20200803_Swiss Cheese Reef

Martha and I decided to go diving. Hurricane Isaias had passed without much if any damage and we were eager to get in the water. We left the apartment a little after 7:00 am and headed to the beach. We geared up and I had 3178 psi. We swam out to the buoy line where we descended at 7:58 am.  Got this shot of a Juvenile Cocoa Damselfish (Stegastes variabilis). 

We headed to the Wrap Around Ledge and then the Rock Line a little further East where I got this shot of a Green Razorfish (Xyrichtys splendens).

About 22 minutes into the dive, my computer dropped my tank pressure reading to 0. I figured that I was good for another 100 minutes, at least, so we simply continued the dive but it was disconcerting to look at my gauge and see 0 gas pressure. 

We headed down the Rock Line to the tire and then to the Crescent Moon Rock. From there we headed NE to the Staghorn Coral where I got a shot of this  Squirrelfish (Hollocentrus adscensionis).

I also got a shot of a fish I could identify from my fish identification books. It looks like a pale silver snapper, but the edges of its tail and dorsal fins are a bright red, suggesting that it is a  juvenile Mahogany Snapper (Lutfanus mahogoni). Unfortunately it lacks the dark spot below and to the rear of its dorsal fin that the Mahogany Snapper would have.   

We then swam East to the Sectioned Rock and then North along the reef where I shot this Sharpnose Puffer (Canthigaster rostrata).

I turned the dive at 90 minutes and we slowly swam back along the reef. At the Sectioned Rock we turned West to the Staghorn Coral. 

I got this shot of a  Graysby (Cephalopholis cruentatus)  on the Staghorn Coral. From there we swam West to the beach.

We surfaced in 4 feet of water. The waves were strong and one simply lifted me up and set me down on the beach. I dropped my camera and weights on the sand then went back to the beach to help Martha. 

Our dive time was 126 minutes at a maximum depth of 21.8 feet. My AC was 22.05 psi/minute; my SAC was 14.55 psi/minute and my RMV was .38 cubic feet per minute. 

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