Black Coral Wall

This last weekend, I went on my longest dive so far (1:25) and Amy’s sisters arrived to visit. Our house is a little more crowded than it used to be!

I'm driving the ATV and Amy is taking pictures from her seat on the
front grill. Sarah and Emily are hanging onto the back.

The dive was at Black Coral Wall, one of my favorite dive site around Utila. For her Dive Master certification, Amy had to map a dive site. To do this, you swim in a u-shaped pattern using the number of fin kicks to measure distance. When the bottom substrate changes (say sand to coral) or when the depth changes, you mark this down on a slate. When you get back on land, you can then use this information to estimate distances and draw a map of the site area.

While she was doing this, I got to do pretty much what I wanted while following her around the reef. Since I had the camera, I spent my time stalking flounders, hanging upside down trying to creep up behind an angelfish, and trying to blow bubble rings. (I’m getting much better, but Amy is the master of bubble rings.)

This is a Flamingo's Tongue, a fairly common and beautiful snail. 

A mixed school of Surgeonfish terrifying all the Damselfish on the reef.

Look! A bubble ring!

The two amazingly beautiful Grey Angelfish that came and hung out with us. (See my fin the lower right corner?!?!)