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Published: August 10th 2008
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Scuba Diving - Bolo North, Bolo Point, Kadena North, and Toiletbowl
4 dives in one day. A new record for me. 3 were during the day (Bolo North, Bolo Point, and Kadena North) and the last was a night dive (Toiletbowl). The coolest fish I saw today was a tassled scorpionfish (Scorpaenopsis oxycephala). And it wasn't cool because it had some amazing colors on it or an interesting pattern. The thing that made it neat was that I almost swam past without even seeing it. Luckily my dive buddy pointed it out and I was able to get a few photos. Although the fish is actually red, the red wavelength had been absorbed at our depth. It was only when my flash went off, that I was able to see its true colors. Tassled Scorpionfish was carnivorious and the spines on their back are poisonous. Many of the fish around here are poisonous but if you dont bother them (try to touch them), most could care less what you do.
I went to Bolo North and Bolo Point hoping to see some sharks so I could capture them on film but none were in sight. We did get to
dive in a few caves and I several of the photos I took came out rather well. Nothing like a professional photographer but well enough to enjoy. I saw 3 lionfish at Bolo North and Bolo Point and a forth at Kadena North. My best photo was taken at the seawall (which I've attached). Lionfish are also known as dragon fish and turkey fish. They are easily identified by their extremely long and separated spines that are colored red, brown, orange, yellow, black, maroon, or white. Even though they look awesome, Be carefeul and don't try to get to friendly because these fish are venemous.
After the dive at the seawall it was still around 5 PM, so my dive buddy and I decided to head back up to Bolo Point to shoot some photos of the sun setting. Treking down over the coral to get to the water was much easier without my scuba gear on but the coral was still sharp so I had to be pretty careful so I wouldn't get cut. My wetsuit caught on some of the coral earlier in the day and made a small rip. Better than my skin considering the fact
that I can easily fix it with some glue I bought at Foster Tsunami Gear. The sunset was very pretty and then we drove up the the Toiletbowl.
Right as we started heading into the woods to get out the shoreline to make sure the water isn't too rough, my dive buddy mentioned that habu snakes are nocturnal. UGH! I hate snakes. I was busy stomping my feet as we walked the path, hoping to scare them away if there were any in the area. Luckily, we didn't see an habu snakes or banana spiders so I was very thankful for that. Unfortunately, I decided not to take my camera on the night dive. I was unsure of the area, still new at night dives, and didn't want to have something that would potentially distract me from watching my depth gauge and location (it's easy to get disoriented in the dark).
While swimming along, my dive buddy saw my light pass over something that was spotted so we stopped to peak into the coral reefs holes. There was a HUGE moray eel tucked into the coral that had a body larger than my thigh and it must have
been about 6 feet long. At first it was just chilling in the coral but I suppose it didn't like our lights so it got rather annoyed and opened it's mouth as if it were saying "GO AWAY!!!" It then moved it's head into some coral away from our lights and we decided to leave it alone. I also saw 2 cuttlefish which were about the length of my forearm. There were shrimp out on the coral reef and as I passed my light over the reef, I could see pairs of tiny eyes looking back at me. Kinda creapy but cool as the same time. Other notable sights included a batfish, a crab a little bit bigger than my two hands, and some type of mollusk that was living in a conch shell. Next time I will definitely take my camera!
To see the pictures and videos from the dive go to: http://s165.photobucket.com/albums/u53/kimdupak/Okinawa/Bolo%20North%20-%20Bolo%20Point%20-%20Seawall%20-%2009%20Aug%202008/
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