Sunday, 19 June 2016
Thursday, 26 May 2016
Maybe I'm amazed
Another grand day out thanks to the lovely boys and girls at Tortuga Divers. Conditions were excellent with only a 4-5 knots ESE at the surface. As usual most people on the boat wanted to see sharks, so we ended up going South again. I think the only way we'll end up going North at this rate is if we swim there!
We also had an influx of well meaning old divers on the boat. You know the ones that have been diving for 30 years but only dive once a year and and are still stuck in the Lloyd Bridges Sea Hunt era. They were giving me advice on where to store and how to store camera rig on the boat.
Sorry, but you don't even have a camera and when you've used a camera as much as I have on boats around the world, then you can give me advice. Until then please take you're ill informed opinions to the back of the boat and quietly throw them overboard. Thank you.
First stop was the Maze to play with the some sharks and play hide and seek in the cracks, crevices, crinoids and sponges. Only two sharks today, a male and a female and they both kept their distance which is no good if you're shooting wide angle. You make do with what you've got.......
Captain James was also doing his bit for the environment and giving the lionfish a taste of cold British steel. They don't like it up 'em!
Next on the list was Delwyns Delight which normally turns out to be pretty good for macro and in this instance we weren't proved wrong with painted elysia and elsyia crispata everywhere. Jill and Miss Leslie claim they were busy playing with squid and turtles but I don't believe them.........
And a nice little juvenile goldentail moray thrown in for good measure too.
And then you've got these pair who almost see things eye to eye.......
 | ||
| Can't tell if Miss Leslie is smiling or constipated in this shot......... |
Sorry, but you don't even have a camera and when you've used a camera as much as I have on boats around the world, then you can give me advice. Until then please take you're ill informed opinions to the back of the boat and quietly throw them overboard. Thank you.
First stop was the Maze to play with the some sharks and play hide and seek in the cracks, crevices, crinoids and sponges. Only two sharks today, a male and a female and they both kept their distance which is no good if you're shooting wide angle. You make do with what you've got.......
Captain James was also doing his bit for the environment and giving the lionfish a taste of cold British steel. They don't like it up 'em!
Next on the list was Delwyns Delight which normally turns out to be pretty good for macro and in this instance we weren't proved wrong with painted elysia and elsyia crispata everywhere. Jill and Miss Leslie claim they were busy playing with squid and turtles but I don't believe them.........
And a nice little juvenile goldentail moray thrown in for good measure too.
And then you've got these pair who almost see things eye to eye.......
Wednesday, 18 May 2016
Night Prowler
Once again it was time to slip in to the darkened waters of uncharted territories and find out what adventures would await us beneath in Poseidon's warm embrace. Or in other words we went for a night dive at our favourite little dive site to look for all the fun stuff.
As soon as we dropped down, we got a visit from an unexpected visitor. At first I thought it was a goliath grouper due to the size but as it it got closer it had the unmistakable dorsal and pectoral fins of a nurse shark but as soon as we had spotted it, it did a quick U-turn and had cleared off, so no picture this time I'm afraid. Sorry.
Jill, Miss Leslie and Jonatan headed out for the mini wall for a little look see and I was left to scour the hard pan and find the good stuff. As always the gobies and blennies were out in force and more than happy to show their good side to the lens.
And not to be outdone, the crustaceans put on a good show ( some more than others if the star eyed hermit crabs were anything to go by.....) with white speckled hermits, red legged hermits, the infamous star eyed hermits and a selection of clinging crabs. Best case of crabs I've ever had. And I don't say that too often!
Did someone order octopuses because there was a lot of them around in all sizes from tiny to bloody huge which was a feat to try and keep it in the frame. They were certainly active tonight.
No yellow spotted rays tonight which was a little surprising but the peacock flounders were their usual happy self. I love these things, they have the emotional range of Victor Meldrew on weed
Last but not least were my personal favourites, the nudis and flatworms. Unfortunately the flatworms I found were at the 1m mark and the surge was pretty ferocious so I didn't get the shots I want. But still, nudis!!
If ever you want a great shore dive and and even better night dive, Lighthouse Point is definitely the cream of the crop as far as I'm concerned. It's got something for everyone and we'll keep coming here till I get old (older), grey and my fins drop off.
 |
| Nope, I still don't know who this lot is........... |
Jill, Miss Leslie and Jonatan headed out for the mini wall for a little look see and I was left to scour the hard pan and find the good stuff. As always the gobies and blennies were out in force and more than happy to show their good side to the lens.
And not to be outdone, the crustaceans put on a good show ( some more than others if the star eyed hermit crabs were anything to go by.....) with white speckled hermits, red legged hermits, the infamous star eyed hermits and a selection of clinging crabs. Best case of crabs I've ever had. And I don't say that too often!
 |
| No, I have no idea what they are up to. Go and ask your parents....... |
Did someone order octopuses because there was a lot of them around in all sizes from tiny to bloody huge which was a feat to try and keep it in the frame. They were certainly active tonight.
No yellow spotted rays tonight which was a little surprising but the peacock flounders were their usual happy self. I love these things, they have the emotional range of Victor Meldrew on weed
Last but not least were my personal favourites, the nudis and flatworms. Unfortunately the flatworms I found were at the 1m mark and the surge was pretty ferocious so I didn't get the shots I want. But still, nudis!!
If ever you want a great shore dive and and even better night dive, Lighthouse Point is definitely the cream of the crop as far as I'm concerned. It's got something for everyone and we'll keep coming here till I get old (older), grey and my fins drop off.
Thursday, 28 April 2016
Human touch
A group of underwater archaeologists exploring the sunken remains of King Louis XIV's flagship La Lune
added a very special member to their dive team recently. OceanOne, a
Stanford-developed humanoid diving robot with "human vision, haptic
force feedback and an artificial brain". Who needs to go diving when you can just use one of these? :-D
Link: HERE
“OceanOne will be your avatar,” Khatib said. “The intent here is to have a human diving virtually, to put the human out of harm’s way. Having a machine that has human characteristics that can project the human diver’s embodiment at depth is going to be amazing.”
"OceanOne looks something like a robo-mermaid. Roughly five feet long from end to end, its torso features a head with stereoscopic vision that shows the pilot exactly what the robot sees, and two fully articulated arms. The “tail” section houses batteries, computers and eight multi-directional thrusters."
Link: HERE
“OceanOne will be your avatar,” Khatib said. “The intent here is to have a human diving virtually, to put the human out of harm’s way. Having a machine that has human characteristics that can project the human diver’s embodiment at depth is going to be amazing.”
"OceanOne looks something like a robo-mermaid. Roughly five feet long from end to end, its torso features a head with stereoscopic vision that shows the pilot exactly what the robot sees, and two fully articulated arms. The “tail” section houses batteries, computers and eight multi-directional thrusters."
Tuesday, 26 April 2016
A light in the black
As Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons once sang , Oh, what a night, late December, back in '63, what a very special time for me, as I remember, what a night. Except is wasn't December '63 it was just last night. Despite the conditions being a little lumpy up top and some surge down below, it was a great time to get some macro shots.
Starting with a very surprised looking squirrel fish at the 6m marker buoy. BOO!
And there were certainly plenty of tiny elysia crispata around in the vicinity as well. They were just hanging out and waving the in the current. Titchy little things.
A little bit further (ha!) a field at the 7m mark, there was a spectacular star eyed hermit crab. These things are so photogenic and this one had no problem sitting still for the camera and giving me it's all.
A short fin over to the mini wall turned up a minuscule flat worm but the current was pushing a bit so I'm ashamed to say I didn't get the absolute best photo you do what you can. This one looks like it has a tiny little isopod on the back (as far as I can tell, correct me if I'm wrong). Talk about small and smaller.
Oh, and not lets forget a juvenile octopus making a quick exit, scuttle left.
A little bit shallower proved to be a good place to watch a plethora of yellow spotted rays on the hunt for a late night snack.
And quite a few blennies were out and about as well. It was a pretty lively night with all the usual suspects as you would expect. Another quality night dive at our favourite little dive spot.
Starting with a very surprised looking squirrel fish at the 6m marker buoy. BOO!
