Makena Landing Dive

[kidspot]

KrisB and I were treated to a wonderful dive at Makena landing yesterday - best vis I've ever seen out there 60-80ft then came lots of turtle sightings, which are always a treat, but the real high point was spending nearly 30 minutes with a monk seal in the bubble cave. She was sound asleep when we entered and did little more than open an eye to see us, then go right back to sleep again. We watched nearly 20 other divers come and go during our visit. Unfortunately the silt in the cave made photography with our built in strobes impossible and the 1/2 second shutter speeds made the rest blurry. But I've attached the best of the still shots below along with my favorite turtle pose of the day and a 1/2" nudi that we spotted on the way back. All in all a wonderful 84 minute dive and good company afterwards.

Thanks for a great dive time Kris!

Aloha, Tim

 

[justleesa]

Lucky you! I've never seen a seal yet ...Glad you had a good time

Love the turtle

 

[kidspot]

Thanks Leesa this is the first time I've seen a monk seal myself.

 

[KrisB]

That was an awesome dive, wasn't it, Tim!

Thanks for convincing me to go!

 

[Charlie99]

I checked out the bubble cave around noon today (Thursday), but the monk seal was gone.

About 9:30 this morning during our SI on the two tank Mike Severns trip, Capt Andy jumped in to take a peek and the monk seal wasn't around then either. But it was truly awesome viz this morning at 85' Pinnacle and Deer Valley. 3 Eagle Rays, a couple of Flame Angelfish, two Dwarf Morays, a couple Frogfish, and a turkeyfish (or maybe it was lionfish?). All in all a pretty nice day.

 

[KrisB]

I'll report back on tomorrow's status.

She seems to go and swim around sometimes... so you might have just missed her!

 

[DiveMaven]

What a great dive, Tim!! Just so you know, it took me about an hour to identify that critter as a "Fuchsia Flatworm" and not a nudi. The one we found was in deeper water so appears blue in our pictures and not fuchsia. Yours is nearly identical to the one pictured in the book. Thought you'd want to know.

 

[kidspot]

Thanks DM - just dawned on me when you said that, there is no "lung" structure on the body - thanks for identifying it for me - very pretty "slug" either way

 

[webbah]

I'll report back on tomorrow's status.

She seems to go and swim around sometimes... so you might have just missed her!

Right on Kris - glad you got to see her!:14:

 

[KrisB]

Haven't heard of any sightings for the past couple days...