DIVE DRY WITH DR. BILL #826: BONES
So glad I've finally returned to King Neptune's realm. I must admit I can no longer do seven dives a day like in my "youth" (just a few years ago!). After doing one or two dives, I return home to shower... and quickly fall asleep on the couch. Oh, well. Life is still good... especially when I can get wet (and not just behind the ears).
The only negative is that my video rigs are in need of some serious servicing. All four of my Sola video lights are in need of new batteries (to the tune of $650). One of my L&M Stingray G2 housings has an extruded front port o-ring and the other has a broken control handle mount. Oh, well... it's only money. But we all know that marine biologists and SCUBA professionals aren't in it to get rich.
When I finally descended in the dive park, I was blessed to have two instructors as my buddies... Andrea Bill (my dive buddy of nearly 20 years) and Ruth Harris. I had concerns because last year I could barely get up the stairs due to pain in my back (from the multiple myeloma?). This year the pain had subsided and I could land on and walk up the stairs by myself.
So what did we see on that first dive of the year? Not much! Dense phytoplankton blooms reduced visibility to mere feet. I'm not a fan of green water, but maybe these blooms will produce enough oxygen to make up for the fires in the Amazon. Some say that phytoplankton produce 70% of Earth's oxygen. Of course I rely on the O2 in my SCUBA tank, at least when under the waves.
Andrea, Ruth and I descended to 95 feet near the Suejac and the visibility improved at depth. Those phytoplankton probably couldn't get enough light down there to cloud things up! There, draped across the remains of the Suejac wreck was a fairly large skeleton. The length was probably about four or five feet. The skeleton was intact with the upper part of the head, vertebrae and tail.
Now back in grad school I dissected a few fish in Dr. Al Ebeling's ichthyology course, but since I'm an ecologist and work mostly with living specimens (unless Mark Guccione kills them and brings them up for me to ID). I can't say I'm an ex-spurt on fish bones. I pretty much eliminated marine mammals due to the vertical placement of the tail fin bones.
Ruth provided a series of still images of the skeletal material and I sent them off to fish expert Dr. Larry Allen at CSUN. His quick reply suggested that it was probably a yellow or blue fin tuna. Interesting that it was discarded in the dive park, presumably by an angler after taking the meat. A few years ago marlin skeletons would be deposited in Lover's Cove after they had been steaked out. This was to attract our California wreckfish (aka giant "sea bass") and other fish for the glassbottom boats.
So it appears the mystery of the bones in Davy Jone's graveyard has been solved. The skeleton is now disarticulated with the vertebrae and other parts strewn across the bottom. Thanks to Larry for answering this riddle that was beyond my ex-spurt-tise!
© 2019 Dr. Bill Bushing. For the entire archived set of over 800 "Dive Dry" columns, visit my website Star Thrower Educational Multimedia (S.T.E.M.) Home Page
Image caption: Images of the bones courtesy of Ruth Harris.
So glad I've finally returned to King Neptune's realm. I must admit I can no longer do seven dives a day like in my "youth" (just a few years ago!). After doing one or two dives, I return home to shower... and quickly fall asleep on the couch. Oh, well. Life is still good... especially when I can get wet (and not just behind the ears).
The only negative is that my video rigs are in need of some serious servicing. All four of my Sola video lights are in need of new batteries (to the tune of $650). One of my L&M Stingray G2 housings has an extruded front port o-ring and the other has a broken control handle mount. Oh, well... it's only money. But we all know that marine biologists and SCUBA professionals aren't in it to get rich.
When I finally descended in the dive park, I was blessed to have two instructors as my buddies... Andrea Bill (my dive buddy of nearly 20 years) and Ruth Harris. I had concerns because last year I could barely get up the stairs due to pain in my back (from the multiple myeloma?). This year the pain had subsided and I could land on and walk up the stairs by myself.
So what did we see on that first dive of the year? Not much! Dense phytoplankton blooms reduced visibility to mere feet. I'm not a fan of green water, but maybe these blooms will produce enough oxygen to make up for the fires in the Amazon. Some say that phytoplankton produce 70% of Earth's oxygen. Of course I rely on the O2 in my SCUBA tank, at least when under the waves.
Andrea, Ruth and I descended to 95 feet near the Suejac and the visibility improved at depth. Those phytoplankton probably couldn't get enough light down there to cloud things up! There, draped across the remains of the Suejac wreck was a fairly large skeleton. The length was probably about four or five feet. The skeleton was intact with the upper part of the head, vertebrae and tail.
Now back in grad school I dissected a few fish in Dr. Al Ebeling's ichthyology course, but since I'm an ecologist and work mostly with living specimens (unless Mark Guccione kills them and brings them up for me to ID). I can't say I'm an ex-spurt on fish bones. I pretty much eliminated marine mammals due to the vertical placement of the tail fin bones.
Ruth provided a series of still images of the skeletal material and I sent them off to fish expert Dr. Larry Allen at CSUN. His quick reply suggested that it was probably a yellow or blue fin tuna. Interesting that it was discarded in the dive park, presumably by an angler after taking the meat. A few years ago marlin skeletons would be deposited in Lover's Cove after they had been steaked out. This was to attract our California wreckfish (aka giant "sea bass") and other fish for the glassbottom boats.
So it appears the mystery of the bones in Davy Jone's graveyard has been solved. The skeleton is now disarticulated with the vertebrae and other parts strewn across the bottom. Thanks to Larry for answering this riddle that was beyond my ex-spurt-tise!
© 2019 Dr. Bill Bushing. For the entire archived set of over 800 "Dive Dry" columns, visit my website Star Thrower Educational Multimedia (S.T.E.M.) Home Page
Image caption: Images of the bones courtesy of Ruth Harris.
