Nature's underwater jungle - Page 3

cheeks69 · 11-23-2003, 06:40 PM

love the pics TG. that is my dream to do some scuba diving. Although I had a chance once on my honeymoon in St. Lucia but my wife was afraid she didn't want to lose me, now she wishes she did...LOL

Maxx · 11-23-2003, 10:33 PM

TG, My dad and i went to Grand Cayman in 97. Loved it!!!! he freaked at stingray city also, just like the pic you have of the guy on his back...I had to look and see if it was my dad!
I learned to scuba in Hawaii as a kid. th reefs there arent a built up as the ones you see else where. I dont think that the plankton levels are high enough to support vast amounts of coral reef development like there is in other places.
Oh, and just because larger sea going critters, (great whites) arent sposed to like warmer tropical waters like Hawaii and the Caymans, doesnt mean they don't go there. Parts of Oahu were closed off when we lived there due to a great white cruising around. Evidently nobody told him he wasnt allowed!
Curt,
This is a great forum!
Nick

tankgirl · 11-24-2003, 10:25 AM

cheeks;

Hey Maxx! Got pics? Cool about learning as a kid in Hawaii!!! What I've heard about big sharks and whales is they like the colder currents that come up in deeper parts of the ocean? Anyway, Hawaii, being in the middle of the Pacific should have plenty of those. Caymans are so far away from the arc of islands that border the Atlantic, that's a long way for the big critter to travel. I learned to dive in Puerto Rico from Seals when I was about 20. That was an awesome way to learn!

Maxx · 11-24-2003, 12:50 PM

Not too many pics from Grand Cayman. We were pretty dumb and went to the local one hour photo place and they either under devoloped or over deveoloped the film depending on which would've made that particular roll of film look worse...(I didnt know anything about photography then...sigh).
As far as Hawaii having a lot of deep water currents, not really close to the Islands. If you go out a couple of miles yeah, but most of the perimeter of the Islands are relatively shallow 80-120 feet being common, certainly not benthic by any means...
Learned to dive from Navy SEALS huh??? Yeah somehow, I cant imagine them being too unhappy teaching a young lady to go scuba diving! lol
Nick

tankgirl · 11-24-2003, 08:04 PM

Maxx, Dang! What a loss about the pics!

Quote:

I cant imagine them being too unhappy teaching a young lady to go scuba diving

It was my patriotic duty!!!

Maxx · 11-24-2003, 08:08 PM

Quote:

It was my patriotic duty!!!

Its a rough job, but somebody's gotta do it...

Nick

Maxx · 11-24-2003, 08:13 PM

Quote:

What a loss about the pics!

Yeah, that kinda sucked, but I cant say all of it was there fault.
I mean do you blame a 4 year old for breaking your best china, if your the one who gave it to 'em to eat off of? The one I eally wanted to keep was the two lobsters that were under a bommie, and the small one was 3 1/2 feet long and weighed pretty close to 30+ lbs, (I'm estimating). The big one was easily half again as long.
Lobster season started shortly after we left...hope those two are still around. They wouldnt taste very good, so hopefully there was no reason to go get em...besides, something that big ya dont exactly grab and stuff in a mesh bag.....
Nick

tankgirl · 11-24-2003, 08:31 PM

Maxx, I thought the caymans had a don't touch and don't take nothin' law! Hopefully your awesome lobsters are still safe!
Found one cd, more stingray pics - this was the divemaster feeding the rays;

tankgirl · 11-24-2003, 08:33 PM

Here's an interesting shot (divemaster again);

tankgirl · 11-24-2003, 08:34 PM

Decent shot of the ray;

tankgirl · 11-24-2003, 08:35 PM

And this was another dive;

tankgirl · 11-24-2003, 08:48 PM

In case you were curious about the stingrays mouth, it has sort of bony ridges. I was holding my thumb too tight against my palm and got slightly chewed by the ray, my fault - not his.

tankgirl · 11-24-2003, 08:51 PM

me again with the ray moving up to me. They are super careful with their tails, know exactly where they are. You sort of keep the squid inside your hand and hold it up - fist closed, then as the ray moves up against your hand, you open it and the ray sucks in the food.

cheeks69 · 11-24-2003, 09:06 PM

that is awesome !! although I'd be a little hesitant to offer my hand with some food in it, I'd probably use some type of instrument, you just never know

