May 8, 2009 Night Dives - Shallow LCU & Turtle Reef

On Friday, May 8, 2009, I dove with Brian and Shawn (divemaster) from Ocean Concepts. We did two dives, Shallow LCU, a 90 foot deep dive on a Landing Craft that was intentionally sunk as an artificial reef and Turtle Reef, a 35 foot deep dive on a shallow coral reef.

I dove with Brian. Shawn was the divemaster for the group. Three of the divers had cameras. There were 7 divers and one "guide."

Brian 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. Brian tried to point out things to take photos of.

The wreck is also fairly small, so night dives end up being sort of a big group thing. Every time someone finds something interesting, everyone else gathers around to see.

There was a Hawaiian Whitespotted Toby hanging out on the back of the wreck. They sleep at night. The photo is not quite in focus

Hawaiian Whitespotted Toby

Over on the Z-blocks alongside the wreck was a Regal Slipper Lobster. I got a couple of the best photos I have gotten so far of it.

Regal Slipper Lobster

The Commerson's Frogfish that always hangs out on this wreck was there on the railing. I was able to get several pretty good shots of it.

Commerson's Frogfish

I also managed to get a good photo of a Giant Porcupinefish.

Giant Porcupinefish

Not a lot to photograph tonight. The group was pretty small and Shawn was tied up with a lady that was pretty high-maintenance so we were all on our own to find stuff.

Did my safety stop in the dark watching the phosphorescence.

I brought a towel this evening and it was much better. Putting the wet rash-guard back on before the second dive was still a challenge! I may have to invest in another one.

The second dive was on Turtle Reef. As soon as we got down (Brain and I were first), there was an Ornate Octopus out hunting. It immediately started to flee, but I got in its path and it stopped briefly so I could get a couple of photos.

Ornate Octopus

Once again there were brittle stars everywhere! The were drooping out of every nook and cranny and clump of coral, but there were none actually out in the open where I could get a decent photo.

Came across a huge Sleepy Sponge Crab out galloping across the bottom. His sponge covering was dragging along behind him.

Sleepy Sponge Crab

Shawn got tied up with the lady and couldn't lead us around the reef like normal, so we just all hung around together and stayed close to the boat until we got cold and ended the dive early. He thought I was more familiar than I was and would take everyone on a tour without him. I could have done that in the daytime, but not at night.