#kate vylet

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Blades and Spines

Kate Vylet was swimming back to shore one day after diving in a thriving kelp forest off the coast of Carmel Bay, California, when she saw a blade of loose kelp being devoured by purple and red sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus and Mesocentrotus franciscanus). To her, it illustrated the role urchins can still play in a balanced ecosystem, and she set up her camera to capture nature at work in all its complex ebbs and flows.

Photograph: Kate Vylet/BigPicture

BigPicture Natural World photography competition

[projectourworld]

Carmel Bay, United States.

Urchins are often vilified in media coverage of changing kelp forests—they’re the most visible cause of kelp forest loss, devouring algae and replacing lush forests with spine-studded barrens. But in this remarkable photo we see how urchins belong to kelp forests as much as the kelp itself does; more importantly, they play a crucial role as detritivores—eating dead algae and feeding marine life higher up the food chain. Ultimately, urchins are trying to survive in changing seas just like kelp; the loss of their kelp forest homes is a consequence of climate change from which they also suffer.

Kate Vylet. Santa Cruz, United States. Kate Vylet is a conservation photographer, marine scientist, and divemaster anchored in Monterey Bay, California. With a background in ecology specialized to California's iconic kelp forests, she focuses her underwater photography and videography work through a scientific lens to bring light to the ocean and its challenges. Courtesy The Big Picture Award Competition #kelp #seaurchins

[montereybayaquarium]

For someone who may anemoneed it: A fish-eating anemone looking up to the sunlit surface from a deep Monterey Bay reef.

📷 Kate Vylet

[hazyaltcare]

A playlist for a Lapis Lazuli with the theme of loneliness, featuring pop + jazz ballads and torch songs.

...

-Lapis Alone-

1. Thanatos (If I Can't Be Yours)- Loren & Mash

2. A Man Alone- Frank Sinatra

3. How Deep Is The Ocean?- Irving Berlin (Diana Krall Cover)

4. Another Heart Breaks- Electric Light Orchestra

5. I Can Dream, Can't I?- Sammy Fain (Carpenters Cover)

6. Bent out of Shape- Squirrel Nut Zippers

7. Every Dream- Vylet Pony

8. Trees and Flowers- Strawberry Switchblade

9. I'll Never Smile Again- Frank Sinatra

10. You Don't Have To Say You Love Me- Dusty Springfield

11. And So Is Love- Kate Bush

12. Alone Again- The Weeknd

...

Listen To It Here!

- Mod Dirk

[lostjulys]

do u have any songz u associate w bonesaw? im tryin 2 make a SH9 playlist & need bonesaw recommendationz

OH GOD. UM. riffles through my spotify liked songs like filing cabinets trying to find things that fit the bill. ok ok ok UHM. i <3 harajuku alice longyu gao + frax /skeleton song - kate nash / concrete poppy / wizard of oz toy-box / dismemberment song blue kid / perfect teeth black dresses / antonymph vylet pony r what i can think of off the top of my head !

[montereybayaquarium]

Wild whipping blades of bull kelp catch the sun for Seaweed Sunday.

📷 by Kate Vylet

[montereybayaquarium]

A cuddle puddle of colorful critters reach for the sea stars beneath the waves. In the tide pool of life, a little self-reflection goes a long way.

Thanks to local photographer Kate Vylet for the photo! Some good news related to sea stars came out recently! After being nearly wiped by a wasting disease starting in 2013, a new generation of ochre stars appears to have arrived sturdier than ever along the coast. 

More info: https://mbayaq.co/2NlBWp9

[montereybayaquarium]

Yes.

📷

[montereybayaquarium]

"Don't mind me, just checking on my sandbank investments!" A Brandt's cormorant takes account of a rich sand dollar bed, looking for a pretty piscine penny to pinch.

It isn't uncommon for divers along Cannery Row to see cormorants diving after a fishy meal. Unlike puffins and penguins, cormorants don't use their wings to swim—instead, they paddle with their legs, using their large webbed feet to overcome the buoyant force that eventually pulls the bird back to the surface like a cork, hopefully with its meal secured.

📷 by Kate Vylet 

[montereybayaquarium]

This is the sorcerer’s sea slug (Polycera atra). It is identifiable by its black stripes and raised yellow specks, and clearly belongs in Hufflepuff. While it can’t actually cast magic, it certainly has us under its spell.

Thanks to local underwater photographer Kate Vylet for this squee-inducing slug selfie.

[montereybayaquarium]

So how DO you find nudibranchs in the wild—especially the teeny tinys? Search for slug suppers!

Many nudies are extremely food-specific—find their meal, and they’re likely to be queued up. Nudibranchs will often lay their eggs in and around their preferred meals. So if you find a sluggy omelette around the diner, you’re nearing a nudist colony!

1️⃣📷: Doto kya on a tuft of its preferred hydroids. This slug was about 5mm. Spotted by Jon Anderson.

2️⃣📷: Limacia cockerelli munching on bryozoans—the carpet of brown/green on the right of the image. These colorful slugs are surprisingly easy to miss in Monterey Bay, as the rocks are often pink, orange and red from anemones and algae. Spotted by Phil Lemley.

3️⃣📷: Polycera atra dorid laying a ribbon of eggs on its Bugula bryzoan brunch. Found by Kate Vylet.

[montereybayaquarium]

Worms are beautiful! Yeah, we said it... OK, maybe not all worms—but the banded appendages and trumpet tentacle of fanworms play up the profound pretty of these painted petites. Photo by local biologist Kate Vylet

[montereybayaquarium]

Hilton's aeolid (Phidiana hiltoni) is here for your daily nudi-break! This magnificent nudibranch sea slug is known for its pugnacious behavior, often biting and fighting with other aeolids! 

 This wonderful photo is brought to you by biologist Kate Vylet (Instagram: @katevylet)

[montereybayaquarium]

ROCKFISH: hey do u mind taking my picture 

US: np kelp rockfish! ok here we go *snap* 

ROCKFISH: thx hey can i see it before u post 

US: ah it's up already it's great tho 

ROCKFISH: ok it's a flattering angle right 

US: oh yeah yeah it's totally you ! 

ROCKFISH: ok yay ty !

Thanks to local photographer and scientific diver Kate Vylet for the photo!

[montereybayaquarium]

And now for something completely cute: an itty bitty teenie tiny snailfish with its perfect pinstripes resting on a blade of kelp. D'awww look at this li'l friend-on-a-frond!

Thanks to local photographer and scientific diver Kate Vylet for the photo! This petite pisces was less than one centimeter long!