***UPDATED***
Day 6
Thursday, June 10
Early start this morning. Had to get to the dock earlier than usual.
Dive 9
Deep Eel Garden
I love wreck dives. This ship was the Aguila. It used to be all in one piece, but during a hurricane, it broke into three pieces. On this dive, we get to see lots of grouper and snapper. Some divemasters have even trained the groupers to stay right along beside us, like dogs. Right when we got down, a moray was lying on the deck of the ship (I didn't get too close). Then RR found a lump on the bottom of the ship that looked sort of like a scorpionfish, so I pushed my fin at it to try to get it to move. It didn't work. Then we made a slow ascention with the groupers nearby, and I saw one with a coloration I'd never seen before. I think it may have feel threatened, because it was countershaded (the top was dark and the bottom was light. It's camoflage for them). Then it turned solid black, then back to it's usual splotchy coloration. Very strange.
Max Depth: 105
Time: 46
Diver in: A
Diver out: F
Dive 10
Overheat Reef
I can't really remember a ton about this dive, but I do remember one thing: I found a long-nosed butterflyfish at only 40 feet. Usually they are down at 80-100 feet. I'd wanted to see one for so long, an there had been one spotted the day before. I was so lucky to have found it, and our instructor got pictures! Yay! Also, we got separated from the group... not good. Oh well, it worked out alright. We are safe divers.
Max Depth: 50
Time: 48
Diver in: B
Diver out: H
That afternoon, I got to hang out with the guys and go kayaking, which is always fun. Unfortunantly, I was kayaking with Cincinnati Country Day's rowing team. AKA: I was screwed. Kyle 2 was in the kayak with me and Steve and Kyle 1 were in single kayaks. We went all the way around the key, and on the way back, Kyle 2 explains that I am rowing incorrectly. After a little practice, I got the strokes down right. I took off and managed to pass Kyle 1 and Steve. I refused to stop. Kyle 2 started shouting that he had a madwoman paddling his kayak :P Then we went to the pool to chill before our...dun dun dun.... NIGHT DIVE.
Dive 11
Overheat Reef
So this is the sixth night dive I've ever been on. They are so awesome. It does make me very nervous though to be in a close group of people while it's so dark. We have flashlights of course, so it isn't pitch black, but our sight is limited. I was lucky to have a good group of a dive instructor I'm very comfortable with. Also, the buddy group we were with were two younger girls who were respectful of the coral and stayed a good distance away. That's really hard to come by. We saw an octopus, squirrelfish, a sleeping grouper, jellies (yuck), lobster, and coral shrimp. Also, there were little bloodworms that would swarm our lights and get very annoying. I'd just go up to pillar coral and hold my light by it. The worms would hit the coral, be grabbed, and externally digested (a little gross, but really cool). The ascent is always nerve-wracking because of the many bubbles and flashing lights, but, relatively, all went well. I had to keep an eye on our instructor, to not lose him, but also had to check for my buddy and the two other girls. I did feel really official though
Great dive.
Max Depth: 40
Time: 43
Diver in: D
Diver out: H
Later that night, we had highs and lows, then all sat around for a while. We all also fell asleep on the porch... One by one we woke up and went to bed. Eventually it was me and Kyle 2. I sat up and checked the time. It was around 3 am... I poked him to wake him and tell him I was going to bed and he did the same. Needless to say, we slept well. It turned out that we were the latest out, because the latest anyone else stayed out was 1 am... Whoops.