Five days of great diving once again with Chris and Katie Alpers at Indigo Divers
1 In addition to the photo course at Sunset House, there were 5 days of great diving again with Chris and Katie Alpers at Indigo Divers.
2 Chris suits up before the morning dive.
3 My first day of diving started at North West Point where I snapped this Spotted Moray
4 A Sand Diver, member of the Lizardfish family, perched on the reef at Lexau's Legacy
5 Sea turtle making a run for it
6 Flamingo Tongue Snail
7 My second day of diving, on Monday, I was the only one on the boat with Chris. We started out at Dolphin's Point Dropoff. Rope and barrel sponges on the reef.
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9 Baby sea turtle
10 Spotted Moray peering out from its hole in the reef
11 Gorgonians reach towards the sun at Dolphin Point Dropoff
12 We encountered no less than 4 giant Green Morays free swimming across the reef and acting extremely inquisitive. This one kept going after Chris's flippers.
13 I started photographing this Green Moray when I noticed that he kept getting bigger in my viewfinder.
14 Next thing I knew, he was kissing the glass faceplate of the camera. I guess it wasn't as tasty as he initially thought.
15 The second dive with Chris was at Bonnie's Arch
16 More turtles!
17 Interesting formation of encrusting sponges at Bonnie's Arch
18 Giant Brown Bowl Sponge
19 Staring contest with a Squirrelfish
20 Two Flamingo Tongue Snails on a sea fan
21 Day 3 of diving started out at Trinity Caves where I snapped these rope sponges
22 This Giant Anemone was at least a foot across
23 This large Channel Clinging Crab was hiding out in a crevice in the reef
24 Red Lionfish, although pretty, are an invasive species from the Indo-Pacific that started proliferating in the Caribbean over the last several years due to the lack of natural predators. They are voracious eaters and are putting the indigenous marine species at risk.
25 Chris, like almost all divemasters in Grand Cayman, carries a spear that he uses to dispatch any lionfish we happen upon. Typically, we'll encounter 3-4 lionfish during a 45 minute dive.
26 The spines of the lionfish have neurotoxins that will cause extreme pain and necrosis. Chris clips the spines of the fish before he feeds it to the next grouper, jacks, or snapper we happen upon.
27 Peacock Flounder resting on the sandy bottom at Peppermint Reef
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29 Rock Beauty
30 The Pederson Cleaner Shrimp is completely transparent except for its signature purple bands. Here it's crawling across an anemone.
31 A male Sailfin Blenny peeks out from the rubble
32 A Bicolored Flatworm at Peppermint Reef
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34 Bridled Goby
35 Deck the Halls - Christmas Tree Worms are ubiquitous, but finding a multi-colored forest at Peppermint Reef was special
36 The reef system at Sand Chute started my fourth day of diving
37 Schooling jacks
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39 Red Banded Hermit Crab scurried along
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41 A tiny Leech Headshield Slug at Sand Chute
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43 Porcupinefish
44 Second dive of the day was on the wreck of the Doc Poulson. Here's the approach to the wheelhouse.
45 Closeup of the sponges and coral encrusted on the wheelhouse of the Doc Poulson
46 A cluster of Featherduster Worms on the wreck
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48 A Cleaning Goby perched on a brain coral
49 Thanks to Chris for finding this tiny juvenile Sponge Brittle Star
50 A huge amberjack was cruising the reef by the Doc Poulson
51 Then he turned around to reveal quite a set of battle scars!
52 One of two spotted eagle rays we saw above the Doc Poulson
53 Trumpetfish doing its usual "if I stay vertical near these tall gorgonians, maybe noone will notice me" routine
54 The sandy bottom surrounding the Doc Poulson is covered with a carpet of garden eels
55 Winch on the deck of the Doc Poulson
56 Tube sponges growing on another of the winch mechanisms
57 My last day of diving started at Hepp's Wall where I caught this Foureye Butterflyfish
58 My final dive of the trip was back at Bonnie's Arch, but this time the shallower upper reef area