What a great day! I wish all my days off could be this great. Checked out some new locations for shore dives but backed out due to strong currents there. The first dive of the afternoon we went out far from shore watching the bottom drop. We leveled off at 87’ watching the bottom, which appeared to be around 130’. Saw some enormous elephant sponges, snuck up on three garden eels sticking several inches out of the sand, swaying in the current like cobras being charmed. They are secretive and will usually duck into the sand before anyone can see them. Stopped several minutes to watch a giant Magnificent anemone which has a brilliant blue-purple color foot and of course it was being guarded by several (15!—all sizes) Clown fish. I still have not developed gills, so had to go back to the surface after just a little over an hour in this Micronesia undersea world.
After an hour topside I got to return to spend another hour moving only a short distance from the last dive. Not really expecting a spectacular dive then POW! At the top of a coral head sitting at 60’ was the biggest turtle that I have seen here. Thousands of tiny fish of a dozen different species all circled around the complete coral head and the area around it. Some were even cleaning the turtle. We waited and just watched until he left to return to the surface for air. On the Mertin anemone, in addition to Clown fish were small tiny transparent shrimp. Around the corner from it was an Adhesive anemone, tucked inside a hole in the coral and being guarded by a big Clown fish. Tough to do but moved on, stopping by a giant clam (18” long) for a moment and then to another coral head. It also was covered with hundreds of tiny fish and suddenly there in the center of the coral head, a large green Moray Eel came out about 3’ to watch us. For a second it appeared that he was going to come all the way out but stopped; watched us with his mouth opening and closing like they do. We found a large clam partially buried in the sand, the large shells were moving around. A pipe fish that was very pregnant popped out, along with a great assortment of other fish! What happens to the time underwater?! Surface time again.
