At Sudong Wreck.....
On Sunday afternoon, I joined the Localdivers for a dive trip to Sudong Wreck. The trip started with huge storm clouds looming above us when we left the marina. Fortunately, the sky cleared when we reached the dive site.
First dive, even though the sky was cleared, the water was still choppy. I had a hard time fighting the surface currents to get to the buoy.
We descended to about 15m and explored the seabed around the wreck. There were plentiful of Sea Fans, Sea Whips and Crinoids. Saw a phyllidia sp and a Icon Seastar. Then, HP spotted a toadfish but it sneaked back into its hole when I moved closer to get a shot.
We continued to the bow and that where I lost Ivy and HP after making the turn. I did a buddy search but I still cannot find them. So I tried to head back to the descent line. But somehow, I just could not find it (later I realised that I did not take notice of the depth where the line was tied when I descended). As I was running low on air, I decided to abort the plan to continue searching for the line and made a free ascent. As I was really in the OPEN sea, I tried for the FIRST time, to deploy my surface marker but sad to say I need more practices. I was having trouble with the marker's line and it doesn't help either with surges that was rocking me about. Thus, decided to abort the deployment and all I can do was to pray that no boat/ship passes above me when I surface. Which of course, the prayer was answered for I am here typing away.
When Ivy and HP surfaced, they told us that they spotted a Tigertail Seahorse while searching for me. Everyone was excited about the find and asked for details about the depth and spot that they found it. So finding the Seahorse was on everyone's second dive agenda.
After surface interval, the water was much calmer and I made it to the buoy effortlessly. We went to search for the Seahorse again but instead we saw this nudibranch along the way. It's a glossodoris atromarginata.
First dive, even though the sky was cleared, the water was still choppy. I had a hard time fighting the surface currents to get to the buoy.
We descended to about 15m and explored the seabed around the wreck. There were plentiful of Sea Fans, Sea Whips and Crinoids. Saw a phyllidia sp and a Icon Seastar. Then, HP spotted a toadfish but it sneaked back into its hole when I moved closer to get a shot.
We continued to the bow and that where I lost Ivy and HP after making the turn. I did a buddy search but I still cannot find them. So I tried to head back to the descent line. But somehow, I just could not find it (later I realised that I did not take notice of the depth where the line was tied when I descended). As I was running low on air, I decided to abort the plan to continue searching for the line and made a free ascent. As I was really in the OPEN sea, I tried for the FIRST time, to deploy my surface marker but sad to say I need more practices. I was having trouble with the marker's line and it doesn't help either with surges that was rocking me about. Thus, decided to abort the deployment and all I can do was to pray that no boat/ship passes above me when I surface. Which of course, the prayer was answered for I am here typing away.
When Ivy and HP surfaced, they told us that they spotted a Tigertail Seahorse while searching for me. Everyone was excited about the find and asked for details about the depth and spot that they found it. So finding the Seahorse was on everyone's second dive agenda.
After surface interval, the water was much calmer and I made it to the buoy effortlessly. We went to search for the Seahorse again but instead we saw this nudibranch along the way. It's a glossodoris atromarginata.
HP managed to find the Tigertail Seahorse again. Took some pics but only this one is presentable. The rests are all OOF.
The rest of the divers also managed to see the Seahorse. It was so popular that I heard a group of divers hogged it for nearly 20 minutes to take pics. Just hope that it is still okay after being thrown into the limelights for being the STAR of the day.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home