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Inspecting Regulator Hoses For Wear

Editor’s Note: This article is LONG. I might have gotten just a teeny bit carried away. So, if you don’t want to read the whole text, here is the abbreviated version:

Diving in the Maldives was COOL! We saw mantas, turtles, octopi, sharks, and a whole bunch of other fish. The boat was comfortable, the food good and plentiful, and the divemasters knowledgeable. I would do it all again in a heartbeat.

We boarded the Carpe Novo and were shown to our cabins. They are gorgeous! The rooms are large, with rich wood appointment. Bedding is clean and comfortable. The in-suite bathrooms with full showers are bigger than many land-based bathrooms. The air conditioning can freeze meat, if you so desire. The universal 110/220 volt outlets complete the room amenities.

Once aboard, we were assembled for a briefing on the dive operation:

6:00 wake-up call (may vary by dive activity)

6:30 first dive

8:30 breakfast

10:30 second dive

12:30 lunch

3:30 third dive

7:30 dinner

9:30 sleep

Repeat daily as needed

We were asked if we wanted to go diving today, so of course we said "yes". We dove a nice wall called Kurumba Faru, with lots of tropical fishes, octopus, and even a turtle. After the dive, we showered and ate a hardy dinner of chicken, vegetables, and curry. Very tasty.

We were in bed by 9:30.

January 29: 6:00 a.m. WAKE UP!

Our first dive was to Feydhoo Wall. We dove the wall to 94 feet and saw several turtles and numerous reef fish.

By the time we returned to the boat, we were starving. Breakfast was cereal, eggs cooked two ways, “English-style” bacon (really cured beef. As pork was never served), toast, and coffee. Tasty and filling.

Dive number two was to Rasfari Out near North Malé. Again, a wall dive with numerous reef fishes. They look similar, but distinctive from their Atlantic Ocean cousins.

Lunch was spaghetti with meat sauce, fish, and the (apparently) ever-present curry.

Dive three was to Rasdhoo Ridge, a site habited by about 25 reef sharks. The reef was near the North Ari atoll. Incidentally, the three divemasters that led each dive were excellent. They knew their stuff and were very patient with all 20 divers. It was truly valet diving. Once we set up our equipment on the first day, we did not have to assemble/disassemble it again until the last day.

Dinner was a beef stew-like concoction and the ubiquitous curry. Not bad.

January 30, 5:25 a.m. Rise and shine. Time to jump in the water, drop to 90 feet, and look for hammerhead sharks. What could go wrong?

As it turns out, hammerheads don't want to get up early either. We didn't find any hammerheads, but did manage to find a couple of reef sharks and a sleepy stingray. There were a bunch of wrasse that hung around us, playing in our exhaust bubbles. They probably heard that, "Once a week, if we get out here real early, we might see some divers!" They were not disappointed.

After breakfast, we motored to our second dive site. On the way, the crew spotted some manta rays in the water. We quickly donned our snorkeling gear and dove in. After several unsuccessful attempts, I was finally able to video two manta rays in succession. Very cool, but very tiring. Snorkeling is w-a-a-a-a-a-y more tiring than scuba.

Dive two was a bit better than the pre-breakfast dive, primarily because I was a little more awake. It included the usual tropical reef fish, the occasional turtle, and many instances of sharks. It made me yearn for better internet connectivity so I could post the videos I shot.

Our lunch stuck to a familiar theme throughout the week: one or two meat entrees, a vegetarian offering, several vegetable dishes, assorted fruits, and a dessert. Yum-yum. We never lacked for food.

Dive three was at a pinnacle site. A pinnacle is similar to a land-based mesa, in that it rises from the sea bed 50 feet or more, and has a somewhat flat top. We dropped down to 90 feet and circumnavigated the entire reef structure. We found several sleeping turtles, making it an extra special encounter.

January 31 - I'm starting to adapt to the new schedule: Up before 6 a.m., Asleep before 10 p.m. Wake up, dive, eat, dive, eat, dive, eat, sleep. Repeat. Between dives, repair what's broken since the last dive. By the way, my strobe AND my camera are both broken, making me regret not packing the second underwater camera. Fortunately, there are enough camera people around that I'll get some photos and videos, but I am beginning to get a bit bummed about it.

Anyway, we hit the water for our first dive of the day before 6:30 a.m. Really? We can’t start later? We dove another spectacular pinnacle, starting at around 45 feet, and slopping off to over 150 feet. As previously described, a pinnacle is similar in shape to a table, with a somewhat flat dome on top, and somewhat sheer sloping sides. It ranges in diameter from around 50 to over 200 feet across.

The visibility had been less than pristine, owing to the heavy concentration of nutrients in the water. This is both good and bad. Bad from a visibility perspective, but good for the fish life. Oh well, can't have it both ways.

