It started as a photo dive. I grabbed Nick as my dive buddy and headed out to Las Islas deep to work with my new camera. The viz was great...about 80ft, water temp 82F, and almost no current. At about 70ft, we came across a very long fishing line lying along the sandy bottom and stretching as far as we could see. It is generally our policy that if we can cleanup reef debris, we do. Plastic bottles and bags that blow into the water are often mistaken for jellyfish by turtles looking for an easy meal. Fishing line can entangle in corals and fans causing them to become sick or damaged. Needless to say, trash in the water and on the reef is harmful to all the reef life. Nick began to gather the line, carefully removing it from corals and sponges as he worked his way along the bottom. (He was my hero for the day!) But this reminded me of something I like to tell divers. It's very important not to pull the line to you but to gather the line by following it and untangling it or making small cuts to release it. By pulling it, you run the risk of doing more damage by breaking coral and sponges. At times, it may be impossible to remove the line because of limited bottom time, or because it's grown into the reef. Other items such as cans and glass bottles may actually become habitat for reef creatures so if it looks like it's been down for a while, it may be best not to disturb it. Most importantly, if you find yourself gathering a good amount of line, be careful not to entangle yourself or your gear and beware of rusty hooks! Just like our topside homes, a little cleanup on the reef is a good thing.
Nick carefully removes fishing line from soft coral.
I often remind divers to go slow...and they usually assure me they do. But one diver's version of slow is another's race down the reef. It's easy to see all the colorful fish that swim up in the water column and cross our path. Or the stingrays that stir up a cloud of sand as they search for mollusks. But the really small stuff, the teeny tiny critters that are tucked into crevices and overhangs, often well camouflaged, require a slow pace and a trained eye to find...okay, and a little luck too!
Good knowledge of reef behavior comes in handy also. For example, if you find almost any variety of anemone (corkscrew, giant, sun, etc...) look closely. Almost without exception, there will be 2 or 3 types of shrimp-- Squat, Pederson, Spot Cleaner, and Red Snapper to name a few--and a couple of crabs such as the Arrow Crab and Banded Clinging Crab, all in residence on or around the anemone and many are no more than an inch or smaller in size. These tiny critters are hard to spot if you're swimming down the reef at Mach 1 and they can be just as much fun to see as turtles, sharks and rays. They are definately more challenging to find making them much more special when you do see them.
So, go slow...no, I mean really slow and enjoy the hidden treasures of the miniature reef.
This Juvenile Trunkfish is the size of a green pea and hides in the cracks and crevices of coral for protection.
This Spotted Cleaner Shrimp was eager to pose for the camera and even offered to clean the lens port!
The wind is howling and the port is closed today so divers are enjoying the always constant cenotes. Now I have a moment to reflect on some incredible diving I did last week and even share some of it with you.
I was in the water a bit more than usual diving with clients and saw some incredible things. The waters were teeming with bait fish so we were seeing Sailfish and Marlin in about 20 feet of water on almost every dive. Also cruising all around us were schools of Spanish Mackeral and the occasional Dolphinfish (not to be confused with Dolphin, the mammal). Unfortunately, the sport fishermen were also enjoying the abundance of game fish. One day while I was out with the new Nikon D300 (thanks, honey), I came across a large, barnacle-covered loggerhead turtle. As they are usually a bit shy, I was surprised when he permitted me to get close, and as I approached, I saw that he was making a meal out of the carcass of a filleted Dolphinfish! I must confess that I thought turtles were vegetarian!
We had a big remora (shark sucker) out on Las Islas that tried to hitch a ride all week with every diver that passed by. I saw 2 Hawksbill turtles, a Loggerhead turtle, and a Green turtle all on just one dive! And then there's a crazy phenomenon going on that everyone has noticed...we've been invaded by thousands of sharp nose puffers. They're in every soft coral and sea fan on the reef...10 to 20 at a time! Thank goodness they're cute! Wouldn't it be awful if it were something like Sea Cucumbers instead???
With the ocean temps at 81F, I'm eager for the wind to stop blowing so I can get back out there and play with my new camera. Until then, I'll have to be satisfied with last week's memories.
Looking back at the blog, I realized I haven't written anything about DIVING in a while so I thought you folks might like an update.
After a week of wind and high seas, a north wind finally arrived on Saturday and the seas are calm, viz is incredible and diving is awesome! I went out twice 2 days ago and saw turtles, lots of morays, nurse sharks, lobsters, jawfish, barracudas as well as all our usual underwater locals. Ocean temps are running about 81F / 27C and the cenotes remain a constant 76F / 24C.
As we approach the month of May, we'll be keeping an eye out for the occasional Whale Shark and Manta as they make their migration through our area to the tip of the Yucatan Penisula to feed for the summer. Meanwhile, we will continue to jump daily in the pond just out front for excellent Caribbean reef dives.
Here's the first entry in our "Show Us the Logo "contest. Frosty hails from Minnesota, home of Tom and Andi Moffatt. This smart snowman is seen here, heading for the airport to escape the cold and visit his favorite dive shop in Mexico.
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