{"id":513,"date":"2017-03-30T22:22:33","date_gmt":"2017-03-30T21:22:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/diving\/?p=513"},"modified":"2017-03-30T22:26:54","modified_gmt":"2017-03-30T21:26:54","slug":"technical-dive-at-crocodile-rock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/diving\/2017\/03\/30\/technical-dive-at-crocodile-rock\/","title":{"rendered":"Technical Dive at Crocodile Rock"},"content":{"rendered":"

I suppose I hardly need to say that I truly look forward to diving on the weekends, and last weekend was no exception. \u00a0We planned to do a tech dive on Saturday morning, so I set up the twinset the evening\u00a0before, directly at Atlantis Dive Centre<\/a>. \u00a0On the morning, Brian (the guy in the picture above) would simply drive the landy up to Dwejra with both of our twinsets loaded, and we’d meet there.<\/p>\n

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Upon arriving, we assessed the weather conditions. \u00a0We decided we would make our exit at Coral Garden as there was a bit of swell at our entry point which could make our exit tricky. \u00a0The plan was to dive down to a maximum of 45m, then ascend to 16m, switch to our deco gas (60% O2) and slowly fin to coral garden. \u00a0Brian carried\u00a0the stages to our entry point as I snapped the below picture of the twinsets mounted in the landy. \u00a0(By the way, I’m posting these pictures purely for the tech-heads amongst you.)<\/p>\n

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Brian’s OMS setup on the left and my Tecline wing on the right.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With the deco cylinders\u00a0in place and the above photos snapped, it was time to kit up. \u00a0At the same time, a friend of ours who had been diving the blue hole emerged from the water\u00a0and we had a quick catch-up. \u00a0With everything set and ready to go, we made our way to the shore for\u00a0a giant stride into the water.<\/p>\n

We descended fairly quickly and to my utter joy, we came across a specimen of Axinella polypoides<\/em>,\u00a0a rare sponge that is only found on rocky bottoms at depth. \u00a0I had not actually encountered one before, so this sight\u00a0alone would have made the dive for me. \u00a0This was also the point when I realized that since the GoPro camera standard housing (which is rated to 40m) doesn’t quite like being at larger depths,\u00a0it would be better to start slowly ascending to shallower waters.<\/p>\n

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Axinella polypoides<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ascend we did. \u00a0And that’s when\u00a0we encountered a huge shoal of barracuda that kept circling around us – an enthralling sight if there ever was one.<\/p>\n

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A large shoal of Barracuda we encountered<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We were able to approach them quite easily and stayed with them for quite a while.<\/p>\n

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Closer to the Barracuda<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When we were satisfied we had obtained enough photos and video footage, we made our way to even shallower water, all the time admiring the beautiful landscape that surrounded us.<\/p>\n

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The Landscape<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Upon reaching 16m, we got ready to switch to our decompression gas. \u00a0Brian had even slung the hose around his neck already when we encountered the rare jelly\u00a0Aequorea victoria<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Aequorea victoria<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We snapped a couple of pictures and a short video clip, switched to our deco gas as planned, and continued the rest of the dive in shallow waters. \u00a0Bear in mind that breathing a 60% O2 mix means that one cannot breathe it while\u00a0deeper than 16.67m (rounded up to 16m), the depth at which the partial pressure of Oxygen (PO2) for this mix hits 1.6, which is the maximum acceptable level. \u00a0(A high PO2 can cause oxygen toxicity, which manifests itself as convulsions; this can be deadly underwater.)<\/p>\n

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Aequorea victoria<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On our way to Coral Garden, the current was fairly strong, and to make matters worse it was a diagonal-running current, trying to carry us away from the\u00a0destination we had in mind. \u00a0So we did have to fin a bit harder than usual. \u00a0Close to the end, I took some video footage of the beautiful Cystoseira, commonly known as sea fir.<\/p>\n

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Sea fir (Cystoseira)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And that’s it! \u00a0It was a really pleasurable dive with many interesting encounters along the way! \u00a0With that, I’ll close off this one here. \u00a0Until the next one, happy and safe diving to all!<\/p>\n