Solo Dive on the Little Coral Knoll

Had to take a shower at the last minute, so I was a little late getting to the beach this morning.  Still, I got out near the intersection of the line from the telephone pole to the Southern building behind the trees and dropped by 9:30 am.  Unfortunately, I wasn't on the Little Knoll.  I slowly explored the reef and took pictures.

I like the white lines with the feathered layers.

I spotted a Juvenile Porkfish on a small coral head and got some nice shots,

then I found an adult Porkfish and got this picture for contrast.

I like this shot of a Juvenile Highhat, but there is a lot of backscatter in the picture because there were a lot of particles in the water.

Still can't pass up these Knobby Sea Rods.

I found this little crab under a rock. I only had time for one shot before he scampered off.

I finally found the knoll, but not until 80 minutes into the dive. I spotted this Barred Hamlet and got some nice pictures.

I also found a small Goldentail Moray Eel hiding in the middle of the Knoll.  I tried, but I could not coax him out of the small hole he was in.  He watched me and was curious, but not curious enough to come out.




I had a nice fill and did fine on the air for the first 45 minutes, but I got cold, really cold, and started burning through the air. The warmest water temperature was 75 degrees, according to my computer, but I saw temperatures as low as 71 during the dive. I was stretching to get two hours out of the dive.