Dive #352: With all of the amazing photos coming out of Fort Wetherill, I had to get down there to check it out. I was not disappointed. Before we even got in the water, we could see the water in the right cove was stirred up by a huge school of menhaden. We headed over to check them out and wow - they were a lot bigger than I thought, but quickly bolted when I turned on the lights to try to get a photo. We headed over to the left wall, which was absolutely covered in northern star coral. After that, we headed out to the sand in the middle where we found many groups of 1-3 squid laying calmly in the sand. They were content to let me get super close for some of my best shots to date. I was photographing one when a hermit crab touched its mantle, causing it to bolt in a cloud of ink - couldn't stop laughing at that one. Other highlights included a ton of portly spider crabs, a hermit crab with a baseball-sized shell, a shy crab (so cute!!), and several large groups of squid. I proceeded to chase squid around for probably 30 minutes before I headed back in. Before exiting, I decided to check out the sargassum along the side for seahorses and sure enough, I found one! Unfortunately, I had about 200 psi in my tank and I was floating, so despite my desperate attempts, I didn't really get a good shot. I'll have to make sure to leave myself some more time on my next dive here. Amazing dive! Squid video: https://youtu.be/m_9I-wi1yzM
