15 Sept 2024
I woke up before sunrise, again, but sunrise pictures from my room just aren’t great. Instead, enjoy this picture of the shuttle boat rescuing some random boat that came through and missed the turn, stranding themselves in the shallows:
This little inlet is well marked with buoys, but that boat was either going too fast or just wasn’t paying attention.
Unfortunately, today was turnover day- weekend flights brought new divers and almost everyone on my boat was moved to another. Just me and one other diver remained. The new group was fine, but I really enjoyed the people from my first boat. Will have to make a point of finding them at meal times!
Dive #8 – White Hole
Fairy basslet:
Young blue tang:
He’ll lose his yellow tail as he continues to age.
Brittle sea star:
I’m not sure what this mass of white is, but it completely covered the entrance of this coral:
Midnight parrotfish!
So many times when I see these guys, they’re off in the distance and have no interest in being photographed, but this one was close enough for a decent picture!
Neck crab:
I feel like a lot of times, I’m not quite sure where the head on these guys is, but this one was in a more recognizable “crab” position.
Spotted drum:
I spotted a plastic tote, then two of these boxes on the reef floor:
They were filled with concrete “stars” that, according to my dive guide, are supposed to act as a seed surface for corals to grow on, but they’ve mostly been taken over by algae.
Flounder!
A very large (well over football-sized) Spotted trunkfish:
Dive #9 – Spooky Channel
French angelfish:
Squirrelfish:
Two stingrays!
Not sure if they were mating or fighting, but they stirred up quite a bit of sand:
Yellowline arrow crab:
This dive was less about pretty reefs and more about topography. We wound our way through an extended crevasse and while there wasn’t a lot of marine life, the light streaming through was pretty stunning:
My photos don’t quite capture it; you can get a better sense from this video my guide David shot of me:
Bar jacks:
Smooth trunkfish:
Yellowtail damselfish:
Between lunch and the 3rd dive, I went back to my room for my routine nap and found that my housekeeper had made a new towel critter!
Dive #10 – Gibson Bight
(bight= a concave curve or recess in the coastline)
Flamingo tongue:
Pederson shrimp:
I have no idea what this tentacled guy is, but he was wiggling his way across the ocean floor:
Mantis shrimp, in his hole:
I did not bring my pointer stick so I couldn’t lure him out.
Striped parrotfish (initial phase):
Another Pederson shrimp:
Spotted eagle ray off in the distance:
Mutton snapper:
Nassau grouper:
Turtle:
Spotted this little Sergeant major at the end of the dive:
then looked up and saw dozens more!
The sun sets on another decent day of diving:
