Black and Silver

One of my favourite dives during the second leg of this trip was at a place called Black and Silver. It was my first visit.

The visibility happened not to be so good on the day of our stop at the site, but I liked the reef so much that I stayed in the water for nearly three hours....during which time, everyone else dived, went back to the boat, took a break, geared up again, got in the water and finished a second dive, then had breakfast. Yup...I have an obsessive personality.

Among the highlights was a lacy scorpionfish that Bob found. The fish wasn’t too deep, so everyone had a chance to take photos.

Lacy scorpionfish (Rhinopias aphanes) at Black and Silver
Bob found this lacy scorpionfish (Rhinopias aphanes) at Black and Silver

At one point, I looked over my shoulder and saw a group of jacks, several really big barracudas, and a school of smaller barracudas milling about in the current. The jacks were swimming too far, too fast, while the larger barracudas were a haphazard lot..not coalescing into any reasonable formation.

I decided to give the school of smaller barracuda my undivided attention, which is how I ended up swimming to and fro, up and down, around and around the reef...all in pursuit of a pretty picture, as other fish and divers looked on in amusement, no doubt tinged with a hint of bewilderment.

In the end, I got quite a workout, along with a few images of the barracuda lined-up for a nice family portrait.

School of barracuda at Black and Silver
School of barracuda at Black and Silver

The dive site is reasonably big, and there was a lot I didn’t get to explore. If conditions permit, I’m sure we’ll pay this reef another visit on our upcoming itinerary.