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Diving Bonaire: Dive-alogue - Small Wall/ReefCam Reef - May 7, 2002
Bonaire Talk: Diving Bonaire: Archives: Archives 1999-2005: Archives - 2001-09-01 to 2002-05-23: Dive-alogue - Small Wall/ReefCam Reef - May 7, 2002
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jake Richter - NetTech on Wednesday, May 8, 2002 - 4:54 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I had been itching for a pleasure dive (and to try out my video lights with my housed video camera) for days, so after I wrapped up a particular project yesterday afternoon I finally thought I had found my opportunity - I also needed to clean the ReefCam which was getting a bit crusty. A phone call and some last minute unexpected business delayed me enough that I didn't get into the water until nearly 5:30pm, just in time for a twilight dive.

The surge and waves were major - probably had something to do with the strong winds we had been having, again. Visibility was poor - only about 50 or so feet at the reef slope (over 100 feet normally). After I struggled my way in, housing, lights, mask, and fins in hand, I made for the ReefCam, noticing large clusters of brown chromis in the shallows, and everywhere else for that matter too.

It turns out (as I discovered some weeks ago) that chromis sleep in any small crack, crevice, or hole in the rubbles, rocks, and coral they can find, and as there's a lot of such ground cover in the shallows here in my backyard, there are in turn lots and lots of chromis.

I made quick work of the ReefCam cleaning job, attracting a couple of dozen juvenile/female blue headed wrasses to the algae feast my sign and Cam cleaning was producing. I then took off for the top of the reef slope at the small wall for which the dive site is named. There I found more chromis, creole wrasses, and spanish hogfish, among others, positioned almost vertically in the water above the coral heads. I recalled from a the Earth Day naturalist talk Caren Ekrich gave at our house a couple of weeks ago that this likely meant they were being cleaned. Lo and behold, that turned out to be the case. The fish were being cleaned by young blue headed wrasses, nipping whatever edible bits they could from the outer surface and gills of the fish clustered about wanting a cleaning. Alas, I couldn't as close as I would have wished with my video camera to capture this behavior properly.

I then headed down to the base of Small Wall, at about 60' (20 meters) to the small cavern that's down there, thinking to put my thus far rarely used video lights to good use on the rare species of cardinal fish and other cavern dwellers found there. As I entered the cavern (which is only about 3 feet high, 15' wide, and about 15' deep, I realized I had forgotten an important rule about entering small caverns when diving - see if anything else important is in residence. I looked right - nothing. I looked left and... oops... a large green moray eel about as long as I was. He seemed as startled as I was. I pointed my video camera at him, both to prove I had seen him as well as ensure that if for some reason he was really annoyed, the housing would be between him and myself (I had used a camera strobe at the Molokini Crater in Hawaii once to bonk an aggressive moray on the nose - he had a hurt puppy dog sort of look as a result, and I found out, much to my chagrin, that all he wanted was to sniff me for food, and not bite me).

Anyhow, this being a rather low-ceiling cavern, I found that it was difficult to aim my lights properly and properly illuminate "Mr. Green". It also didn't help that the cavern was full of brine shrimp (free floating, highly reflective little blotches of food). I also discovered upon later viewing of my video footage that you can hear it when the arms onto which the video lights are mounted are moved - sounds like a creaking door at a haunted house). As I was doing this I continued to back out the cavern. Mr. Green decided he had enough of me and my bright lights, swam across the cavern from left to right and stuck his head in a crevice, leaving his whole body hanging out. I took some more video of him and then swam off north along the wall face to leave him his space.

I toodled around a bit, looking at little critters in the reef, on coral heads, etc., saw two huge tarpon swimming past me (each almost as big as me, and I'm not exactly small), gazed in continual amazement at the seemingly never ending stream of "rush hour traffic" in the form of creole wrasses swimming north. As I made it past the second mooring in front of Black Durgon I was thinking to myself that Ellen Muller had told me about a seahorse around here ("here" being a really big area to try and find such a small critter). Having only once before ever randomly found a seahorse, I didn't have high hopes, but amazingly enough I found him right in front of me in a gorgonian (soft coral).

Orange Seahorse

I think it helped that he was orange while the gorgonian was dark brown. Anyhow, I had a good time [creak] moving my [creak] lights [creak] in order to provide him with good lighting so I could get some good footage. After a few minutes I decided it was enough (no doubt the poor thing was happy about that too) and I started my return to the ReefCam, having finished about half of my Nitrox tank. I kept looking for more seahorses and for frogfish, but to no avail, but them I literally stumbled over another(!) green moray - this one was smaller and more photogenic.

Green Moray
Green Moray Again

(I was using the still photo imaging mode of my video camera for these shots incidentally, and none of them needed to have any color or contrast/brightness adjustments made in Photoshop, amazingly enough).

I was surprised to find the second green moray because I thought they were rather territorial, and this one was maybe 200 feet from the other one's current lair.

