Finally, what we have all been waiting for ... the first
wall dive of the trip. We're headed for the wall and
channel at Mellu Island. The launch will drop us off on
the outside and we'll drift back towards and into the channel
where we'll be retrieved. The walls on the outer side of
the atoll begin around 50-60 feet and drop off to thousands,
sometimes abruptly and sometime curving in and away from the
deep ocean currents.
 Pelagic fish and lots
of curious sharks drift lazily along with us, sometimes
cruising over our heads to check out the scenery and then
heading back to the deeper water. Fish that we believe to be
Midnight or Twin spot snappers hang with us for a long time
and even get in the way of our prize winning photos.
It's a real treat to drift along and spot sea fans that
dwarf the divers swimming next to them. The walls are the
place to be when the weather is calm.
Another nice feature of the trip, you can dive, dive, dive
or you can dive, rest, wander on the beach, dive, fish, dive.
Not everyone made every dive although some tried their best. |
The trade winds blow,
sometimes fiercely, in the Marshall Islands and Rongelap Atoll
is no stranger to the whims of nature so our first dive of the
day will take place in the atoll. We are treated to a dream of
all divers -- an unexplored dive site - this one another
bommie with a depth of 15-60 feet. The ship's
instruments tell us that this coral mound is roughly 165 feet
in diameter and we'll be diving from the Oleanda platform with
the launch operating as a safety vessel on the far side of the
bommie.
As we soon learn, every
dive will feature giant clams in every color imaginable. Some
have grown to such huge sizes, that they are permanently
entrapped in the coral and unable to close. They spend a
lifetime siphoning seawater and food through their systems and
if you look very closely, you will sometimes discover small
shrimp and tiny fish living in their colorful mantles.