Alex in the Water: 2006-07-02

Lured in the Water

Again, I got lured away from the desk, spent an hour in the water and quickly rode home.
I checked out the rocks to the let of Raymond’s spot, towards the rock carvings. Water was warm, visibility between 2 and 6 meters, usually better closer to the shore and worse in open water. I swam out, and did several 10m dives, but could not seem to find any of the Anemone fish we had seen a week ago.

Google Earth Locations

I put my favorite locations online. You can also find a placemark folder here.

Some Crabs

Some crabs I saw around 2 meters depth. There are plenty. Some of these were actually fighting for territory, which is probably the reason why they attempt to intimidate me, instead of just hiding under a rock.

Study Break

I took a quick study break in the late afternoon, and spent about an hour in the water. I am more comfortable with the gear, and start trimming down the amount if stuff to carry.
I went to Raymond’s spot near the heli-pad. The water was rather turbid, with visibility under 2.5 meters. Most if the time I had no clue where I was going, before I went down. I got the Citizen Aqualand watch to work, and learned that most of my dives go 3-8 meters. I usually do many dives, with less than 1 minute bottom time, but get more and more comfortable at doing so. I think I am really improving.
I saw a nice large puffer fish, a baby puffer fish, several large carnet fish, and schools of smaller ones. Taking pictures is pretty difficult, because of the backscatter and the little time.

Late Aftenoon in Clear Water Bay

I went snorkeling in the late afternoon 5:15 – 6:30 at the village beach near Clear Water Bay 1. At high tide, there was some wake, and the water was very turbid, visibility limited to about 2.5 meters. I went further around the corner to the left, but it was increasingly difficult to go down, as I could not see the bottom, and had to guess if anything worthwhile would be down. Pictures without an external flash are impossible under these conditions, but I took two videos of my dives (clipOne, clipTwo).
Fish were rare, small fish came in large schools but other than that, I only saw a single carnet fish and a small sepia in open water. David meanwhile played with his new inflatable surfboard.