6:27 AM - Bridget wakes up due to noisy raven outside front door. Boohoo
7:30 AM - Breakfast. I stole some yogurt for later
8:30 AM - Meet at the dock and prepare for diving
9:00 AM - Dive #2: laying transect lines and counting fish/invertebrates
11:20 AM - Nap time
12:00 PM - Lunch. Fried chicken, fries, and salad. The meal of champions.
1:30 PM - Meet at the dock and prepare for diving. AGAIN
2:00 PM - Dive #3: laying MORE transect lines and counting MORE fish/invertebrates
... (Note: I am writing this note at this point in the story, so the rest of the schedule is for a later post)
6:00 PM - Dinner!!!
7:00 PM - Scuba lecture with Jerry
9:00 PM - Our first night dive!
BED TIME
Anywho, we were not too excited to get into our still-wet wetsuits (I suppose that's inherent in the name, wetsuit). This is, until we put on our wetsuits, booties, gloves, hoods, and tanks. We were quite ready to get into the water at this point because we were all sweating bullets! Down the ramp we went. And that ramp gets really slippery btdubs. Swimming out, I was assigned to lay the transect tape. It is the same kind of tape meas
ure we use for vaulting in gymnastics, so I had no prob carrying an extra two pounds or so through the water. Derek was my partner. Well, his dive name is Flipper and mine is Flounder, so that is what I shall call him from now on. Once we got down, I was allowed to swim alone ahead of the group. It was SICK. Imagine being completely alone, hearing only your steady breathing, knowing where you're headed only by looking at a compass. Pretty sweet. It was a glorious 100 meters of free time. Then the tape measure stopped moving and my alone time was over :[ Writing on our slates on water-proof paper with water-proof pencils, I counted a bunch of bass, senioritas, and cone-shaped snail thingies (I need to work on my fish recognition skills). Then we were stopped while Dr. G consulted with another dive instructor. He wrote on a slate "all accounted for?" and the guy nodded yes. So Flipper and I were told to swim on. And swim on we did. Past the other group, past the last kelp where I remembered our group being behind, past where our group should have been. On and on and on until... a manta ray swooped directly over our heads. I swear I could feel the water move from the high speed impact. Sweet! The excitement made us swim faster until Flipper stopped and wrote something on his board. I looked over: "I think we're los
t." Nice. We spun around a little. Hmm, what to do when you're 22 ft. down, 1400 psi air still in your tank, and an ocean of possibilities... good think Flipper and I are logical divers. We decide to surface and looking around, saw a few heads out where we were long ago, and some more heads near the ramp back to shore. Oh, whoops. So we took our time swimming like otters back to shore. We found out that everyone else was told to swim til they had 1000 psi left then surface and go in. Eh, nbd. Oh I almost forgot: it's too difficult to tell, but I am fortunate enough to get the most awesome BC ever in existence. It is the customary black, but with neon green and purple accents!!!! I think everyone else is jealous. Hehe.
ure we use for vaulting in gymnastics, so I had no prob carrying an extra two pounds or so through the water. Derek was my partner. Well, his dive name is Flipper and mine is Flounder, so that is what I shall call him from now on. Once we got down, I was allowed to swim alone ahead of the group. It was SICK. Imagine being completely alone, hearing only your steady breathing, knowing where you're headed only by looking at a compass. Pretty sweet. It was a glorious 100 meters of free time. Then the tape measure stopped moving and my alone time was over :[ Writing on our slates on water-proof paper with water-proof pencils, I counted a bunch of bass, senioritas, and cone-shaped snail thingies (I need to work on my fish recognition skills). Then we were stopped while Dr. G consulted with another dive instructor. He wrote on a slate "all accounted for?" and the guy nodded yes. So Flipper and I were told to swim on. And swim on we did. Past the other group, past the last kelp where I remembered our group being behind, past where our group should have been. On and on and on until... a manta ray swooped directly over our heads. I swear I could feel the water move from the high speed impact. Sweet! The excitement made us swim faster until Flipper stopped and wrote something on his board. I looked over: "I think we're los
t." Nice. We spun around a little. Hmm, what to do when you're 22 ft. down, 1400 psi air still in your tank, and an ocean of possibilities... good think Flipper and I are logical divers. We decide to surface and looking around, saw a few heads out where we were long ago, and some more heads near the ramp back to shore. Oh, whoops. So we took our time swimming like otters back to shore. We found out that everyone else was told to swim til they had 1000 psi left then surface and go in. Eh, nbd. Oh I almost forgot: it's too difficult to tell, but I am fortunate enough to get the most awesome BC ever in existence. It is the customary black, but with neon green and purple accents!!!! I think everyone else is jealous. Hehe.Lunch was yummy. I'm still trying to get through the text book I'm borrowing from Laura The Biology of Coral Reefs. It's just so...wonderful, I can't put it down. Thus, I never pick it up.
Our third dive of the trip was a repeat of the second. I partnered with Christine this time. Swimming out, I was looking down into the water (rather than blindly swim like an otter). Out of the clouded background, I noticed a big, long, beautiful spotted shape squirming. A SHARK! A leopard shark actually. Then another, and another. Four! No, wait, six! And tons of bat rays and I think a sting ray too? Idk they all look kind of the same. Pretty sick. I thought everyone could see 'em, but actually all of the otter swimmers were oblivious, so I just kept watching with mixed wonder and horror. I wasn't so afraid that they would attack me, I know they wouldn't. I just was horrified that such huge creatures can swim so peacefully directly below me, in water that I will soon be surrounded in.
Once underwater, about 15-22 ft. down, we swam our transect and counted fish (again). On the way back, counting invertebrates, I got to battle the kelp for 3/4 of the 100 meters. Ugh. BUT I got a little adventurous and went head-on into the darkest crevices of the rocks only to find tons of sea urchins and a HUGE lobster! Hmm, dinner anyone? Tempting, but I let him be.
On the way back, Christine and I navigated using our compasses. Heck yeah. The boy scouts of Lake Forest and Camp Makajawan would be proud. We were maybe 5 ft. off of our destination.
Now I'm snacking on a sugar cookies. I deserve it! Three dives in one day? Psh. Lots of reading to do and napping to be had. I hope my hair untangles from this knot. Talk to ya after tonight's dive (yikes!), B
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