We saw thousands of fish around the pinnacle. My favorite were the schools of silverside minnows numbering in the tens of thousands, each one and a half to two inches long. One particular school of perhaps thirty-thousand, hung around an indentation in the side near the top of the dome. Marauding predators, mostly jacks and barracudas, would occasionally dive into the herd and grab a tasty morsel for breakfast. The minnows were so plentiful, the predators made no effort to go on a feeding-frenzy, but rather just pick one or two out at a time. It was both fascinating and terrifying to watch.

Turtles were everywhere, but my favorite was a turtle calmly munching on sea grass on top of the dome. He or she was oblivious to his surroundings and allowed me to park right next to him to observe.

A couple of minutes later, I found two octopi, each about two and a half feet long stretched out, not far from the turtle. As I brought my finger close to the one of the octopi, it would change color, and as I moved my finger away from it, it would change back to its original hue. I must have gotten too close one time because the octopus grabbed my finger and wrapped its tentacle around it. I hope Daryl caught it all on video.

The dive lasted 61 minutes and I hit a maximum depth of 94 feet. The water temperature was 81 to 82 degrees, a little cold for this Florida boy. Our post-dive breakfast was the usual assortment of eggs, fruit, cereal, coffee, and assorted local dishes. Given the amount of energy I’ve expended on each dive, I will probably lose weight on this trip. Hmmmm…., not a bad thing.

Dive two is to a manta ray cleaning station. MANTAS!!! We are gonna dive with manta rays! I need to fix my camera right away. I worked on the camera and the strobe after breakfast. The strobe seems to be toast. The ready light comes on but it won't fire. I found that the camera will operate if I remove and replace the battery, in other words, reboot it before each use. So, I take the camera on the second dive. It fails immediately. It won't boot up. Arrgghhh! I will have to depend on others for photos…..

We arrive at a manta ray cleaning station sitting on top of a small pinnacle in about 50 feet of water. The water is a little murky, about the opaqueness of a light fog. We sit on the bottom, looking up. Suddenly, out of the murkiness appears a starship! Its wingspan is easily 10 feet across. The top is a silky gray, the bottom is white with a few distinctive gray markings. It hovers over us like an alien flying saucer, then slowly flutters its wings and flies off. Magnificent! Several more mantas glide by as we divers look on from below.

During our lunchtime break, I work on the camera yet again. I find a way to turn on the camera, but once on, it must stay on for the duration of the dive. The downside is it will chew up the battery rather quickly. It’s a small price to pay. I pray to the camera gods for guidance.

We do the third dive at the same manta ray cleaning station we did on dive number 2. The camera works! I’m able to video several minutes of manta ray sightings as they meander through the area. I also video a fish ball of several hundred grunts by slowly swimming through the ball and in effect, become consumed by it. So cool!!

Dinner is a barbecue on one of the hundreds of deserted islands in the Maldives. The sunset is amazing! Naturally, it starts to rain, but no one cares. We saw manta rays!

Tomorrow's dive starts late: 6:45 a.m. We get to sleep in! Yayyy!!

By the way, my camera's strobe magically starts to work.

February 1: This morning we woke up at 6:30, had a dive briefing at 6:45, and were in the water by 7:15. Our first dive was on an intentionally sunk cargo ship. Its keel rested in 99 feet of water, and the main deck was at about 50 feet.

The ship had much macro life, including several small nudibranchs. However, its main feature were the thousands of silverside minnows, perhaps numbering one hundred thousand or more. There were so many, I could not even see Daryl in the photo I took of him in their midst. Here is a link to some video footage Daryl shot on the wreck: Silversides

My strobe failed again as water leaked into the casing. Looks like I will have to consider buying another strobe. This one should still be under warranty.

The wreck was situated near a small island resort. I am told that it is $800 to $1,200 a night to stay there. Transportation to the resort via seaplane is an additional $400.

After breakfast, we are briefed for the next dive. We are going to look for whale sharks.

We started out looking for whale sharks along the shallows where they like to hang out. To make a long story short, there were none to be found, so we went diving instead. The area that is conducive to whale shark sightings turned out to be not so good for diving. The reef was healthy and there were numerous reef fishes, but other than that, it was an average dive.

I am already exhausted. After lunch and the ever-present curry, I catch ten winks before the next dive.

The third dive was a wall drift dive. As before, there were lots of tropical fish, including several clownfish. I found Nemo! .... Or at least a reasonable facsimile. The clownfish are even more territorial here in the Maldives and they frequently leave their protective anemones to attack my fingers. As a result, I begin wearing gloves on the dives.

