Cozumel 2017, The Return

[Nemrod]

Much like the swallows of Capistrano or the monarchs in the mountains of Mexico near Ocampo in the state of Michoacan, the rare species Argonaut Kraken, oddest and rarest of the cephalapoda, gather in the warm and clear waters of Cozumel. An arduous and perilous journey, many fail or succumb to the cold of northern climes were many Kraken inhabit. But some make it as Nature has prepared them with the finest of engineering. There, in Cozumel, the passage through the Devils Throat culminates with many of the species sporting their finest plumage and newest genetic modifications. Afterwards large amounts of margaritas, pin'acoladas and wine are consumed to celebrate the successful sojourn and prepare for the long return to home waters:



















Some other odd specimens encountered while researching the mating habits of the rare Kraken:








Other:



















Sorry I did not do better on the photos. I was recovering from a painful bit of shingles and still was not 100%, more like 40% . I try to do better next time the Kraken gather to document this odd creatures habits.

Me and MC for 39 years:



James (N)

[couv]

Excellent James!

[frogman63]

Thanks for sharing the pics. Good seeing you and Mary again.

Take care,
Brian

[Ron]

It's good to see you in the water often after crashing bikes and planes and all that other stuff you did James. Congrats to you an MC on the 39th. It's nice to know people who have been married for that long, and it's Anna and I are huge fans of you and MC Hopefully 2018 will be the year for a get together somewhere for all the usual suspects.

[SurfLung]

Your photos are as good or better than anything National Geographic can do!

[Nemrod]

Thanks Jim and Ron.

Nem

[simonbeans]

A little late to the party, however, this Cozumel trip was one of the best for seeing "critters".
For as many times as I have dove the waters off Cozumel, the goal was to see and photo Sanopus splendidus, the splendid toadfish.

Most often you only see the little guy in his hole, with the famous face peering out at you. However, I was told, but never saw, the tail which, again I was told was "splendid".

The usual sighting:
(click on thumbnail image to see full-size, escape to return to thread)


or this one:


But a great night dive, lead by the DM Chucky, gave me this opportunity:


Yes, the fish is indeed "Splendid".

[Nemrod]

That is the best shot of a splendid toad fish ever, great work.

The splendid toad fish simply will not cooperate.

And it was an outstanding night dive.

Nem

[Bryan]

You guys gotta enter some of the photo contests on line.......I'll get them on the VDH FB page and see if we can't rack up some trophy's. As it typical for me, my camera flooded 1st dive in Cozumel this year......Not that I'm in you guys league or anything

[simonbeans]

And it was an outstanding night dive.

Nem

Yes it was an interesting night dive. I have been on many, but this one in Cozumel will be very memorable. Chucky from Scuba Club Cozumel is one of the better “critter” spotters, and on this dive he was “splendid”.

We saw the usual things:

Octopus, actually many of them:


Crabs and Lobsters:
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And a rather large spotted eel (4-5’) hurrying around and through a coral head.


Seems just before I got to that side of the coral head to shoot a quick image of him (her) another smaller spotted eel showed up. Apparently the larger one took offense to the smaller’s presence (territorial?) and bit the head off the smaller eel.
When I got there, this is what I saw:


As Jim Croce once sang:
You Don't Tug On Superman's Cape
You Don't Spit Into The Wind
You Don't Pull The Mask Off The Old Lone Ranger
And You Don't Mess Around With A BIGGER SPOTTED EEL!!!

An outstanding night dive, indeed.

[couv]

Splendid Allan,

Thanks for sharing.

[antique diver]

Allan, What a sight to see! I'll remember to be more careful where I put my fingers when dabbling with eels