Five Dives, Three Days 10.29-10.31

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Photo comments (top to bottom): photo1: a camouflaged stone fish, or stone fish-like fish; photo3: I ran into two groups of lobster yesterday, small ones; photo4: red sea anemone are common; photo5: a fish I know as a blenny; photos 6&9: dense schools of fish, different species; photo8: a pair of immature thiof (grouper), commonly seen in cracks and crevices; photo10: dive site off the Mamelles bluffs, immediately south of Plage Mamelles.

I'm currently brushing up on my dive skills by taking several classes through the Nautilus Dive Center on Plage N'Gor. Co-owners Philipe and Hilda are warm and gracious, and linking with them is a nice opportunity to stay involved in things marine throughout the year.

My current class requires five dives, each focusing on a different set of skills/elements: the fine points of buoyancy control (remarkably, I've reduced my weight load to only 5 kilos, even with my 5mm winter wetsuit); multi-level diving (diving deep, then shallower, to allow for greater bottom time while remaining within no decompression limits); deep dive (we dove to a whopping 38m yesterday, moving outside the no decompression limits, requiring a much longer stop at 5m); night dive (scheduled for Tuesday night); and underwater navigation.

Given my level of expertise, the class has been exceptionally valuable. The deep dive yesterday was breathtaking, on the order of diving on Mars, given the enormous feeling of depth, the dramatic changes in aquatic life, and the possibility of seeing something LARGE swim by, whether a group of mantas, a pod of porpoises, large pelagic species otherwise unseen in shallower water.

This class qualifies me to dive to these depths. I expect a return visit to Mars.

I've twice snorkeled the Mamelles this past weekend with Sam S., on Saturday joined by Peter and Marje. The conditions were quite nice on Saturday, less so yesterday. Both dives were delightful. The pics above were taken yesterday.

The season has now officially shifted to a winter pattern: the humidity has lifted, the air is dusty, and there is a prevailing breeze out of the east. The great Dakar upwelling machine has now been switched on, and it is only a matter of time before sea temperatures begin to drop significantly. Still, the coldest water we've encountered (68 degrees F at about 120 feet) is over 10 degrees warmer than anything you'd find in northern California, and well-within the limits of my wetsuit.