Parrotfish
Brown Pencil Urchin
Today we had to strip off all the heavy gear
(weights, fins & tank/BCD) and let Albert (Captain)
and Molly (Captain trainee) lift it into the boat so we
just walked up the ladder in our skins/wetsuits.
The dive ladder on our dive boat needs repair;
they will be doing that during our "down time".
Today at lunch as we were trying to dry of some of our diveskins/wetsuits
before climbing into cold clammy gear for the p.m. dive,
we were blessed with some "Liquid Sunshine"
(a/k/a rain) and got a freshwater rinse.
One of the Team was disappointed,
but I said when it stops raining that stuff will dry
in about 15 minutes . . . and it did.
Water is important to the Islanders,
as they use gravity-fed catchment water from cisterns.
But it can play havoc with diving.
Runoff with sediment in it sinks slowly through the ocean
(fresh water is lighter than salt water),
creating poor (or low/short) visibility even if it's not raining at the time.
We can dive in the rain (but I hate getting wet before/after diving;
chills you); as long as there is no lightning, the boat will stay out.
A thunderstorm, though, means everyone out of the water . . .dive's over.
In a case like that, the Captain recalls us by either
banging on the aluminum ladder or (if we are drift diving)
revving the engine above us.
We will do three dives tomorrow, but instead of an afternoon dive,
we will be doing the first of two night dives (weather permitting).
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