May (2008) marked 16 Years for Andrew and I! 🙂 It does not seem like it has been that long.
To celebrate, we went diving!
No, it was not a plot to finally be rid of me either 😛 We are starting our certification for Advanced Open Water and went for our Night Dive on May 25, 2008.
The Ocean is a whole new world at night! When we turned out our lights as part of the certification objectives, it was an eerie experience to only have the sense of feel and “taste”. If you got disoriented, it would even be possible to lose the sense of direction and which way was up.
Most of the usual fish that are seen during our daylight snorkel and diving trips pretty much hide at night (or sleep), and a lot of other creatures come out in their place. I saw a lot of Regal Slipper Lobsters like the one in this picture:
As well as fish like the Arceye Hawkfish (Paracirrhites arcatus) that usually hides in crevices and under arches:
And then there were Shrimp everywhere! And I mean everywhere…in the crevices, floating in the water and crawling on the coral! The Shrimp in the crevices were very noticeable at night because their eyes “lit” up like little red LED bulbs in the flashlight beam! It was rare that I did not see them in some crack or hole in the coral.
There was a large Ringed Moray eel and a Giant Hermit Crab in a Conch shell, too! This was one experience worth remembering!
Our next two dives were on May 26 and were in the morning cool while the seas were calm. In our first dive, we went Deep to see the Garden eels at about 94 feet. What an interesting entity– Long, white “cotton ropes” waving in the water. And in the interest of keeping this entry to a reasonable length, I am going to say, “this story to be continued”
Check back for Anniversary Celebration, Part 2…
