Two Solo Dives on the Ledge of Turtles

I geared up and was pleased to see the tank registered 3400 psi.  Then I got in the water and it dropped to 3250. Okay.  I did well on air, at least at first.  I got 10 minutes out of the 250 psi extra.  Swam out to the Rock Pile, but didn't see it until I got underwater.  Once I found it, I headed up the reef at 120 degrees and swam right to the Sea Plume and the three little Mountainous Corals.  Hung around the Ledge shooting the fish





Got this shot of a Juvenile Yellowtail Damselfish

and then this Terminal Phase Yellowtail Damselfish (Golden Variation).













Also got this shot of a small group of Porkfish just hanging in the current along the Ledge.

I then swam East to Shark's Rock but there were very few fish there, so I continued on to the Eastern Ledge.









Found an Arrow Crab on the sand and got some good shots showing the mouth and eyes as well as the two bright blue claws.  Got to 77 minutes dive time at 1500 psi, and decided to head back to the Ledge.









On the way back, I spotted this Three Spot Damselfish
















and this Indigo Hamlet.













Spotted this Hogfish just as I reached the Ledge of Turtles.












I hung out on the Ledge with the fish, including this Rock Hind until I got down to 1000 psi and 96 minutes.











Got this picture of a Christmas Tree Worm on some Low Relief Lettuce Coral nust after leaving the Ledge.



Headed down the reef to the Rock Pile and was hanging out there when I noticed the flag was gone.  I surfaced, spotted it and recovered it, but when I went back under, I could hear the air bubbling out of my regulator. Apparently, when I surfaced for the flag, the regulator got unseated and the o-ring was leaking.  I headed back in to the beach, but instead of the 12 minutes I thought I would get, I got 5 minutes.

I decided to make a second dive.  Since the Lifeguard was in the tower, I had to walk up to the shower, then along the fence to the View Residences property before I could get in the water.  I headed East, but the current was stronger than before and I had to head a little South, too.  After 90 minutes, I ended up at the Ledge of Turtles, but I have no idea how I got there. Got down off the reef at 120 minutes and hung out at the Rock Pile until I was down to 300 psi and then I headed in.  Good dive time.

Solo Dive on the Ledge of Turtles

Swam out to the reef and spotted the Rock Pile from the surface.  Descended and headed up the reef at 120 degrees.  I went too far, but spotted the cushion coral, so I headed SW and found the Ledge.




Got some photos of this Striped Parrotfish

and this Brown Chromis.  Not a lot of unusual fish, so I decided to head over to the Shark's Rock.

Went due East from the two Coral Heads and ended up at Shark's Rock, near which I spotted this Scrawled Filefish.

I continued on to the Eastern Ledge.

I found this Giant Anemone in the sand just past the reef line.

By then I was at about 1400 psi, so I headed back first to Shark's Rock, then South to the Nipple Rock.  In the Rocks just South of the Nipple Rock, I found this Greater Soapfish and got a few pictures.

I continued on to the Ledge of Turtles and along the way took this picture of a Three Spotted Damselfish.


From the Ledge, I went down the reef at 300 degrees to the Rock Pile.  The water was calm, but very hazy. Killed time at the Rock Pile and left at 2 hours with 350 psi. Got another 14 minutes out of that and ended the dive at 134 minutes.

Solo Dive on the Big Coral Knoll

Got to the beach around 8:45 am and was in the water swimming out to the blocks by 9:15 am.  Got over the blocks, but could not see them from the surface.  Went down right on them, set up and started up the gun sight. Had some trouble finding the Cigar Rock, but finally got it, then went straight to the Gray Mid--way Rock and then North to the Perpendicular Rocks, the Swept Rock and the Knoll.

Got a shot of two French Grunts fighting, if indeed that's what this is.

Got a close up shot of the Cymothoid Isopod affixed to this Doctorfish.  According to Humann, the cymothoids begin life as 1/8th inch long, free swimming males which attach to the heads of fish.  Once attached, they lose the ability to swim, remain attached for life and "benignly scavenge" food from the water.

This Juvenile creole Wrasse was on the Knoll, but passed by several times to let me get a shot.

The Hawksbill Sea Turtle was foraging for food and the Angelfish and wrasse were looking for scraps.

 Gotta love the Redband Parrotfish with there built in smile.

This little Blenny has been on the Irish Thighs rock for about a week now.  He's used to me taking his picture.

This Purplemouth Moray Eel was a bit off the Knoll, but close by.


