Thursday, 13 June 2019, Martha and I dive the Swiss Cheese Reef

Martha and I headed for the beach early to dive the Swiss Cheese Reef off Tower 4. We geared up and got in the water about 7:20 am, swam to the buoy and descended at 7:36 am. Just as we got on the bottom, I spotted a large, dark cowry shell. Showed it to Martha as we swam towards the Wrap Around Ledge. She got it and carried it throughout the dive. 

 I took a number of pictures of the fish along the ledge, including the shot of the Sharpnose Puffer (Canthigaster rostrata) (above) and the Highhat (Pareques acuminatus) (left).

From the Wrap-Around Ledge we headed East to the Rock Line and went North to the tire, then we headed East again to the Crescent Moon Rock. On the rubble after the Crescent Moon Rock, I got this shot of a Scamp (Mycteroperca phenax).

From the rubble, we swam ENE to the Giant Sponges and the Staghorn Coral, where we saw lots of small Grunts and a couple of Bluespotted Coronetfish (Fistularia tabacana) (left). Went up to the Sectioned Rock and turned North to follow the reef. Went past the coral head on the ledge and the larger coral head, Continued North then made a sweeping counterclockwise turn and headed South.



Went past the coral head on the ledge and the larger coral head, Continued North then made a sweeping counterclockwise turn and headed South. Found a Gaudy Nautica and a flat sea biscuit. On the second pass by the Sectioned Rock, I got this photo of some Bluestriped Grunts (Haemulon sciurus) at the edge of the staghorn coral.

 We ended the dive by swimming due West to the beach. Took the photo on the right on our second pass by the staghorn coral.


Dive time was 131 minutes, maximum depth was 23.7 feet and the temperature was 82.4 degrees. My SAC was 14.74 psi/minute and the RMV as 0.38 cubic ft/minute by my calculation and 0.34 cu ft per my computer.