Delicate sound of thunder

Well today was a nice surprise as the water was flat calm and the current was non-existent. Despite an angry cloud front creeping in with a trailing thunderstorm, conditions were generally quite good.

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to the main wall we go.....

However with a lack of natural light, it was a little tricky getting the scenic shots that I wanted but you can't have everything. There were some sting rays and eagle rays cruising over the sand patches before the main wall but they were too far off to waste getting a shot on.

There were some nice big shoals of jacks and sweetlips mooching in and around the around the may cuts and barrel sponges not to mention the obligatory mass of triggerfish and fusiliers.

I was actually trying to get a shot of the arrow crab at the base of the sponges, but some diver got in the way...

After a good long immersion at depth, we headed back in a for pitstop and watch the sun set in preparation for the night dive. As we were getting back in the water, the clouds were pressing in and the horizon was ablaze with lightning.

Right off the bat, Jill found a really nice stareye hermit crab doing its thing, whatever it is that hermit crabs do. I shot a little video of it as well just for fun.

There was also a cracking little fringe back nudi racing across the hard pan. It gave me a real run for my money, every time I tried to get a shot the thing would do a complete 180 and zoom of in the opposite direction! I spend about 20 minutes going round in circles trying the get the little beggar to sit still for 2 seconds!

I eventually got a shot after it tired itself out........

About 40 minutes into the dive, there was a deafening roar of rain slapping the surface and flashes of light all around, the storm had caught up with us at last bringing a massive Northerly current. It was like someone had dropped a wall right in front of us as it was that difficult to make any head way against it. even the fish had a hard swimming against it, I kid you not.

Undeterred by mother natures light show and conditions we continued our quest for the small stuff, which included a fine selection of blennies and gobies.

Someone needs to take a brush to this little rough head blenny, he's got sand in his hair.....

We hunkered down behind some pinnacles on the mini wall to get out the current and to have a good look in the nooks and crannies. There was a really nice slate pencil urchin jammed in one of the crevices there which was hard to resist.

I just need to find a crayon and a felt tip urchin now......

There were also a great selection of juvenile octopuss to be seen, hanging on for dear life, one of which I've never seen before and it doesn't crop up in any of my books. I'm going to have to consult the experts on this one. But in the mean time, here's a common juvenile octopus that everyone can identify.

After 90 minutes with the current pushing us off to Cuba, we eventually decided to call it a night, but were treated to a very nice light show that was still going on as we got out out of the water.

I like the pretty lights......