Dianne and I Explore Tower 18

 Dianne and I decided to dive somewhere we had not been in a while, so we moved up the beach to Tower 18.  The sea was calm and wind was slight.  We got in and swam out to the East, but descended past the swim buoy but before the reef.  We saw a small Green Turtle on the sand and I got some pictures.

We found a few large rocks and I got a nice shot of a Queen Angelfish.

I also got a shot of a Scrawled Filefish over some Staghorn Coral, though the picture itself is not remarkable.  

 I wanted to get a close up of this Stoplight Parrotfish who apparently thought he was hidden in the coral while he watched us.

 On the way back to the beach, we found a Sea Robbin and I got a decent portrait shot.

 Our second dive was better, though we had more current to deal with.  I found a small Hogfish early in the dive.

 I also got a close up of this Seaweed Blenny.

Dianne spotted this puffer fish looking guy I have not identified.  I can't find anything like him in the Reef Fish books.  

She also brought me a shell, indicating that there was a hermit crab inside.  I set it on the reef and waited, then got this shot of a Stareye Hermit Crab.  

 On the way back to the beach, I spotted a Florida Regal Sea Goddess and got this shot.

The last picture I took was of this Intermediate Gray Angelfish as we left the reef and swam over the sand back to the beach.

Diving with Luis and Dianne

 Dianne came over and we met Luis on the beach for two dives.  The sea was fairly calm, but we elected to descend well before the swim buoy and go out across the sand, looking for Sea Robbins and Guitarfish.

 Both Luis and I are photographers.  Poor Dianne had to amuse herself as we tried to set up just the right shot.

I found a Goldspot Goby, though it took a bit of digging to identify it once I got home.   Its is supposed to have a goldspot above its pectoral fin, but Reef Fish says the spot is "not obvious in some individuals."    What is obvious is the black bar across the head and down each eye.

I also found a Sailfin Blenny, though I just could not wait long enough to get a shot of him unfurled.  Although we had headed East from the concrete blocks, we ended up at the Perpendicular rocks and not the Fish Camp Rocks, so we swam over to the Big Coral Knoll.  

 On the North side of the Knoll, we found a Hawksbill Sea Turtle, which was quite calm and seemed to enjoy our company.  We swam with it for a ways and I tried to get a picture of Dianne and the Turtle.  Unfortunately, I never got the shot.

I did get a fair number of pictures of the turtle, including this one of the turtle gliding down the South Slope of the Knoll.

And  this shot of the turtle swimming with two Initial Phase Redband Parrotfish.  I entered this photo in the  Underwater Photography.com photo contest and it picked up 11 votes in 4 days.  After I got this shot, we headed back to the beach.

On our second dive, we actually swam to the Fish Camp Rocks.  We found a Nurse Shark and a Spotted Burrfish, though I did not get any good shots of either.  I did shot this juvenile Schoolmaster, but he was wary of me and I had to crop it down quite a bit to get the picture I wish I could have gotten.

Came back West to the beach and found a small Nurse Shark just lying on the reef.  He seemed calm enough, though he was very exposed.      

Got some pictures of some Jacks crusing the reef.

and a Sand Diver lying in wait.

I got this shot of a Yellow Jack.  It turned out surprisingly well for a spur of the moment shot.

Found a Stoplight Parrotfish with a Sharksuckeer well affixed.  

Dianne and I diving the Fish Camp Rocks

Dianne and I went in at Tower 17.  We walked out past the sand bar to fin up.  We descended almost immediately, and swam out to the reef on the sand.  I was shooting with the 100 mm macro lens.  We saw a Green Turtle on the algae West of the reef and swam to the Perpendicular Rocks and the Big Coral Knoll.

 I got some good shots of what turned out to be a Juvenile Yellowhead Wrasse.

We also found a Hawksbill Sea Turtle, with whom we swam for 10 - 15 minutes.    

The Hawksbill took us from the Knoll to the Fish Camp Rocks, and we stopped there while the Turtles turned East to the ledge.

  We stayed at the Rocks and found a Spotted Burrfish, who absolutely refused to allow me to photograph his face.    

 I also found a Nurse Shark laying under the SE Rocks.  It, too, refused to let me get a good shot.

I got some other fish portraits, including a Yellowtail Snapper,

a Bar Jack,

 and a Sergeant Major.

On the way back to the beach, I spotted one Flamingo Tongue on top of another.  It did not seem sexual, so I am guessing that the one on top was eating the other.   Then we headed back to the beach, where we saw another Green Turtle.

 A little further along, I found some green Mat Zoanthid and got a few good shots.

Finally, we saw another small Green Sea Turtle on the algae just before we got to the beach.  Both of us were cold and decided to pass on a second dive.

Thee Dives off Tower 17

Nic wanted to make a navigation dive today, but I arranged to meet her at the beach at noon.  I got there early enough to make two solo dives before she got there.

 I decided to shoot super macro, so I used a +1 and a +4 diopter with the 100mm macro lens.   With the diopters, I had a lot of trouble with the strobe washing out the picture.  I finally set it to -2 rather than TTL and things worked better.

I spent most of my time on the sand, where I found a Sea Robbin and also found a Bluespotted Coronetfish.  I got pictures of the Sea Robbin, but did not get any pictures of the Coronetfish because I couldn't get close enough to focus with the diopters.

I went to the Big Coral Knoll and a Queen Angelfish who hung around while I got some shots.

 Also spotted a large and a small Green Sea Turtle.

I found a shot of a Smooth Trunkfish facing off against a Stoplight Parrotfish.

 I also got a nice shot of a Yellowtail Damselfish and an Ocean Surgeonfish over a Symmetrical Brain Coral.

 My best shots were of a Spotted Cleaner Shrimp on a Giant Anemone.

My second dive was similar.  I descended while still over the sand.  This time, however, the strobe did not work.  The connection was not good at the hot shoe.  .

I swam out to the Fish Camp Rocks and found a Nurse Shark laying on the Eastern edge of one of the Rocks.

 Swam over to the Furry Rock and got a good shot of an Atlantic Spadefish.

 I left the Furry Rock (Pillar Coral with extended polyps) and swam back to the beach to meet with Nicky for her navigation dive.  

Nicky  was a little late, but not much.  We waited a bit while she caught her wind, then geared up.  We swam out to the swim buoy.  She followed me through the square pattern, then she led me through and ended up only about 10 feet from where she started.  She was so focused on the compass, though, that she would have continued swimming on by if I had not stopped her.

We also made an out 'n back trip, then we headed back to the beach.  Along the way I found an Elegant Anemone and got a shot.