Smmcdonald
United States
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Nº35
Date: 2015-06-05 - 20:08
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Max Depth: 10.3m Duration: 45mins
Dive Location
- Temp: Bottom 28°C
- Dive type : Recreational, Night dive, Wreck, Reef, Boat
- Water: Salt
Specific gear used
- Light:
- BCD: Scubapro - Nighthawk
- Computer: Scubapro - Luna
- Fins: Scubapro - Twin Jet
- Regulator: Scubapro - AIR2
- Regulator: Scubapro - MK21/S560
- Weights: 5.4 kg
Dive reviews
| Overall review | ||
| Dive difficulty | ||
| Marine life quality |
Recent Divers in Key Largo, FL
Recent Pictures in Key Largo, FL
Dive Shop & Buddies
Dive with Billy Harloff, Instructor, Gypsy Divers from Quiescence Diving Services, Inc.
Dive buddies:
Jennifer McDonald,
Joseph Johnson,
Billy Harloff,
Cameron Cheek,
Laurin
Link to this spot:
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- Country:
- Area:
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Dive Profile
- 1. Air
- 12L Aluminium 207 → 80 bar
- Average depth: 5.6m
Data provided by EOL.org
Species Identified
Caretta caretta Linnaeus 1758 (Loggerhead Turtle)
Adults are primarily carnivorous, using their powerful jaws to crack open crustaceans such as crabs and even seemingly impenetrable molluscs such as the queen conch (Strombus gigas) and giant clam (Tridacna s...
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Scarus coeruleus (Edwards, 1771) (Blue kwab)
Inhabits coral reefs. Juveniles found on Thalassia beds . Feeds on benthic plants and small organisms in the sand . Forms large spawning aggregations .
Panulirus argus (Latreille, 1804) (Caribbean spiny lobster)
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Cool night with slight chop (1-2'), the seas calmed considerably when we returned to the boat. We watched the sunset before jumping into a beautiful, dimly lit sea above the Benwood Wreck. We were joined by another 6-pack boat of divers from Quiescence, and a larger group from another dive shop.
Our first night dive, I stuck close to Joseph and Jen. Joseph was easy to spot as he was the only diver with a red light. There were a lot more parrot fish than we have ever seen on this wreck during the day hours, including some very large blue parrot fish. We saw 3 loggerhead turtles, all different sizes from one with a carapace less than 1 foot in length, to one that was about 2 1/2 feet in length (and one in between!). The Benwood Wreck hosts a lot more marine life at night than we see during the day.
After a while, the ocean got dark, fast! (Jen later described it as a light switch turned off.) Jen noticed more than I, as she said she felt uncomfortable in the dark. Unfortunately, she kept going, which turned into a bit of trouble later on.
Toward the end of the dive, Billy showed me that he had Jen's tank light, which she didn't know she had dropped. I showed her, with the idea to tell her to keep her primary on so I could see her. (I had kept mine off most of the time since there were a lot of lights from other divers, and Joseph remained easy to spot.) Jen, already raddled unbeknownst to me, started up toward the surface at this point. The ascent was too quick and I motioned for her to slow down. I turned to find Joseph, who was about 10 feet under us. I was having a hard time getting back down to him because my ears wouldn't clear, and noticed that I had lost sight of Jen. This made me anxious as I wasn't sure if she surfaced in the dark away from the boat or not. I caught up with Joseph, letting him know that I could not see Jen: though I knew she was close to Billy, I wasn't sure if he had escorted her back to the boat or not. (Turns out he had, much to my relief.) This ended my dive as Joseph and I swam back to the boat and resurfaced as the last two on the dive.
I did not take the GoPro as this being our first night dive, I didn't want to try keeping up with it and the flashlights.
Lessons learned:
1. After talking to Jen, it was then I found out she was uncomfortable early on. Instead of aborting the dive with me as her buddy, she continued on. I saw no sign of her being uneasy. Had I known (and had she told me), I would have resurfaced with her and completed the dive. So, I need to be more aware and be able to identify Jen when she's not comfortable, and she needs to let me know.
2. We almost surfaced, and instead of doing so, I tried to re-submerge. As close as we were (within 3 feet), I should have popped up with her and found out what was wrong instead of trying to re-establish our dive together. Then I would have found out she was actually panicked and not just accidentally resurfacing because of disorientation, as I had thought.
3. Hard time clearing my ears, I should have slowed down, as this could have done some damage or at least ruined the dives tomorrow.
4. I couldn't get Joseph's attention, and he was under me by 5 feet or so (I couldn't reach him because of my ears). I should have used my light to signal, with slow sweeping pattern across him. This would have lead him to turn toward me and see something was not right.
5. Slow down, and communicate. Jen could have told me early on she was not comfortable, or stated that something was wrong when she started to the surface. I also did not know she was going to resurface with Billy, though she thought that I had seen her do so.
Initially, Jen was not willing to do another night dive. But, later she mentioned that one of her biggest issues was with all of the divers and lights. I can understand: I got flashed a few times, temporarily blinding me; not to mention it was very difficult figuring out who's who. She said she would try it again if we could go with a small group, like ours only.
The dive overall was great: the abundance of sea life on the wreck at night is breathtaking. I did not see any fluorescence, though I think in part that was due to the early time and abundance of light from all of the divers. The situation described above only lasted for a few minutes, but up until then, this was a great dive. It was also a great learning experience.
SAC = 0.79 cf/min (not bad considering the adrenaline rush I got when I lost track of Jen)