Aborted Dive on the Ledge of Turtles

Got to the beach early, eager to dive.  Geared up and got in.  It was windy and the surface current was moving right along, but I descended in 8 ft of water and worked my way to just North of the Rock Pile.  Hardly any set at all below 10 ft.  Not much light and visibility was poor. I headed up the reef at 120 degrees.


 Spotted a little Green Turtle and swam with it but got completely turned around.  Surfaced to see I was due East of the Tower.  Went back down to search for the Ledge.  

Did take a few photos:

 This Purplemouth Moray Eel only peeked out at me.  He wasn't going anywhere.

This is a Queen Angelfish.

Queen Angelfish are smaller than either the Gray or the French Angelfish. They are often curious about divers, but shy.

 Found this Rock Beauty in a stand of Staghorn Coral.

Like the Queen Angelfish, she was curious buy shy.




No luck finding the Ledge.  Uncomfortable in the darkness. Headed back to the beach and called it a day.

Dean and I dive off the beach on the Galt Ocean Mile

Dean Yates owns a condo on the Galt Ocean Mile and invited me to dive the beach there.  We geared up in the parking lot and walked down some stairs to get to the water. Walking down stairs with scuba gear is a lot more difficult than I had thought it would be.

We got in the water and headed out on a 90 degree bearing, but likely got set by the current.  We went over sand, then some small rocks and then came to a really nice area of much larger rocks and lots of sea rods and other plant life, though I could probably never find it again.  We turned South and swam against the current for quite a while, both of us taking pictures and enjoying the dive.

 Found a Barred Hamlet,

 a Blue Tang,

 A Cymothoid Isopod on a Doctorfish,

a Townsend Angelfish,












and a Lionfish.  I really didn't think we had them on the first reef line.





Dean found a mask, but we lost sight of one another on the way back. I couldn't see him but I did spot the mask and was concerned that something must have happened, but we got together quickly and he had only dropped the mask by accident.




The current was difficult and my breathing went from .35 ft3/min to .41 ft3/min.  The dive time was only 123 minutes, but I did have more than fumes left in my tank.  .

A Solo Dive to Photograph the Sailfin Blenny Celebrating Dawn

I got to the beach about 5:45 am and geared up.  I was in the water by 6:20 am but wanted to get out to the sea rod before descending.  I couldn't find it and I couldn't fight the surface current, so I just went down.  Things were better on the bottom.  I made my way slowly to the reef, then South to the concrete blocks.  I looked for the little sailfin blenny I have been photographing, but he was no where to be found. I swam around looking for another one, but I could not find any.  Went back to the blocks, and my little guy was there, so I settled in and took a few shots to try and get a good angle.  Then I sat there for well over an hour shooting the blenny every time he would wave his huge dorsal fin.  I ended up with probably 100 shots, of which 18 were good shots of the blenny doing his dance.  These are the four best shots.

I guess the next thing is to shoot video of the whole thing.  I headed back to the beach and found the sea rod this time.  Ended the dive at 151 minutes and a .35 ft3/minute RMV.

Luis and Dean join me on two dives on the Big Coral Knoll

I got to the beach early and Dean pulled up behind me shortly afterwards.  We geared up, discussed the direction of travel for the lightning storms and then got in the water. We descended at the Sea Rod and swam to the blocks. Saw the Sailfin Blenny, but didn't get any photos worth keeping. We moved on. up the gun sight to the Cigar Rock.  We were getting set some and ended up at the coral with the crown blown off, turned North and headed to the Knoll.

 We found some Green Turtles.

Waiting to be cleaned by the small fish on the Knoll

Also got some shots of this Juvenile Creole Wrasse.  













We toured the Knoll some, then went to the Fish Camp Rocks where I found a White Speckled Hermit Crab in a little shell.










We went out to the Columnar Coral, but it is really chewed  up.  Dean was impressed with the Giant Anemone in the cavern in the rock.




Then we headed back.  Ran into Luis and he came back with us to make our second dive. Dive time was 131 minutes; my RMV was 0.42 ft3/minute.





On our second dive, Dean, Luis and I swam out to the blocks and went down.  Swam up the gun sight to the Gray Mid Way Rock and then over to the Perpendicular Rock, the Swept Rock and the Knoll.  We simply toured around the Knoll for most of the dive.



Found a little Octopus cleverly disguised as part of a yellow coral.  

 I tried to get him to play and he went to all black and ducked under the coral.  Too bad.












Also got a shot of an Initial Phase Puddingwife.




We headed back the same way we came. As we got to Irish Thighs, I started spewing air.  I thought it was the first stage, but I couldn't see or feel any problem.  I think now that it was my alternate air source, which I had tucked up under my back.  Lost about 300 psi in a very short time.  Still made a 125 minute dive.   My RMV was 0.39 ft3/minute.

Three Open Water Dives with Brandon and Ivan

Luis swam out to join me for the last part of my first dive, but we got out around 8:35 am.  The boys came a little after 9:00 am.  They parked their motorcycles across the street, set up their gear and we got in the water to get them better weighted.  Luis went back to get some more weight for Ivan and one of the condo board members from across the street asked us to get the guys to move their cycles at the end of our dive.  We agreed, but didn't mention it to the boys until we got back.  Brandon went out with 8 pounds while Ivan had 6.  We went down in 8 ft of water and went out on the sand.  Spotted a Sea Robin walking along the sand. Found the blocks and headed up the gun sight to the Gray Mid-Way Rock.  Swam with a Hawksbill Sea Turtle for several minutes and then headed North to the Perpendicular Rocks and the Knoll.  As we got on the Knoll, a little Green Sea Turtle raced over to see us and then followed us for a little bit.  Wish I could have taken a camera.  Ivan got low on air, so we turned and headed back the way we came.  He was also struggling to stay down as his tank got lighter.  I tried to get him to hang on to a rock for some additional negative buoyancy, but he just looked at it then dropped it. Eventually, he got the idea.  Brandon got to the beach with 500 psi while Ivan had a little over 1000 psi. Dive time was 57 minutes.

