Tuesday, 4 June 2019 Martha and I dive the Yankee Clipper Jacks

Banded Butterflyfish (Chaetodon striatus)

Martha and I left the apartment at 6:45 am. We got to the beach by 7:00 and were in the water by 7:32 am. There was a moderate to strong North current, but Martha and I decided to dive the Clipper Jacks anyway. We deliberately entered the water to the South of our mark.

Schoolmaster (Lutjanus apodus)

The parking lot lamppost was in line with the North side of the chimney on the fire station West of A1A when I entered the water. After swimming against the North current for 15 minutes, the lamppost was right on the South end of the chimney. By the time we got to the reef some 15 minutes later, the lamppost was in line with the South end of the building. We decided to descend because it would be easier to swim North on the bottom. We were right.

Midnight Parrotfish (Scarus coelestinus)

I swam up the first tier of the three-tiered reef and spotted two lone jacks. I swam up the second tier and found a second group of four jacks.  Finally, I saw the West end of the Jacks on the third tier.

Hawksbill Sea Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) with a
Nurse Shark  (Ginglymostoma cirratum) in the background

 Martha stayed on the North side of the Jacks and I got on the Southside. We swam to the ENE.

Hawksbill Sea Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata)

I spotted a Nurse Shark swimming SSE on Martha's side of the Jacks, then watched him cross over and start swimming towards me. I went down to his depth and waited for him, hoping to get a good shot of him straight on, but he turned and crossed back to the other side of the Jacks.







 I followed the Nurse Shark across the Jacks and encountered a Hawksbill turtle, who swam with me for a few minutes then turned away so I turned back and followed the Nurse Shark.

Nurse Shark  (Ginglymostoma cirratum)

I picked up the Nurse Shark again as it went to the bottom and turned North. I cut across the Jacks and managed to get ahead of it so that it turned South and headed across the Jacks one more time.

Nurse Shark  (Ginglymostoma cirratum)

I followed as best I could, but I could not keep up. I watch as the Nurse Shark swam off to the south and I got this last picture of it (right).

Queen Angelfish (Holacanthus ciliaris)

I stayed on the Southside of the Jacks and got pictures of a Queen Angelfish (left)  I also got several shots of a Porcupinefish (below)

Porcupinefish (Diodon hystrix)

   Got a good shot of an Initial Phase Blue Parrotfish (below)

Initial Phase Blue Parrotfish (Scarus coeruteus)

 

This is a good shot of Martha (right) and one of the many shells she found on this dive. While we thought it was a Horse Conch, it now appears that the shell is a True Tulip shell.

Dive time was 125 minutes, maximum depth was 25.4 feet and bottom temperature was 80.6 degrees. My SAC was 15.99 psi/minute and my RMV was 0.41 cubic feet per minute.

All of my dive picture on this dive are available for review at the following link:  4 June 2019_Yankee Clipper Jacks