Page 67 - Central America

Wall Diving and the Abyss
Pelagics often emerge from the depths to feed on the smaller
fishes that inhabit shallower water. The wall itself provides
domain for innumerable smaller creatures.
Dive a wall and you know anything can hap-
pen. The deeper the wall plunges the greater
the chance of encountering a truly remarkable
experience. Sharks and other large pelagics can
regularly be spotted at a wall’s drop-off zone.
Walls are found throughout The Bay Islands
and their profiles range from those that
end at sand bottoms 60 to 100 feet deep, to seem-
ingly infinite vertical descents. It is along these
escarpments of the deep reef that the majesty of
coral spires and the magnificence of sponges is
fully realized. Seafans, bryozoans, seawhips and
Black Coral mix and mingle with the sponges,
creating a garden carpet of life. More color and
the addition of motion is provided from solitary
and schooling reef fish. One of the thrills of
diving a wall is the marine life. The wall and
the reef atop it serve as a barrier between
deep, open ocean and the shallower, pro-
tected water on the shoreward side. Pelagics
often emerge from the depths to feed on the
smaller fishes that inhabit shallower water.
The wall itself provides domain for innumer-
able smaller creatures. The honeycomb of
tiny cracks, crevices and holes that dot a wall
provide hiding places and living quarters for
tunicates, mollusks, crinoids, crabs and oth-
er invertebrates of all sizes and shapes, plus,
of course, sponges and coral.