| EGYPT Diving in the Red Sea My Log Book |
| 06/09/02 Friday First dive: Jackson Reef East, Straits of Tiran Just saw a BBC programme on turtles yesterday, and this morning we saw two hawksbill sea turtles! The first one was male (I can tell now), standing against a coral, when Alex spotted him and started to scratch his back. He leaned his head back a bit, really enjoying. Then he started to munch the corals again, just like in the video. Hardly had we left him when Alex spotted another one, this time a female, swimming over the corals above us. We swam close, watched her continue then turn down towards us, rested near a coral. This time we all took turn to scratch her, but she took no notice and busied herself munching the corals with the help of her front flippers. No wonder, she has two cleaner wrasses on her back. Second dive: Jackson Reef West, Straits of Tiran We really have good luck. Dropped off at the wreck, we descended immediately and right on top of a group of hammerheads! Everyone was cheering in the water! The dive was beautiful, especially as we all were more than happy. A stingray was covered in sand and refused to be disturbed. Two large yellow fish swam sideway under me. A Napoleonfish leisurely drift away. And upon ascent, a little bird wrasse swam by with its distinct snout. It was amazing during the dive to see some fish dash straight down at lightning speed, just like some birds when they dash into water for prey. Such is nature. Third dive: Jackson Reef West, Straits of Tiran We dropped off at the same spot, this time with the reef on our right side. We were determined to see sharks, as some spotted white tips in the morning dive. And how much more luck can we have! Out of the blue, two grey reef sharks swam towards the reef, one behind the other. They were in no hurry, ignorant of our staring eyes. Afterwards, though, the dive turned messy. We ran into other divers, mixed up, and after one last OK with Alex who was behind me, I lost sight of her completely. I decided to stick to the rest of the group, and had to time my ascent and safety stop without a watch. It was not very good. Fourth dive: South Lagoon, Straits of Tiran This dive made today really complete. A Spanish dancer! Wow, it really deserves its name, red with two protruding points on the head (not sure if they were eyes or sensors) and lots of white stuff on the belly. On the back there is a protruding line going all through the body, probably its spine. How graceful it swims! And then, as if exhausted and fainted, it fell slowly onto the sandy bottom, rolling and curling up. What a wonderful creature, hope we hadn't scared it too much. And a few tubeworms, a sea pen (Karen says it's a sand cucumber), a moray eel, and a long cornetfish which can retreat backwards. 07/09/02 Saturday First dive: Thomas Reef, Straits of Tiran Highlight of this dive was an octopus hiding in a crevice in the reef. Another one swam away before we arrived. They must have been courting, according to the book. Unfortunately I did not see his big eyes. Saw a few more bird wrasses, one yellow-edged moray, several cornetfish, many sea basses, a large grouper, another Picasso triggerfish, a school of yellow saddle goatfish, etc. Lots of gorgonians on the sandy bottom. Second dive: Gordon Reef, Straits of Tiran Another beautiful dive. Saw another turtle, and watched a moray eel swimming into and out of crevices, all connected under the corals, amazing! A giant grouper, several Picasso, bird wrasse, a whole school of red-tooth triggerfish, orange-spine unicornfish, yellow-tail tang, the most beautiful Arabian surgeonfish, a beautiful broomtail wrasse, Arabian angelfish. Third dive: Ras Caty Took my navigation course. Afterwards, Alex and I swam around a bit for relaxing. Saw a tiny clown fish, really cute. Played with a peppered moray, transparent white with black dots on the head, trying to bite on our fingers with its little mouth. Fourth dive: Ras Caty Just Tony and I, we set out to explore the area next to shore, as I saw a lot of fish life earlier snorkelling there. It turned out the sandy bottom offered more to see. We first encountered a blue-spotted stingray, which decided to bury itself in sand in order to hide from us. On the sea floor there were patches of small purple coral heads, and hidden among many of them, I saw little yellow claws of little yellow crabs. Also a tiny clown fish, although still begger than the one we saw after the navigation exercise. A tiny, almost invisible shrimp jumped on the sand. A massive lionfish, red in colour, with a stony head and protruding eyes, very threatening looking. Under a reversed cone-shaped shell, some little hands busy feeding. Another one with a little stone-like body. One oval-shaped creature had lots of hands busy searching in the sand, almost like a street-cleaning machine. A long, black-and-white striped snake-like creature was busy feeding with several sensors searching in the sand at one end, and the food was swallowed and passed through the body just like a snake. Then all of a sudden, it shrank into just about 20-30cm, still feeding, interesting. (Later I learned it probably is a sea cucumber.) Last, two squids in different colours, hovering. Remember Ian (another diver on the boat) being attacked by a squid? Previous Page Egypt Main Page |
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| Jackson Reef at high tide |
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| Jackson Reef at low tide |
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| Snorkelling at Jackson Reef |
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