Last week I had one of the most amazing and longest dives I have ever done. Max depth was 74 feet. Dive time was 95 minutes.
I started the dive gooing with the current since I had a boat topside following me. I stopped at the first turn in the wall to say Hi to my friend Nemo. He is the one who has grown quite attached to me. He is so happy to see me and I put out my palm about a foot away from the anemone and he swims right out. I tickle his belly and play with him for about a minute. I wave goodbye and start swimming again. At the second turn I look up and see what I thought to be rays in open water. Wait they arent moving. Those cant be rays. They cant be squid as I have never seen them this size. I swim up to 27 feet and stare in wonder. There are about 30 squid in pairs. One big and one small just swimming around this huge fern type thing.
I guess the small one is the female as she swims into the fern and lays some eggs. The male stays around and drives others away. Then another couple comes in and does the same thing. I move up to 20 feet. They are right around 18 feet.
I spend the rest of the dive right there just watching them. The couples take turns coming in and the female darts in and lays her eggs and the couple swims off again. All 30 of them staying within 30 feet of the nest. They also drive away the damsel fish that are very interested in the eggs.
My buddy took some pictures. In the second one you can see the eggs in the plants. They are elongated white jelly like things.
Great, long, shallow dive.
I started the dive gooing with the current since I had a boat topside following me. I stopped at the first turn in the wall to say Hi to my friend Nemo. He is the one who has grown quite attached to me. He is so happy to see me and I put out my palm about a foot away from the anemone and he swims right out. I tickle his belly and play with him for about a minute. I wave goodbye and start swimming again. At the second turn I look up and see what I thought to be rays in open water. Wait they arent moving. Those cant be rays. They cant be squid as I have never seen them this size. I swim up to 27 feet and stare in wonder. There are about 30 squid in pairs. One big and one small just swimming around this huge fern type thing.
I guess the small one is the female as she swims into the fern and lays some eggs. The male stays around and drives others away. Then another couple comes in and does the same thing. I move up to 20 feet. They are right around 18 feet.
I spend the rest of the dive right there just watching them. The couples take turns coming in and the female darts in and lays her eggs and the couple swims off again. All 30 of them staying within 30 feet of the nest. They also drive away the damsel fish that are very interested in the eggs.
My buddy took some pictures. In the second one you can see the eggs in the plants. They are elongated white jelly like things.
Great, long, shallow dive.