Town Pier, Dive #7 - 7 June 2004

Hermit Crab + Dead Fish	Longlure Frogfish	Banded Coral Shrimp	Spotted Scorpionfish
Banded Tube-Dwelling Anemone	Longsnout Seahorse	Juvenile French Angelfish	Sharptail Eel
Tarpon

Last trip, Town Pier was the most fabulous dive of the vacation, and this one was no exception. Ebby, one of our divemasters, agreed to take us on the dive (you must have a local guide), and we were there nice 'n early to be sure we got a good parking spot.

Though we were tired, Ebby wanted to wait until 9 PM to dive. This would bring out a lot more of the night life, so we agreed. We geared up on the concrete benches overlooking the pier and waded in.

Unlike the last trip, this time there were several really large boats in pier. They had a pretty large draft, so we swam directly underneath the pier, weaving our way through the pilings. Interesting test of buoyancy - diving in 8 feet of water, weaving but not brushing the stanchions, pushing a large camera, with a boat drafting several feet above you! Coral life was sparse at first, but soon enough we were in deeper water and could venture out from under the pilings.

The pilings are rich in coral life, but the most amazing sights were found amongst the many objects casually tossed overboard over the many years. (None are ever removed - the fish have made these their homes.) We saw a Hermit Crab dragging a dead fish for lunch. He dragged the fish right past a Spotted Moray, who could smell the fish and was weighing the risk of leaving his hiding spot to try and take a bite.

I stayed right next to Ebby, but Beth fell behind. She was taking many, many photos, working on exposures and flash settings, and I was amused to see her strobe going off 50, 100, 150 times during the dive. (She's digital, whereas I had a 36 exposure limit.) Unusual for me, however, I did take 35 of the photos, saving one last shot for that last-minute miracle-sight which occurs if you run out of film.

We saw a Longlure Frogfish!! This elusive, superbly-disguised creature is very hard to find, but he posed nicely while I thoroughly bracketed him with exposures, and got as close as I dared. Then I called Beth over, making sure she didn't miss him. He was gray and in my photo you can see his "lure" dangling in front, awaiting prey.

A Banded Coral Shrimp, Spotted Scorpionfish, Beaded Sea Cucumber, Sharptail Eel, a Decorator Crab with Hitchhiker Anemone on his back, a Pelagic Tunicate, a High Hat, two Drum, and several Post-Larval tiny Doctorfish swimming in the open, were all among the patrons that landed on my film. What an amazing collection of life!

The Banded Tube-Dwelling Anemone only exposes itself when it's looking for food, and I got a neat photo of a Bearded Fireworm and Juvy French Angelfish together on a few tiny coral reeds.

And in the shallows - two Seahorses!! What a great find! It was really hard to get a good photo; they are shy and usually stay hidden in the coral branches, but I got a few that were recognizable.

A large Tarpon was following us, using our dive lights to try and find fish to eat for dinner. On one pass he got close enough for me to take a photo, so I did. Unlike the Dog Snappers at the Flower Gardens, this guy didn't care of we shined our lights on him - he's too big and ugly to be someone else's meal.

An incredible dive, we were amazed at how much we found and enjoyed. We packed up, thanked and tipped Ebby, and had dinner at the Banana Tree, one of the few places we knew would be open. Boy were we wiped out!