Research cruises: hard work & fun: June 3: Deep dives

diseased MCAV

June 3, 2013: Day 4 of work- Black coral rock. This is a great site that is pretty deep. 80 ft to the bottom. The sites were up on top of the pinnacle, but there were big holes that went another 15 ft. There were 10-15 species of corals. SSID, MFAV, MFRN, MCAV, PPOR, MDEC, SMIC, DSTO, PAST, DSTR, CNAT, AFRA, SCUB. I didn’t have a whole lot of time to look around after we finished. I didn’t even get a chance to finish the work, but since I’m still just practicing, it was ok. It’s a little disheartening, but I think I’m picking it up faster than a lot of people who start from nothing.

Squirrelfish & glowing MCAV

Big Rainbow parrotfish

Harlequin bass

Greater Amberjack

Scorpionfish

Sponges

Butterflies

After the work dive, we scooted over 100 yards to a site that the park had marked & put a mooring buoy on. It was a place none of us had ever been, so it was cool to explore somewhere new. It was a beautiful site. There was a very distinct thermocline around 65 ft, so steep that it shimmered when you looked through it. It was pretty cool on the bottom. However, the top of the site was nice and warm. I took my camera with me and took a ton of pictures. I was enthralled watching fish do their thing. There were creole wrasse that swam around in pairs. One adult would swim very close to one juvenile. I thought they were keeping the same partner, but as I continued to watch, I realized that they would sometimes switch partners. Not a behavior I’d ever noticed before. There are still so many things we don’t know about the underwater world. It continues to amaze me.