As we were leaving the harbor, there was a pod of about 20 Spinner dolphins that surrounded the boat and travelled along with us for a little way. By the time I got my camera out of the wash tank, I pretty much missed the action. I tried to judge when one would surface and could not with the time lag in the camera. I could see them very clearly underwater, so I took a photo hoping that would turn out. It didn't. You can see the shadow, but not like it was live.
Spinner Dolphin
The sea was pretty rough. Big swells and the boat was pitching and rolling like crazy as we prepared for the first dive. A couple of divers were already feeling seasick when we got moored, so they hustled them right into the water.
I dove with Jim. Jo was the divemaster for our group. Three of the divers had cameras. There were 8 divers and one "guide."
Jim and I were the second pair in the water. We congregated at the mooring line until all of the group was there and then descended. The site consists of a deep coral reef at about 80 feet. It forms a ledge, hence the name, and falls off to about 105 feet where the airplane wreck, or what is left of it rests. It has been dragged out to deeper water several times by big storms and they have gone and found it and drug it back. All that is left is the wings and they are in pretty bad shape.
The mooring line is anchored to the edge of the reef ledge, so we dropped down to there and then headed over to the wreck. The wing was full of Hawaiian Squirrelfish.
Hawaiian Squirrelfish
There was a Potter's Angelfish. I managed finally to get a photo of the angelfish.
Potter's Angelfish
Back on the ledge again, I ran into a huge Yellowmargin Moray Eel peeking out of his hole and a Day Octopus that had just finished off a clam.
Yellowmargin Moray Eel
Day Octopus
I came across a hole under a ledge. I could see a Moray back in the hole so I took a photo. It didn't turn out real well, because it is not totally in focus, but it wound up being two morays - an Undulated Moray Eel and a Yellow Margin Moray Eel.
Undulated & Yellowmargin Moray Eels
As we were heading back to the mooring line, we came across a large Cauliflower Coral that was clear full of little Hawaiian Squirrelfish and a Pebble Collector Urchin.
Hawaiian Squirrelfish
Pebble Collector Urchin
As I stepped up onto the boat after the first dive, I was really dizzy and immediately extremely nauseous. I assumed it was seasickness since the water was really rough with 8 to 10 foot swells and the boat was pitching all over the place. I got my gear off and made it to the rail before I lost it. Nothing much came up though because my stomach was empty. I immediately felt better, but was a little queasy just from the thought of it all. I was pretty surprised by that turn of event because I have never been seasick before, even in really rough seas, but I was a little rushed this morning and didn't eat breakfast, so. . . .
We did the surface interval back at the dock due to the conditions.
The second dive was on the Mahi.
We dropped down and swam over the middle of the ship. There was a big group of Spotted Eagle Rays heading off into the blue as we got over the wreck. I took a photo of them, but they were too far away and all you can see is blue. I did get this photo of some of the divers headed over the ship.
Divers on the Mahi
After a little swim around the wreck, we came back onto the deck at midship. There were two Thompson's Surgeonfish. Their normal color is blue, but they can change to dark brown instantly. When I framed this photo, they both were blue, but you can see one of them changed in the time it took the photo to take. Pretty amazing!
Sleek Unicornfish
I didn't feel real good all through this dive. I figured it was just a residual from the seasickness, even though I have always heard that seasickness goes away as soon as you are in the water. As I started to ascend, I came across these two Desirable Nudibranchs. I tried to get several photos, but my batteries were nearly exhausted and the camera kept shutting off. I also was feeling a little nauseous, so I settled for this one photo.
Desirable Nudibranchs
The dizzyness and nausea hit me really strong when I got to twenty feet during my safety stop. I was OK until I turned and looked up. That caused the world to spin and I had to decide whether to vomit through my regulator or blow through the safety stop. After two deep dives, I really didn't want to blow through the stop and I had read some during the week about what to do underwater if you just couldn't avoid it.
My stomach made the decision for me - twice. Now I have to get my regulator serviced to get the pineapple out of it, since all I ate during the surface interval was a couple of pieces of pineapple.
It turns out, I was experiencing "alternobaric vertigo." That happens on ascent when your ears don't equalize the same. Some residual effects of having a cold/flu last week. The moral of the story is - no diving if you have been or are congested!
Lots of folks were seasick after the second dive. One poor guy was vomiting as soon as he hit the surface, even before he got onto the boat. They didn't waste any time in heading back to the dock.
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