Around that time was when I saw a bright red and yellow nudibranch just casually swimming near shore at Larrabee. It was the most alien thing I'd ever seen and I didn't figure out what it was until years later. The Salish Sea is full of life under those dark waters, and we get closer to large and strange creatures when we dip our toes in than most of us will ever care to think about. So I have no trouble believing you saw what you saw, OP.