February 2: I had some trouble with my left ear yesterday, so I am concerned I won't be able to clear my ears on today’s dive. I tried an alcohol solution to dry my ear out, but it only irritated the ear canal, causing it to bleed. Before leaving for the dive, I sprayed a huge dose of Nasacort in my nose, hoping that will help.

We hit the water for our first dive at 6:45 a.m. Entering the water with trepidation, I was able to easily clear my ears. Yayyy! Fingers crossed that my luck holds out.

We are diving on another pinnacle about 100 feet across. We drop down to 80 feet and begin cruising the reef. Beautiful! The reef is so teeming with myriad varieties of fish life, it's hard to decide where to point my camera. Incidentally, my camera is still giving me fits, but I found a way to make it work. The camera and I maintain an uneasy truce.

This evening, we plan for a night dive. That means our second morning diving will take place in the early afternoon. Normally, I am lukewarm about doing night dives, mostly because dinner following the dive is so late. The stomach usually wins in an eat versus dive contest. Incidentally, this is our last full day of diving. Tomorrow we'll do only two dives in preparation for our flight out on Saturday.

Planning for the second dive commenced around 12:20 p.m. We have traveled south about four and a half hours since our last dive. This is going to be a shark dive in current.

We drop into blue water away from our planned destination, allowing the currents to push us toward the ledge as we descend. We come to rest on a ledge in 99 feet of water, overlooking a 200-foot drop-off and reef-hook in. There, parade a plethora of whitetip reef sharks of all shapes and sizes. It's an amazing sight. I shoot a combination of stills and video.

After the dive, we have lunch and plan the night dive. The divemaster builds up the dive as a “Can’t miss” event without telling us why. The plan is to go to a shallow reef area frequented by nurse sharks. At least that's the plan the divemaster outlined for us......

The reality is we drop into total chaos. As we drift into 50 feet of water we are confronted with pandemonium. There are over 80 divers on the sea floor and probably as many sharks, stingrays, and jacks just cruising around. It is an amazing scene. Nurse sharks, some up to 12 feet long, are pushing their way through the throngs of people, oblivious to the dozens of strobes going off in their faces. I shot video of the scene, but it doesn’t adequately capture the craziness. It is an unforgettable experience.

February 3: Our final day of diving. We are in South Malé and are making our last two dives of the trip. Dropping down to 99 feet, we encounter hundreds of grunts, jacks, and tropical. I have camera lens exhaustion. I stop taking photos and just enjoy the serenity of the moment, enjoying the slow inhalation and exhalation characteristic of a low-impact deep dive.

Our second and final dive is on the Kuda Giri Wreck, this time to only 98 feet. It’s a beautiful little wreck, about 100 feet long. The outside is covered in corals. We discover a couple of pipefish and nudibranchs on the hull. The wreck rests against a spectacular pinnacle, just teaming with schooling fish. Alas, our air running low, we bid farewell to Maldives diving. The next day, we start the return trip, a back-breaking 28 hours over three hops in the air, strapped into a kindergarten-sized chair inside an aluminum can. The entire trip takes just over 36 hours in total.

In all, we made 18 dives and spent 17 hours, 48 minutes underwater. We traveled over 12,000 miles and crossed ten time zones (thirteen, if you count the Singapore leg). I took nearly 1,000 photos and videos. Would I do it again? You bet!!!

April 6: Naked DNA in my Seawater, presented by Jesse Ausubel, director and senior research associate, Program for the Human Environment, The Rockefeller University, on how the eDNA in our seawater could help us understand the status of marine life, Rosenstiel School auditorium, reception at 5:30 p.m., lecture at 6 p.m. RSVP: https://seasecrets4.eventbrite.com/ Winners of the annual UM Rosenstiel School Underwater Photography Contest will be announced following the April 6 lecture.

May 4 : Coral Reefs and Science Diplomacy: Bridging the Gap with Cuba, covering the speakers’ current cooperative research on regional coral reefs with Cuban scientists, presented by Fernando Bretos, director of MUVE and science curator at the Patricia and Phillip Frost Science Museum, and Dr. Andrew Baker, associate professor of marine biology and ecology, RSMAS, at the Frost Science Museum, 1101 Biscayne Boulevard, with reception at 7 p.m. and lecture at 7:30 p.m. RSVP: https://seasecrets5.eventbrite.com/

The 2017 Sea Secrets series, originally known as the Blue Planet Lecture Series, opened in January to a capacity crowd for Brian Skerry, National Geographic underwater photojournalist. Dr. Susan Avery, president and director emerita of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, spoke in February on Our Connected Ocean: A Revolution in Ocean Science.

For more information, email events@rsmas.miami.edu or call 305-421-4061. Link to the UM RSMAS Sea Secrets website at http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/outreach/sea-secrets/

Photo below shows Dr. Gavin Schmidt, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Sea Secrets lecturer