I was outside the pier to the west about 30 feet deep when I spotted an Aeolidia papillosa nudibranch. They are one of our rare species, only two or three sightings a year, but they are easy to see because they are usually quite large and their white color jumps out at you. I maneuvered around in front of him/her (they are both) and moved in for a front shot. Something didn't look right, there were some eyes looking at me just to the left of the nudibranch. Looking closer, I was amazed to see that this large nudibranch was actually crawling on the back of a sand-dab, a common but very skittish little flatfish. Even in this image you don't see the fish right away because he blends so well with the bottom background. It is not unusual for us to see two species very close to each other (Gary and I even have a name for it, "Relationships"), but for me this was a first. The fish didn't mind the nudibranch crawling on its back, but it hated my strobes. I got this one shot and when the strobes fired the sand-dab took off like an explosion!! The papillosa was launched up about six inches and did a few loops, then settled back down and continued its crawl.
                                                                                                               Ken Bondy