The Cove - Take Action

On our bellies, hanging off the bow, Mary and I watched dolphins effortlessly ride the bow wake. Two adults swam on each side of the bow. A baby, amazingly fast, darted in and out among the adults. Not able to match the speed of the adults the baby eventually peeled off and was immediately followed by one of the adults, its mother perhaps?

Three adults easily keep pace with the boat as one flips over on her back. Mary claps and shouts with delight as the dolphin shows off her skill at swimming upside down. Her belly is swollen, she is pregnant, and Mary instinctively reaches out her hand knowingly.

Sea Anemone Mouth

Sea Anemones are members of the phylum Cnidaria (Nigh-DARE-ee-uh) derived from the Greek cnidos, meaning "stinging nettle" because they have stinging cells called nematocysts.  The anemone has numerous tentacles with these stinging cells embedded in them and if something comes in contact with the tentacle the stingers will discharge.  All quite fascinating but probably the most interesting and beautiful part of the sea anomone is its mouth which also functions as its other end as well.

Encircling the mouth are a number of tentacles to catch prey and particles suspended in the water.  If you place your hand on the tentacles you will notice that they are sticky and will stretch with your hand as you pull it away.  Don't worry the nematocysts cannot penetrate your palm.

We observed many varieties of anemone in the Pacific Ocean.  This picture gives you an idea of how big the anemone can grow.  Notice the clownfish swimming about.  Clownfish live in a symbiotic relationship with the anemone providing a very secure home which the clownfish will tenaciously defend.

Reflections of Beauty

It is said that the eye is the window of the soul, yet, fish are said to have no soul. Its window is a reflection of expressionless darkness encased in beauty for what purpose?

Giant Hermit Crab - Cozumel

After two wonderful morning dives on a small fast boat we had decided to take the afternoon cattle boat, something we are usually loathe to do, but this being our last dive day we hated to waste the opportunity for one more dive on Villa Blanca Wall in Cozumel.

Bearded Fireworm

End of the diving week and you enter that time of purgatory; the preflight surface interval.  You cannot dive before your flight and you have every intention of doing one of those interesting things you saw in a  brochure, like hiking remote trails, birdwatching, fishing, museums, you know all that tourist stuff.   So you grab your snorkel gear, head back to the beach and jump in.  Why dry out before you have to?

Mantas of Yap Part 3 - Final Encounters

For two more days we dived the same spot with each successive dive better than the last. It was as if the Mantas were coming to observe us and had asked all their friends to join them. On one dive I counted eleven Mantas and Gordon said he counted twenty-two.

Mantas of Yap Part 2 of 3 - First Encounters

After a 60 minute surface interval and constant reassurance from Gordon that we would see Mantas we did a back roll into our second dive.

Repeating the same procedure we had on our first dive we lay on the bottom staring into the dark water ahead. Waiting what seemed like an eternity I was certain that we would have a repeat of our failed first dive. Suddenly I saw Gordon move to our line of sight and point up toward the coral mounds. Our eyes strained to see what Gordon was pointing at and then a black mass began to slowly and gracefully appear.

Mantas of Yap Part 1 of 3 - First Dive

Gordon pointed to a spot and raised both palms and patted the water in a downward motion. This was my signal that this was my spot and that I was to lie down on the bottom. Lying prone at 76 feet in the middle of Miil Channel at Manta Ridge I felt more like a hunter waiting for prey to amble into our lethal trap than a scuba diver.

Looking to my right Mary was intently willing her eyes to see beyond what was humanly possible. Looking behind me Gordon was hovering with his fin tips barely touching the sand. Giving me the okay sign he pointed two fingers to his eyes and then swept a pointed finger in the direction of the current.

Twilight in the Islands

Twilight is a most enchanting time in the islands; the briefest of moments between the last breath of light and birth pains of darkness. A magical moment where primal urge drives one to waters edge, eyes, and hearts intensely fixated on the yellow orb, as if the mystery has yet to be solved. Reverent silence ensues as shadows flirt with fading light; a final flash signals defeat as the smoldering flame majestically merges with the sea. Darkness is born and night embraces the island.

Web Burrfish - Bizarre But Cool

On top of a sandy ledge near Saba we found this Web Burrfish willing to pose for us.  To describe this fish you would have to use the word bizarre. The piercing iridescent eyes, bright yellow spines with reticulated pattern on it's back and sides make this boxy fish one of my favorite bizarre fish.  And I think you would agree, he is a really cool looking fish!

Students Learn About the Ocean Floor

Through Donorschoose.org Mary and I have had the pleasure to support many projects in our public schools that help to educate children about the oceans of the world.  In partnership with other Ocean bloggers and the Oceans in the Classroom Initiative we have fully funded science projects from ocean floor spreading in Arkansas to invertebrate aquariums in Texas and breaking science news in Michigan.  Kids are learning science of the ocean and we love receiving letters and photos from the children.  Below is an update from Mrs. D's 6th grade class in Arkansas and photos of the children working with their sea floor spreading toolkit.

Dream Maker Octopus

Sama pointed to a cluster of rock at about 60 feet and when I circled around to where he was pointing all I saw was a swarm of wrasses. Looking over at Sama I hunched my shoulders and he pointed again at the spot directly in front of me. That is when I saw it, the outline of the octopus pressed against the rock.

Mary and I were diving from Wananavu, Fiji, at a site called Dream Maker at Thakau Vatu Latha or Sail Rock Reef. Comprised of five large coral heads, with caves and swim-throughs, the site is filled with soft corals called dendronepthia (carnation coral) in bright colors of yellow, purple and pink. On the edges of the site schools of snapper and sharks can be seen swimming against the current.

