You never can tell

A few days behind in posting this update but better late than never. A nice double dive with pretty good viz and a slight Southerly current. We had a nice swim out from the shallows to the Nicholson accompanied by one of the regular denizens of the deep before she peeled off to do her own thing.

As soon as we got to the Nicholson, Brutus showed up which is unusual as Spot is normally the first to make an appearance but no complaints here as Brutus is always equally happy to pose for us. Say "gorgonzola!"

The Nicholson is a pretty small wreck compared to all the others we've gotten into over the years, but the coral and sponges are so prevalent here along with the marine life, it's always such a pleasure to shoot here.

The main wall was showing a little bit of wear and tear as there was damage to quite a few of the more prominent rope sponge formations, either broken or missing completely. Don't know if this is due to the strong Westerly we had last week or careless individuals but it's a bit of a sad sight to see and very obvious is you dive the same spot a lot.

Happy to report that Spot did join us on the return leg from the wall but Brutus was still dominating the spotlight and continued to do so all through the second dive as well. He's such a prima donna............

Dive two turned up some wonderful little rough head blennies hiding in amongst the hard corals. You know I love my blennies........

Also found a nice trunk fish at a cleaning station getting a Sunday morning wax and shine. Don't forget to do under the pectoral fins!

And I had a nice game of hide and seek with a lovely little juvenile slender filefish who was practising his camouflage techniques. Peek-a-boo, I see you!

The weather is being a real bugbear just now but hopefully if the weather stays as forecast for next Sunday we'll finally get to go East at long last! And about time as it's been too long since we've jumped off a perfectly good boat.........fingers crossed.

Warm wet circles

True's beaked whales are rare. Really rare. Footage of them is even rarer, until now that is. Researchers working near the Azores are now the first to ever capture underwater footage of these aquatic creatures in their natural habitat. Amazing to see footage of a creature so rare and something we may never see again in our lifetime.

Link: HERE

As testament to their elusive nature, three new species of beaked whales have been discovered in the past two decades alone, bringing the total number of known beaked whale species to 22. Sightings are rare, and much of what’s known about these creatures is derived from observations of decomposing bodies found on shore and breaching events.

Beaked whale behavior explains why we so rarely see these creatures. They tend to live far offshore in deep waters, spending 92 percent of their time underwater. Among whales, they are the masters of the deep, feeding at depths reaching 9,800 feet (3,000 meters) and staying underwater for as long as two hours.

These whales use their specialized beaks to suck up squid, fish, and crustaceans. Following a big dive, they return to the surface and perform short, shallow dives at brief intervals. Unlike some whales and dolphins, they’re not attracted to boats.

The wind cries Mary

Nope, no diving this weekend either. Winds up to 24-28 knots just now and even on the leeward side of the island, we're getting 2-3 metre swells just now. Next week it's supposed to drop down to 12-14 knots so we might just get in the water.......