Fiesa – 27.1.2024

The first dive this year and I just managed to still do it in January. It has also been a while since my last dive.

As I don’t own a dry suit I pay a lot of attention to the weather, especially the wind. It’s not a problem going into the water and staying there for some time. The issue is that you have to come out at one point. Since you are cold already, heavy wind is something I would rather avoid.

The temperature above and below the water was about 11°C. It was a bit foggy but without much wind. Visibility was quite standard for Fiesa at about 3m. Luckily there weren’t a lot of suspended particles this time. Dive time was just over 70 minutes.

With colder water, almost no boat traffic, and no swimmers, you get a chance to see quite a lot. It certainly makes it worthwhile being a bit cold.

Nudibranchs

This time I found two common species.

Felimare picta comes in two chromatic variants.

Felimare picta Felimare picta Felimare picta

While they usually hide their gills, one of them was not as protective so I managed to get a few good macro shots.

Felimare picta Felimare picta

The second one is the Dendrodoris limbata. It was quite hard to get a good picture due to its position but I managed to get a closeup of its rhinophores.

Dendrodoris limbata

Other species

The comb jelly (Bolinopsis vitrea) is common to see but quite difficult to photograph due to its translucent body. There are several species of comb jelly. I took a lot of pictures and this one is the best I got.

Bolinopsis vitrea

They are quite nice to look at due to their bioluminescence. You can see a hint of it in the picture as well but it gets more defined under light. Hopefully, I will get a good video of it at one point.

I also managed to take a few pictures of fish. It is a bit easier if they stay still. The first one is of a tompot blenny (Parablennius gattorugine) which is the largest blenny species in the Adriatic Sea. Next to it is probably a red-black triplefin (Tripterygion tripteronotum) not in spawning season. Although I am not entirely sure of this one.

Parablennius gattorugine Tripterygion tripteronotum

Next is a hermit crab (Pagurus anachoretus). Usually, they run away when I try to take a picture but every so often I come across one that doesn’t mind taking a few photos. And next to it is a black squat lobster (Galathea squamifera). I come across them often but they usually hide immediately. They are nocturnal animals.

Pagurus anachoretus Galathea squamifera

Seahorses

In my opinion one of the most interesting species you can encounter. Normally I see the brown variant but I have seen the yellow one on a few occasions.

In the pictures below is a long-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus). I think I only saw it 3 times before. All of those times were here in Fiesa.

Hippocampus guttulatus Hippocampus guttulatus Hippocampus guttulatus

This was certainly the highlight of the dive.

Conclusion

While the water is now a bit cold I certainly enjoyed the dive. I got to see different species that you don’t normally see once it gets too hot.

The highlight was certainly the yellow long-snouted seahorse.

Hopefully, the weather will be suitable soon so that I can go scuba diving again.