Monday Sep 24, 2007

We headed about as far as you can go on Oahu from Ka'a'awa Sunday morning, as conditions were promising for the far Makua dive on the Waianae Coast.  We hit the water about ten am, and after a 30 minute surface swim, descending on the end of the first reef.  The flats between the reefs are full of life; a couple of interesting fishes that are hard to find elsewhere.  Centropyge fisheri and Chromis leucura were plentiful, and sharing a rocky home.  The C. fisheri are very hard to film, quite skittish.  At 110ft, there is not much time to get the camera white balance set, find focus, stabilize the camera and then convince a 1 inch long fish that you are not trying to do it harm.  I could spend hours trying to get the shot.

I just hit the third reef, as I was trying to get a few fish well, while Therese and John headed to the far point of the dive.  Nice cave full of long nosed butterfly fish (Forcipiger longirostris)- interesting to see a large group of these fishes, when normally the are seen in smaller numbers. 

During the long swim back in we passed a mid-water jellyfish - somewhat unusual, and a school of feeding scad.

I filmed a couple nudibranchs on the way in, the Chromdoris vibrata was a very cooperative video subject.  John found a female Whitley's box fish, and then I found another on the ledge coming up into the shallows.  I still have only seen the male once, on the wreck of the Mahi off Nanakuli.

In all a good dive, but I do like longer loiter time to take time to get the shots I want.   Until I get either a boat for this dive or a rebreather, maybe I'll just go to the first reef and work back slower, instead of going all the way out to the Third Reef.

Chromis leucura

Centropyge fisheri

Ostracion whitleyi

Chromodoris vibrata