Special of the Day - St. Vincent

Waterlogged Date: 12/21/97

notice how a dive site can seem to have lots of one or two special types of critters or fish that set it apart from the other dive sites on a trip? To me these are the "Specials of the Day". On my recent trip to St. Vincent this was really brought back to my attention. My dive masters, Callie Richards and D.J., knew where to find their many "reef regulars" (though they were quick to caution that nothing in the ocean is guaranteed but salt water); but I could always find something special for myself when I wanted to go off on my own. Some things I saw everywhere, for example, Spotted Drums. The Spotted Drum should be the National Fish of St.Vincent! They were everywhere I looked - from wispy finned juveniles to adults swimming in twos and threes. But what I remember most are the "Specials of the Day". I could do an entire dive trip at the Orca Point dive site. Each dive had something special there in such surprising numbers that each dive was unique. One day it was Longlure Frogfish. On that dive we found five, each a different color. Red, yellow, green, maroon, and burnt orange. When I would carefully approach them, most would dangle their lures teasingly at me. I dived for years before I saw my first frogfish, and I had never more than a couple on a whole trip in the Caribbean before, let alone five on one dive! The next dive there, it was eels. Spotted Morays, Chain Morays, Viper Morays, Goldentail Morays, and Sharptail Eels. It seemed there was an eel in every hole on that dive. I was especially taken with the Viper morays, which I had only occasionally seen before. Their jaws are curved so they can never close completely and are filled with long, needle-sharp teeth. This gives this shy, seldom seen eel a particularly menacing appearance. On another day at Orca Point, the adjacent sand flat hosted part of the action. An orange seahorse glided through the short seagrass, an uncommon (to me, at least) sight. A Black Lined Octopus with just his eyes showing above the sand and shells that he had made his home peered curiously at me. Comical box crabs, a pair of uncommon Golden Coral Shrimp under a piece of loose, drifting sponge, and small flounders scooting across the sand made this a very rewarding time spent where most divers would not want to go. There are many creatures and fish that make the sand their home, and a little careful searching will prove most rewarding. When we went to Orca Point for a night dive, it was crustaceans. All manner of crabs, doing all manner of things. Even one mama crab fanning a brood of tiny crab hatchlings out into the water with her tail. Slipper Lobsters were crawling about and small scorpionfish were nestled on the sides of the large sponges waiting for a meal. Basket Starfish were unfolding their tangled arms, a few with tiny red and gold shrimp crawling inside. Night dives can be particularly rewarding. It is hard to pull on the wet gear again after a day's diving is over, but I am seldom disappointed. Two night dives in front of the Dive St.Vincent shop entering the water from the Young Island dock found White-Spotted Octopus and Viper Moray eels out hunting one night; and about fifty flying Gurnard patrolling the sand three nights later. In less than 20' of water I had Flying Gurnards crisscrossing in front of me and bumping into my strobes and camera housing. More gurnards on this dive than I have ever seen before in total! Turtle Bay offered Cherub Angelfish. Everywhere I looked at 40 feet, they were flitting around in the coral rubble. One, two, even up to groups of four. Never easy photo targets, to have so many around was particularly distracting. Also, more frogfish around the boulders in 15' to 25'. And more Blackbar Soldierfish than I have ever seen before. Hundreds hovering above the reef in aggregations of a few dozen. Quite a sight. We were there at "magic time", which was about 4:30 in the afternoon, when everything was out on the reef feeding. In addition to incredible scenery, New Guinea Reef offered seahorses. With a few more frogfish for good measure, and as many as ten Flamingo Tongue snails on each of the large, gently swaying gorgonians. Black coral in five colors, starting as shallow as 30' going to 120'. Green, peach, white, pink, and green. The larger trees were over six feet tall. I also watched a Sand Diver after he had caught a Blackbar Soldierfish. He was waiting for the Soldierfish to quit moving so he could turn it headfirst to swallow it. Anchor Reef had more seahorses and frogfish, with a small school of barracuda that would come in to inspect me closely on each visit. Three seahorses were hanging out in the black coral at 84' on the wall. I had to look carefully to find them the first time, because they are masters of camouflage. At least two were there on my next two dives there. I dived quite a few years before I saw my first seahorse, too! Four queen angels stayed together along the wall at about 90', curious and wary at the same time. I saw no other queen angels anywhere else this trip. I had almost forgotten how dive sites could surprise and delight visitors with such unique "specials". This trip brought back that enjoyment of discovery to me. No doubt it helped to be in a place that is unusually rich in marine life like St.Vincent. And having great divemasters like Callie and D.J. to help me find the "Specials of the Day". Contact the SVG Tourist Office for information on the diving in St. Vincent or visit www.scubaSVG.com, the official SVG tourist office SCUBA web site, for more photos, travel, dive and island information. Story by Woody Mayhew.

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