Chick-in-of-TheSea journal

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

@TheSwissAquarist I didn't find the night ones yet, but I found these

Me @ Weeki Wachee

Diving at 40 Fathom Grotto:

Random ocean dives:

 

 

Goliath Groupers, school of yellowtail

Hey, who's there?

Hey!  Get out of my cave!

Hawksbill sea turtle

stingray

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that a Moray!  That's a Moray!

Sea fan

Sponge

Gray angelfish

Sponge

Queen Angelfish

Edited June 3, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/3/2023 at 2:52 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Hawksbill sea turtle

That's beautiful! Wow. What a perfect pattern and a really wonderful photo.

On 6/3/2023 at 2:52 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

stingray

This one is screaming for a photo filter 🙂

I tried to get it sharpened for a watercolor filter. Didn't work, but here's the partially edited version.

Edited June 3, 2023 by nabokovfan87

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

My friend thought it was fun to put together this collage of myself (Finderella) and my friend Andrew at Halloween. This one was at Devil's Den.

Pathetic buoyancy skills here. In my defense, the pumpkin was "floaty"

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Husband still spoiling these guys with the cashews and peanuts in the shell. They get a good quality birdseed also but their order of preference is cashews, peanuts, birdseed (sunflower seeds first). They take the peanuts to the fence or a hard surface and break it. Or they hold it and peck the shell off with their beaks. They will eat walnuts (unshelled) but it’s not their favorite.

I got home yesterday and they were sitting there in the backyard waiting for service.😂 So spoiled. There were 8!  And they are loud and we can hear their requests across the house when it’s meal time. The squirrels are just fine with this arrangement. Sometimes cardinals come. One male and 2 females.

When I go out, they patiently go to a nearby branch and wait. When seed and nuts are offered, they start talking (telling all their friends).

Edited June 6, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[TheSwissAquarist]

My grandmother puts out bird seed regularly to try and take pretty pictures of robins, kingfishers, etc. These days she only seems to be getting squirrels. 😂

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 6/6/2023 at 12:39 PM, TheSwissAquarist said:

My grandmother puts out bird seed regularly to try and take pretty pictures of robins, kingfishers, etc. These days she only seems to be getting squirrels. 😂

Typical!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Just got back. No underwater shots today. Just me and nature at the bottom of the ocean, sans technological distractions.

Saw the Margaritaville ship at the marina next to mine.

My dive charter for the morning dives.

Divers. A light roster today. I like it that way. No tripping over a bunch of people whilst making one’s way back to one’s seat. Also since everyone was advanced, we got to do some unique deeper sites (90ish feet).

The seas were flat which makes everything less exerting. Despite this, I did have to do 1 catnap at a rest area on the way home.

Dive 1

”Area 52”

Depth: 86

Bottom time: 54

Temp: 78 F

Drift dive. Queen angelfish stole the show.  They constantly look like they are under a black light. 2 small (3-4’) reef sharks, 1 loggerhead turtle, parrotfish, spotted trunkfish, butterflyfish, Goliath grouper, yellowtail snapper, trumpetfish, gray angelfish. During the ascent we were in a big school of purple fish; fish ID uncertain, not blue chromis.

Some people saw nurse sharks. I missed it. I saw the folks pointing but I think the sharks got just out of range of sight.

Dive 2

”Shark Canyon”

Depth: 83

Bottom time: 37

Temp: 78

This dive had amphitheaters. Well, several reefs in amphitheater shapes. We were told to stay still in each amphitheater (kneel on sand) and sharks may come. This was true! 3 bull sharks (appearing at different times, then disappearing again). One was a 9 footer; the others were maybe 5ish feet. This was my first time ever seeing them in 125 dives! Also a Goliath grouper “encounter”. She just came up to my face, just one foot away and stared. She breathes with her lips open but there is a flap (idk) between her lips that would open and shut. She did that with a few other divers also, but kept coming back to me for some reason. We then moved on to the next amphitheater but the Goliath came with us. She stayed with us the whole dive. Oh also she had a sidekick remora which was very active and would always be within an inch of her. Saw the same sharks at the other amphitheaters, plus 2 reef sharks (again, 3-5 ft). I did my ascent at only 37 minutes in so as to mind my decompression limits, as my previous dive was longer. 

My dive computer tracks all of this for me and also counts down my safety stops.

 

So apparently it was shark day! I have gone many a dive in the past without seeing a shark. I’m happy with the experience. And the bull sharks were fine. They didn’t try anything. They were just swimming around doing their thing. With their remoras.

Edited June 11, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/10/2023 at 3:16 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

”Shark Canyon”

What a majestic day. 🙂

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 6/10/2023 at 6:21 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

What a majestic day. 🙂

You would love it @nabokovfan87. You need to get certified.

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/10/2023 at 3:23 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

You would love it @nabokovfan87. You need to get certified.

I seriously do....

Find out how to spend a day working with Matt Draper.

[TheSwissAquarist]

Sounds like a fun day! How was the visibility?

My best dive snap: 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 6/13/2023 at 2:54 PM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Sounds like a fun day! How was the visibility?

My best dive snap: 

30-40’ at the bottom.

Second dive lost viz and dive buddy on the ascent, it was all stirred up near the surface. Deployed my SMB and got my pickup.

