Denizen Zen

We dove The Dome today.  I guess that this structure used to be part of a game show in the late 80s/early 90s.  It was survivor style where they had challenges to win bracelets that could be used later for an advantage.

One of the games was to free dive down to this structure which had a machine that would spit out pearls.  Contestants could give their bracelets to mermaids down below who would provide a breath out of their regulator.  Well, this lead to many lung overexpansion injuries and could have even caused an air embolism.  They say it is the reason that there is a recompression chamber on the island.

Getting to know Jim and Nancy has been a trip.  They are huge fans of the restaurant Spaghetti Factory and have been to every single one (there are about 40)… and they even plan a special trip when a new one opens up.  They didn’t know anyone in the chain but they do now.  Jim jokes that he has the President on speed dial and they have been featured in their newsletter “The Garlic Press”.  How funny.

So I watched the movie “The Big Year” recently and I think that doing all of the Aggressors in one year would be awesome.  We could have a group that does it and plan it out meticulously.  Maybe even get some sponsorship and blog it. 

We also did our night dive at The Dome.  I took my time dropping down and setting up my strobes.  When I turned my light on, the very first thing I saw was a vase sponge with a nudibranch on it.  I had a zen moment where all is right with the world and I am right where I am supposed to be.

I believe that this is an Austraeolis catina.  Also known as the Long-Horn Nudibranch.  This species is not even listed in "The Bible" of Nudibranch IDs:  Indo-Pacific Nudibranchs and Sea Slugs:  A field guide to the Word's most diverse fauna.  I only found it in the Paul Humann Reef Creatures Identification book and it states "Regrettably, at this time of this writing, no taxonomic biologists are working with this order in the tropical western Atlantic."

I stayed down for over 80 minutes and also found a Fingerprint Cyphoma that was very cool. 

Dinner was finally on sundeck and not in the freezing cold salon where we had to suffer through Jeff’s videography.  The meal was very nice but of course I got there late and still had to sit next to the Canadians and also next to the food being scraped off finished plates into the pile going downstairs.  Oh well, such is the price I pay for a very long night dive.  I’ll take it any day.

The Photo slideshow was tonight and was very cool.  Rob took a lot of photos of the guests and put in some of the guest shots.  Of course I submitted a couple of my nudis! 

He also included his pictures with the rare Caribbean Penguin.  He randomly slipped that into a dive briefing and had a little plastic figurine he includes in pictures. So funny.

For Christmas, Rob got a black light and phosphorescent glasses and filter.  He put a couple of pictures in the slide show that turned out pretty neon green and cool.

I stayed up with the crew for a bit and chatted.  They have a good gig going here.  I think Amanda does a very nice job of running this boat and keeping the personalities happy and interacting.  The crew also seems a bit older and more mature which also means less drama.