19 Nov 2021
The winds died down enough overnight for the boats to go back out so today, we double-dipped the Spiegel Grove. I’ve dove this wreck a few times now, but no matter how hard I try, I just really don’t like wrecks- they’re deep, so you don’t get as much bottom time, and while sometimes big things swim through, there aren’t as many fish and tiny things for me to photograph, so I was a bit disappointed when pretty much my whole boat wanted to double-dip.
I can almost always count on finding some barracudas though:
And this kind of strange view of a trumpetfish trying to get away from my camera:
A photobomber:
This lionfish was so drifting around quite boldly, knowing he was safe from being speared here on the wreck:
A well-encrusted marine flag:
About 20 minutes into this dive, we dropped the other 2 divers in my group off at the line, as they hit the “low air” limit (1200psi) for this deep dive, but my guide and I still had bottom time and air left, so we cruised around for another 15 minutes! I’ve been working on improving my air consumption and figured if I could match my guide (who does hundreds of dives per year), I’m probably on the right track 🙂
After an extended surface interval- 1 hour for most of the divers, 45 minutes for my guide, Abby, and me (as we came up last), we jumped for a second dive. Apparently, there’s a picture of Snoopy on the floor inside the wreck that my group wanted to see, so we went hunting for it. I had never heard of it before, so I wasn’t really sure what to look for and either we didn’t find it, or, being the last diver in the group, it just got covered back up by the silt. Bummer. Maybe next time? (or maybe not, I don’t really like being inside things while underwater- if I can see an exit, I’ll swim though stuff, and there was always an exit visible where we went on this dive, if sometimes a bit distant, but I like having just ocean above me)
I did find some cool equipment inside, like this milling machine:
and I’m calling this a drill press, though I’m not sure that’s right:
This junction box has been reclaimed by the sea:
A Rock beauty!! I’ve been wanting to find one of these guys for ages now- this one was skittish, so the picture’s not super-sharp, but I found one!!!
Scrawled filefish- this guy was hanging around our mooring line right at the end of the dive.
Unfortunately, the short-ish surface interval meant I didn’t have a lot of bottom time left for this dive, and the other divers hit their air limit, so we ended the dive.
Dive #4 – JJ’s Cave (Molasses Reef)
I’ve dove Molasses Reef multiple times, but this site was new to me. I did spot this Rock beauty as soon as I dropped though, so this site is a winner in my book!
It’s kind of hard to see, but this crab was seriously active, shuffling his way around that rock:
TINY FILEFISH!!!
He kept trying to hide in his coral, but I was persistent and waited for him to drift back out!
Isn’t he adorable!?
Usually when I see Christmastree worms, just their Christmastree parts are showing, but this guy was out and about and this is the first time I’ve ever seen their body!
Bearded fireworm!
I follow a couple Florida divers on Instagram, and recently, they started posting pictures of these guys, so I was hoping I’d be able to find one too. Success!
Trumpetfish:
Stingray, trying to hide in the sand:
Stingray face!
Spotted trunkfish- I don’t remember seeing this species before!
Something about the way this Schoolmaster hid in his little coral arch amused me:
Scrawled cowfish! I will never not photograph these guys- I love their shape and their little horns 🙂
Dive #5 – 9 Channel
So this is a terrible picture, but that Sergeant major was zooming back and forth, and I happened to capture him mid-derp:
Last time I was down here, the Sergeant majors were mating and guarding their nests- this one looks like he might still be protecting some eggs:
Bicolor damselfish:
Something about these three random fish was begging to be photographed (L-R: Longspine squirrelfish, White grunt and French grunt):
This Stoplight parrotfish has a remora stuck to him, and was darting around kinda spastically:
Green moray eel:
Threespot damselfish (juvenile):
I had seen several of these guys darting around, but this one was the only one to stay still long enough for me to snap a picture!
Not a great picture, but this was Brown chromis was one of the most elegant fishes I’ve ever seen- he just glided around gracefully, though a bit too quickly for my camera to track:
Another Brown chromis:
Spiny lobster:
We ended up seeing quite a few of these guys on this trip.
Spotted moray eel! Another guy I don’t see very often!
Despite the fact someone, likely a turtle, took a chomp out of him, this moon jelly was floating around quite efficiently:
So many Christmastree worms!
This is the winch that we see when we dive the site Winch Hole- either these 2 dive sites are nearby, or we covered quite a bit of ground on this dive!
Yellowtail snapper
Lettuce sea slug!!
Last time I dove Molasses, these guys were everywhere- the water was definitely cooler this trip (78*F as opposed to 84*F), so that probably has something to do with it. I wonder where they go- do they migrate?
A Green moray eel, just laying on the sand out in the open:
He was being cleaned by a couple cleaner wrasses:
A pair of Spotfin butterflyfish:
A pair of Blue tang (or a Blue tang + a photobomber Blue tang):
Juvenile Spanish hogfish!
Between the overcast skies and the fact that it was starting to get late (not that 4pm should be considered late…), the light underwater was fading fast, though that does bring out the hunters like these jacks:
It had rained while we were diving, but we were treated to this beautiful rainbow on our trip back to the marina:
