Indigo Divers, Antigua
A blog for divers and others interested in what is happening below and above water.
Panoramic underwater photos on Google Maps!
Google announced yesterday that they will be adding panoramic underwater photos to Google Maps through their street view feature starting with the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
Check this out:http://googleblog.blogspot.ca/2012/09/dive-into-great-barrier-reef-with-first_25.html
I wonder when we will have some photos of Antigua's beautiful underwater scenery. Is anyone else as excited about this feature as I am?
The other afternoon we received a call from Tanner at WCT Antigua. While out on their afternoon snorkeling tour they were joined by two dolphins cruising the shoreline near Turners Beach (on the south west coast of Antigua). We packed up our snorkeling gear and headed down to the beach expecting that by the time we arrived the dolphins would have moved on - but they were still there!
We jumped in the water and spent about half an hour enjoying watching the two swim up and down the shoreline. We noticed right away that they were smaller than the bottlenose dolphins we saw while diving last week. We figure they must be the Atlantic Spotted species. And one of them had a very different remora attached to it. (I must look into this an post an update later).
Ah what an experience!
Thanks Tanner for calling us! It was an afternoon we will remember! For a fun day of touring and snorkeling, check out WCT Antigua - or affectionately known as "The Blue Boats". They have tours that let you explore the west coast of Antigua on your own two passenger boat. Loads of fun! For more information or to book you tour give us a shout: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist gegen Spambots geschützt! JavaScript muss aktiviert werden, damit sie angezeigt werden kann. ; +1 (268) 562 3843
Photo courtesy of Tanner Jones, WCT Antigua Ltd.
We had a group of 7 huge bottlenose dolphins join us on our first dive on Friday. We were down at 18m/60ft at the dive site "Captain's Anchor" when the group came really close to us. One of the dolphins kept circling back to check us out (we must be pretty funny looking underwater)! They stayed with us for a good 5 minutes. What a day!!
Summer is a great season for Sea Turtle sightings!
During the summer months, sea turtles swim ashore to nest on our beautiful beaches.
We do see turtles year round in our waters, but this nesting activity increases our chances of spotting them on shore as well!
Just last week we witnessed leatherback turtles hatching from the South Beach right here in Jolly Harbour. Below is a picture of the eggs after the hatching. We didn't take any flash photography of the actually hatchlings as they use the reflections of the moon to guide them to the ocean.
Turtle watching tours are organized by the EAG (Environmental Awareness Group). Through the summer they run every Friday evening and it promises to be a memorable evening. Contact them for more information at Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist gegen Spambots geschützt! JavaScript muss aktiviert werden, damit sie angezeigt werden kann.
In honour of the Discovery Channel's Shark Week, we thought we would post our most exciting shark encounter to date:
A Tiger Shark sighting!
This big beauty was seen back in March 2008 by Don while diving at "Double Dip".
I was thrilled the other day to come across a Sharptail Eel while diving at the site we call "Three Tears".
I have frequently heard these creatures referred to as "snake eels" or "sea snakes" but they are not snakes, they are actually a group of eels that resemble snakes in shape but have gills like fish. (No flickering tongues!) I find them quite gentle and content to let divers watch them as they forage around for crabs and small invertebrates, but like any creature with teeth I am sure they could use them to bite if provoked or threatened.
Hopefully I will see more eels from this family and if I do I sure hope I remember my camera!
