Solo Dive on the Ledge of Turtles

Got to the beach about 8:45 am and read a little before gearing up at 9:00 am and getting in.  I dropped once I got everything set and swam out to the reef on the bottom.  I was hoping to find that manta shrimp looking creature again, but did not.  Instead, I found the whole reef covered in light green algae.  I don't remember it being like that when I last dove the Ledge.  It took some time to find the Rock Pile, but I did.  I went up on the reef at 120 degrees, trying to adjust for the current.



Not far from the Rock Pile, I found a Spotted Burrfish and spent some time photographing it.

I continued up the reef and spotted Turtle Rock through the haze.  I swam right to the Ledge from there.  Took lots of pictures on the Ledge,

these two Porkfish,

a Striped Parrotfish,

a Purplemouth Moray Eel,

a Squirrelfish,

a Spanish Grunt,

 a Yellowtail Damselfish (Golden Variation), and

my favorite is this Threespot Damselfish.

 At about 1500 psi, I decided to head over to Shark's Rock and look around.



I found these Black Margate,

several Midnight Parrotfish,

and this little Hermit Crab.



.

I headed back to the Ledge, via Nipple Rock and then 300 degrees down the reef to the Rock Pile,where I spotted and photographed this Green Sea Turtle.


It was a long dive at 2 hours 15 minutes, and I was shivering when I got out.  I was cautious since I had fallen last time I was here, but I did fine this time.

Dennis Viaznikov and I Make Four Dives off Tower 15

Dennis got certified last week and he is now an Open Water certified diver.  We swam out to the Large Rock just NW of the swim buoy and descended though we had some trouble finding the rock because the water was really hazy. That's Dennis in the pink tank coming around the rock.







 Once we found the rock, I got some pictures, including this shot of a Purplemouth Moray Eel peeking out from the coral.












Then we headed South to the other rock for more pictures, including this one of a Giant Anemone and

this shot of a Rough File Clam.











From the second rock, we swam 150 degrees to the Dog Rock and finally 140 degrees to the Little Knoll. Along the way, I spotted this Flamingo Tongue and got the picture.  Notice the glassy appearance of sea rod beneath the Flamingo Tongue.










We hung around the Little Knoll taking pictures like this shot of a Rock Hind











this shot of a Harlequin Bass














and this shot of a nudibranch which I found near the overturned coral head on the NE corner of the Little Knoll.

When Dennis indicated that he was down to 1,000 psi, we headed back to the beach where we spent some time by the truck, standing in the sun and warming up.  Then we made essentially the same dive as our first dive.  Swam out to the Large Rock, then South to the second rock, 150 degrees to the Dog Rock and 140 degrees to the Little Knoll.  Dennis was almost out of air, so seemed like we headed back almost as soon as we got there, but still almost an hour dive.  Took some more pictures, too.  You can see them on Picasaweb.

We spent a little over an hour at the truck.  Breaking the dives up helped us to stay warm, but water still conducts heat away from your body about 20 times faster than air and the difference between the bottom temperature of 77 degrees and our core body temperature is significant. I was cold and it felt good to dry off and warm up.  But the water beckoned and we geared up to make a third dive.


Once we got in the water, Dennis complained that he was leaking air.  He had started with 2900 psi, but was down to 2700 psi when we were in the water.  I think a lot of that was the over heated tank sitting in the back of the truck and the cooled down tank in the water, but his tank did appear to be leaking slightly from around the valve when I looked at it under water.  We swam out to the swim buoy.  I went down, but Dennis did not follow.   I went back to the surfaced to learn that he had forgot to turn on his air.  We decided to head East to the ledge to see what was there.  We went through an area full of staghorn coral and reef fish.  We didn't spend a lot of time looking, but it was a much more interesting area than I remembered.  Once on the sand, I went up to fix the flag reel, which had gotten tangled.  My computer closed out this third dive and started a fourth dive.  


We had drifted quite a ways North and were about due East of Tower 16.  Dennis was still fine on air, so I started back slowly,  I wanted to explore the staghorn coral, but we did not find it.  Must still have been too far North.



I got this picture of a mottled Hogfish, which the Humann and DeLoach book suggests is a coloration they adopt when feeding.

Once the strobe flashed, the Hogfish began to change back to its usual white and Gray coloration.  The change just took seconds.










Took this shot of a Juvenile Queen Angelfish










this set of Christmas Tree Worms

This picture of a Gray Snapper, who is just too put together to be a fish. He ought to be in a James Bond movie.











As we got near to the beach, Dennis indicated he was down to 500 psi and I spotted this Green Sea Turtle and got a few pictures.



Hell of a day at sea.

