Birthday bliss
October/07/2007
I
turned 60-years young today and could think of no
better way to celebrate
than take a couple of dives with my buddies. The sea was a little rough so
when Rafa met us at the marina, he suggested going to Puerto Escondido about
27 km. south where the water was sheltered.
Gray and I met them an hour later on the dock at Puerto Escondido, a
modern-day ghost town complete with roads, curbs, street lights and nothing
else. Abandoned by developers, it sits in the lee of a desert island giving it
calmer waters. We set out for Coyote Point and reached it in minutes. Suited
up and down we went to visit some black coral reefs 100 feet below the
surface. The water was murky but full of nutrients as we descended down the
reef wall. As we swam, we were joined by several Cortez angel fish who were so
engaging that they swam by my mask, a couple of inches from my face. This is
very surprising as they normally ignore divers, but today, they were giving us
soft kisses as we dawdled along. We noticed a lot of garbage, soft drink cans,
fishing line (which does untold damage to a marine environment) tires and
potato chip wrappers on the sea bed floor. We reached total depth quickly and
enjoyed a vast wilderness of black coral at 101 feet. The term black is a
misnomer; this coral is actually yellow lime green. Though its living tissue
is brilliantly coloured, black coral takes its name from the distinctive black
or dark brown colour of its skeleton. Its a beautiful tree-like coral related
to the sea anemone family and its gorgeous in that it waves and bobs in the
current. At that depth, my computer was giving me 10-minutes dive time, so
without tarrying, we started out ascent and made a rather unremarkable return
voyage to our boat.
The second dive was lovely. It was about noon, the sun at its zenith and the
water visibility was about 60-feet. Obviously feeding time as all manner of
species virtually ignored us in favour of chowing down. We dove the opposite
way from the first dive, skirting the little bay along the shoreline about
25-40 feet deep. The usual assortment of characters were there: sergeant
majors, chub, Mexican hogfish, small groupers, soapfish, Cortez angels and
lots of barberfish. Saw an abnormal number of triggerfish - perhaps my
favourite - and one triggerfish that was an enormous 30-inches long. They are
usually quite skittish, but this elder statesman didn’t panic and allowed me
some viewing time as long as I kept a respectful distance.
Our pace was quite leisurely which left plenty of time for individual
exploring. My nose to the ocean floor, Rafa and I swam until he stopped and
pointed. It took me several seconds to surmise what his interest was. I’m
learning when Rafa points, be patient, and I was soon rewarded by eyeing a
little tunnel on the bottom. Thirty seconds passed before I then saw the tiny
head of a jawfish poke out of the hole, give its head a nod, acknowledge us
and withdraw just as quickly. Rafa has a SubSee Magnifier by Reefnet that’s a
brilliant device for examining the minutiae of coral polyps, tiny shrimp or anemones.
He whips it out and shows me the tentacle tubes of a rounded sea anemone and the
details of a starfish.The beauty at the micro level is astonishing. We spend several
minutes looking through the SubSee at the details of a huge nudibranch-like slug
called a Sea Hare trying desperately to get under the reef rock. Stumbled on a large green
moray with its terrifying clenched teeth and its smaller jewel cousin. The
volume of traffic wasnt heavy however I did come across different coloured
chub, parrotfish and hogfish that I hadnt noticed before. The speckled light
from the sun made the whole reef aglow and the concatenation of sea life
become much obvious and bolder. Little chromis and Cortez damselfish scooted
in and out of the coral rock. Treasures everywhere that left me with more
questions than I would ever remember topside.
We spent about 15-minutes at the safety stop level and on breaking the
surface, I wiped several small jellyfish off my mouth which unbeknownst to me,
had obviously parked there for some minutes. On board, I rinsed my face with
fresh water and looked at my computer log, content in knowing I had just
experienced my longest dive at 71-minutes and 59 depth.
than take a couple of dives with my buddies. The sea was a little rough so
when Rafa met us at the marina, he suggested going to Puerto Escondido about
27 km. south where the water was sheltered.
Gray and I met them an hour later on the dock at Puerto Escondido, a
modern-day ghost town complete with roads, curbs, street lights and nothing
else. Abandoned by developers, it sits in the lee of a desert island giving it
calmer waters. We set out for Coyote Point and reached it in minutes. Suited
up and down we went to visit some black coral reefs 100 feet below the
surface. The water was murky but full of nutrients as we descended down the
reef wall. As we swam, we were joined by several Cortez angel fish who were so
engaging that they swam by my mask, a couple of inches from my face. This is
very surprising as they normally ignore divers, but today, they were giving us
soft kisses as we dawdled along. We noticed a lot of garbage, soft drink cans,
fishing line (which does untold damage to a marine environment) tires and
potato chip wrappers on the sea bed floor. We reached total depth quickly and
enjoyed a vast wilderness of black coral at 101 feet. The term black is a
misnomer; this coral is actually yellow lime green. Though its living tissue
is brilliantly coloured, black coral takes its name from the distinctive black
or dark brown colour of its skeleton. Its a beautiful tree-like coral related
to the sea anemone family and its gorgeous in that it waves and bobs in the
current. At that depth, my computer was giving me 10-minutes dive time, so
without tarrying, we started out ascent and made a rather unremarkable return
voyage to our boat.
The second dive was lovely. It was about noon, the sun at its zenith and the
water visibility was about 60-feet. Obviously feeding time as all manner of
species virtually ignored us in favour of chowing down. We dove the opposite
way from the first dive, skirting the little bay along the shoreline about
25-40 feet deep. The usual assortment of characters were there: sergeant
majors, chub, Mexican hogfish, small groupers, soapfish, Cortez angels and
lots of barberfish. Saw an abnormal number of triggerfish - perhaps my
favourite - and one triggerfish that was an enormous 30-inches long. They are
usually quite skittish, but this elder statesman didn’t panic and allowed me
some viewing time as long as I kept a respectful distance.
Our pace was quite leisurely which left plenty of time for individual
exploring. My nose to the ocean floor, Rafa and I swam until he stopped and
pointed. It took me several seconds to surmise what his interest was. I’m
learning when Rafa points, be patient, and I was soon rewarded by eyeing a
little tunnel on the bottom. Thirty seconds passed before I then saw the tiny
head of a jawfish poke out of the hole, give its head a nod, acknowledge us
and withdraw just as quickly. Rafa has a SubSee Magnifier by Reefnet that’s a
brilliant device for examining the minutiae of coral polyps, tiny shrimp or anemones.
He whips it out and shows me the tentacle tubes of a rounded sea anemone and the
details of a starfish.The beauty at the micro level is astonishing. We spend several
minutes looking through the SubSee at the details of a huge nudibranch-like slug
called a Sea Hare trying desperately to get under the reef rock. Stumbled on a large green
moray with its terrifying clenched teeth and its smaller jewel cousin. The
volume of traffic wasnt heavy however I did come across different coloured
chub, parrotfish and hogfish that I hadnt noticed before. The speckled light
from the sun made the whole reef aglow and the concatenation of sea life
become much obvious and bolder. Little chromis and Cortez damselfish scooted
in and out of the coral rock. Treasures everywhere that left me with more
questions than I would ever remember topside.
We spent about 15-minutes at the safety stop level and on breaking the
surface, I wiped several small jellyfish off my mouth which unbeknownst to me,
had obviously parked there for some minutes. On board, I rinsed my face with
fresh water and looked at my computer log, content in knowing I had just
experienced my longest dive at 71-minutes and 59 depth.