How quickly time flies. It has been over a month since my last post and my last dive. Some of this was due to bad weather and some to being otherwise occupied. But I finally got the time and good weather for this Saturday.
The weather was nice with about 14°C outside and about 11°C in the water. The important bit is that it wasn’t windy and it was more or less sunny. Such conditions are nice for when you get out of the water. The water was calm with a hint of current and good visibility. For Fiesa good visibility means about 8 – 10 m.
As is normal for my scuba dives in Fiesa, the maximum depth was about 10 m. I could go deeper but I had a goal of finding a seahorse. I like to believe that I am now quite proficient in finding them and for me, they are one of the most intriguing underwater animals. There is an area where they can be found and sometimes you don’t even need to try. Dive time was almost one hour and a half.
Finding the seahorse
I normally see brown-colored seahorses, but on my first-ever scuba dive in Fiesa, I also saw a yellow one. I think I only saw it once or twice since then.
Well, this was my lucky day as I got to see it again. I almost missed it as it was so well camouflaged. This one should be a Long-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus).
It was extremely difficult to take good pictures as he was so well hidden and did not have a lot of room to maneuver the camera. I could just about get my camera into position and set up somewhat adequate lighting. Part of the problem was also an upgrade to my gear which increased the size slightly. I think I managed quite well but there is certainly room for improvement.
The offspring
I saw this a few times now but not in such large numbers so I decided to take some pictures.
Can you guess what it is?
What you see is a small portion of what I would estimate were hundreds of squid egg sacs. Certainly interesting to see underwater.
Nudibranchs
In Fiesa you can see a variety of sea slugs. I managed to take quite good pictures of what I initially thought were two different varieties.
The first one is Trapania maculata. It is a less common species and I found this one almost immediately after I went underwater at a depth of about 2 m.
The second one is Dendrodoris limbata which I mentioned here before. It is a common species and I found this one on my way to a sunken boat at a depth of around 9 m.
I also tried taking photos of its gills in the back. But before I could circle around it tucked them away so I only got a few good photos from the top.
This one was actually quite patient with me, normally they just bulk up and wait for me to leave.
And the last one is Tethys fimbria. It is a common species that grows up to 300 mm and is normally found in depths of over 10 m. I would estimate that this one was about 200 mm long. Although it is common I think I only saw it a few times before and at that time I didn’t know what I was looking at.
To be honest I almost didn’t include this one. When I saw it, it just looked interesting so I took a few pictures and didn’t think much of it. But then I found it in my book of underwater slugs and I had to include it.
Conclusion
Good conditions always point to a good dive and this one was one. I did get better gloves this time which helped a lot. But after an hour and a half, you start to feel the cold.
This dive was partially a test dive for my new photo gear. It was just an improved camera tray with a trigger, all DIY and 3D printed. I need to make a post about this sometime soon.
And I also learned something when writing this post. I learned that I saw the Tethys fimbria and I didn’t know it at the time. It just shows that life comes in a variety of shapes and that there is a lot to see if you pay attention.