At Sea
Ascension . . . a rarely visited island in the mid-Atlantic. Our guests onboard MS Endeavour had two full days experiencing what the island has to offer: lunch at the “Two Boats” club; swimming and snorkeling at Comfortless Cove; and a mid-night stroll watching the Green turtles laying their eggs on the beach. But don’t think this was all the island had to offer. . . not by a long shot.
The underwater world contained as much activity and excitement as land, which is why undersea specialist Dennis Cornejo, and his troop of divers took to the water as soon as possible. The crystal blue water offered a minimum of 40 feet of visibility. As we geared up for the dive, we first spotted the black Durgen fish swimming beneath the dive Zodiac. The Durgen, a type of triggerfish, is most easily identified by the blue stripe along its dorsal and anal fins. We have affectionately named it the “piranha fish” due to the swarming activity it displays for small articles on the surface, testing to see if they are edible. Even an aqua sock that fell overboard was not safe from a taste test.
Falling back into the 88 degree Fahrenheit water was a divers paradise. Bottoming out at 73 feet, we were enveloped in the whirlwind of undersea activity. One did not know where to look first, for it seemed the coral colonized rocks themselves were moving, as there were so many fish swimming on the surface and amongst the rocks. Of course there were plenty of Durgens to be seen, but also soldier fish, wrasses, stonefish, butterfly fish, and flounder.
We came across many Moray eels as well, mostly the common or “spotted” moray, quite an intimidating fish, especially in its aggressive pose, as shown in the picture. According to the local fisheries, this eel grows bigger on Ascension than anywhere else, sometimes reaching nine feet in length. It inhabits the rocks and crevices down to 120 feet below sea level. This is the most common eel found in the Western Atlantic, and it is unusually aggressive towards man. There have even been reports of unprovoked attacks on divers. Luckily we had no such incidents, only the delight of seeing what such a remote island had to offer under the water.
Ascension . . . a rarely visited island in the mid-Atlantic. Our guests onboard MS Endeavour had two full days experiencing what the island has to offer: lunch at the “Two Boats” club; swimming and snorkeling at Comfortless Cove; and a mid-night stroll watching the Green turtles laying their eggs on the beach. But don’t think this was all the island had to offer. . . not by a long shot.
The underwater world contained as much activity and excitement as land, which is why undersea specialist Dennis Cornejo, and his troop of divers took to the water as soon as possible. The crystal blue water offered a minimum of 40 feet of visibility. As we geared up for the dive, we first spotted the black Durgen fish swimming beneath the dive Zodiac. The Durgen, a type of triggerfish, is most easily identified by the blue stripe along its dorsal and anal fins. We have affectionately named it the “piranha fish” due to the swarming activity it displays for small articles on the surface, testing to see if they are edible. Even an aqua sock that fell overboard was not safe from a taste test.
Falling back into the 88 degree Fahrenheit water was a divers paradise. Bottoming out at 73 feet, we were enveloped in the whirlwind of undersea activity. One did not know where to look first, for it seemed the coral colonized rocks themselves were moving, as there were so many fish swimming on the surface and amongst the rocks. Of course there were plenty of Durgens to be seen, but also soldier fish, wrasses, stonefish, butterfly fish, and flounder.
We came across many Moray eels as well, mostly the common or “spotted” moray, quite an intimidating fish, especially in its aggressive pose, as shown in the picture. According to the local fisheries, this eel grows bigger on Ascension than anywhere else, sometimes reaching nine feet in length. It inhabits the rocks and crevices down to 120 feet below sea level. This is the most common eel found in the Western Atlantic, and it is unusually aggressive towards man. There have even been reports of unprovoked attacks on divers. Luckily we had no such incidents, only the delight of seeing what such a remote island had to offer under the water.
