Merry Passage and I returned to Hawthorne Reef this morning, armed with wide angle lenses. We wanted to document the return of rockfish to the area after several years of their absence. The rest of the reef is still in decline. The rocks are no longer covered with corynactis anemones. Sponges and most other invertebrates are few and far between.
At a small, low-laying reef off Torrance Beach we found dozens of small sheepcrabs earlier this week. I'd never seen a single sheepcrab this size before, let alone so many. I figured they were here to molt. I found one empty molt near our anchor.