Last Year San Carlos!

Hey everyone!  I just wanted to post the biggest highlights from my dive trip in San Carlos last year, my first ever dive trip!  

Jose was his name.  The most peculiar thing that 

has happened to me on a dive trip was this little guy.  From the beginning of the dive, he followed me around.  he got right up in my face.  His golden eyes were curious and mesmerizing as he zipped around me.  Although tense, this little fellow let me touch him!  When my dive buddy tried to touch this little fellow, he disappeared.  But, he reappeared every time.  he would show up right out of now where and pier through my mask.

I don't have much to say about this blue linckia star.  I was just cruising by and saw this neon blue star lying near a gorgeous sea fan .  Seeing small things like this really remind you why we all dive, to experience beauties of the ocean, like this fellow.

I was working on skills with my dive master when I almost spit out my regulator.  Right next to us was an extremely rare white spotted eel.  In all my dive master's, boat's staff, an buddy's time of diving, no one had ever seen one. To be the diver to spot one was a pretty amazing experience, and well....brought bragging rights.

This guy? He was just plain cool.  While the eye ball gazed around at us like it had just been ripped out of someone's head in a horror movie, the sides of the black long spine urchin played a light show for us.  This was the most exotic and somewhat..freaky find of the whole trip!

Adventure in Cozumel!

Blue Jell-O Sea.  That was the nickname for Cozumel when featured for the first time in Sport Diver Magazine. This nickname proves accurate when gazing upon the vibrant waters of Cozumel.  When drifting in the occasionally strong currents, I really felt as though i was floating in a sea of blue jell-o.  The visibility goes blue and crystal clear as far as the eye permits, while gorgeous splashes of orange, yellow, red, purple, green, and every color imaginable meet the blue.  The rock forms beautiful arches and pillars, perfect for swimming around.  These formations, swarming with fish and amazing corals can be best seen, in my opinion, at Columbia Reef, a reef near the far end of the island.  Other times, I swam over flatter reefs, still swarming with life and color.  But the best of these, hands down, was paradise reef.  A huge part in this reef being the best flat was my findings.  In just one dive, I saw a school of squid in the grasses, a very elusive red sea horse, the splendid toadfish, exclusive to Cozumel, morays, and the beautiful and rare Spotted Drumfish.  But probably the most excitement of the whole trip came from the countless close encounters of beautiful green and hawksbill sea turtles.

     

     Weaving your fingers through the swaying moss attached to their shells, that was the best part.  I had a super enclose encounter with a sea turtle at Columbia.  Inches away from one of these gentle giants while they munch near the rocks, disregarding my presence. That is near one of the best times diving can bring you.  My other encounters with these beauties included the reef walls.  When swimming along walls I saw a turtle soaring over the corals about every time.  Yes, my well over fifteen encounters were amazing, but the best by far was still watching the giant one eat.

     

Another amazing part of the trip were the splendid toadfish.  If we could have find out where the heck they were!  This fish gets

all the talk on the island, "there everywhere!  there so exotic and interesting!  there exclusive to Cozumel!"  Well why the heck couldn't we find any? Because they hid in caves under corals.  We looked around crazily and finally found them when the dive master, a local and daily diver, finally pointed them out.  They were hidden insanely well and were literally everywhere.  We just had to open our eyes.  

     One of my favorite fish encounters, despite the gigantic angelfish everywhere, was the rare spotted drumfish.  These black and white fishies swam like a knife slicing through the water.  Their long fins looked like ribbons undulating in the current.  They had tiny faces,

which looked peculiar on there gigantic fins.  These little guys hid under the rocks and peaked out occasionally. Sometimes I was lucky enough to get a glimpse of them showing off their beautiful fins. Although the juveniles are much cooler, in my opinion, and much more

common, I was lucky enough to see an adult spotted drum. The adults develope

facial spots and an elongated fin, also developing spots.  I was so glad to discover a baby drum lived under the peer at my hotel.  I saw him every dive in the same spot, right near his rock.  He was most active and cute on my shore night dive.  Seeing this adorable fish could be reason enough to go to Cozumel....ok maybe not.  But when this fishie and all the other interesting  species visible add up, it most definitely is worth it.

    On the very last dive of my trip, I announced to the group, "I have seen so much here in Cozumel, but this dive is my last chance, I must see a sea horse."  And what did i see?  yes, a sea horse in the last two minutes of my dive.  We were cruising along the sea grasses and algae, seeing incredible species, such as the beautiful school of squid, when we came across the most elusive species of the island's waters.  This little guy was a beautiful red-brown as you can see in the picture.  He just floated there, holding on to his small piece of debris.  By far the most adorable creature we saw, even more so than the drumfish.  This was an amazing find and i hope everyone can experience seeing one.  Remember, if you want to see one, practice looking for them and study up where to find them.  Or, in my case, get a local dude who can find them for you.

This was really a spit-out-your-reg story.  I was just kicking along on my shore dive when I glanced over to where a commotion was puffing sand up everywhere.  Pictured here was a baby french angelfish, and below, a stingray.  The stingray was minding his own business, most likely eating off the sand.  The baby would swim down, nip the sting ray, and shoot away.  The stingray would spazz out and finally settle again when the baby would repeat this.  It kept doing this over and over, looking as though it was a having a blast, while the stingray......well not so much.  Hands down the funniest thing I have ever seen on a dive!

Hey Everybody!

This is Whale Shark's blogspot about all of my scuba adventures.  I will post pics, information, and funny or exciting stories from all my adventures!  I hope everyone keeps reading and posted on Whale Shark's scuba Adventures!