Great pic!

[Lennie]

On 6/4/2023 at 12:52 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

This fish is o pretty!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 6/13/2023 at 3:19 PM, Lennie said:

This fish is o pretty!

That’s a gray angelfish. When the side fin opens it BRIGHT yellow.

interwebz photo:

[Lennie]

On 6/13/2023 at 10:29 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

That’s a gray angelfish. When the side fin opens it BRIGHT yellow.

interwebz photo:

Very cool stuff 

 

 

BOMBASTIC SIDE EYE!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Something wonderful came in the mail today. My divemaster makes these, and I made a purchase to support her small business and a great cause. She hunts, prepares, and makes jewelry out of lionfish (and eats the fish). If you know a thing about lionfish, they are absolutely devastating on our coral reefs. She takes these to nonprofits also where she teaches kids and other visitors about the impact lionfish have and how they/we can help.

This is very beautiful in person. It’s cast in resin.

Edited June 19, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Geppetto’s second bubble nest this week. He’s making little cute ones where plants touch the surface.

 

[TheSwissAquarist]

15 hours ago, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Geppetto’s second bubble nest this week. He’s making little cute ones where plants touch the surface.

 

Mine has also started, but his are nowhere near as big as yours! 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

53 minutes ago, TheSwissAquarist said:

Mine has also started, but his are nowhere near as big as yours! 

A few times when I had been adding catappa leaf to his tank, he'd keep it floating by putting hundreds of bubbles under the leaf.  These are small nests for him, but the first I've seen since he's been added to this 10gal tank.  This is how he tells me he's happy with his environment.  🙂   And I may or may not have killed 2 fruit flies in the kitchen this week, and may or may not have fed them to Geppetto.  😉  I'm raising my own live food, folks!  

I don't give him catappa leaves anymore because they make a mess in the tank without shrimp and snails to eat them.  I do make the catappa tea for his water though.

Edited June 22, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[TheSwissAquarist]

1 minute ago, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

n't give him catappa leaves anymore because they make a mess in the tank without shrimp and snails

You could put them in when Kratos starts bingeing! 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

The weather is getting really awful lately, and hurricanes are back-to-back in the forecast. I finally decided to make the purchase of a few Aquarium Co-Op Air Pumps with Battery Backup. This will supplement my power outage plan w/ nano pumps & battery banks.  I really like that a pump can just take over, even when I'm not home. Might as well get everything hooked up properly now for easy transition to the contingency, if that happens.

Edited June 23, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[TheSwissAquarist]

5 minutes ago, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

The weather is getting really awful lately, and hurricanes are back-to-back in the forecast. I finally decided to make the purchase of a few Aquarium Co-Op Air Pumps with Battery Backup. This will supplement my power outage plan w/ nano pumps & battery banks.  I really like that a pump can just take over, even when I'm not home. Might as well get everything hooked up properly now for easy transition to the contingency, if that happens.

Yikes! Do you tend to get hit badly by them? 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

6 minutes ago, TheSwissAquarist said:

Yikes! Do you tend to get hit badly by them? 

Went through one last year.  We lost power for, I'd say about 3 days.  Some folks were out for 2 weeks.  I usually get the trees trimmed before the storms hit so stuff doesn't hit the house.  Hmm.. I haven't done that yet this year..  on the to do list!  I didn't have any damages last time, just a lot of yard debris (sticks) to pick up.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I'm suuper happy!  My nitrates had been creeping to 40+ midweek.  But not any more!  Not for awhile!  Hornwort!  It has taken off very well, and is keeping the tank at 5-10 nitrates 🙂  I also have some emergent pothos in there, maybe 5-6 stems, and those have very nice roots.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

We are the only one that likes this food (Repashy CP). It gets us diving down, hunting it, circling it, stalking it… and then CHOMP! Ded. 💀 It also is nice for him because it doesn’t get eaten in 2 seconds like his pellets. Gets him to utilize the bottom part of the tank and explore more, and graze on it through the .. well, I want to say day, but Mr. usually eats it within the hour. 😋

Yesterday I watched My Octopus Teacher while doing laundry. Very good! Can’t remember who recommended that or what thread I saw it on. Anyway. I myself may have been inked once or twice. They are such masters of camouflage, you don’t even know they’re there until you’re right up on them. Then they jet. A curious, social one grabbed my friend’s camera. On a night dive, one grabbed the flashlight that a diver was trying to use. LOL. I have only ever seen them on shallow (up to 20 ft) dives where I walked in from the shore. Sometimes near the pier I will see a little bit of litter, and the octopi like to live in the glass bottles.

We do pick up litter when we dive. Around here, I don’t see much, but most every time I see some it’s (unfortunately) fishing line. We wind it around our hand and tuck it in the pocket of our BC, then later dispose of it properly. Ocean dives I usually see golf balls because people will just take their boats out and hit golf balls into the ocean. Heh. I guess they have to entertain themselves somehow (?) I bring them home and let the cats roll them around on the tile.

Update: I found out if I fast the tetras a little bit they will eat the CP. only when it’s falling though, they never eat off the substrate. Repashy is not the best food for them. It’s best to have a top or mid food for them.

Edited June 24, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea
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