And there were certainly plenty of tiny elysia crispata around in the vicinity as well. They were just hanging out and waving the in the current. Titchy little things.
A little bit further (ha!) a field at the 7m mark, there was a spectacular star eyed hermit crab. These things are so photogenic and this one had no problem sitting still for the camera and giving me it's all.
A short fin over to the mini wall turned up a minuscule flat worm but the current was pushing a bit so I'm ashamed to say I didn't get the absolute best photo you do what you can. This one looks like it has a tiny little isopod on the back (as far as I can tell, correct me if I'm wrong). Talk about small and smaller.
Oh, and not lets forget a juvenile octopus making a quick exit, scuttle left.
A little bit shallower proved to be a good place to watch a plethora of yellow spotted rays on the hunt for a late night snack.
And quite a few blennies were out and about as well. It was a pretty lively night with all the usual suspects as you would expect. Another quality night dive at our favourite little dive spot.
Thursday, 21 April 2016
A whiter shade of pale
Something for us to be constantly aware of, wherever we are in the world, as this affects everyone. Coral reefs are about as colorful as the ocean gets—except when they
bleach. Overly warm water can cause corals to spit out the colorful,
photosynthetic, single-celled symbiotes that live inside them and
produce most of their food. If the heat passes before the corals starve
to death, their symbiotes can return, bringing color and health back to
the coral.
As the globe warms, widespread bleaching events are occurring with disturbing frequency. These tend to occur during times of El Niño conditions in the Pacific, which add a temporary boost to the warming water at some reefs. The current record-strength El Niño is sadly no exception with up to 93% of the Great Barrier reef having been affected to one degree or another.
Link: HERE
“We have now flown over 911 individual reefs in a helicopter and light plane, to map out the extent and severity of bleaching along the full 2300km length of the Great Barrier Reef. Of all the reefs we surveyed, only 7% (68 reefs) have escaped bleaching entirely. At the other end of the spectrum, between 60 and 100% of corals are severely bleached on 316 reefs, nearly all in the northern half of the Reef.”
As the globe warms, widespread bleaching events are occurring with disturbing frequency. These tend to occur during times of El Niño conditions in the Pacific, which add a temporary boost to the warming water at some reefs. The current record-strength El Niño is sadly no exception with up to 93% of the Great Barrier reef having been affected to one degree or another.
Link: HERE
“We have now flown over 911 individual reefs in a helicopter and light plane, to map out the extent and severity of bleaching along the full 2300km length of the Great Barrier Reef. Of all the reefs we surveyed, only 7% (68 reefs) have escaped bleaching entirely. At the other end of the spectrum, between 60 and 100% of corals are severely bleached on 316 reefs, nearly all in the northern half of the Reef.”
Sunday, 17 April 2016
Lost Sailor
About 500 years after it sank to the bottom of the Arabian Sea, researchers believe they’ve found the Esmerelda, a
ship that was in Vasco da Gama’s fleet during his second voyage to
India. The excavation has so far yielded over 2,800 artifacts. It will be a while yet before the sea gives up all of it's secrets...........
Link: HERE
"The oldest shipwreck from Europe's Golden Age of Exploration has been found off the coast of Oman, the country's Ministry of Heritage and Culture announced on Tuesday. The wreck is believed to be that of the Esmeralda, which was part of a fleet led by legendary Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama during his second voyage to India (1502-1503)."
"Mearns' team spent six months researching Portuguese archives to zero in on potential locations for the Esmeralda and the São Pedro before locating the wreck site in 1998, the 500th anniversary of da Gama's discovery of the Carreira da India."
Link: HERE
"The oldest shipwreck from Europe's Golden Age of Exploration has been found off the coast of Oman, the country's Ministry of Heritage and Culture announced on Tuesday. The wreck is believed to be that of the Esmeralda, which was part of a fleet led by legendary Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama during his second voyage to India (1502-1503)."
"Mearns' team spent six months researching Portuguese archives to zero in on potential locations for the Esmeralda and the São Pedro before locating the wreck site in 1998, the 500th anniversary of da Gama's discovery of the Carreira da India."
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