After getting my fill with Mr. Green the Dux (the second), I filmed a nice spotted trunkfish, a goldentail moray feeding on particulate matter in the water, and figured I'd had it as good as I was going to get it. However, as I neared the ReefCam, I came across a blue spotted coronetfish, whom I filmed (but didn't take any digital photos of - sorry). He seemed okay with my attention for a little while, but got annoyed after a couple of minutes and swam off. Naturally, I followed for a bit, playing with my color filter and lighting some more along the way. He stopped, let me shoot some more video, and then took off into the increasing gloom.

At that point, with my air supply getting low, it was time to vacate the water, which I did, to discover the sun was about to set, painting the sky with amazing orangey-pink pastels.

All in all a fantastic dive, which fully justified my decision to play hooky from work.

Jake

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Gail Thomas on Wednesday, May 8, 2002 - 5:07 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Wondweful report Jake. We'll be staying at the Black Durgon July 6 - 13, and now I have a goal! To find the seahorse! Great photos too. Thanks for the report. Anxiously awaiting this 3rd trip! Gail

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Darryl Vleeming on Wednesday, May 8, 2002 - 5:11 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Wow,
Sounds like a great dive. I can't wait to get there!

Darryl

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kay Powers on Wednesday, May 8, 2002 - 7:19 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Oh Jake!!! I hope someday to be able to do a daily report just like yours. :)

The photos are great. What camera were you using?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Alan & Joan Zale on Wednesday, May 8, 2002 - 8:09 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks for posting the photos. They are great and give me something to shoot for in August.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Meryl Virga on Wednesday, May 8, 2002 - 11:46 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Jake love the straight on view of the moray....I think they are one of my favorite creatures....good angles and shots....hope to see more,,,,You should market your photos on your tee's they would sell like hotcakes.....(to us anyway!)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jake Richter - NetTech on Thursday, May 9, 2002 - 8:38 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks! I used my Sony PC-100 MiniDV Cam in a Light & Motion Mako housing. Above photos were taken in the 1152x852 still photo mode of the camera - so very low resolution to start with. Lighting was all just via video lights. I took the photos into Photoshop, cropped them, scaled them down, sharpened them, and the result is what you see above.

Jake

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Lorraine Meadows on Thursday, May 9, 2002 - 9:03 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Glad you took some time off to"smell the roses" and share your pictures.Great shot of the seahorse! (my favorites)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Glen Reem on Thursday, May 9, 2002 - 12:28 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Jake,

Just a typical 'evening change of light' dive!!! :–) All that (and more) is the reason I dive late afternoon as much as possible!! Try going out a little earlier: you can watch the chromises come down from the open water and then go in for the night. And watch the streams of creole wrasses and creolefish and schools of blue tang. So many things. Try it again. And read 'Watching Fishes' about 'change of light' times. The big tarpon are another reason. The ones I have seen are much bigger than Charlie--immense fish.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Andrew Clark on Thursday, May 9, 2002 - 2:39 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Ow! Ow! Ow! The PBD hurts. 13 days.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cynde Lee on Thursday, May 9, 2002 - 3:33 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

cam.jpgcam.jpgcam.jpgcam.jpgOK, now that I have gotten THAT out of my system...thank you jake for taking me on a "dive at 5" in my most favorite place in the world....I felt myself there with every fin kick...my only conselation is that I got to hang out at the Long Beach Aquarium last night and get tested on my species ID...looking at them through the glass...I think I better read your report again and again and again and again...Oh and Andrew it has been 8 months since Bonaire...the only cure for BPD is to go back...

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By DARLENE ELLIS on Thursday, May 9, 2002 - 3:33 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Jake!!! Oh, wow!!!! I was vizulizing myself right by your side during that awesome twilight dive!!! Thank you so much for the very discriptive way that you presented your dive. As I read it I truely drifted away and the pictures were just the finishing touch!!!!! Thanks my friend!!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Andrew Clark on Friday, May 10, 2002 - 8:35 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Cynde for me Post Bonaire Depression becomes Pre Bonaire Depression as soon as my next reservations are confirmed. Jake exasperates the syndrome with such detailed reports and great photos causing me to vibrate harder in anticipation of my next dive on Bonaire. Now only 12days to go!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ginny Stokes on Friday, May 10, 2002 - 12:39 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Andrew, I like your new definition of PBD - and I've got it too...but it's something like 280 days till our next trip back!

Jake, great dive report! I could picture being right there with you...

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cynde Lee on Friday, May 10, 2002 - 5:00 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

andrew....12 days...phttt...i can't complain too much because in 4 weeks we will be spending the week on catalina island (off the southern california coast) diving for the week...won't be quiet as warm though, water is still hovering around 59 degrees:)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Carole Baker on Friday, May 10, 2002 - 6:21 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Great report and photos, Jake...sounds and looks wonderful. I love that time of the day in the water...all sorts of activity ending and beginning. Thanks again and see you next week! CArole (Shutterbug)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By DJ on Friday, May 10, 2002 - 7:59 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Jake,thank you great report and wonderful pictures.You certainly make us all envious. Look forward to seeing you in July!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Becky Grennan on Monday, May 13, 2002 - 12:28 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Great report, Jake. Thanks for making it so entertaining. I agree that I felt as if I was diving along side you.

We here at Bonaire Talk would appreciate you playing hooky more often if it means more reports like these!

 


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