Solo Dive off the Pelican Grand

After an hour on the surface, I had warmed up considerably and decided to make a second dive. I was afraid I would be instantly cold and that the dive would be much less than 2 hours.  I am so glad I decided to try despite my rather low expectations.  The water was one degree warmer according to the computer and that single degree to 75 degrees made a lot of difference.  I was warm the whole dive.

I swam out past the swim buoy in front of the Pelican and then went down and headed ENE.  While this wasn't exactly uncharted territory, it has been at least 2 years since I have dived here and nothing looked familiar.

Early in the dive I spotted and photographed this Slippery Dick.

Pretty sure this little fella is a Blenny, but otherwise I cannot identify it.

This Townsend Angelfish is a hybrid:  the offspring of a Blue Angelfish and a Queen Angelfish.  It has the blue crown of the Queen Angelfish but the body of a Blue Angelfish.

This is a Yellowline Arrow Crab.  If you look closely, you can spot its two eyes on either side of the central stalk and the mouth lower and more centered.

This Giant Anemone had peculiarly large bulbs at the tips of its tentacles and was also hosting two Spotted Cleaner Shrimp.

We frequently see Flamingo Tongues on the first reef, but there are two other close relatives present there as well.  This is the Fingerprint Cyphoma.  The other is a Spotted Cyphoma.

This is a Sheepshead Porgy and is often found along the edge of the reef on the sand.

This, of course, is a Green Sea Turtle, which can be found often along the reef.






I ended up just South of Tower 20, but the current helped me swim to the entrance.  Total dive time was 2 hours and 13 minutes.  Not bad for a second dive.