Maxx · 11-25-2003, 12:32 AM

Actually its really cool. The rays have crushing type of teeth that grind their food up. So if you hold your hand like your holding a beer, w/ the food exposed on top like your imaginary beer bottle, then the ray comes over and sucks the food up w/o getting any of you w/ it. You only hafta screw it up once to realize it doesnt feel good to hang on to the food when the animal wants it!
Great shots TG! Brought back some great memories!
Nick

11-23-2003, 06:40 PM	#31 (permalink)
cheeks69 Wannabe Guru Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Northeast Posts: 6,855 View Gallery Karma Komment	love the pics TG. that is my dream to do some scuba diving. Although I had a chance once on my honeymoon in St. Lucia but my wife was afraid she didn't want to lose me, now she wishes she did...LOL __________________ Robert My Cube “A spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe—a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble.” Albert Einstein

11-23-2003, 10:33 PM	#32 (permalink)
Maxx Manta Ray Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: St Louis Mo Posts: 3,079 View Gallery Karma Komment	TG, My dad and i went to Grand Cayman in 97. Loved it!!!! he freaked at stingray city also, just like the pic you have of the guy on his back...I had to look and see if it was my dad! I learned to scuba in Hawaii as a kid. th reefs there arent a built up as the ones you see else where. I dont think that the plankton levels are high enough to support vast amounts of coral reef development like there is in other places. Oh, and just because larger sea going critters, (great whites) arent sposed to like warmer tropical waters like Hawaii and the Caymans, doesnt mean they don't go there. Parts of Oahu were closed off when we lived there due to a great white cruising around. Evidently nobody told him he wasnt allowed! Curt, This is a great forum! Nick __________________ "Chaos, confusion, despair...my work is done here." ...Some guy named Murphy.... A good friend will come and bail you out of jail...but, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn...that was fun!" Reef Sanctuary Knowledgebase (Answers to all your questions and then some!)

11-24-2003, 12:50 PM	#34 (permalink)
Maxx Manta Ray Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: St Louis Mo Posts: 3,079 View Gallery Karma Komment	Not too many pics from Grand Cayman. We were pretty dumb and went to the local one hour photo place and they either under devoloped or over deveoloped the film depending on which would've made that particular roll of film look worse...(I didnt know anything about photography then...sigh). As far as Hawaii having a lot of deep water currents, not really close to the Islands. If you go out a couple of miles yeah, but most of the perimeter of the Islands are relatively shallow 80-120 feet being common, certainly not benthic by any means... Learned to dive from Navy SEALS huh??? Yeah somehow, I cant imagine them being too unhappy teaching a young lady to go scuba diving! lol Nick __________________ "Chaos, confusion, despair...my work is done here." ...Some guy named Murphy.... A good friend will come and bail you out of jail...but, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn...that was fun!" Reef Sanctuary Knowledgebase (Answers to all your questions and then some!)

11-24-2003, 09:06 PM	#44 (permalink)
cheeks69 Wannabe Guru Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Northeast Posts: 6,855 View Gallery Karma Komment	that is awesome !! although I'd be a little hesitant to offer my hand with some food in it, I'd probably use some type of instrument, you just never know __________________ Robert My Cube “A spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe—a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble.” Albert Einstein

11-25-2003, 12:32 AM	#45 (permalink)
Maxx Manta Ray Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: St Louis Mo Posts: 3,079 View Gallery Karma Komment	Actually its really cool. The rays have crushing type of teeth that grind their food up. So if you hold your hand like your holding a beer, w/ the food exposed on top like your imaginary beer bottle, then the ray comes over and sucks the food up w/o getting any of you w/ it. You only hafta screw it up once to realize it doesnt feel good to hang on to the food when the animal wants it! Great shots TG! Brought back some great memories! Nick __________________ "Chaos, confusion, despair...my work is done here." ...Some guy named Murphy.... A good friend will come and bail you out of jail...but, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn...that was fun!" Reef Sanctuary Knowledgebase (Answers to all your questions and then some!)

11-24-2003, 10:25 AM	#33 (permalink)
tankgirl Reef Lobster Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: So. Ca Posts: 1,476 View Gallery Karma Komment	cheeks; Hey Maxx! Got pics? Cool about learning as a kid in Hawaii!!! What I've heard about big sharks and whales is they like the colder currents that come up in deeper parts of the ocean? Anyway, Hawaii, being in the middle of the Pacific should have plenty of those. Caymans are so far away from the arc of islands that border the Atlantic, that's a long way for the big critter to travel. I learned to dive in Puerto Rico from Seals when I was about 20. That was an awesome way to learn!

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