24 Jan 2025
Well, last night wasn’t as restful as I had hoped it would be. Between the noise of the engine and the 6am anchor drop, I didn’t get much sleep. Good thing I’ve got my own room so I can nap later, because we’ve got a full day of diving ahead of us today!
Dive #3 – Pixie Pinnacle (Ribbon Reef #9)
This would be a chaotic site with more divers, as we’re all circling that one pinnacle, but with just 10 of us, it’s not too bad. Plus, navigation couldn’t be easier!
Here’s a better shot of my boat:
Little lionfish:
Pipefish!
My buddy was having some lighting issues, so he took a few shots of me throughout the dive as he worked out the kinks:
Photo by Ryan
Scalefin anthias (male):
Scalefin anthias (female):
Blackspotted puffer:
Me!
Photo by Ryan
Strawberry nudibranch / Phyllidiella pustulosa:
Me, again!
Photo by Ryan
Network pipefish:
Cinnamon anemonefish:
Pipefish!
and another!
this was a very good site for pipefish!!!
Jelly during our safety stop:
So, here’s a fun first- my high pressure hose, the one that connects to my pressure gauge, started leaking. I had no idea until my buddy pointed it out. I tried spotting it in the pictures he took, but it was a pretty fine leak. Fortunately, I ordered one right before I left- I travel with a spare for every other hose except that one, and since most boats don’t really carry replacement hoses, I figured I should add one to my save-a-dive kit. I did have to have one of the guides help get the hose loose (it’s been hooked up since I got my regulator like 7 years ago), but it felt good to be prepared and “service” my own gear!
Dive #4 – Google Gardens
During breakfast, our boat moved over a bit to a new site.
A whole pack of Whitetail dascyllus:
Reticulated damselfish:
White-belly damselfish, with a yellow belly…
Seriously, who named this guy?!
Pseudoceros contrarius?
Papuan? toby:
There were 2 of them, but they weren’t interested in being photographed 🙁
Not a great shot, but something attacked this poor spadefish:
Lizardfish:
Dive #5 – Google Gardens
School of little blue fish:
Ornate ghost pipefish!!!
This is the first one I’ve spotted on my own- usually someone else has to point them out to me as they are great at hiding.
Apparently, they are quite uncommon in this area, so this was a very exciting find!
Wire coral goby:
Black cap damselfish:
So unfortunately, it was around this time that I started having strobe issues- one of my fiber optic cables came disconnected and I didn’t notice until the end of the dive, so the next several pictures aren’t great 🙁
Redfin bream:
Spotted parrotfish, terminal phase:
*hi*
Juvenile Spotted parrotfish:
Yellowface angelfish:
Triangle butterflyfish:
Yellow boxfish:
*hi!*
Coral beauty angelfish:
he kept diving back into the coral rubble so this was the best shot I could get, for now…
Brown tang:
Another school:
The most adorable little reef shark!
He was only a couple feet long 🙂
Dive #6 – Challenger Bay (Ribbon Reef #9)
A goby and his digger shrimp:
It’s kinda hard to see, but toward the bottom of the hole, there is a very translucent shrimp depositing sand- he’s got terrible eyesight, but is a great digger, so the goby keeps watch and warns of danger while the shrimp digs them a hole to live in.
Lionfish:
I feel better taking pictures of them here because this is their natural habitat, unlike the Caribbean/Florida where they are invasive and need to die.
Half and half chromis:
Speckled sandperch:
Dispar anthias:
It’s a bit hard to see in this shot, but he’s got the cutest little nose!
Dot-dash goatfish:
Unicornfish!
Again, love the nose!
A wee Oriental? wrasse:
Nurse shark! This one was quite large- about 5-6′ long!
She had a remora stuck to her tail and a pack of juvenile Golden trevally hanging around:
Phyllidiella pustulosa:
Pipefish!
Little Speckled butterflyfish, looking for a snack:
Another pipefish!
Chromodoris lochi:
Orangefin? anemonefish:
Most of these guys look quite similar to me so I just call them not-Nemos.
Scalefin anthias:
Here’s a better shot of the Dispar anthias, with his red mohawk and little pointy nose:
Anthias tend to come in schools, so here’s a group shot:
Pipefish!
And another!
This was another good site for pipefishes!
Look at this little goby, sitting boldly out of his hole!
A school of fish hanging out at the safety stop with us:
Dive #7 – Challenger Bay (at night!)
As the sun set, we got ready for our fifth and final dive of the day:
White-tip shark!
These guys were EVERYWHERE! Usually I see a few cruise through, but there were easily a dozen sharks on this dive and they hung around.
I noticed my buddy light up a sea cucumber with his torch, and as soon as the light hit it, it did this weird thing where it reared up. I’ve never seen that behavior before, so I found my own sea cucumber, hit him with my light, and sure enough, he raised up:
I don’t know what that behavior means, but it was cool to see his underside.
Little crab, hiding in the coral:
Lazy Sea star:
Sleepy little Masked puffer, sleeping on a coral:
Not a great shot, but there were also a ton of Trevally out hunting as well. It was a little disconcerting because they have no concept of personal space and would often dart right by your face.
Shark and Trevally:
This GIANT Yellow boxfish was easily the largest puffer I’ve seen- he was at least a foot and half long!
He also had a nose?
Not sure what that protuberance is, but my fish book tells me it’s just a thing they grow.
A pile of upside down jellyfish.
I probably could have gotten a better shot… not sure why I didn’t try for a better angle. Sorry.
After our dive, we had dessert (saved from dinner) and I called it an early night. Despite my afternoon nap, I’m exhausted. The boat will be anchoring nearby for the night, so the engines will be off- hopefully tonight is better for sleeping!