Blessed Be the Alma Jane (June 21)

When is a lionfish not a little special?

The Alma Jane is almost something that comes at you like it is from a dream world. You roll into the tepid, deep water, and begin sinking toward the shadowy bottom deep below. It’s darker than your average dive. And, all of sudden, the Alma Jane materializes a bit like a ghost ship. But it is always surrounded by big fish or colorful schools, a place most fish in the area like to call home.

Beautiful batfish. (Forgive the poor quality of photos: I was lazy, we were on a time line, and I was still recovering from a mean migraine)

Inevitably big, presumptuous batfish will be the first to come out of nowhere like happy spirits, curious to know what you are bringing to the party. (Maybe they have been fed, in the past—I honestly wonder). They move in close, circle, and several follow the divers. In years past, I’ve had some great photos come out of the swirling clouds of batfish. And this is not mentioning all the other schools of fish.

Big schools of snappers are always a “feel good” experience.

I can’t wait to circle the ship and see what surprises await. Always giant sweetlips scatter, and it’s a rare dive I don’t see scorpion fish or a wandering frogfish, lurking as patiently as a fat mushroom for unsuspecting prey.

You don’t want specimens black, small, or in a nook. But rather big, light colored, and highly visible are the preferred

An example of a black anything—impossible to photograph. In this case, the mouth is on the right hand side, nothing but a blackened cresent, and the eye is below the largest white spot. In general, just a bad photo (-;

For some reason, the big eyed snappers seem to be the resident school(s) of fish, swirling and turning like living kaleidescopes. I circled the entire boat, poking and prodding, then went on board down into the bowels of the ships, exploring as long as I could before Rhio gave the sign, “better start back”.

Can’t beat an innocuous stone fish (waiting to be stepped on) (-;

One of several varieties of scorpionfish, and I’ve gotten too lazy to narrow it down

There were five of us, all pretty experienced, and we started back “cross country”, amidst so many fish: frogfish, scorpion, stonefish, zebra moray, and dozens up dozens of intermittent schools of the usual and unusual alike. I have to say, with no current, good visibility, and no other divers, this turned out to be an exceptional dive. We were deep and down for a long time.

There’s not many moray’s as beautiful as a zebra

I had so many pictures of fish schools, everywhere, fish, fish, and more fish.