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  3. THE UNIVERSE BENEATH
  4. FUN DIVES AND DIVE BUDDIES

July 11 and 12, 2009: Wing and Tanker Barge

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rosecanyon

  • The first dive on this album is at Wing (press the "MAP THIS" button above if you would like to see where that is) July 11, 2009. Here you can see that Rose has found a nice cache of nudibranch eggs.
  • Isn't it difficult to believe that something so large and pretty can come out of a small slug?
  • I like the "fine art" of the curves in the close-up.
  • Coral crab (Trapezia wardi).
  • These guys are always very deep down in the coral, which makes getting photos a considerable challenge. Getting them both in front of the camera AND in the path of light from a strobe is nearly impossible.
  • Another type of crab deep in the coral (Charybdis hawaiiensis).
  • The red and white striped thing between you and the crab is a soldier fish of some type.
  • Crinoids. The yellow is likely Comanthina schlegeli, the black Comantheria briareus. These are basically just extremely "bushy" sea stars.
  • Untitled photo
  • Some nice corallamorphs at the bottom of the Canyon. Not sure of species, but likely genus is Discosoma. The name corallamorph basically just means "coral-like," and these are similar to corals in many ways. This would have made a nice wall-paper in the '70's! Even the name ("Disco" soma) sounds like something out of the 70's or 80's!
  • "What was that big bubbling creature that just came by?"
  • "I think it is passed. Safe now." Orangefin anemonefish (Amphiprion chrysopterus).
  • Nudibranch (Chelidonura inornata). You can see the size on Rose's hand. This species eats flatworms (you will see a flatworm in a later photo).
  • Octopus peeking out at Rose.
  • Day octopus (Octopus cyanea).
  • Hermit crab (Dardanus lagopodes).
  • Now we are on our SECOND dive for the weekend. The previous photos were Saturday PM (July 11). Now we are in the morning of Sunday, July 12. If you are interested, press the "Map This" button above for orientation as to where we are for this dive.
  • According to what I have been told, prior to the invasion of Saipan, American forces pulled a large concrete barge ("tanker") into Saipan waters under cover of darkness. They then cut it loose and let it drift. It ran aground at its current resting place. From a safe distance, American ships then watched as the sun came up. As first light arrived, the Japanese saw this new vessel in their lagoon and fired upon it. This allowed the Americans to observe where the major Japanese gun batteries were so that the invasion could be planned with better information.
  • The tanker now rests in about 20 to 30 feet of water on fine sand.
  • What has Rose found?
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