We got in the water and swam out to the swim buoy to make a 5-point descent, then swam to the SE before we worked through the other skills.  The boys had new tanks, but I ended our first OW dive with 1711 psi and opted to use the balance in that tank for this second dive.  We surfaced to do the tired diver's tow and to take the gear off and replace it at the surface, which took some time.  My computer timed out and ended this dive, so when we went back down, it started a fourth dive.  Dive time was 22 minutes.

After we completed the tired diver's tow and replacing gear at the surface, we swam over to the flag and joined Luis on the bottom.  We headed East and came to the Gray Mid-way Rock, then continued East to the Fish Camp Rocks.  We weren't there very long, but it was interesting.  Brandon was getting low on air, so we headed back. We got to the beach with plenty of air for everyone.  Dive time was 41 minutes.

Solo Dive to Photograph the Sailfin Blenny dancing at dawn

I got to the beach right at 6:00 am.  I was geared up  and in the water shortly after that.  I descended in about 8 ft of water and swam slowly out towards the Sea Rod.  Never found it, but must have been close since I was only a few kicks North of the rock where I found the Peppermint Shrimp before.  I got to the concrete blocks and found my Sailfin Blenny buddy and just waited for him to do his dance as dawn crept across the reef.  I shot 185 pictures of this blenny and only a dozen have him up with his dorsal fin unfurled.  Some of those are in focus,  but some are not.  Disappointing, really, but try again tomorrow.

Took a few other photos, but just on the way off the reef and to the beach.

This Stoplight Parrotfish being cleaned by a couple of Neon Gobys.

This Post-Larval Porkfish.

and this Seaweed Blenny.







The dive time was 130 minutes and my RMV was 0.42 ft3/minute, which, too, is disappointing.  You'd think I would do really well on my breathing if I just stayed in one place and shot the same shot over and over.  

Two Dives on the Big Coral Knoll

Got to the beach early, geared up and got in the water.  Went down at the Sea Rod and then moved slowly East to the blocks.  Went up the gun sight and to the Gray Mid-way Rock.

 Found a Hawksbill turtle along the way and got some pictures.

Turned North to the Perpendicular Rocks and the Big Coral Knoll.










Spotted the Glasseye Snapper but couldn't get a photo.  Also spotted the Rock Hind and got this shot of her.


 
Also saw the dark fish I have not been able to identify. Didn't get a picture of it either.





Good breathing.  Got 141 minutes of dive time and a RMV of 0.38 ft3/minute.  Not bad.

Patrick brought his father, Bob, along for my second dive. We geared up and got in the water. Bob wanted 14 pounds of weight, which seemed like a lot to me, but he is an AOW Diver.  We headed out towards the blocks and Bob was having trouble keeping his head above water while we were swimming.  Got to checking things and noticed that his BCD was punctured and leaking near the inflater valve.  At first I thought it was the valve, but it was the BCD, itself.  So I called the dive but suggested we swim in under water.  Underwater, Bob did just fine.

We shifted direction and spotted a Green Sea Turtle and I got Patrick's picture with the turtle.  Bob wasn't fast, but he was keeping up and looked more in control.



















We headed to the blocks and then up the gun sight to the Cigar Rock where we saw a small Southern Atlantic Stingray getting cleaned.










Then we went to the Gray Mid-way Rock and over to the Big Coral Knoll, where we saw some more turtles.











 Took a turn around the Knoll and saw the Rock Hind out sunning itself.



By this point, Bob was down to 1800 psi, so we turned back and re-traced our steps back to the beach.  Turned out to be a lovely dive with a number of interesting creatures.

Two Solo Dives on the Ledge of Turtles

Storm clouds along the horizon kept the day dark well after dawn.  I geared up and went down in about 10 feet of water and swam to the reef.  Had to surface to find that I was well North of where I thought I was, but I found the Rock Pile and headed up the reef at 120 degrees.  I was not able to find the octopus that I had played with last Tuesday.  No sigh of him. Too bad.

 I spotted Turtle Rock and swam on to the Ledge, where I found a small Green Turtle.  Got some pictures of him, then just hung out and took photos of other fish.

Like this Bicolor Damselfish,

this Juvenile Striped Parrotfish,

This Striped Parrotfish,

and this Rock Hind.








I stayed on the Ledge until I got down to 1000 psi, then I headed down the reef to the Rock Pile and West to the beach.  Dive time was 141 minutes with an RMV of 0.37.






I needed some extra surface interval before making a second dive, but also needed to get in the water before the evil lifeguards came, so I swam out to the reef and just floated for another 10-15 minutes.  Still ended up with the "tissue level warming," but it was manageable.  I descended as soon as I saw the life guard and quickly found the Rock Pile.  Headed up the reef at 120 degrees, again, but this time I ended up getting set South and found the Round Brain Coral to the SW of Turtle Rock.  Still swam right to the ledge.

Found another of the leafy gobys.  This looked like the one I photographed at the Little Knoll on Sunday, except it was whiter.  Still can't identify them.

 This, on the other hand, is a Townsend Angelfish, which is a cross between a Queen Angelfish and a Blue Angelfish.

 This little Yellowtail Damselfish looks like he's really giving me a piece of his mind.

And this is a Yellowhead Wrasse.



I stretched my air some and got 151 minutes of dive time.. My RMV was .36 ft3/min.