Plankton Soup

17/12/2016 (608)

A dive with very interesting water conditions. The visibility was great in general, I believe it was more than ten metres (even more than 15 m in some places) which is great for the place (Goat Island) and the season (early summer).

However, in some areas I felt like swimming in a jelly soup. The plankton was so dense. I was almost completely covered with neoprene … wearing a full wetsuit, boots and gloves. Yet I could feel the jellies on my cheeks and even my lips. They were harmless, just the feeling was a bit weird.

Otherwise another very pleasant dive. A lot of red moki, frequent schools of juvenile fish (trevally, snapper … a very promising sight, a new generation is coming). Surprisingly no stingrays / eagle rays. There so many divers in the water I guess the rays moved to the deeper water where they could not be disturbed.

Slovak

Ponor s dosť zvláštnymi podmienkami. Vo všeobecnosti bola viditeľnosť vyborná, odhadujem, že viac než desať metrov (miestami možno aj viac než 15 m), čo je naozaj vynikajúce vzhľadom na miesto (Goat Island) a ročné obdobie (začiatok leta).

Na niektorých miestach som sa však cítil, akoby som plával v želatinovej polievke. Plankton bol neuveriteľne hustý. Neoprén mi kryl celé telo … mal som dlhé rukávy, kuklu, rukavice aj topánky. Cítil som však dotyky tých želatiniek na lícach a dokonca aj na perách. Sú neškodné, ale ich dotyk je dosť divný.

Inak bol ponor veľmi príjemný. Bolo tam veľa “red moki”, často som videl húfy mladých rýb (“snapper”, “trevally” … vyzerá to sľubne, ďalšia generácia na obzore). Na moje prekvapenie som nevidel ani jednu raju. Bolo tam však veľa potápačov, myslím si, že raje sa stiahli do hlbšej vody, aby mali pokoj.

Early summer plankton soup just below the surface.

In other places, where there was almost no plankton at all, the visibility was quite amazing.

A small school of juvenile trevally … a very promising sight, another generation is coming.

Red moki Cheilodactylus spectabilis in exceptionally clear water above kelp forest of Ecklonia radiata.

Dense early summer jelly soup above oceanic meadow.