June 5, 2010 Dives - Mahi & Makaha Caverns

On Saturday, June 5, 2010, I dove with Jo (divemaster) from Ocean Concepts. We did two dives, the Mahi, a 95 foot deep dive on a ship that was intentionally sunk as an artificial reef and Makaha Caverns, a 50 foot deep dive on a shallow coral reef with lava tubes and swim-throughs.

This was a Divemaster Candidate dive. I was gathering data for my mapping project. Since I was in Jo's group, we were first in the water. There were 15 divers and two "guides", so they paired up all the divers and the two guides each took a group.

Visibility was good - about 70 feet. Since I was busy mapping, I did not go on the tour with Jo and the others. I told Jo I would see her on the bottom and did a giant stride in and descended immediately.

I dropped down to the bow and jotted down some depths and then made my way over to the concrete pipes along the port side. Along the way, I came across this enormous sea star. It is a rare "blue" one - they are normally green to tan.

Green Linckia

At the pipes, Captain Don, who was diving today instead of driving the boat, had cornered a big Yellowmargin Moray Eel in one of the pipes. He was trying to get some photos so I waited and when he left I moved in and took a depth reading and then tried to get a photo. The eel was way too far into the pipe for my little flash to light up. I turned my attention to a couple of cleaner shrimp at the pipe entrance. Just as I took the following photo, the moray eel hit my hand. He nipped my middle finger. Luckily, he was just trying to scare me off and I was wearing gloves, so no harm was done, but it sure startled me! I found out later, that Don had gone to the other end of the pipe and was trying to frame a silhouette shot of the eel and me at the other end. It would have been a cool photo, but the eel nipping me spoiled the shot just before he took it.

White-Stripe Cleaner Shrimp & Banded Coral Shrimp

Back at the stern of the ship after the excitement, I took a few depths and then found this Commerson's Frogfish hanging out on the stern.

Commerson's Frogfish

Along the starboard side, this sea cucumber was right on the bottom.

Hawaiian Spiky Sea Cucumber

After making the circuit, I headed up onto the deck for the rest of the dive. A little blue "light" caught my attention. This little guy is only about a half-inch long, but shines like a beacon!

Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse (juvenile)

As I was ascending the mast and taking depth readings, I got this photo of the Orange Cup Coral. Sometimes they are all closed up. Other times, they are partially open, but today, they were fully open and feeding.

Orange Cup Coral

Right at the top, I took this photo of the Black Cave Sponge, but also managed to capture a couple of Christmas Tree Worms (lower right).

Black Cave Sponge & Christmas Tree Worms

I did my safety stop under the boat and then swam up to the ladder and climbed out with 600 psi left.

On the second dive, we made the normal tour through Makaha Caverns. This was my first "fun" dive in quite a while. I brought up the rear of Jo's group and made sure no one got off course.

Right under the boat was a huge Oval Mushroom Coral. I rarely see one of these, and this is the largest one I have ever seen.

Oval Mushroom Coral

This is a tiny Stout Moray Eel. I used to see these guys frequently, but this is the first in a long while.

Stout Moray Eel

There were quite a few Blue Dragon Nudibranchs today. They are mostly covered in sand and very pale here at Makaha.

Blue Dragon Nudibranch

Back under the boat is one of my favorite pieces of coral on this dive! It is a huge Antler Coral and it always is full of little critters hanging out in the branches.

Antler Coral

There were Speckled Scorpionfish and Yellow-Spotted Guard Crabs today, but I only managed good photos of the crabs.

Stout Moray Eel

This is the smallest one of these I have ever seen. So tiny, I almost missed it.

Dwarf Moray Eel

After shooting in the coral head for a little while, I ended the dive and got back on board with 800 psi left.