Jake, Walt and I went for a quick Nitrox dive at Habitat this morning. Walt certified us for Ntirox this morning (scary!). 32 nitrox, 44 minutes, 74 feet max. Jake is diving tables until he can get a Nitrox computer. The current was heading south and was moving enough so the 'swim' back was a fast drift.

Anyway, lots of little things in the water column - at least 3 types of jelly type critters. Not in my ordinary ID books. Saw a small two inch high seahorse. I found a very cool flatworm/spanish dancer/nudibranch critter - all black with fine lines of yellow, maybe an inch long - no ID.

Saw lots and lots of moreys - chain morey free swimming, goldentail, goldentrail (inverted - light colored with brown spots), and two spotted moreys. A large Banded Jawfish hiding in his home.

Here goes the rest:
Horse-eye jack, tarpon, barracuda, mahogany snapper, schoolmaster, yellowtail snapper (capturing a brown chromis for lunch), chub, yellowfin mojarra, very large school of sennet, squirrelfish, soapfish, bluehead wrasse, creole fish, creole wrasse, puddingwife, spanish hogfish, stoplight parrotfish, baby spotted drum, Queen parrotfish, fairy basslet, butter hamlet, cesaer grunt, french grunt, spotted goatfish, banded butterflyfish, orangespotted filefish, honeycomb cowfish, spotted trunkfish, balloonfish, sharpnose puffer, trumpetfish, peacock flounder, redlip blenny, sharknose goby, peppermint goby, masked/glass goby, brindled goby, red hind, coney

Arrow crabs, anemone shrimp, hermit crabs, lots of sea urchins - reef and long spine.

I can't remember anymore

Linda, you lucky dawg! All that stuff in 44 minutes? Thanks for the report...now where did I put that Humann book...

That's quite an impressive list, Linda! oh oh oh ! I can hardly wait. Sharon, our Baywood librarian heads down tomorrow. She'll be stopping by with a couple pint size Baywood Bear t shirts. She has got our Baywood sign and I'll be looking for her on the streetcam. I read the advice for the street cam shots. Any tips for a good shot on the underwater cam?

It's just amazing. I keep telling my diving buddies from all over the US to get their buns down to Bonaire....just copied Linda's posting and sent it to them all as a "sampler"....just a tease!! Some folks just don't listen to good advice, however! LOL. Wonderful way to start the day, Linda! Thanks. Carole

I see a minimum of about 50 fish species on any dive here. I usually average 80+.

Best shot in the ReefCam - get close 3 feet or less if you have a sign. And make the letters thick and dark. Other than that stay for 3 plus minutes to guarantee a capture.

I'm amazed you remembered that many!

Maybe it's my age showing, but I know I forget a lot of what I see at the beginning of any given dive before I even get back to shore, and by the time I get around to logging I've forgotten a ton more. What's your secret?

Linda, first Nitrox, I guess the next thing Walt will have you 2 doing is going silently through the water using the Drager unit. Then we will all want to read about how much you see on the dive.

Scott, The Drager is the goal. Gotta do Nitrox first before the rebreather. Yeah Rah!

Susan, The secret? Either a good memory or REEF survey underwater forms to check off the species. For most of my dive logs, its just memory. I try to memorize them by family - which butterflyfish or hamlets I see. If I'm doing a REEF survey, I go in with the checklist. The easiest way to up anybody's species counts is to study the little fish - gobies and blennies and just cruise the shallows for your 'safety' stop.

Yeah, Walt is a stickler for doing it right and safely.

Hi Scott, just catching up with some of the discussions. My partner will be diving with the Draeger rebreather next month in the Caymans, I really envy him, he'll get so much closer to the marine life and he even gets to do a shark dive Does anyone know whether "rebreather diving" is available on Bonaire??

Hey Sarah!

Captain Don's has Drager rebreathers, training, supplies, etc.

So the answer is "Yes." There is rebreather diving on Bonaire. I plan on bringing mine for our trip this fall and renting tank(s)/purchasing Divesorb from Captain Don's.

Hi George, thanks so much.. that's good to know for our trip this Winter My partner is very happy, indeed.

Sarah,
Rebreathers are really the way to go... Walt dragged me into the whole thing about two years ago and I have been loving it over since.. The quiet operation combined with the lighter equipment set makes it great.. especially when you figure that a dive of around two hours is the norm, Habitat has both the Dolphin (good for all around diving and longer/deeper dives) and the Ray (smaller unit lighter with less bottom time). They also are a Drager Resort Site, which means they are also geared to support traveling rebreathers with selection of cylinders and consumables..

Sarah, As Jason stated everything is available on the island, furhter more, Walt Stark of Rek Tek N.V. is set up for teach the needed course work for certification with the Drager units. The pic Jason posted is of Walt and the Drager unit.

Wow, thanks Guys, I really appreciate your responses.. No doubt my partner will be using the "rebreather" on Bonaire this December.. and who knows, maybe me too... thanks again

OK, have a question, say my partner shows up at Captain Don's/Rek Tec and wants to do a "rebreather" dive, would he be able to stay down there for 2 hours on a regular boat dive, or are there specific "rebreather dives" say in the morning/afternoon? Thanks guys, ..

I would normally let jack answer this he doesn't appear to be lurking tonight.. and it is an issue that I think will be come easier as more rebreathers emerge... but right now I haven't seen much more then two or three units together at a time.. so naturally I think you can see the rule of "the good of the whole" applying here.. In situations like that I do the normal one hour dive as those poor constrained open circuit divers, and then with some minor cleanup. I use the same setup on another dive when I get back... besides believe me its a lot more fun when you have only rebreathers together .. This is for the Doplhin (the one in the picture).. for the Ray..(a smaller unit) an hour bottom time is just right..... My long dives I do from shore.. alot of them right in front of Don's.. say take a truck up north around Jake's and swim back to the other truck at Don's..talk about some fun...a took the shot above on a dive like that..

Duuh... silly me .. i forgot.. Jack is over on Curacao with Walt... no wonder its been quiet..

Yeah, we trade places on Saturday - kind of - they come back and Linda, I and the kids go over - the kids have a Kids Camp with World Dive Adventures at the Seaquarium and Princess Beach (Linda and I get to relax and dive and sleep and drink and...)

Jake

Jason, we now have all the info needed on the Drager/Dolphin units.. and also on "rebreather" diving Bonaire.. thanks so much for your earlier comments and info.