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. 

 

20200711_Fish Camp Rocks

I headed for the beach at 6:30 am. Martha was in New York and I was meeting Leo and Luis to dive on the Fish Camp Rocks off Tower 17. I had to park 4 spaces North of my favorite spot. Tourists had come to photograph the sunrise on the beach with their cell phone camera. After all the cell phones flashed, people started leaving and by the time Leo and Luis got to the beach I was in the first parking spot North of the Lifeguards reserved spot. 

Leo is taking his IDC with Grove Scuba in Miami for about twice what I paid Pavan of Dixie Divers in 2007. We geared up and headed for the water. Unfortunately I got button-holed by someone wanting to learn to dive but not wanting to pay for it. I had to hustle to catch up with Leo and Luis. We didn't descend until 8:47 am when Luis found the blocks.

Soon after descending I got the picture of an Intermediate Gray Angelfish (Pomacanthus arcuatus) above. We headed East to the Gray Mid-way Rock and along the way I got this picture of a French Grunt (Haemulon flavolineatum)   

As we swam East I got distracted by a bunch of loose fishing line and overcompensated for a mild South current so that we ended up at the Perpendicular Rocks where I took this picture of a Bluestriped Grunt (Haemulon sciurus). From the Rocks we headed North to the Big Coral Knoll and cruised around there for a while before heading South to the Fish Camp Rocks.

On the way to the Rocks, I got this shot of a Bandtail Puffer (Sphoeroides spengleri) (right).

 At the Fish Camp Rocks where there were a lot more fish, including a Spotted Moray Eel (Gymnothorax moringa) (below)

Leo had an external Macro attachment that allowed him to take some nice closeup pictures of a nudibranch.

I got a nice shot of a Caesar Grunt (Haemulon carbonarium) (below).

I also got a good picture of a couple of Doctorfish (Acanthurus chirurgus). 

We left the Fish Camp Rocks and headed West past the Mid-way Rock, the Cigar Rock and to the beach. We surfaced inside the buoy line at 11:03 am. 

Our dive time was 136 minutes at a maximum depth of 19.3 feet. My AC was 20.69 psi/minute; my SAC was 13.93 psi/minute and my Residual Minute Volume was .36 cubic feet per minute.  

 

20200702_Yankee Clipper Jacks

Both Martha and I were eager to dive this morning

having called our dive yesterday. We packed the Jeep and headed to the beach. We geared up and got in the water by 6:24 am to begin our swim to the Yankee Clipper Jacks. We descended at 7:14 am, to find that we had missed the main body of the jacks. I thought that we would be more likely to get to where we wanted to be by swimming North along the reef and then East to find the Jacks, which is what we did. 

Initially we swam along the Western edge of the reef but were soon joined by a pair of  Gray Angelfish (Pomacanthus arcuatus) who were apparently headed in the same direction.

We encountered a juvenile Yellowtail Damselfish  (Micropathodon chrysurus) 

a Yellowtail Snapper (Ocyurus chrysurus) 

Bluestriped Grunt (Hamulon sciurus) 

and a Cushion Sea Star (Oreaster reticulatus) 

As I had hoped, we swam around the reef and came to the Jacks. Unfortunately, I did not fill Martha's tanks yesterday, so she began the dive with about 2500 psi and was getting low on air by 90 minutes. We surfaced inside the buoy lines. Martha had 300 psi left.  We swam into the beach and each of us walked out of the water under our own power. Nice.

Our Dive time was 95 minutes at a maximum depth of 20.7 feet. My A/C was 21.59 psi/minute; my SAC was 14.84 psi/minute and my RMV was .38 cubic feet per minute. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

20200701_Aborted dive off Tower 4

Martha and I got up early.  I walked Mia and then we loaded the Jeep and headed to the beach. We arrived there about 6:20 am. The parking lot at Tower 4 was filling up but we found a space to park near the pedestrian bridge. It took a while to gear up but we got in the water by 7:00 am. We swam past the buoy line, then descended at 7:15 am on the reef, where I found this little Balloonfish (Diodon holocanthus). 

I got some shots and then noticed that Martha had not come down yet. Visibility was better than 15 feet and I spotted her still at the surface. I surfaced and she said that she had dropped a weight packet somewhere. She swam on the back towards the beach. I came behind her making a 50 yard North/South swath and looking for her missing weight packet. 

