A Weekend of Cozumel Shallows
A crab less than 1 cm wide clinging to a lone piece of coral in the sand at Yucab Reef in Cozumel.
Blue Angel Shore Dive
After two weeks on the island, I have had the chance to do a one shore dive and a few slower boat dives to focus on photos. I have only a limited understanding of my Nikon D850 thus far, and each time I dive, I learn something new by playing around through the kind advice of other divers.
My friend Cat organized a shore dive for a few divers at Blue Angel Resort, which has a menagerie of little creatures hanging around submerged chainlink fences, natural coral heads, and weathered buoy ropes. It’s an easy dive when the current isn’t strong. The dive site is shallow, and we were able to get a little over 90 minutes comfortably on a single tank dive.
A couple seahorses hung out behind a chain link fence in a protected area, just close enough to check us out without risking any contact.
At $200 MXN (about $10 USD) per tank, this is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to play around with new equipment underwater to prepare for the reef dives in the Cozumel Marine Park, where dives are deeper and the drift is stronger than on shore.
San Clemente Shallows and Yucab Reef
We took the Sea Witch into the park for some reef diving the day after our Blue Angel dive. The boat was composed mostly of experienced divers who have been diving here for decades and a few folks who were just certified. The 105mm Sigma lens creates limitations that requires creativity for framing and composition. But the breadth of life that was at the reef was stunning— a high definition trip into the other world.
Carcinization: Eventually, it’s crabs all the way down
There’s an evolutionary theory that everything becomes (and unbecomes) a crab over time. The theory of carcinization has become a sort of meme discussed in the video below.
Rene spotted some amazing little guys on a piece of coral away from the larger coral heads that were less than a centimeter across. I also found a slightly larger crab feeding at the edge of an anemone. And for good measure, since it will eventually evolve into a crab if I am to believe the video above, I included a squat shrimp, a.k.a. sexy shrimp.
Napping Nurse Sharks
Under a the protected overhang of the reefs, you can occasionally find resting nurse sharks during the day. We saw two larger ones that were not particularly bothered by our presence, and let me get close enough to get a few detail shots without disturbing it. The macro lens provided a fantastic opportunity for detail shots where the texture of the shark’s skin can clearly be seen.
First Turtle of Late Fall
Turtles, like people, have different personalities. I have encountered a few on the reefs that seem curious about my gear. I was able to stay still enough that the turtle approached me head on before swimming up and away.
Up Close With the Reef Fish
My mother-in-law loves pictures of fish, the most noticeable inhabitants of the reef. The more I dive, the less I spend time with fish, since I’m looking for little crustaceans, nudibranchs, and other things that aren’t as obvious. But I took special effort to shoot fish on this trip, and I’m so glad I did.
The juvenile Damselfish with the pink background was curious enough to swim to me out of the center of a sponge, creating a wonderful shot head on. Small pufferfish were everywhere. This dive I saw more juvenile damselfish and sergeant fish than in the summer, which gave the reef just a bit more color in an already colorful community.
