Swimming with the fishes

[tiggymalvern]

After slacking off the for the last couple of months while I prioritised writing, I finally got back to the dive video from my trip to the Revillagigedos Islands around the New Year. I made two videos from the dives we did at Cabo Pearce on the island of Socorro.

The first one is mainly mantas again, because can you really get tired of giant oceanic mantas? There are a few shots including the Clarion Angelfish, a cleaner species endemic to the islands, with orange head and tail and a darker body between. And then there was the impressively large school of scalloped hammerheads that came by twice (I'm assuming the same ones on both occasions, but who knows for sure?) The youtube compression really didn't like the first, more distant shot of hammerheads though.

https://youtu.be/mxXkFgVQMNQ

For our third dive at Cabo Pearce, the current had picked up a LOT, and the vis was considerably worse. There were still mantas around, but the footage wasn't going to be good, and after about five minutes I decided to tuck myself in on the lee side of the finger and investigate the reef critters, which included some nudis and a nice octopus.
On the final dive, half of the group decided to skip the manta cleaning station and instead dive the boulder reef at the base of the cliff. It made for a fun, low drama, shallow dive to end the trip, with a lot of fish species we hadn't seen on the deeper dives. And that's also when I saw Tohbi, the juvenile male manta that I was allowed to name because I got an ID shot of him. (Tohbi means rabbit or hare in the language of the indigenous people who live around the Sea of Cortez, and he had four spots that look like the footprints left by a hare in snow.)

https://youtu.be/yG5MqOUET-M

It seems so LONG ago now...

Comments

[bymyverytoes]

Tohbi is a great name!

I'm trying to keep up with your vids, though we have been busy redecorating and stuff, and I don't know where my energy goes these days. Much appreciate being able to watch them, even if all you get in return is a 'like' :)

[tiggymalvern]

Redecorating is certainly a time-consuming practice. Hope you regain your youthful energy over the winter - maybe cooler weather will help :-)

[tameiki]

Your underwater videos are always so calming and yet so vibrant, if that makes any sense. I'm not sure if I'm more envious of the time you spend underwater or the time you get to spend riding in boats. :)

What is that long, thin thing at around the 4 minute mark?

[tiggymalvern]

I do enjoy the time I spend on the boats as well as in the water - at least I do when it's warm and sunny!

I've checked both videos and don't see a long thin thing near the four minute mark in either one. So I'm not sure what you mean, sorry!

[tameiki]

Sorry, my bad. I went back and watched both videos (oh, it was so hard to do! /s) and it was in the Cabo vid and starts at 3:09.

[tiggymalvern]

Ah, the cornetfish! The difference between a trumpetfish and a cornetfish is that the latter has a tail that just gets thinner all the way to the end, while a trumpetfish flares wide at the end. So, see one of those big, long, open-water fish and look to the tail :-)

[tameiki]

Not that I even knew there was such a thing as a trumpetfish much less a cornetfish, I love how it just calmly floated through the water. Thank you for identifying it for me.

Just an FYI in case you were interested, I just finished talking with Rzyna (we lost touch a few years ago), and despite having a very busy and eventful few years, she's doing well. Still in Lubbock, Texas. :)

[tiggymalvern]

I haven't heard from her in many years either, not since the death of LJ. Glad to hear she's doing well - less glad to hear it's still in Lubbock!