Rockfish 101 - Blue Rockfish

Opening a book and reading about marine species that I've never photographed gets me excited. I read the rage of species and Google images to try and determine if other photographers have captured an images and if I can get to a spot to see if I can get an encounter. As the years have pasted my list of species that I haven't photographed has gotten shorter and shorter but my desire so shoot the animals that I haven't seen has grown deeper and stronger.

One of those bucket list fish for me was the Blue Rockfish (Sebastes mystinus). Almost never seen around the southern part of Vancouver Island I had to travel to the northern most edge of the island to have a chance at getting images.

My destination was north of Port Hardy, north of world famous Browning Pass to area rarely dove due to hard weather conditions almost year round.

This particular spot that we wanted to dive was also the location of a shipwreck, the Themus. I will be writing about the Themus in a future post.

Once descended onto the wreck I couldn't believe my luck after many years of waiting and diving places where these fish were suppose to be I had found Blue Rockfish.

Blue Rockfish are a very deep-bodied fish with large pectoral fins. They have steel-blue to greenish-blue body colour with large, dark, angular blotches that are easily discernible in larger specimens. Two stripes run across the eyes, and distinct striping is also present on the forehead.

These fish grow to 53 cm (21 in) in length and live for about 40 years. They are a schooling rockfish and are found just off bottom over rocky reefs, pinnacles, and kelp forests. They often school with other rockfish species, including Black, Deacon, and Yellowtail rockfish.

Thanks for reading and always keep searching for whatever it is that drives you.

Scott

For more stories and images - http://www.scottstevensonphotography.ca/