It wasn’t as clear as the previous dive but the visibility was by no means poor. Although it was a day’s difference there was a huge change at the pier. There were no barracuda in sight in the center portion of the pier unfortunately but there was a huge school of catfish instead. Later Ameya found a barracuda but I couldn’t see it. When we checked the barge to see if the blue triggerfish were still there (Odonus niger), they had already abandoned the place… I doubt there are any fish that feed on them.
At the ring, we saw a new visitor. It was a huge eel right at the cavity on top of the ring so it was visible even from the surface. It was absolutely beautiful with millions of white spots adorning its dark olive green body. The closest looking species I have found is the white mouth moray (Gymnothorax meleagris) although it didn’t have a white mouth and the patterns looked slightly different from them. We found 4 other juvenile morays around the ring.
The net that was stuck around the eastern ring and pillars was still there and more fish seemed to have been caught. As we hadn’t gotten a shot of the honeycomb moray in the previous dive, Ameya hurried to find it again before the camera died again. It was still there in the same spot near the blocks in the center portion towards the end of the pier.
While I was wandering around the internal pillars chasing to observe the catfish, a lone Odonus niger came fluttering to say ‘hi’. I was so happy to see it again and notified Ameya as I wanted a closer shot of it. It was so interesting to see how its wing-like fins flapped desperately to keep its plump body moving.
Suddenly Ameya called me while I was looking at the honeycomb moray. He took me to the spot where we had found the groupers yesterday, and showed me the horror. It was by the blocks at the southern side of the pier. The whole area was draped with a huge net which spread over 3-4 pillars on the southern side. The groupers were gone, thankfully, and the place looked desolate. Yet again, we swam across the whole sight helplessly.
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