A Solo Dive on the Big Coral Knoll and to the North to Investigate a Dive Charter Anchored on the Reef

Dennis elected not to dive this morning, so I figured I should be good for only one long dive and I decided to go to the Big Coral Knoll.  There was a dive charter which appeared to be anchored on the reef, but it was quite a bit North and East of the Knoll.  I wanted to get pictures of the anchor.  I geared up and swam out to the concrete blocks to descend.  I went up the gun sight.

Found a Yellowline Arrow Crab tucked under a small coral head.  He seemed to like the strobe and came out a bit after the first picture.








I've seen this little Seaweed Blenny on Irish Thighs for the past several weeks and have often taken his picture.  I think he recognizes me.  He does not duck in his hole anymore, but waits to see what I'm going to do.










This Juvenile Queen Angelfish can usually be found at the Cigar Rock, but usually stays well inside.  Today he came out and posed for me.

On the way to the Gray Mid-Way Rock, I overcompensated for the current and ended up next to the broken coral head.  As I turned to pick up the Rock to the North, I spotted this small Nurse Shark, who promptly took off.

I continued North to the Perpendicular Rocks and got some shots of this Greater Soapfish.  These are usually very shy and I was fortunate that he let me take his picture.  

Near the Swept Rock, I spotted this Redband Parrotfish who appeared to be having a huge belly laugh. I couldn't resist taking his picture.

I continued onto the Knoll and got this picture of a Hogfish just along the Southern edge of the Knoll.








I swam out to the English Garden and got this picture of an Orange Spotted Filefish.


I also surfaced to see where I was with respect to the charter boat and it was a ways North and East.  So I swam on for another 15-20 minutes and surfaced again. It looked like Todd's boat and I began to feel a little creepy about the whole thing, so I headed back to the Knoll without getting a picture of the anchor.



The water was warmer today than yesterday:  77 degrees.  I was shivering, nonetheless.  Remember that water conducts heat away from your body about 20 times faster than air does.  This dive lasted 2 hours and 7 minutes.  I was cold.  It was overcast and a little rainy so the beach wasn't crowded.  I hadn't warmed up in 45 minutes, so I headed home.    

Solo Dive on the Ledge of Turtles

Got to the beach about 9:00 am, geared up and got in.  Ocean was flat and wind was only about 8 knots.  I thought about descending inside the swim buoys, but visibility was only about 3 ft over the sand.  I stayed on the surface until well past the swim buoy and where I thought the Rock Pile might be.  I was close.

 Headed up the reef at 120 degrees and spotted the sea plume with the three little coral heads and swam to the Big Midway Rock, where I photographed some Juvenile Porkfish.

 From there, I headed to the larger Coral Head, where I spotted this Fingerprint Cyphoma and got this picture.









I then swam to the Ledge, where I got this shot of a Christmas Tree Worm.

As I was photographing the worm, I looked up and watched a Loggerhead Sea Turtle swim past me on over the Ledge.

I managed to get three pictures before it swam out of sight.  I think this is the first Loggerhead I have seen on the First Reef.  

I think that this is also the first Brown Chromis that I have ever seen.  Lucky to get some pictures.



Stayed at a SAC rate of 4 minutes per 100 psi.  Hit 56 minutes at 2000 psi and headed East to the Shark's Rock, or what is left of it.  It has been seriously damaged.

Along the way, I spotted this little fella.  I have not be able to identify him.

I also got these two photographs of a Threespot Damselfish.

I found the Nipple Rock to the South of Shark's Rock and then came West to the Ledge, then down the reef to the Rock Pile and West to the beach.  Went to my knees as I climbed out of the surf and could not stand up while holding my camera with one hand and my fins and the flag in the other.  I decided to crawl in on my knees.  A woman on the beach came by and offered to help, so I asked her to hold my fins and the flag while I got back on my feet.  How embarrassing.

Luis, Leo and I dive the Little Coral Knoll

Met the guys at the beach at 8:00 am.  We geared up and were ready to get in, but I broke the buckle on the top tank strap on the Zuma.  Ended up using a zip tie to fix it.  We swam out to the Big Rock NNW of the swim buoy and descended.


Leo found a Purple Mouth Moray Eel peeking out from a hole on the Big Rock.

I photographed this Star Horseshoe Worm












and this Seaweed Blenny.

From the Big Rock, we headed 150 degrees to the Little Coral Knoll. There, Leo found a Spotted Moray Eel. Luis found a clam shell and opened it to feed the eel and coax the little fella out of the reef.  Unfortunately the Triggerfish wanted the clam, too, so the eel lost out.

I got several shots of this Barred Hamlet and and some other reef fish.  I also went to the surface to adjust my zip tied BCD and apparently stayed too long as the computer reset.  So I made a second dive.

We stayed on and around the Little Knoll for a while then headed back to the beach.  Along the way, I got this shot of a Bicolor Damselfish.

I also found another Star Horseshoe Worm on a rock and took a few more pictures.


Luis made a two hour dive.  Leo and I were cold and just wanted to get out of the water.