Finally Found Nemo!

[Rob]
I went out on the reef again today. This time it was with the crew of the "Calypso" to Opal Reef. Never did ask if they were directly associated with Cousteau. Since there were an even number of certified divers on this trip, I was paired up with "Beatrice" from Switzerland.

The first dive spot on the reef was called "Blue Bouy" without any clear reason beyond the marker buoy being that color. Just before submerging, there was a ray sitting on the bottom that moved off. With everyone getting into the water, a picture just wasn't possible. The dive guide we were with was a lot more "touchy feely" than others I have had -- meaning he was picking up all kinds of stuff and letting us touch it as well. I tend to prefer to just take pictures, but did touch a couple of the items he did.

There were a fair number of giant clams at this site. Like the octopi, which I didn't see any of here, they change the color of the fleshy portion of their bodies depending on various situations. Usually, I just saw the spots change from blue to green if we approached them. Some of the clams were very brilliantly colored. I need to look up whether those are different species, or if they are the same species in a different mood. Along the way, I got another chance to take a picture of a ray, this one was white with brilliant blue spots, but the picture didn't turn out very well.

The second dive site was known as "The V" due to it being at the beginning of Opal Reef where the two portions meet. We went over the joint, which was deeper than the rest of the reef and headed down one leg for a while. On this second jump, there were a lot of anemones and anemone fish. Amongst the varieties were the little Orange and white clownfish made famous in Finding Nemo. I took pictures of them and several other varieties. Along the way our guide played with one of the clams. Steve touched the clam fairly deeply inside and the clam closed on his hand! He then did the classic movie impression of being trapped. Not bad, but I could see from my angle that his hand wasn't trapped. I tried to get a before and after picture of the clam's coloration change.

On the way back to the boat, we found out that the current had picked up and the water was suddenly a lot colder. The guide and I were the only two who were able to swim onto the joint of the V! I may be the fattest diver out here, but I got power when I need it. The dive master motioned to swim back to the others and we all surfaced. Being about 300 yards from the Calypso, he signaled for a recovery boat with his whistle. It was cloudy and colder and the skipper of the zodiac was in a hurry. I was the only one not shivering by the time we got back to the main boat. Funny how the "fat American" jokes and sly remarks disappeared after that.

We were temporarily maxed out on dive time, so there was a short question and answer on the reef. Amongst the many things discussed was about the clown fish. Amongst the answers: Finding Nemo was not technically correct when describing the lives of clownfish (duh!). However, if they wanted to be technically accurate, the cartoon would have had to been rated at least a hard R (or M in the Australian code) with XXX being continually flirted with (not to be confused with XXXX, which is a brand of beer here). I will just say that all clownfish are born male and the largest clownfish in an anemone is always the female.

The Calypso relocated this time to "The Split Bommy" which is an outcropping of the reef. There were storm clouds in one direction and I wouldn't have dove like this in Wisconsin, but they said the storm was passing by. It was dark down there, like diving in the evening. We circled the bit of reef and I took some more pictures. About half way around, there was a short tunnel and everyone else wanted to go through, so I did as well. About 75% of the way around, all of the fish suddenly departed. we were near a fair drop off and I couldn't see to the bottom. I thought "Oh oh" and hugged the edge. Beatrice swung herself way out over the depths. After a minute or two, the fish came back in droves and seemed to be feeding on bits of something floating to the surface. Beatrice was still there, so I figured it was nothing.

Back at the dive rope, our guide checked our air and he sent one of the other divers up. The Calypso crew had provided me with a larger tank but I never came close to needing the extra volume. Once the diver had made it up the rope and was doing her(?) safety stop, we started around again at a different depth.

The neat thing about the reefs out here is that they are so steep that one gets to see a completely different set of creatures just by changing the depth of the dive. We skipped the tunnel this time as its outlet is very shallow. Right about the same point as last time, all the fish disappeared again. Beatrice was again slung out there like bait and I was in close to the reef like a smart diver. Suddenly, a school of the fish was back and swimming frantically just behind us and I saw it! Right at the edge of visibility, I clearly saw a shark! I couldn't see the top fin, so I am thinking it was a grey reef shark, but its face was all too visible in the flash of light. It had gotten a hold of something and swum away from both us and the school of fish, back into the depths. Then we heard the boom.

Remember, I said flash of light? Our dive guide motioned us to move to the safety stop depth a little nervously. While we are waiting out our three minutes, there are several more loud booms. We surfaced into a mild thunderstorm. Realize this is a somewhat dangerous situation, as we are the highest point out there besides the Calypso, and we have on our backs metal pressurized containers sticking up out of the water. Everyone was hurried aboard and the skipper made a quick departure for deeper water away from the reef.

Once out of the water and in the Calypso, I had fun bouncing on the waves and watching the lightning. Most of the rest of the craft, like the Osprey V, were European or Australian. To them this was a major storm. It even made the front page of the papers the next morning. I love Wisconsin, but if I ever had to leave, it would be for a boat on the open water.

The dive pictures will be added to www.klavdivs.com/DiveList/DiveList.html on our next lazy day.

[Connie]
I went shopping. Took the bus up to Smithfield to find a scrapbook store. Found out it was closed on Mondays. Looked over the mall anyway. Found a few interesting stores. Didn't buy much though. Came back to the hotel and sat by the pool and was really lazy.