Peleliu Corner - Adrenaline Rush of Reef Hook Diving

Peleliu Corner is where Peleliu Expressway and Peleliu Cut merge and the ocean currents converge into the most extreme ripping current you will encounter as a diver. There is a reason they call part of this dive Expressway and that is because if you cannot hook in you are most definitely taking an expressway out to open ocean. U.S. Coast Guard approved transponders and safety sausage were required on this dive for good reason.

We had descended along Peleliu Wall down to about 104 feet. Our plan was to follow the wall for part of the dive slowly ascending to the top of the reef. Once we were given the signal by the dive guide we were to pop over the top of the wall as a group and hook in. When it was time to end the dive the dive guide would give us another signal and then, as a group, we would unhook and sail down the plateau out to open ocean where our boat would be waiting.

Upsidedown Jelly

Did you hear the story about the winner of a competition for what was billed the "best job in the world". Ben Southall was stung by a deadly jellyfish, called an irukandji, while getting off a jetski at Hamilton Island in Whitsundays. The bloke beat out 34,000 other people to get this dream job and almost dies from the sting of a jellyfish no bigger than your fingernail. As they say in Australia, no worries, he made out okay and I am sure he is getting his share of shouts at the pub these days.

When you think about jellyfish I bet you picture in your mind a deadly killing machine such as the lethal box jellyfish, Portuguese Man-of-War or the feared irukandji, but you probably never think about the benign upsidedown jellyfish as pictured in the black and white photo above.

Down Draft at Villa Blanca Wall

Villa Blanca Wall is a sloping wall just offshore Cozumel with a ripping current. Before Hurricane Wilma, in 2005, it was peppered with huge sponges and gorgonians. Wilma pretty much wiped these out and covered everything with white sand. This is still a great dive and the changes to the reef don’t seem to have reduced the number of fish and critters, quite the opposite, for some reason there seem to be more.

Mary and I have been diving Cozumel for years and have both fond and frightful memories of Villa Blanca Wall. My most memorable dive there was with a young dive guide that, for some idiotic reason, decided to go against the current. Mind you Cozumel diving is pretty much all drift diving and to go against any strong current, much less one at Villa Blanca Wall, is insane.

Bluespotted Cornetfish

Ascending to the top of the reef, at Alice in Wonderland, Curacao,  I noticed out of the corner of my mask blue spots.  Staying perfectly still were two bluespotted cornetfish just to my left.  I had heard about the bluespotted cornetfish schooling but had never seen more than one at a time so I approached them very slowly expecting them to bolt at any second.  To my amazement they both stayed long enough for me to get some video and a couple of shots.

What really strikes you about the bluespotted cornetfish is how oddly shaped they are.  With a long thin body, bright blue spots and blue stripes and a very long tail that looks like the business end of a foil they definitely are odd-shaped swimmers of the sea.

Star Puffer

Rounding a coral mound on a dive site called Golden Crown in Viti Levu Fiji we spotted a large fish just sitting on the bottom.  We approached it very slowly and got real close but it lay perfectly still, not moving anything not even its eyes.  I was thinking it must be dead or hurt but as I moved closer I noticed the eyes swivel slowly as it followed Mary's movement.  I could not identify the fish so took a series of shots and forgot about the encounter until we got home. 

We discovered later that it was a Star Puffer and it likes to rest on the bottom all day and eat at night.

Waitatavi Bay, Fiji - Surface Interval at the End of the World

Across the Somosomo Straits from Taveuni is the remote beach of FijiFiji at Waitatavi Bay on the island of Vanua Levu. If you dive the famous and spectacular Rainbow Reef you will most likely make a surface interval at this remote paradise. A crescent shaped white sand beach surrounded by palm trees, you could not imagine a more beautiful place to off gas after diving Purple Wall or The Zoo.

Close your eyes and you hear the gentle whisper of waves on the soft sand, the far away melody of tropical birds and gentle rustle of palm fronds. Open your eyes and the sparkling clear water reveals the shallow pristine coral that jumps out at you in a rainbow of colors like jewels under glass. Look over the Straits back toward Taveuni and you see the beautiful mountains of the Garden Island with fluffy cotton white clouds adorning the peaks. Wade in the warm water and clouds of brave little bream dance around you gently pecking at your legs. Take a walk on the sandy white beach and you feel like you have truly arrived at the end of the world.

Now That's Amore! - Octopus Style

Debris of shells and coral at the opening of an old tank was our first clue that an octopus lair was inside.  No telling how many divers had finned right over the tank without spotting the octopus.  Talk about hiding in plain site, she could not have chosen a busier place to set up her nursery, right next to the pier steps where dozens of divers entered and existed each day.  Yet none of the other divers mentioned having seen her and we kept her secret to ourselves.  On each shore dive we would stop to say hello on our way out and upon our return we would peek in to say goodbye.  Of course the octopus could have cared less but it was a fun ritual anyway.

Gibbs Cay with Tim Dunn

Tim had the throttle of the Carolina Skiff wide open as we skipped over the surf weaving in and out of clear turquoise water. As we rounded the south end of the island and hit the eastern trade winds the ride became rougher and we were showered with sea spray. Turning north Tim throttled back and we saw our destination, the uninhabited island of Gibbs Cay.

At the southern most tip of the Bahamas and north of Hispaniola lies the Turks and Caicos Islands. We had spent a week diving with Oasis Divers on Grand Turk and Tim Dunn was our divemaster for most of that week. Tim’s family has been on the island for over 300 years and at one time owned Salt Cay’s Harriott Salt Company that provided about half the salt used in North America. Tim’s family still owns the great white stone house called the “White House” on Salt Cay and Mary and I were thrilled to be given a personal tour of the great house by Tim, but that is a story for another time.