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Day 6: July 22, 2005

Today we dove some of the most beautiful hard bottom habitat of the entire trip. These habitats, also known as ledges, are very distinct with up to 10 feet of relief in some places. This location, nicknamed lobster rocks, is aptly named and is in water depths up to 138 ft.

Air Temperature: 90 °F
Surface Water Temperature: 84 °F
Bottom Water Temperature: 76 °F

Dive Team 1 (surveyors): Doug Kesling, Roldan Munoz, Paula Whitfield
Dive Team 2 (collectors): Christine Addison, Casey Coy, Joe Hoyt, Jay Styron
Safety divers: Clem Shemanski, Tracey Hamburger, Dave Score, Joe Bishop

Spiny Lobsters were quite abundant at this location in addition to lionfish and other tropical fishes and invertebrates. We dove four locations here and were able to conduct two surveys and collect a total of 20 live lionfish for the day.

Lionfish and lobster
Caribbean spiny lobsters often find refuge within crevices and overhangs that are present within higher relief hardbottom habitats. Lionfish can also be seen occupying these ledges and overhangs.
Courtesy of Doug Kesling
reef habitat
Here is a wide angle shot of a high relief hardbottom site. There is a hogfish in the foreground and divers working in the background. The underwater visibility on this dive was about 70 ft.
Courtesy of Doug Kesling
Decompression stop
In order to have 30 minutes of time on the sea floor in water depths of 115 to 150 ft, divers must slow their ascent to avoid physiological complications brought on by breathing compressed air under pressure. Decompression sickness, also known as "the bends", can result if divers do not make prescribed stops at specific depths on their ascent. This process is called decompression. Divers shown here are stopping (hanging) at 20 ft while breathing oxygen. This will cut down on the amount of decompression needed for each dive. Usually divers spend a total of one hour in the water. Only 30 minutes of that time is spent on the sea floor collecting data.
Courtesy of Doug Kesling


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