UAE East Coast Temperatures

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Cowfish

Rarely see it with this lavender and pink hue.

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Well I have to say today was pretty good despite low temperatures on the first dive (23/24C on Inchcape 2.

Lots of nudis on the first dive, which probably held my attention so much that I didn't feel the cold or it was my new W7 5mm wetsuit :wink:

In any case, it appears that Hypselodoris kanga are pulling this area, and almost every piece of sponge had one or two nudis munching on it.

FUJ_7230MCsig-M.jpg


Chromodoris annulata were laying eggs and several egg ribbons were spotted too.

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The star find though was this Eubranchus sp. on the mooring line at 4m (the wreck is 21m to where the mooring line is attached.

FUJ_7239MCsig-M.jpg


The second dive was at Hole in the Wall, so I decided to head north of where everyone else was heading and I came across more than 10 Crown of Thorns :eek: so I'm thinking of arranging a cull to get rid of these buggers before they decimate the coral.

I came across a few cuttlefish and the usual shrimps, wishing I had brought along my 105mm lens at times, but it is what it is when you choose to do macro, the 60 or the 105.

FUJ_7276MCsig-M.jpg


Next week is Eid Al Fitr and I'll have a five day weekend :D
 
Fortuitous finds, Searcaigh.

I did not chance upon the Hypselodoris kanga on two dives to inchcape 10.

But the Eubranchus sp. find is magnificent.

Yesterday we dived snoopy deep.
The second dive was supposed to be sharm three rocks. But at high noon there were already seven boats there.
Akram, Eiman, Zlatan, and Ahmed Ali suggested we go elsewhere.

We agreed on inchcape two.
A few of preferred martini rock but a few didn't.
It turned out serendipitous.
We explored inchcape two, seem to martini wall and actually headed onwards to hole in the wall!

Of which I saw plenty of Citron Goby!

Photographs to follow.

Today we dived deep reef and inchape 10.
 
shy critters

Patience is required and finding a subject or subjects that you can get close enough to sit and wait.

Most fish like gobies have a pattern in their movements and will return to the same spot frequently.

FUJ_5922MCsig-M.jpg


Above shot with the 105mm lens.
 
Night dive at sharm three rocks
Finally on my rash guard

Found a lot of depleted cuttlefish fish egg sacks
Then eventually a Massimo juvenile cuttlefish pretending to be a crab
Endearing

Video to follow soon
A small barracuda as well

Then this otherworldly crustacean

Footage on Sunday
 
Less diving than I originally had hoped for this Eid holiday, but nonetheless some good diving especially on Thursday when the vis was a spectacular 20m on Angel Reef.

Yesterday we were treated to a nice marble ray when we arrived at the bottom of Ruby reef and I was set up for macro whilst on the previous dive at Paradise Reef I had the TG5 set up for wide angle and we found three nudis ...... Murphy!

There was a snowflake moray swimming around

FUJ_5141259MCsig-M.jpg


There are also hundreds of sea butterflies (Cavolinia uncinata) from 8-3m which gives me something to do on the deco / safety stop, although I have yet to get a sharp enough shot. However in case you need a reference this is what they look like.

FUJ_7372MCsig-M.jpg


Found a lot of depleted cuttlefish fish egg sacks

Theresia found this 1cm cuttlefish on Angel Reef

FUJ_7298M2Csig-M.jpg
 
Yesterday's dives were a bit "Meh" not that I am ungrateful for being able to dive, I certainly enjoyed the opportunity to be in the warmer water north of Fujairah. Bottom temps at 26C :D

Soap Box Time

I had chosen my dives partially based on the boat that was going to the destination (Martini Rock / Hole in the Wall) as well as the camera set up for these dive sites.

My first issue was that the boat going to the location had been changed to the another boat that has a shorter ladder, which is becoming an issue for me at times, and I prefer the other boats at BDC specifically because they have longer ladders making it easier to get back onto the boat with my kit on.

I was offered to go on alternate boats to different sites, but I was set up camera wise for wide angle, plus my gases were set up for shallower sites.

I mentally kicked myself as we (eventually) left the marina as I realised I had a twinset in the back of the car and could have easily dived with that. My gases for this trip were EAN33 in an AL80 and Air in an AL65.

Boats were supposed to leave at 08:30 but most of the people were either not there yet and others were still setting up their gear. We left 15 minutes later than planned, and this meant that we were also late in getting back (around 14:00) delaying the afternoon boat which was going out with people from our boat, who were in fact included one of the latecomers!

Myself and a couple of others were quite vocal about this, be there on time or tough sh!t :mad: It was frikken hot >30C and humid.

The boat was full (15 divers + Instructor + boat driver) and fortunately three of us had the seats behind the helm as we motored north but with too many people closer to the bow the boat struggled a bit to plane the waves and move fast.

During the SI some divers left their gear all over the place, which was annoying when trying to swap tanks around. Why do people leave masks lying on the deck FFS.

Then on the second dive I see this :mad:

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https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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