Heading down into "The Canyon."

SaipanCNMIWingCanyon

Two Moorish idols (Zanclus cornutus) look on as their realm is invaded by the bubbling aliens.

Moorish idolZanclus cornutusWingCanyon

John and Dawn float above the whip coral. Does sound kinky, doesn't it!?

John DouglasDawn Hammermeisterwhip coral

Look closely and you can see some Cornetfish (Fistularia commersonnii) in front of Ron.

ronwhip coralCornetfishFistularia commersonniiRon Smith

"Anyone want to do some bowling?"

Robert LaurieCushion starCulcita novaeguineae

John and Dawn approach an anemone with a pair of Clark's anemonefish (Amphiprion clarksi).

John DouglasDawn HammermeisterAnemonefishClarksAmphiprion clarksi

Gee, Mary: You MUST be getting close to deco! Maybe if we become creative enough when 'narked we can do some ART DECO!

Mary McGee

Twinspot snapper (Lutjanus bohar). Gee, Ron: That almost looks like it HURT!

Ron SmithTwinspot snapperLutjanus bohar

As I was all engrossed in attempting to get a great shot of this Banded cleaner shrimp (Stenopus hispidus, also called Banded coral shrimp), I noticed some movement just to my right.....

Banded cleaner shrimpStenopus hispidusBanded coral shrimp

...and right there in the shadows (he is illuminated here by my flash) was this Giant moray (Gymnothorax javanicus)!

Giant morayGymnothorax javanicus

Here you see the shrimp from 2 photos back (to your left) and the moray from the last photo. There was a third shrimp to your right from the furthest right shrimp you can see here. These are among the many shots which make a photographer wish for a dome port. Even with my 28mm wide angle, a flat port just did not allow me to be close enough to get the dramatic lighting that this scene needs.

Giant moraybanded cleaner shrimp

The landscape at Wing is, I think, totally cool!

John DouglasDawn Hammermeister

Looking straight up at John and Dawn, with the "sky" in the background.

John DouglasDawn Hammermeisterskywater surface

Sharing the ocean with some Teardrop butterflyfish (Chaetodon unimaculatus).

Teardrop butterflyfishChaetodon unimaculatus

Sky above, reef below.

abovebelowreefsky

We now start our second dive of the day. I guess this is my present favorite "dive destination." For lack of a better name, I call it "Twin Sunroof Cave."

wingsaipancnmitwin sunroof cavecave

twin sunroof cave

You can see the light coming in through the sunroofs behind Mary. As you can see, it is a very shallow formation. Surge can be quite rough here. When it's calm, however, it is really a cool sight.

mary mcgeetwin sunroofs cave

There are also MANY interesting, fairly shallow crevices near the Twin Sunroofs Cave.

johncrevice

crevice

Sightseers enjoy touring the 2-lane underwater highway.

crevice

Crinoid, probably of genus Comantheria. Closely related to sea stars and cushion stars. Many divers are surprised to find out that these are critters. Also, they have tiny suction cups in their appendages which can strongly grip a diver's finger.

crinoid

After most everyone else had left the water, Mary spent some time cleaning up some of the fishing trash which was choking the coral.

Mary McGeeenvironmentalistfishing linecoral entanglement

A Red-speckled blenny (Cirripectes variolosus) comes up to say "Thanks, Mary!"

Redspeckled blennyblennyCirripectes variolosus