Lets Go Diving!

October 25, 2008

Saturday morning we took a dive trip to the Kerama Islands!
(this is the trip I won in a drawing)

The Karema Islands are known for some of the best diving in the world.

The trip had originally been scheduled for last Sunday, but was canceled due to bad sea conditions. We arrived Saturday morning hoping the trip was on- they had warned us that conditions were iffy and the captain may call off the dive after we arrived that morning. After arriving at 7:30am at Kadena Marina we were thrilled to hear the dive was on.

We gathered everything up and began hauling our gear down to the boat. Captain Bruce informed us that he had taken a small boat out earlier that morning (he must have had a very early morning to go out and still be back by 7:30am!) to check dive conditions and he wasn't sure we would be able to dive, but it close enough to give it a try. Conditions can change rapidly so we really wouldn't know until we got out there. If conditions weren't safe, we would head back and schedule for yet another day.

We were all issued our tanks and we put our gear together and then loaded all of it onto the boat. As we were waiting to leave we were checking out two Puffer Fish just hanging out by the edge of the dock.



In the picture of the two puffer fish, the water was really that blue. Beautiful!










By 8:30am we were on our way! This next photo is the breakwater as you leave the marina. The cement "tinker toys" they use to protect the coast line are fun to look at. They come in a couple different shapes.


Just outside the mouth of the marina it became apparent what sea conditions were questionable- there were swells of 8-9 feet. It was almost as good as being on a roller coaster! Very strange to be on a boat looking UP at the water! Lots of fun however- although I was glad none of us are inclined to sea sickness. The boat ride out was just over an hour. The captain checked out a few areas and settled on a place for us to dive. He sent one of his master divers in and it was determined the conditions were safe and good under the surface. This is where we dropped anchor and dove- I'm not sure which of the Kerama Island it is.


Before long we were geared up and jumping in the water. It was interesting to jump off the side of the boat into the water 4 feet below- especially since I am NOT big on jumping off of things! The key is to look at the horizon so you don't belly flop. Here's Mike taking the plunge.

The dive was fun, although there was not a whole lot to look at. David and I had not put in enough weight (even though it was the same as our last dive) so we had trouble going down and staying down. As David put it "I was bobbin' like a cork!") Once we were down we were okay- as long as we didn't take a big breath...the extra air was enough to start us back up.

After the dive we come back on board and pulled our gear off and started in on lunch and our surface time. Captain Bruce then made the announcement that he was not sure we would be doing a second dive. One of the engines went out and he had not been able to get it fixed while we were diving. Due to the rough seas, he was a bit concerned about us getting back. So, we were going to head back and if we made it halfway with no problems, there was an island we would stop and attempt a second dive.

All went well and an hour later (the boat was running about half the speed due to only running one engine and going into the wind/current). We dropped anchor off of Sand Island and geared up for our second dive. Matt decided not to dive- he had a horrible time clearing his right ear on the first dive and it was still painful. David bailed too (even though he has been bugging us for weeks to go diving!) The boys decided to just snorkel above where we were diving. I was able to take some photos on the this dive- I couldn't get the camera working for the first dive.



This is David snorkeling on the second dive.









Mike, David and Matt goofing around and having some fun!









Pretty fish- but I don't know the name.

The coral and rocks were beautiful to look at.


If you didn't look close, you missed a lot of things. Do you see the fish in the pictures below??












I would have missed the Cuttlefish on the right if Mike wouldn't have pointed him out. He was so still and blended in perfectly. The fish on the left were easier to spot just because they were swimming around. Once they stop swimming it's easy to loose track of them thou!


This Cuttlefish was so neat. The Cuttlefish exhibit at the Seattle Aquarium was always one of my favorites. I think they are the strangest little fish...although this one was about 10 to 12 inches long. He was hanging out, not at all perturbed by us being close.





Did you know:
* Cuttlefish are photochromic (meaning they can change color rapidly)? "Their skin flashes a fast-changing pattern as communication to other cuttlefish and to camouflage them from predators." (Wikipedia)
* Cuttlefish eyes are among the most developed in the animal kingdom? "The cuttlefish pupil is a smoothly-curving W shape. Although they cannot see color, they can perceive the polarization of light, which enhances their perception of contrast. They have two spots of concentrated sensor cells on their retina (known as fovea), one to look more forward, and one to look more backwards. The lenses, instead of being reshaped as they are in humans, are pulled around by reshaping the entire eye in order to change focus. Scientists have speculated that cuttlefish's eyes are fully developed before birth and start observing their surroundings while still in the egg. One team of French researchers has additionally suggested that cuttlefish prefer to hunt the prey they saw before hatching."( Wikipedia)
* That Cuttlefish have Ink? ( like squid and octopuses)
* That the blood of a cuttlefish is an unusual shade of green-blue? " The blood is pumped by three separate hearts, two of which are used for pumping blood to the cuttlefish's pair of gills (one heart for each gill), and the third for pumping blood around the rest of the body. A cuttlefish's heart must pump a higher blood flow than most other animals because hemocyanin is substantially less capable of carrying oxygen than hemoglobin." (Wikipedia)

The boys were very upset they didn't dive the second dive...especially after they heard us rave about all the cool things we saw....most especially the SHARK!! Seeing a shark was the highlight for me! The picture below is not mine (it is from Wikipedia), but it's the same kind of shark- a Black Tipped Reef Shark. The one we saw was about 5 feet long- and looked just like the one in the photo. Wish we could taken our own photo, but Mike had the camera and it has shut itself off. By the time it turned back on the shark was long gone (fast swimmer and he was cruising right a long!). We were informed by the dive masters that if we didn't have a picture, it didn't count! :) The one dive master was jealous- he said he has dove these waters for 3 years and never seen a shark. One of the other guys had seen lots of them.



Eeck! That was scary enough to make my hair stand on end!
Just kidding- it was all fun!




Muscle Mike!








Another pretty fish- about 20" long.





Mike swimming just above me.


The sea anemones were amazing- I thought they were plants the first time I saw them. Looked over my should to wave Mike over and when I looked back they were gone! They are fast and just suck into the rocks with no sign that they were ever there. In this picture there are several different ones- yellow, purple and brown and white.



Here we are after the dive. Penni took the picture for us- we met her and her husband Friday night while we were checking out our gear. Her husband (we never did catch his name) was here on a job and she tagged along so she could see Okinawa. Nice couple- it was the first time they had ever dove in the ocean. They live in Tahoe so had only done lake dives.


The trip back to the marina seemed to take FOREVER! With high swells and only one engine, we were moving pretty slow. The last ten or 15 minutes we all started getting cold- the sun went behind clouds and we had all gotten a good dousing from the waves. Burr! As we came in, the locals were taking advantage of the sea conditions and catching a few waves.