Diving Tower 19

I parked well South of Tower 19 and entered the water just North of Tower 18. I let the current drift me to the North and swam out to the Eastern edge of the reef. I found a little Green Sea Turtle next to a coral head. The turtle had only its head under the coral. I startled her when the strobe went off and she quickly swam away. A few moments later, I found a Hawksbill Sea Turtle who was also sleeping in the open. I swam with her for a bit and got some nice video. I went through a large Staghorn Coral Forest and found a few big rocks, but nothing like I remember from January. I also found 3 metal bars embedded in the reef and about 1 ft apart. I have no idea what they were supposed to be. I found a lovely Blue Hamlet on the Eastern Edge of the reef, but I only got one shot. The Hamlet just disappeared after the first photo. On the way back to the beach, I seriously overcompensated for the current and ended up almost at Tower 17.

I moved up the beach to the North to begin my second dive. The current had diminished some. I just caught an edge of the staghorn coral forest and ran into a Smooth Trunkfish who was more amenable to being photographed. I swam to the Eastern edge again. On the way back I found an Indigo Hamlet and this fish stuck around for an entire photo shoot. Nice. No rocks, however.