Month: December 2018

Jim and I jumped into the sea for a New Year’s Eve dive at Eden Rock. Here he is sporting his new rash vest with octopus tentacles printed over the right shoulder and down his back and front. It looks really coolWe descended to about 35 feet and were exploring the reef when I spotted what I thought was a large lobster leg. I swam in for a closer look calling Jim to see it.

It wasn’t a lobster but a very large crab, its body nearly a foot across and it’s legs about the same again. Quite a find and very exciting! It was sat in the entrance to a small cave about half way up the reef face.

Suddenly tentacles exploded from deep within the cave. In an instant they were all around the crab, above and below it. The tentacles were about as thick as my wrist. The crab had taken refuge in a octopus’s den!

The crab tried to escape but it was over in seconds as the octopus made short work of it. First enveloping it, then dragging it into the cave before driving it’s beak into its brain and killing it.

It was so it was so quick and I was so surprised I didn’t get a chance to film the initial ambush but here is a glimpse of the last minute of the attack…

Given the prescient nature of his new shirt I am so pleased I didn’t buy Jim the rash vest with the huge shark on it!

The last week has been a lot cooler now that the Christmas Breeze is here. Each December the prevailing wind shifts from the South West to blowing from the North East, bringing cooler air. But with the shift in wind comes the increased chance of a ‘Nor=Easter‘. A storm out to sea which drives strong winds and high waves onto the west coast of the island.

We get at least one storm a year this way normally blowing through in a day but this year the Nor=Easter blew for a week. It culminated at the weekend with huge waves battering the west coast of the island and driving waves into the middle of George Town.

Lots of the sea front shops, bars and restaurants suffered damage. Here you can see Sunset House being battered. Tonnes of sand, seaweed and debris has had to be cleared away all along the coasts.

https://www.caymancompass.com/2018/12/23/high-seas-batter-grand-caymans-west-coast/

Some of the beaches up near the posh hotels on Seven Mile have been washed away exposing Iron Shore. The general consensus was it was the worst Nor Wester in 20 years!

It has been quite spectacular!

James came back from a coral cleaning echo dive last week and said he had learned about another ship wreck near us. So we grabbed our gear and went looking for the wreck of the Nicolas.

Worth getting up early for…