After cruising the Knoll a few times, I went back to the beach the same way I came and I spotted each of the landmarks.  Then I hung out at the blocks until I got to 400 psi and I headed for the Sea Rod and then the beach.  Went up at 132 minutes.

Luis, Leo and I Make one dive on the Eastern Ledge off Tower 17 and Leo and I make a second

At first, I wanted to take my camera, but the more I watched the waves the more I was inclined to leave the camera in the truck.  While I might see a couple of really nice things to photograph, it wasn't worth risking the camera since the photos were unlikely to be really good.  Visibility was a little better than yesterday, but it wasn't good.  We went down just past the swim buoy and swam NE against a strong South current.  Although I had hoped we would find the Big Coral Knoll, we did not.  We swam over some large rocks that  I did not recognize both going out and coming back.  We went North along the Ledge and I saw a large Pederson Shrimp by a corkscrew anemone.  I thought for a moment that I wished I'd brought the camera, but there were a lot of particles in the water and the pictures would not have been very good.  We turned West to the beach when Luis and I hit half a tank at virtually the same moment.  The trip back was with the incoming tide and we flew.  We came out at Tower 18.  I got out fine, but I got lucky and rode a wave in over the step.  I could just as easily blown up.  I was happy that I'd left the camera behind.

Luis decided against a second dive, but Leo and I wanted to get back in, so we did. I really wanted to find the Big Coral Knoll, we swam out to the swim buoy and I tried to just hold a 90 degree bearing, but we must have gone too far North, again.  We went South along the Ledge this time though and I spotted the wall of finger coral.  We turned West there and came just South of the Knoll.  I happened to spot the SE corner and swam over and around the Knoll a bit, then went to the Fish Camp Rocks.  The surge was pretty wild.  I flew back and forth across the flat rock between the BCK and the FCR.  We investigated the FCR a bit, then headed West to the beach. I found the Gray Mid-way Rock and the Cigar Rock, but that was the last thing I recognized until we passed the Sea Rod onto the sand at the beach.  So much easier getting out of the water without the camera.  I don't worry about losing it, or breaking it. If I fall, I just get back up.  No big deal.

Luis and I dive the Big Coral Knoll and make a second dive on the Eastern Ledge off Tower 17

The ocean was relatively calm when we got in.  We descended to look for the concrete blocks, but did not find them.  We swam NE to compensate for the strong South current, but we overcompensated and found the two Green Mountainous Coral heads on the West edge of the Knoll, though I didn't recognize them immediately.  As I swam up on the Knoll, I spotted a Green Sea Turtle and swam with it for a while.  Swam around the Knoll a couple of times.  Luis and I kept losing then finding one another.  

 I ran into the same turtle I had originally swam with, and got some really good, really close shots head on.

About the only shots that came out.  Visibility was terrible and it was difficult to navigate.

We swam over to the Fish Camp Rocks where I got this picture of these Glassy Sweepers.

I found this White Speckled Hermit Crab and got several pictures.





I also spotted this Orange Spotted Filefish, who paused for this picture.

After the Fish Camp Rocks, we went West to the beach but the current put us well South of Tower 17.  The wind had picked up considerably and was now NNE about 15 knots.  Luis took the flag and I managed to get out of the water without falling or breaking the camera. Always a good result.

I decided not to take my camera on our second dive. Too much risk of losing it in the surf or damaging the housing.  We descended and just headed East to the Eastern Ledge off Tower 17.  We went North along the Ledge, then came back to the beach.  We still ended up well South of where I thought we would be.  Current along the beach was very strong.  I was glad I had not taken the camera.  

Trying to Find the Little Knoll

Visibility was not good, but it did not seem impossible, either.  I swam out to the swim buoy and found the Big Rock, then headed off at 150 degrees, but the current seemed to shift direction and I ended up several times heading due East.  After swimming for about 30 minutes, I assumed I had missed the little knoll and then surfaced to see I was South of Tower 14.  I descended again and headed North, then NW and surfaced, but without ever seeing the knoll.  I did get some pictures.

 Got this shot of a Gray Angelfish on the way out.

Found this Seaweed Blenny near the Big Rock before I started the long swim to the knoll.

 This Black Spotted Feather Duster was just one of many along the edge of the reef.

Saw a number of these Lantern Bass.

This Rock Beauty was a rare find.  I think this is the first one I have seen this year.

Of course, a dive on the sand leading to the First Reef Line would not be complete without swimming with a Green Sea Turtle.

