OP
OP
Ok, two days of diving... Complete! Omg sooooooooooo much fun. If any of you guys have ever even thought about going (and I'm sure many of you have), I encourage you all to go and do it. Diving on reefs really reminds me of the beauty of the ocean and all the colors, species, and magnificently diverse area of our planet. Its amazing to get down there and swim with fish and interact with the livestock in a way not possible with our reefs. Its just so beautiful and I'm having trouble describing it in words.
A few highlights and teasers
. My uncle and I saw a LOT of different fish and life, much of which we took pictures and some of which we unfortunately failed with our amateur underwater photography equipment. Most pics from the first day did not come out cause the visibility was pretty poor, even for the florida keys at a mere 15-20 feet. Day two (sunday) was phenomenal with vis up to 50 feet and great picture taking weather . Topside was choppy as all heck with 6+ foot waves, but there was little current on the reef. Anyway, we saw lots of common carribean fish that are not so common in the reef trade. Things like Jacks, sergeant majors, snappers, and grunts dominated the landscape with their large schools. The fish compliment was accented with the common damselfish (just as territorial in the wild), many types of parrotfish and angelfish, the occasional butterfly and tang and many wrasse and hogfish species as well. Pretty sure I even saw the hogfish Matthew has in his tank . I also saw on day 1 (no pic unfortonately) a Naso Tang swimming all by its lonesome. Naso tangs have no business being in the forida keys so he must have been released, but he was down there. Very skittish alone. Some other fish highlights were a MASSIVE Jewfish Grouper (3' with the teeth to match 
), a Spotted Eagle Ray, and a Southern Stingray. Even saw a nurse shark and a loggerhead turtle (who paid no attention to me whatsoever) on day one. Also to round out the fish compliment, there was a shool of 30-40 BIG Barracuda that followed us around on day two. Kept us on our toes.
As for inverts, tons of sea fans and soft corals common in shallow water of the Keys accentuated by some gorgeous brain corals and staghorns as big as a person. Even saw a green favites brain coral that looked exactly like somebody's here (got a pic of it). Lots of sponges and other tunicates and a longspine sea urchin about 8" in diameter. Unfortunately I didnt get to spot any reef lobster or any eels (was really hopin to see those). Also caught some great shots of some fire coral ridges which look pretty, but divers know to beware their sting 
. Caught a glimpse of a few pistol shrimp, but they didnt want to come out for pictures.
Anyways, thought I'd just tease you all with a little verbal description. My uncle and I are busy photoshoping the pics to color correct for the failings of underwater photography (way too much blue) and trying to remove a lot of the grain from the debris and sediment. Hopefully tommorrow or the next night will be wrought with pictures. I should tell the poor photobucket guys to get ready for me 
A few highlights and teasers
. My uncle and I saw a LOT of different fish and life, much of which we took pictures and some of which we unfortunately failed with our amateur underwater photography equipment. Most pics from the first day did not come out cause the visibility was pretty poor, even for the florida keys at a mere 15-20 feet. Day two (sunday) was phenomenal with vis up to 50 feet and great picture taking weather . Topside was choppy as all heck with 6+ foot waves, but there was little current on the reef. Anyway, we saw lots of common carribean fish that are not so common in the reef trade. Things like Jacks, sergeant majors, snappers, and grunts dominated the landscape with their large schools. The fish compliment was accented with the common damselfish (just as territorial in the wild), many types of parrotfish and angelfish, the occasional butterfly and tang and many wrasse and hogfish species as well. Pretty sure I even saw the hogfish Matthew has in his tank . I also saw on day 1 (no pic unfortonately) a Naso Tang swimming all by its lonesome. Naso tangs have no business being in the forida keys so he must have been released, but he was down there. Very skittish alone. Some other fish highlights were a MASSIVE Jewfish Grouper (3' with the teeth to match ), a Spotted Eagle Ray, and a Southern Stingray. Even saw a nurse shark and a loggerhead turtle (who paid no attention to me whatsoever) on day one. Also to round out the fish compliment, there was a shool of 30-40 BIG Barracuda that followed us around on day two. Kept us on our toes.As for inverts, tons of sea fans and soft corals common in shallow water of the Keys accentuated by some gorgeous brain corals and staghorns as big as a person. Even saw a green favites brain coral that looked exactly like somebody's here (got a pic of it
). Lots of sponges and other tunicates and a longspine sea urchin about 8" in diameter. Unfortunately I didnt get to spot any reef lobster or any eels (was really hopin to see those). Also caught some great shots of some fire coral ridges which look pretty, but divers know to beware their sting . Caught a glimpse of a few pistol shrimp, but they didnt want to come out for pictures.Anyways, thought I'd just tease you all with a little verbal description. My uncle and I are busy photoshoping the pics to color correct for the failings of underwater photography (way too much blue) and trying to remove a lot of the grain from the debris and sediment. Hopefully tommorrow or the next night will be wrought with pictures
. I should tell the poor photobucket guys to get ready for me 
