Dive Briefing Copyright © 2004 Craig "Monty" Sheppard and Michelle Gaut

- click to see photos -

August 22, 2004 - Barracuda Point, Mary Island (Dives 31-33)

Dive 31: Camera: Canon 1Ds, Canon 16-35/2.8L, +2 diopter, 2 x Ikelite DS-125
Dive 32: Camera: Canon 1Ds, Canon 15mm full-frame fisheye, 2 x Ikelite DS-125
Dive 33: Camera: Canon 1Ds, Canon 16-35/2.8L, +2 diopter, 2 x Ikelite DS-125

Barracuda point reminds me a little bit of Darwin Arch and Blue Corner. There is a lot of current, and the point (har har) is to hold on for dear life while checking out the critters that swim by. Sharks, Napolean wrasses, jacks, snapper, trevali, surgeonfish, and a bunch of small fish (I wasn't paying attention to small things on these dives, unfortunately) can all be seen dashing around. Periodically, a school of at least fifty blue-fin trevali would whip by in a well-distributed hunting pack, and fuseliers would scatter in a fast-moving plane of purple bullets. There are two large resident barracuda schools (different species, it seems), and one of them is huge and frequently forms enormous swirling vortices that can be 80-100' high. There is also a dense school of jacks up in the shallows, sometimes hiding from the current in narrow crevasses. Both of these schools virtually ignore divers, and I was easily able to join both for mid-water cruises. I spent about 20 minutes inside the large barracuda school out in the blue, and it was exhilirating to feel them make small changes in direction and swimming speed, sometimes responding to movements made by my body and camera. And all the while, I was comforted by the whine of the tinnie following my bubbles. Again, those guys are EXCELLENT; someone is always nearby to pick you up.