Cayman Islands Day 5 - Kittiwake

March 29th

We saw this crazy lily thing on the walk to our dive shop.

Today we're diving the Kittiwake.

The USS Kittiwake was commissioned in 1945.

It's a Chanticleer-class submarine rescue vehicle.

She was decommissioned in 1994.

She was stripped and scrubbed and sunk in 2011 to be the basis for a reef.

Porthole with a blue fishy!

What's in here?

Tanks of some sort.

Little yellow tailed fishies.

Just keep swimming.

Swimming through the propeller. 

The Kittiwake recovered the Challenger's black box from the ocean.

Dan and the Kittiwake.

Some sort of electric blue striped fish.

Aaaand we're going inside!

Oh, fish is coming with us.

Okay, so I don't really remember what they told us each area was before the dive started.  

Also I kind of get claustrophobic underwater.

Shaft of light in the darkness.

Tuck and roll underwater. 

Me, trying hard not to touch anything.  Also...an engine?

To make the ship more diver friendly, huge holes were cut into the ship.

Oh good, we're getting out of the ship.

The bow, with...winch drums, maybe?

Another one of the holes cut into the ship.

Old machinery.

The top of the Kittiwake is only 15 feet below the surface.

The site was packed with divers.  I don't think I've seen so many in one place.

Coral is finally taking hold.  It's exciting.

They cut open the wheel house for better access.

I'm the captain now! 

GhoooooOOOoooost Ship.

They reconfigured her a bit from when she was active so she'd fit underwater. 

The A-frame is part of the submarine rescue apparatus.

Parrotfish!

Apparently....something was over there.

Ah, it was the sign about the Kittiwake.

End of dive selfie.

This dive has a geocache on it, but our guide either didn't go look for it or forgot.  I'm pretty bummed about that.  It was a really cool dive otherwise.

We spent the afternoon with Jenny and her family.  I've realized we didn't take any photos together, which is really sad, but I had a great time hanging out.

This concludes our adventures for today.

Cayman Islands Day 4 - Dive, Dive, Dive

March 28th

Today we're chartered for two dives.

The first is Martin's Wall.

 Maybe a Mutton Snapper?

 So many tiny fish.

The coral isn't very colorful, but a lot of the tiny fish are.

Jim and Sherrie and me (and guide)!

Yellowtail snapper and....black and white stripe fish.

Some blue ones joined the black and whites and yellowtail snapper.

So many little blue ones!

Grumpy French Angelfish 

It tried to escape into this giant sponge.

The Spotted Trunkfish has been spotted!

Oh, it's swimming away.

Into the blue abyss.

 Two Queen Angelfish.

Where are you going?

Lots of little fishes.

Bright yellow sponges.

Enhance!

Oh, there's me!

Dive selfie!

A ray! 

The majestic sea flap flap (Spotted Eagle Ray)

A turtle!

It blends in pretty well.

Turtle in action.

And we're going to finish out with more photos of the turtle.

Bye turtle!

Dan left the red filter on the GoPro.

Relaxing on the boat before the next dive.

So, I had trouble with mask squeeze on this dive during our descent.  We went down to 100 feet.  

I broke all the capillaries above my eyes.  Oops. 

Dive Number 2: Wild Hammer

 It starts with a lobster.

 Maybe a Spotted Spiny Lobster.

 Diving!

 Maybe Wrasses?

 

Tube and rope sponges.

 Squirrelfish.

 Hamlets?

 Lionfish!  They are bad in the Caribbean. 

 A Grunt maybe?

 A different Wrasse....maybe.

 Alien landscape.

 More diving.

 A confused Yellowtail Snapper.

 It's like I'm in an aquarium.

 Conch.  Not sure if it's still alive.

 It has a nice spiral.

 Sea Fan and a maybe a Mutton Snapper.

 The Mutton Snapper followed us a bit.

 Giant Barrel Sponges.

 Inside the sponge.

 The yellow sponges are very yellow.

 Me and the Mutton Snapper.

 Mutton Snapper photo bomb.

 We might have a new pet.

 Another Barrel Sponge. 

 Yellow sponges and a French Angelfish.

 Closer view of the French Angelfish.

 More of the same.  But it's neat!

 Dan and our tag-a-long fish.

 Sea Fans and corals.

   Another French Angelfish.

 Tiny fishes everywhere.

 A Schoolmaster Snapper.

 A Parrotfish and...a black fish.

 Me, Sherrie, Jim, and our guide.

 Butterfly fish hiding in the coral.  

 I have a shadow.

 Maybe we should name our fish.

 He does not look pleased.  

 Dive Selfie!  Dan's beard is coming in nicely.

 Dan's a cool dude.

 A little blue sponge.

 General seascape.

 Hi Dan!

 So many sponges! 

 Another Lion fish...I think.

 Hi friend fish!

 Oh hey, another Lion fish.

 Enhance!

 What's down there?

 It's a crab!

 Bam!  Crab butt!

 Brain coral.

Oh, a different Mutton Snapper.

Oh hey, what's that under the snapper?

 Another Lion fish!

   

 A Parrotfish and some Christmas Tree worms (the spiral things).

 Bye Parrotfish!

 The general sea bed was outcroppings with sandy bits in between.

 That is a large fish.

 I think it's a Goliath Grouper.

 He looks kind of scary.

 And not very pleased that Dan's in his face.

 These two were digging a hole or something.  

The little one would push sand out and the bigger one stood guard.

 Coral nubblies.

 Another lobster!

 Lobster!

 Sherrie and the reef.

 Fans and sponges and corals!  Oh my!

 A very large rope sponge.

 More of Sherrie and the reef.  I don't know where I'm going.

 I really liked these yellow tube sponges.  They were SO bright.

 SPONGES!

 Artsy photo.

 Diving!

 Another another Lion fish.  It's too bad they're invasive here.  They're pretty.

 Hey look!  I'm not flailing! 

 Sea Plumes.

 There's a nice gradient of rope sponges or whatever these are. 

 More sponges!  Imagine how much water is in all the sponges.

 Sea Plumes, Tube Sponges, Rope Sponges, some random fish, and other coral.

 Yellow!

Ah, here's the end of this dive.

Dive Number 3: Shore Dive

 So, we did two dives, and Jim decided he wanted to keep going.  Sherrie did not join us.

Little Sea Fans and Hamlets? 

 A small sand canyon.

 Hi Dan!

 Finger coral?

 A little colorful fish.

 A whole school of...blue fish with yellow tails.

 Gobies?

Squirrelfish!

 Sponges on coral.

 I believe there were 6 cruise ships docked.

 They were very loud even though they were only running tenders.

 It was a little disorienting.

Parrotfish!

 A sand path through the coral.

 Yellow sponges in the seascape.

Giant sea cucumber!

 French Angelfish.

 More of the French Angelfish.

 That fish isn't hiding very well.

 Parrotfish and little blue fish.

Hi Jim!

 Maybe a Stoplight Parrofish?

 So many fish!

 Blue sponge!

 Dan and Jim.  We had to dive with a surface buoy.

Stoplight Parrotfish.

 Jim swims into the blue abyss.

 Maybe a Porgy?  or a Snapper?

Yellow Tube Sponges!

 Huh, an...engine?

 Why is this here?

 The fish seem to like it.

 Shallow waters.

This concludes our adventures for today.