'Neal Michael Esgro Anne-Marie Alden Tomas Grim Kim Conway Mike Chamberlain Pike Spector Jon McCormack Kam Ali Hough Emily Simpson Shervin Hess Tristin and Colin McHugh https://www.patreon.com/underwaterpat My Social Links: https://instagram.com/underwaterpat https://twitter.com/underwaterpat Licensing: underwaterpat@gmail.com Filmed with: Panasonic GH5 + Nauticam NA-GH5 housing Panasonic 12-35mm lens and +3 diopter Light and Motion Sola Video Pro 15k x2 Xit 404 Tripod Legs 4k 60fps Dive Site: North Monastery Beach: https://goo.gl/maps/tUFQs91fKXG9TpFp7 25ft max depth 80min Dive Buddies: Thomas https://www.instagram.com/boojitom/ Three Meters Square - A Monterey Bay SCUBA Critter Hunt