20200729_Swiss Cheese Reef

Woke up early, checked my email and had some coffee. Took Mia for a walk then got Martha up. We left the apartment about 6:30 am and got to the beach by 6:45 am. Not a lot of cars in the parking lot, but a lot of small boats at anchor off the beach. We geared up and got in the water about 7:00 am. We swam out to the buoy line then descended at the pin at 7:18 am when I had  3140 psi. 

Spotted this little Blenny soon after descent. I have no idea what he is; I know only that I cannot find him in the Paul Humann and Ned Deloach books.

We swam East to the Wrap Around Ledge; up and over the rubble to the Rock Line; then North to the tire. At the tire we turned East again and headed across a large sand flat to the Crescent Moon Rock. From the Rock, we swam up on a stretch of coral and rubble where I got this shot of a Bluestriped Grunt (Haemulon sciurus). At 30 minutes into the dive we were headed NE to the Giant Barrel Sponges on the way to the Staghorn Coral. 

Along the way, I spotted and photographed  this Spotted Moray Eel (Gymnothorax moringa). I tried to coax him out of the rocks, but he wasn't having any of it. 

Took this picture of a Cushion Sea Star (Oreaster reticulatus) on the sand flat just South of the Staghorn Coral.

Got this shot of a  Graysby (Cephalopholis cruentatus) slowly hunting on the Staghorn Coral. As you can see from the picture, the reef is made up of several layers of Staghorn Coral that have created a mound of living and dead coral.

From the Staghorn Coral, we swam East to the Sectioned Rock which is so named because as you look at its West face there are deep cracks marking the rock into four sections.   

The Sectioned Rock begins the Swiss Cheese Reef and protects a Giant Anemone (Condylactis gigantea)  

Martha over the Staghorn Coral.

Just as we left to the Staghorn Coral, I got this shot of a  Sand Diver (Synodus intermedius). We were about one hour into the dive and my gas was at 1950 psi.  

This is one of my favorite shots. It is two White Grunts (Haemulon plumierii) arguing. They push against each others mouths until one of them concedes. They don't bite and neither appears suffer any injury beyond the loss of pride. 

 

We continued North along the reef until we ran into some teenage divers hunting lobster from a small boat that was dragging its anchor across the rocky bottom. We were 90 minutes into the dive and I was down to 1300 psi so we turned the dive and swam around them about 40 feet to the East. We were dropping back onto the Swiss Cheese Reef at the Sectioned Rock and I got this shot of a Spotted Goatfish (Pseudupeneus maculatus) 

Got this shot of mostly White Grunts but also some Bluestriped Grunts and some French Grunts.  

We swam West to the Staghorn Coral then SW across some rubble to the Wrap Around Reef. We swam West to the beach and surfaced in 4 feet of water. Our Dive Time was 130 minutes at a maximum depth of 20.8 feet. My AC was 21.04 psi/minute; SAC was 14.46 psi/minute and RMV was .37 cubic feet per minute.  I had 405 psi left in my tank. 

 and surfaced at 2 hours and ten minutes. I still had 405 psi. 

20200727_Swiss Cheese Reef

 Martha and I left for the beach a little after 7:00 am. We parked on the wall by the beach entrance. We swam out to the buoy line to descend at the buoy pin at 7:59 am. We then headed to the Wrap Around Ledge, went to the rock line, swam North to the tire, then swam East to the Crescent Moon Rock. Got a nice shot of a Sharpnose Puffer (Canthigaster rostrata).   From the Rock we swam over some rubble to the staghorn coral and then East along the Swiss Cheese Reef.

Martha found a small Nurse Shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) under a rock. We played with the shark some trying to coax it out in the open and get a better photograph. Martha touched his tail and he left the rock and swam North along the reef. I followed him and got several good shots but I also blew through about 400 psi getting them. I was down to 1000 psi, so we turned the dive.

I lost Martha near the staghorn coral.  I had to ascend to spot the flag. She was not far from me, but visibility was not good and I just could not see her under water. 

Got a few shots of Smallmouth Grunts ((Haemulon chrysargyreum) and French Grunts (Haemulon flavolineatum)  on the way to the beach.

We continued swimming SW and found the sand flat. We crossed and went to the Wrap Around Ledge, but I headed off to the larger coral head to chew up some time. 

On the way I got a few shots of this Spotted Goatfish (Pseudupeneus maculatus). Martha and I surfaced inside the buoy line with less than 350 psi in my tank.

Dive time was 132minutes at a maximum depth of 18.7 feet. My AC was 21.18 psi/minute; my SAC was 14.87 psi/minute and my Residual Minute Volume was .38 cubic feet per minute.  

   We got inside the buoy line at about 115 minutes and pushed another 21 minutes to end the dive with less than 350 psi and 132 minutes of bottom time.  

20200726_SE of the Swiss Cheese Reef

I got up early to walk the dog and email Leo and Luis. We met at 8:00 am at the parking lot behind Tower 4. We geared up and went in about 8:25 am. We swam on the surface East from the first berm and descended at 8:49 am well past the buoy line. 

Spotted this Purplemouth Moray Eel (Gymnothorax vicinus) on the bottom when we descended. 

I also watched as this Bar Jack (Caranx ruber) hunted with the eel. The eel would chase prey out of the crevices and the Bar Jack would swoop down for the kill.

Leo offered to let me try his external macro lens and I was eager to do so. The external macro lens screws onto the camera lens housing so you can shoot macro for part of the dive then remove the external macro lens and shoot without the macro lens the rest of the time. This is handy since it was almost impossible to shoot fish in motion with the external lens attached. Here is one of the macro shots I got of a Flamingo Tongue on a Sea fan.  

I got this shot of a small Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) with the external macro lens removed. 

We continued swimming East but never passed any landmarks I recognized. When I hit 1500 psi, I turned the dive and we swam SW and came to the Rock Line. 

Got this shot of a Hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus) as we came to the Southern end of the Rock Line.  From there we swam West through the Wrap Around Ledge and then to the beach. 

 Martha  and I surfaced at 10:42 am. The waves on the beach were not as forceful as they had been at the beginning of the dive. Louis took the flag from Martha and helped her exit the water. Leo and I simply walked out, though Leo was considerable faster than I was. 

Our Dive time was 113 minutes at a maximum depth of 23.5 feet. My AC was 22.74 psi/minute; my SAC was 14.72 psi/minute and my Residual Minute Volume was .38 cubic feet per minute.