Making Fish Say "Cheese" and Sunstars Smile...

Sunday was our Naturalist dives and (thanks to a quick call from Chloe Boone earlier in the week) I brought my camera with me.  Now the goals for Sundays dives we pretty simple, not a lot of task loading and so having the camera would not be any issue.  So after arriving on site, and getting our gear all out and kits built it was time for a bit of a briefing.  This was mildly entertaining as this also seemed to be the day everyone from the shop went diving...lol.  Different recreational divers I had been out with were there, and many of the professional divers were there as well.  Shannon and Wes were there, and Stuart, Ryder, Dennis, Virpi, and Ward, the whole family was there...lol.  Now when you pack a picnic area with a group like this, we're not exactly quiet, so getting through some of the review questions and instructions for the day   The task for dive 1 of the day was to go for a swim (sounds tough I know..lol) and during our dive find five plants, five vertebrates and five invertebrates, write them down, draw a picture of them or (in my case) take a picture.  Then once on the surface see if, with the aid of Monti, any of the other divers around, or any of the books that were available to use, figure out what we saw.

Now, never one to not have a little stress on a dive, after we completed our briefing and planned our dive and I had an opportunity to get to know the new diver joining us for this class, it was time to gear up.  With my kit all assembled and my camera all ready it was time to turn on the tank.  On she goes and just a moment to wait while my newly repaired transmitter and watch sync up, ok, maybe a couple of moments... maybe five... and I can hear the crowd echo my thoughts... "Oh, no!  Not again!"  Yup, no sync! For those of you who remember from Look Mommy, no hands! I had this similar issue a few months back and unfortunately it took forever to get it fixed but I had been reassured that it should never happen again... Yeah Right!  So here I am, team all ready to get in the water and me without a pressure gauge... Now that huge group of divers that was all hanging about... you guessed it... all in the water already...  So, with a big swallow to get rid of the lump in my throat, it was time to wish my team "Good Luck" and watch them head for the water while I waited to see which group would be up first that might have a reg for me to borrow.  Fortunately I didn't have to wait too long, before Monti made it to the water he passed Ward, my new bestest friend and savior Ward... had not yet gotten in the water with Virpi.  Upon hearing about my dilemma he offered up his spare regulator, and like that... saved my day!!  So with a quick twist twist, one reg was off, the new one on, air turned back on, pressure checked, regs checked, BCD on the back, inflators attached, inflators checked and off to the waters edge while stopping for a quick second to express my undying gratitude to Ward.

Once in the water and teamed up with our new classmate, it was time for the surface swim to the Grant Hall buoy, before our descent to search for life.  If you've ever been diving, especially in Porteau Cove, it doesn't take long to find life, it is teaming all over the descent lines and floating or swimming through the water,  it is crawling, creeping or jumping along the bottom, it is everywhere, you just need to stop long enough to see it.

As mentioned our dives for the day were to find and record various life forms under the water.  Now instead of boring everyone with my on going tales and poor descriptions here are some of the photos that were taken under the water.  The entire group of images in the highest resolution can be found on the Harris Photography Facebook page.  Hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I enjoyed taking them.