Neither of us spotted the packet but I remembered that she had encountered some difficulty attaching the flag reel to her BCD. I thought it was likely that the packet got dislodged during that struggle. I swam to the sand bar and then swam North along the the sand bar. I found the weight packet in about 10 feet of water just East of the sand bar. Both of us were tired after searching for the weight packet so we decided to call the dive and head home. 

Dive time was 19 minutes at a maximum depth of  17 feet. My actual consumption rate was  42.74 psi/minute; my SAC was 30.01 psi/minute and my Residual Minute Volume was .77 cubic feet per minute. 

20200630_Fish Camp Rocks

 Martha and I left the apartment at 6:10 and got to the beach about 6:20 am. We went up to Tower 17 and parked just in front of our usual parking spot. We geared up and headed for the water about 6:30 am and got to the buoy line about 7:00 am. We descended at 7:11 am

We swam East to the two little coral heads that formed the first part of the gunsight. We then swam East to the forward sight and were right on the Gray Mid-way rock. Along the way I saw and photographed these two Sharpnose Pufferfish (Canthigaster rostrata) who could be either flirting or fighting. 

I got some pictures of this Porcupinefish (Diodon hystrix) in front of the Gray Mid-Way Rock then we swam North to the Big Coral Knoll where  

Martha spotted a Spotted Moray Eel (Gymnothorax moringa).

I found a Goldentail Moray Eel (Gymnothorax miliaris) hiding in the Southern ledge of the Knoll.

Just as we turned the dive at 1200 psi, we came upon a pair of Atlantic Spadefish (Chaetodipterus faber), one of which came in for a nice close up shot. 

We no sooner left the Spadefish and Martha spotted this juvenile Peacock Flounder (Bothus lunatus) (below)

Right after we swam away from the Flounder, we found a Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) and I got some pictures of Martha and the turtle swimming together. 

I had 1000 psi left in my tank at the 2 hour mark. I surfaced to find that we were just off the beach then descended to swim West to the beach. 

We surfaced at 9:39 am. Our dive time was 147 minutes at a maximum depth of 19.9 feet. My Actual Consumption was 18.59 psi/minute; my SAC was 12.78 psi/minute and my Residual Minute Volume was .33 cubic feet /minute. 

 

 My first hour cost me 1000 psi and the second hour cost just a fraction more.    Bill was on the Tower when we got back. Both of us got out of the water on our own power. It was a good dive. 

20200629_Swiss Cheese Reef

Not sure when Martha and I left the apartment, but the North parking lot was crowded when we parked across the road from the beach at about 6:10. We geared up and walked into the water at 6:40 am and then swam to the buoy line. We descended at 7:20 am. We were on top of the blocks and just a little to the NE of the buoy pin. As we headed out to the Wrap Around Ledge, Martha pointed out this small Yellow Stingray (Urobatis jamaicensis). 

We swam to the Ledge and I got this shot of a White Grunt (Haemulon plumierii) as we swam over the rubble on our way to the Rock Line. Then we swam North along the Rock Line to the tire where we turned East towards the Crescent Moon Rock.  We swam ENE from the rock and over the rubble past some Giant Barrel Sponges and to the Staghorn Coral Forest.  

On the Staghorn Coral, I took this shot of a Graysby (Cephalopholis cruentatus)  

and this shot of a French Grunt (Haemulon flavolineatum) on the North edge of the coral.

Over the coral we were subjected to a moderate but manageable North current. The sea was flat and the wind light. We swam East to the North to the end of the Swiss Cheese Reef. I got 57 minutes out of my first 1000 psi.

From the end of the reef, we jogged a bit to the East then headed South, staying about 20 feet East of the ledge. I spotted and photographed this Caribbean Spiny Lobster (Panulirus argus)  We edged Southwest and ended up at the Sectioned Rock as I hit 1400 psi and 90 minutes.

I took this shot of a Giant Anemone (Condylactis gigantea) which was on the back side of the Sectioned Rock as we swam West towards the beach.

Spotted this small Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) as we swam by the Wrap Around Ledge 

We ran into the Atlantic Spadefish (Chaetodipterus faber) who liked my fins the day before and this time I got a shot of him rubbing himself on my fin.

Martha was down to 400 psi while I was at 900, so she headed in and I followed soon after. Nice dive and nice exit. Neither of us fell or needed help. 

Our dive time was 124 minutes at a maximum depth of 19.2 feet. My Consumption rate was 19.65 psi/minute; my SAC was 13.51 psi/minute and my Residual Minute Volume was .35 cubic fee/minute.