Today was the final day of diving until heading back to Dallas. Although a little sad, I quickly forgot about this as I couldn’t wait to dive through more tunnels. Due to the weather and waves, we had to drive to a marina but the dive sites were in sight. Once we got our over view of the site from Lee, we all met at the entrance to a long tunnel which spit us out in water in about 90 feet of water. The visibility wasn’t the best as the floor was just sand which was also being kicked up by the force from the fins. Once we got out of the tunnel and cruised around, I was able to spot my new favorite fish munching on some coral. I watched a jewel damselfish up very close as it wasn’t bothered by me. I was able to get a close view of its neon blue dots that seem to pop out of its black background. These spots look light LEDs underwater since they look so bright. There was also a large school of yellowtail goatfish but they were to skeptical of me so I couldn’t get close to join their group swimming along. Although they got scared of me, they didn’t go far so I suspect they were staying I The area due to the large amount of garden eels. These fish have mouths on the bottom and not in the middle of their face so they can such stuff out of the ground easier so it makes perfect sense they lurked around the sandy areas. On the second dive, we saw an interesting sight. Little fish known as fairy basslets have a problem of disorientation. These brightly colored purple and yellow fish swim upside down. This happens on accident as some of the larger overhangs of coral and rock fool these fish into thinking its the top of the reef. They then swim upside down but don’t notice the sand above their heads. I find this odd as I would of thought the fish could notice themselves upside down like the weird feeling I get when my feet are above my head. We also saw a pair of large porcupine fish hiding under a unique item. One was hiding under a lawn chair, which had coral growths, and the other fish was clinging to the coral ledge. Although these fish look scary with all of the spines, these fish amaze me as their razor sharp beats allow them to bite through shells in animals like crabs. They can do this with ease since their bite is also very strong. I could tell these two fish were hunting as they were scanning the coral and rocks most likely looking for small crustaceans. Unfortunately, the fish headed off in the opposite direction of the boat so I couldn’t follow along. Although this trip is practically over after writing this blog, I am ecstatic to share all of my photos and story es with family and friends.
