Today was our dive of the RMS Rhone. Sunk by one of the carribeans largest hurricanes to date, the Rhone sank to a depth of up to 84ft on the night of october 29th, 1867 off of salt island. A ton of people died but it made for a great scuba park. The boat firswt smashed against a rock now dubbed ‘the can opener’ which made it spring a leak. It was this leak which made contact with the hot metal in the engine room causing a massive explosion Splitting the ship in half. On my descent i saw a lot of yellow tail snappers, apparently snappers are mid ocean predators. When we got through the stern section of the fish there was a lot of territorial damsel fish protecting eggs they laid in the cross sections of the debris field. One attacked me which was slightly amusing considering its apparent Napoleon complex. The coral encrusted crannies of the vessel also served as excellent nurseries for all and sundry fish as well as a hiding place for large crustaceans such as a Caribbean lobster and an especially large crab just a little smaller than a coffee table. On the ascent I spotted a trio of reef squid which used there colorful pigmentation to express their appreciation for my presence. The squid were easily my favorite because of their intellect, as I passed it was almost a mutual understanding of each other….not an experience to forget.
Below is a picture of group on our dive.
