Autumn in the AM
Mar
19
2010


Dive No.: 1999
Dive Site: Hawaii Loa, Oahu, Hawaii
Max Depth: 45ft/13m
Total Time: 36 mins

Air: 200bar – 120 bar
Mix: EANx36
Tank: 80cu
Weight: 8lbs

Visibility: 40ft/12m
Water: 73F/23C
Exposure: rash guard, 5mm full wet suit (busted zipper), 3mm shorty, 3mm skull cap

Comments:

Autumn had just arrived in Oahu after a long series of flights from Haiti. I had been roped into working the morning charter. Nothing like a 5am start time to say “aloha!”

Conditions were choppy as a fierce tradewinde pressed down on Koko Marina. The air was Hawaiian cold (65F/18C) and the water wasn’t much warmer (73F/23C). We dropped anchor and explored the crater rims of Hawaii Loa. There was a nice diversity of schooling fish above the small coral heads, but, aside from a few small eels, there weren’t any stand-out creatures. Visibility was down and the surge was quite noticeable in the shallows.

Dive No.: 2000
Dive Site: Turtles, Oahu, Hawaii
Max Depth: 40ft/12m
Total Time: 42 mins

Air: 200bar – 120 bar
Mix: EANx36
Tank: 80cu
Weight: 8lbs

Visibility: 80ft/24m
Water: 73F/23C
Exposure: rash guard, 5mm full wet suit (busted zipper), 3mm shorty, 3mm skull cap

Comments:

2000 dives. That’s a lot.

I thanked the dive group for joining me on this milestone dive. I was particularly glad that Autumn was enduring the cold whipping wind and coming along. The longer we lingered on the surface, the stronger the wind gusts blew. It was a bit of a fight to get down the mooring line.

The bottom was stirred up by a thermocline of 70F/21C water, reducing the sandy sections to near silt-out. Above the reef, however, the visibility extended a good 60ft/18m. Cornetfish whipped vertically above the thermocline, using the angle of the early morning sunlight to hunt for prey blinded by the turbidity. A few small moray eels slithered between coral heads. A lonely porcupinefish fluttered against the current.

One of the most infuriating moments of being a Divemaster is when you spot sometime truly unique and tiny but cannot manage to show it to the group. In this case, it was a bright yellow juvenile longlure frogfish. About the size of a marble, I spotted this bizarre creature hopping along the rocky bottom. Unfortunately, the surge took the frogfish away before I could share it with anyone.

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