7.5.08 - The "Ancient Mariner" and Turtle Ledge Reef

Hello everyone.

Once again another week has passed and I have been too busy to keep my blog updated! Things are really hopping around here now that we're in the middle of summer.

Anyway, July 5th finds the Video Dude and Scuba Goddess Terri once again aboard Parrot Island Scuba's Fathoms O' Fun heading out for a wreck dive on the "Ancient Mariner" and a drift dive on "Turtle Ledge" Reef. The weather conditions were awesome as we headed out to the site. Captain Jerry gets us there in no time and Divemaster Kimmie jumps in and ties off to the wreck. Terri and I jump in after hearing Kimmie's report on conditions down below, and we immediately head for the interior of the wreck. My mission on this day is to video the interior sections, and hopefully get into some areas we haven't seen before. We were successful on the new areas - I found an area that looked like it used to be a bathroom, complete with tiled floor and shower drain! We also saw a "mutant" lobster - previously described by someone else as a cross between a Banded Shrimp and a Spotted Lobster - in one of the interior sections. Next trip, my mission will be to get video of it for identification purposes! After checking a few more areas, we have to head back to the boat.

After our gear changeover and a quick trip to our next dive site - "Turtle Ledge" Reef - Terri and I jump in for a nice lazy drift dive. Visibility was 70ft and water temps were in the low 80s. We covered a very small section of the reef compared to everyone else and checked out the small stuff this time around. We saw lots of Banded Shrimp, a small Golden Spotted Eel, a few not-so-small Lobster and lots of juvenile Chromis and Grunts. Regrettably, after over an hour's bottom time, we had to get back to the boat. It was a great drift on a pretty reef!

The video from today is available for purchase! Click HERE to order.


Another beautiful dive day here in Paradise!
-- The Video Dude