Bring me sunshine

In the immortal words of Morecambe & Wise, "bring me sunshine" because we're getting solittle of it here just now with multiple cold fronts sweeping in from the North North East which really has put a damper on the whole diving thing.

Normal services shall be resumed when the wind drops off and starts blowing the right direction. In the mean time I took a photo of the conditions out there today.......

Friend of the devil

Now this is something you don't see every day, very rare footage of the Black Sea Devil anglerfish. There’s less than half a dozen pieces of footage of the anglerfish in existence, but the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) got lucky recently and have recorded the first ever sighting of a Black Sea Devil anglerfish in its natural habitat.

 The footage was captured by MBARI Senior Scientist Bruce Robison while controlling the remotely operated vehicle Doc Ricketts in Monterey Bay. The 9cm-long anglerfish is swimming around at a depth of 580 meters (1,900 feet), and due to the species this is identified as a female complete with fishing pole (the males don’t have them).
As the video explains, this is an ambush predator.

It is not built for speed, instead using the light at the end of its fishing pole to attract fish and squids within range to be sucked into that huge mouth. This example is also an easy one to identify if seen again due to the broken tooth hanging out of its mouth (presuming it doesn’t fall off).

Taking on the world

It's been a while since we last went shore diving due to familial responsabilites, etc. but we managed to squeeze in an early morning dive. The viz was fantastic but there was an absolute ripper of a Northerly current which meant we had to keep it very low and very slow.

Looks can be deceiving......

We wern't on a particular mission for anything today, it was just an excuse to get in and get wet and play around with the small stuff, which you will always find here in abundance without fail. There's such a great selection of gobies and blennies here, you really are spoiled for choice.

There also seemed to be a lot of trumpetfish around this morning as well, far more than I usually see here so it was nice to go stalking them through the sea fans and sponges.

Peek-a-boo, I see you.

We were pushing 90 minutes on the dive with still plenty in reserve but with the condtions the way they were, it really didn't make much sense to carry on when we'd already seen so much good stuff.

And of course the best way to finish any dive is a visit to Chef Jen at the Greenhouse Cafe for some of her great food. Today's culinary treat was a green eggs and yam wrap with extra cheese, bacon and hot sauce, quite possibly my new favourite.......

The Way I Feel Inside

Think you know your fish? Think again because you probably haven't seen them like this before. Sandra Raredon, who has been at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History for 25 years has been involved with using radiology as part of her job responsibilities. Her striking black-and-white radiographs, or x-rays, of fish, stingrays, eels, and seahorses—“anything with a backbone,” she notes—reveal the complex bone structure in a level of detail reminiscent of fine engraving.

Pretty spectacular stuff. You can see the entire collection in the link below.

Link: HERE

Cold day in the sun

Fantastic video clip from Nat Geo previewing "the man who doesnt breath air" premiering on 26th Oct featuring Stig Severinsen. Jump to 1:30 to see the spectaular stuff.

Dragons & Fables

With the relatives safely back home, it was time to exercise the water wings and get wet again on the East side, ably assited by the magical little dive pixies that make every dive so perfect (or Tortuga Divers as some other people call them).

The forecast wasn't looking at it's best for the morning but once we motered out round the North side for a bit, it cleared up nicely. With a full boat, the dive pixies were out in force to help everyone that needed it with future dad, Captain Dave at the helm, Captain Nat looking slightly green around the gills, and Sarah and Linda keeping everyone entertained.

We hit McCurley's Wall first which never disappoints as it's easy to get over to Babylon for a mooch around before heading back. I do like the overhangs and sponge formations at McCurleys as they are just so photogenic.

We did keep a close eye out in the blue the entire time but nothing made a fly by this time around, still we had massive shoals of fusiliers and trigger fish for the duration, so more than enough to keep us entertained.

Between a rock and a hard place. At the bottom of the Babylon pinnacle.

We got a quick lap round at Babylon before heading back to McCurleys to finish of the dive with some more epic scenery with the help of a very mild current.

 

After the half time oranges, we motored a little closer to home to somewhere where we've never dived before, Dragons Lair which supposed takes it's name from some of the outcrop that mildly resembles a dragons head. We could have chosen to see this rare natural phenomenon (baa-baa-ba-ba-ba. Sorry, old joke), but therewere other plans a foot.

Before we got in the water, Captain Dave gave us directions to a quiet little place on the site to check out which we did and found some very nice stuff there including some monsterous channel crabs (which I didn't get a shot of as my macro lens just isn't wide enough) but I did manage to squeeze in some lobster, of which there were plenty to see.

 There was also plenty of lionfish around, all of them at least 12-16 inches so it looks like the boys will have to get in there and do some house keeping. L'assassino Mancini would have had a field day here. There was a good selection of the little stuff to find as well with plenty of hermit crabs hiding in the undergrowth.

 There was also a good selection of blennies and gobies to entice out for a few shots infront of the lens before diappearing back into their holes. I love these little guys, hours of entertainment just watching them do their thing.

We also had a guest appearance from a juvenile golden tail moray as well but he was a little shy to come out and say hello so I had to get up close and personal to get the shot.

As we were heading back to the boat I was getting a little concenred as we had yet to find any nudibranchs but I needn't have worried as right to wards the end there was a lovely little tritonia hamnerorum with an egg ribbon on a sea fan which was exactly the kind of finish I was looking for to end a perfect days diving. There's never a bad dive when nudis are involved............

Vyieke o Haros na Psarepsi

Now this is a great find, as an international team of divers and archaeologists who are investigating the site of an ancient Greek ship that sank more than 2,000 years ago off the remote island of Antikythera have not been disappointed. Not only is the site bigger than they thought, it also contains a treasure trove of artifacts.

Link: HERE

The ship, a luxury cargo vessel carrying Greek treasures from the coast of Asia Minor west to Rome, sank in treacherous seas around 70 to 60 BC in some deep water. The ship is located at around 55 meters so the team at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) utilized a diving exosuit.

The Antikythera site is a treacherous one indeed. Back in 1900, when it was first discovered by sponge divers, the swimmers had to end their mission after one of the divers died of the bends and two were paralyzed. But not before they pulled up a spectacular haul of treasures, including bronze and marble statues, jewellery, furniture, luxury glassware, and the surprisingly complex Antikythera Mechanism.

"The evidence shows this is the largest ancient shipwreck ever discovered," says Foley. "It's the Titanic of the ancient world."

The archaeologists also recovered a beautiful intact table jug, part of an ornate bed leg, and most impressive of all, a 2-meter-long bronze spear buried just beneath the surface of the sand. Too large and heavy to have been used as a weapon, it must have belonged to a giant statue, perhaps a warrior or the goddess Athena, says Foley
Talk about the find of a lifetime!