Luis and I dive the Big Coral Knoll

The weather has been poor lately.  I aborted my dive to the Ledge of Turtles on Thursday.  The wind picked up after than and the NOAA forecast was worse, so I stayed out Friday and Saturday.  Sunday, Luis wanted to dive, so we went to Tower 17.

Surf was active, but better than on Thursday.  At first I wasn't going to take the camera, then I decided I should.  Sometimes it just looks bad.  This wasn't one of those times.  Visibility was 3 to 5 ft over the sand.  We found the concrete blocks, but missed the gun sight and Irish Thighs.  Missed the Cigar Rock, too, but found the overturned coral head to the North, so I adjusted and we swam right to the Gray Mid-way Rock.  Turned North and swam over to the Perpendicular Rocks, the Swept Rock and the Knoll.

Visibility was maybe 5 to  8 feet and just too poor to spot the unusual shots.

Spotted a Green Sea Turtle on the Knoll and got some shots.










Started shooting portraits to cut down on the backscatter.

 These shots turned out pretty well, but its mostly post-processing.

In the poor visibility, the turtle would swim right at me and get much closer than usual.

We headed back to the beach at 1000 psi.  I stalled over the sand at 10 ft to make my 2 hours, then surfaced to swim in.  Luis carried the flag, so exiting was easier than usual for me.    

Solo Dive on the Ledge of Turtles Aborted

The surf was pretty imposing this morning.  A five foot wave looks huge when you are in the trough looking up.  I got out past the breaking waves and swam to the Rock Pile, but the water was choppy and rough. I couldn't see the bottom.  I descended, but still couldn't see anything. Visibility was just inches. I decided I must be close and would just head up the reef at 120 degrees until the visibility got better. Hard to read the compass and maintain my position in the water column. I literally clawed my way East, but the visibility never improved.  Lots of surge. Constant current.  I was working hard and getting no where. I finally decided to give up, so I surfaced and swam back on top where I could see where I was going.  Getting out was rough, I was in 10 feet of water, then I was in 2 feet trying to get my fins off without losing the camera.  Hope its better tomorrow.

Solo Dive to the Little Coral Knoll

Windy this morning and from the East.  Surf was up.  Visibility was very poor, maybe 8 feet on the reef and only 2 over the sand.  I am surprised I found the Little Knoll in these conditions, but I did.




Found a Green Turtle sleeping on the knoll.  Got some good pictures.

 This wasn't the brightest turtle.  I came back later and he was circling a porous sea rod and seemingly stuck with his body on one side of the rod and his flipper on the other.

I watched to see that he could untangle himself, and he eventually did, but I was beginning to get concerned.



 

I found a fish I have not seen before, though it may be a young Red Grouper. I just don't remember the tail being a large or well defined as it appears to be in the picture.

I got this picture of a Giant Anemone, but my focus was on the Squat Anemone Shrimp in the middle of the picture and to the right of the anemone.  It might be easier to see on a larger picture.  

 This turned out to be a great shot of a Sergeant Major.  Really fills up the frame.

 This is a Juvenile Dusky Damselfish and is usually identified by a splash of orange on the top.

This is a Butter Hamlet.



Did a lot better on air yesterday, though I had about the same amount of air both days.  Two hours and 7 minutes today and two hours and 17 minutes yesterday. The difference was the surge and current.  

Solo Dive on the Ledge of Turtles

I got to the beach about 8:00 am and got into the water by 8:27 am. I was finishing off a tank with about 750 psi, so I just toured around in the sand between the beach and the reef.  I saw but did not immediately recognize a second of the mantis shrimp like bugs living in holes off Tower 20. Didn't really matter since I had not even taken my camera with me. I stayed near the reef until I had 28 minutes and then came back. Total dive time was 32 minutes.

I surfaced, warmed up a bit, quickly changed tanks and finished my coffee, then got back in for a solo dive to the Ledge of Turtles. I swam out to the Rock Pile and headed up the reef at 120 degrees. Took my camera this time. Hung out on the Ledge with the fish for the most of the dive.

Got some shots of a Brown Chromis that hung out on the coral heads on the East edge of the Ledge.

Got shots of the same reef fish that are usually there, like this Blue Tang

 this Sergeant Major

this Yellowtail Damselfish

these two Spanish Grunts

 and this Three Spot Damselfish.

I also had a Southern Atlantic Stingray swim across the Ledge.





Did well on my air:  .40 ft3 respiratory minute volume and a total dive time of 137 minutes, which is pretty much my longest dive so far this year.