Roatan. Dive 8-11. Cleaning station: Hogfish

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Roatan Dive 8. East Coco View wall

We didn’t do the night dive and didn’t wake up for a 6 am dive. We went on the quest for the big eye with the huge isopod on its front head. Diane said it lives “to the left - just past where the wall really starts, near the big overhang, go a little further than the overhang in around 25'. There is a small cave in one of the crevasses. Back in there is a big eye with a HUGE isopod on it's forehead”. We didn’t see it but definitely going to look for it again. Steve found Diane’s whip coral shrimp and got it with a nice blue background. Thanx Diane for that one. I will post the shot if he gives me the ok. When Steve showed me the shrimp I tried to shoot it and got it on my frame with the close up lens but I was a little to short to reach it. I will try to get back to that too. I saw the holes for the funky brown head jaw fish I saw the first dive but no jawfish came out. The huge dog snapper was also gone I was bumbed because I had plans for it. I returned to play with the rubble and stopped at the patch with 5 yellowhead jawfish between the wreck and the resort on the way back. One of them was eating a shrimp and yawning big. I got a shrimp on my frame in front of the jawfish’s eye but I wasn’t fast enough to shoot. Bummer. I miss 99% of the shots.

54 ft 77min Ni 32% 82oF 10 lbs + Back to ankle weights 3mm + Bear 7mm



Roatan Dive 9. West Coco View (right wall)

There is a huge cleaning station 15 to 20 ft to the right of the safety stop buoy. I saw small tuna or jacks not sure mating or doing a mating dance, also yellow fin snappers flirting around. I hovered at 15 ft and saw a very busy juvenile hogfish cleaning all the fish around. I came to visit a few times.

42 ft 90min Ni 32% 84oF 10 lbs + ankl 3mm + Bear 7mm



Roatan Dive 10. West Coco View Wall (Right)

We did a scoping dive just after lunch to find hamlet-mating pairs. I knew were my pair black were from the day before but we were dedicated to shoot Indigos mating. We continued looking for them. We saw just a couple of single ones in different areas and I marked one with my blinking post. I continued west to explore a little further. I saw Steve shooting the yellow head with eggs by the west bouy and I hung around looking at the cleaning stations and trying to get close to the lizard fish and Coney. I went north like 15 ft and I saw a bright blue indigo and immediately I saw its mate they were playing around and I was sure that was a mating pair to get ready for the sunset dance. I swam to SK and called him over to show him then a few minutes later I signaled to him I was going to switch tanks so we could be in the water for sunset.

35 ft 67min Ni 32% AL 60 84oF 10 lbs + ankl 3mm + Bear 7mm



Roatan Dive 11. West Coco View Wall (Right)

I went in as Steve was rushing out to put the tele-converter on to get the yellowhead hatching and I went straight to look for the Hamlets. It was almost 5 pm when I got to the spot. But I couldn’t find the mating pair anywhere. They probably needed some privacy. I went around the reef and I found another giant eel and another patch with a few yellow head jawfish, as I got close two of them got in the same hole. They mate inside the hole. They put the two heads together as they went in but I missed it. I waited to see if I could catch them getting out of the hole but then I was thinking it is 515 and I am missing the Hamlets mating so I went around the coral head once again. No sign of them. Steve didn’t get back to the jawfish with eggs so I suspected something really bad happened but I didn’t want to think about it. I slowly made my way back hoping that he was shooting the first pair of black hamlets but Steve wasn’t there. It was dark already so mating time was way pass. I saw a pretty octo, a spotted eel and a lettuce on my way back. I saw some tiny blue fish in the surface just at the exit I thought they would be fun to shoot. But Steve was wating for me. What I feared for happened: flood! By then we were down two cameras, one housing and one strobe: but Steve's only thought is that he missed the hatching!.

37 ft 85min Ni 31% AL60cc 82oF 10 lbs + ankl 3mm + Bear 7mm

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Photos

Lion fish
I got so close to it that It open the fins and charged at me. So beautiful and dangerous.

Yellowfin Snapper
There is a pair of these that live there. I saw them together a few times but they are very hard to approach.

Lizard fish
This lizard fish became the star of the week…later you will find out why

Yellow head jawfish
Playing with light to give the image a more artistic touch

Lionfish.
The biggest one I have seen. I got a little to close.

Yellowhead Jawfish
We saw colonies of Yellowhead Jawfish everywhere. They are so cure that I couldn't resist.

Juvenile hogfish making sure everything is clean
The viz was still bad and all the shots were dirty..

More cleaning action.
Not great photos but I refreshes my memory.

Comments

[mntlblok]

Spanish generational
Cool. Never seen a juvenile Spanish hogfish cleaning an adult Spanish Hogfish. :-)

[Roatan Excursions]

Great Post
Great Post, I’ll be definitely coming back to your site. Keep the nice work up. Roatan Excursions

[Xeaman]

Thanxx I can't wait to go back to Roatan