Cordova Dive Blog

 Monday, 6 May 2019

Martha and I photograph some kids dragging their anchor across the coral


Martha and I left the apartment shortly before 7:00 am and got to the beach about 7:20 am.  Bob Simac was just leaving and we spent a few moments catching up before we geared up.

The beach had been recently graded.  The slope to the water was steep and the sand was loose. I felt my bad leg sink in the sand as I pulled the camera out of the way and I fell. How embarrassing. I drug my gear to the water where I got back into it.  Marth and I swam out to the buoy and descended at 7:59 am

Nurse Shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum)

I got some pictures of the small reef community that has formed on the submerged portion of the buoy (above) and then Martha and I headed East to the blocks and the Wrap Around Ledge. As Martha spotted a Nurse Shark under the coral on the South West side of the Ledge, I spotted another swimming West and then turning North. I got a few good shots of that shark (on the right) but could not get a good shot of the Nurse Shark under the coral


We went across the rubble to the Rock Line and East at the Tire Rock to the Crescent Moon Rock. Headed NE and found the Staghorn Coral and got some good shots of the French Grunts and a Graysby. Went to the Sectioned Rock and headed North along the reef until we ran into a poorly set Danforth anchor being drug across the reef by two teenage boys in a small fishing boat. I surfaced to help them properly set their anchor somewhere other than in the coral, but they flipped me off. Got some shots of the anchor and the boat with its registration numbers.



Martha had told me she had 3135 psi when we geared up and now showed me that her computer registered only 1700 psi while mine showed 2600 psi. I didn't see any air leaking from her, so we cautiously continued the dive.

Flamefish (Apogon maculatus)

Martha and I continued North along the Swiss Cheese Reef to the Coral Head on top of the reef ledge. There we turned West and swam along the sand hoping to find the weight packet Mitch had dropped during his checkout dives. We didn't find it. I did find and photograph a Flamefish. (left). Martha found a 50-pound plow anchor with 41 feet of chain rhode attached.

White Grunt (Haemulon plumierii) seeking a
cleaning from a young Porkfish (Anisotremus virginicus

I spent some time trying to move the anchor and chain, but they were just too heavy. I finally decided to leave them on the reef. I surfaced and measured the bearing to the nearest buoy at 120 degrees. That was the buoy just North of the buoy off Tower 4. I hoped we could come back tomorrow with a lift bag and recover the anchor and the chain.

Also spotted a Bluestriped Grunt seeking help from a Juvenile Porkfish regarding a mouth cleaning.

White Grunt (Haemulon plumierii) seeking help
from a Juvenile French Angelfish (Pomacanthus paru)

 We found the Wrap Around Ledge and I got a shot of a White Grunt seeking a mouth cleaning from an Intermediate French Angelfish.











Martha's computer still showed her with 1000 psi. We swam past the buoy-line and surfaced with 400 psi still in her tank. Climbed out of the water very near to where I fell when we got in, but both of us managed to climb out without incident. RMV was .42 cu ft per minute on my computer and .49 cu ft per minute by my calculation. Dive was 89 minutes.

My pictures from this dive are posted at the following link:  6 May 2019_Swiss Cheese Reef