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Tanker Barge, July 9, 2009.

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For the past several years, I have wanted to see what was out at the old "Tanker," the barge south of Managaha. Usually the waves, currents, and wind are bad enough to scare me out of going. Today, however, everything seemed quite calm, so I loaded up my snorkel stuff and camera and struck out on my kayak.
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For the past several years, I have wanted to see what was out at the old "Tanker," the barge south of Managaha. Usually the waves, currents, and wind are bad enough to scare me out of going. Today, however, everything seemed quite calm, so I loaded up my snorkel stuff and camera and struck out on my kayak.

kayaktanker

  • For the past several years, I have wanted to see what was out at the old "Tanker," the barge south of Managaha. Usually the waves, currents, and wind are bad enough to scare me out of going. Today, however, everything seemed quite calm, so I loaded up my snorkel stuff and camera and struck out on my kayak.
  • It's my understanding that the "Tanker" was an American barge, and that the Americans tugged it close to here under cover of darkness prior to invading Saipan. They then cut it loose and let it drift, hoping that as the sun came up and the Japanese saw this huge new "ship" near their island they would fire at it and allow other Americans further offshore to get some idea where the gun batteries were.
  • Whether or not that is correct, I'm not sure. At any rate, however, the Tanker did run aground out here. It now has two large pieces. My kayak is between the two concrete chunks.
  • It amazes me that they used to make huge barges out of reinforced concrete. It apparently worked, however. This barge has several "sections," each about the size of a small bedroom, open at the top and open to the east above and below water.
  • I didn't go into any of the sections, although I think it would be reasonably safe to do so (I was just a bit spooked being out there alone). This is looking into one of the sections from under water. It was about noon, so you can see light coming in from the hatch you saw in the previous photo.
  • Also, lots of stuff scattered around. I actually think that doing a small-tank dive around here would be pretty interesting. Max depth probably only about 20 to 25 feet.
  • Now, look at those two little fingers sticking out on the right side of that pillar. Can you see something cool on top of the lower one?
  • Lookie there! A Blue dragon (Pteraeolidia ianthina)! I have seen fewer than 5 of these guys in Saipan waters, although I understand that they are more common some other places. This nudibranch has some interesting characteristics. Its body is covered with "tentacles," technically called rhinophores. Sea dragons eat soft corals and other critters which have nematocysts (stinging cells) and zooxanthelae (photosynthesizing symbiotic cells). The nudibranch digests most of these corals, but not the nematocysts and zooxanthelae, which pass through the digestive tract and are incorporated into the rhinophores. In this way, the Sea dragon acquires the ability to photosynthesize and to defend itself. Some experts state that it is likely that adult Sea dragons have no need to eat at all.
  • He was at a depth of about 10 feet. I had no flash (my pop-up, on camera flash is not available while the camera is in the housing). I made several trips down and up (I was snorkeling, remember, no SCUBA) and snapped many shots. The only decent one was the very first one I took, which is above. But, hey, I thought I was very fortunate to get THIS one with no flash and no time to spend breathing! By the way, I would estimate total body length at about 7 to 8 inches. Definitely the largest one of these I have seen.
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