History Day at Peleliu - Day 5

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Another early morning for us as we were really going to Peleliu this time, and of course the rain did not stop. After breakfast we started walking to Sam's when Siksei drove up to us in the bus. I guess he realized we were early-birds so decided to drive out early to see if he could beat us. Since we did the night dive last night, all our gear was already rinsed and set up on the boat. We finished getting ready pretty quick since the boat ride was about an hour and a half out. The five of us had the boat to ourselves with Siksei, J5 and Arson our captain. It was a very rainy, bumpy ride. We had about 2 to 4 foot swells but i enjoyed it. I do not get motion sickness and Arson is the best captain at Sam's so we were in good hands. I was able to see some Gunards (flying fish) and once we got close to our first dive site we came across some mating Turtles! I got some decent video while Joe got some stills! It was such an exciting sight to see! A couple more minutes and we were at our first dive area, Yellow Wall.

Yellow Wall was a new experience for all of us, a nice drift current but with a bit of surge which made keeping bouyancy a little bit harder, but good practice for me. We drifted along the wall for a bit but the surge wanted to take us up along the top of the wall so we didn't fight it. I enjoyed the top wall as the light was clearer, even with the rain, and there was lots to see! Great corals, lots of clownfish, a few nudibranchs, starfish, clams and finally some really tiny Hippo Tangs! I only got to see one up close last year and this time there was an Acropora table coral full of them hovering in it! It was great and i even got a little video clip along with some pics. We took an hour surface interval at the little harbor into Peleliu Island since the sea's were getting pretty rough out there. A little puppy came and greeted us at the shoreline and we played with her for a bit. We told her to wait there for when we come back because we would have lunch and treat her to some scraps. In the meantime, she helped as we collected some shells and i came across a shark's tooth. It was a bit chipped but a great find! Now off to Orange Beach/Coral Garden for our second dive.

Pink Skunk Clowns hosting in their Ritteri Anemone

Clarkii Clowns in a giant Carpet Anemone

Andy swimming along with a Sea Turtlea school of baby Hippo Tangs and Chromis

a grazing turtle

a beautiful Maxima Clam

Orange Beach/Coral Garden was a great shallower dive full of neat stuff to see. Completely filled with corals and other ocean life. I was hoping the currents were not as strong so i could take more time in one area to look for the macro critters like Pipefish, Cleaner Gobies, Blennies and even Seahorses but it was pretty rough out there and i didn't want to be bumping into the corals and damaging them so i kept my distance. I was still able to get some good shots of little Linkia Starfish, Nudibranchs, Firefish, lots more clownfish and even some wreckage from the war including some bomb shells, an anchor, tire and large bullet casings. Another good new dive to check off my list! Now time to head back for lunch and get ready for the land tour. I had the Sushi Bento for lunch which was very good, too bad no scraps for the puppy, but she got lots from Melanie, Jim, Andy and Joe.

12 ft seas! Sweet!

greeted by a cute little pup at Peleliu for a surface interval

a cool Linkia Starfish

a HUGE table coral with school of Chromis

a really cool Nudibranchan anchor off an old WWII ship

an old bomb shell from WWII

a Firefish Goby

an old tire

The land tour was slightly different this time. We waited on another group that was coming in from their second dive so we could all do the tour together. We started by seeing the Army Memorial and Orange Beach. I didn't take too many pictures as i have them all from last year. We headed out to see the airstrip, some tank wreckage, the large gun at the top of a hill and then the Japan and Marine memorials at the top of a beautiful view. This time we got a quick tour of the village on the North side of Peleliu. Only 600 people live there so they all know each other, there is one police and no crime other than the youngsters getting drunk. We stopped at the 1000 Man Caves and i went in a short way but didn't have a flashlight and it got very dark. The tour took just over two hours and then headed back to our boat to head home. At least on our way home it wasn't raining but it was still a very bumpy ride. Arson veered off from the other boat that was following us and took us on the scenic route which was very beautiful and much calmer waters. We got back to Sam's, rinsed our gear and just left it on the boat again since we were taking that one out the next day. It makes it easier for all of us, including our crew, in the mornings so we can get a head start on the day.

Orange Beach, Peleliu

almost walked into this spider in the cave

the Marine Memorial looking at Bloody Nose Ridge

Marine Memorial

the town of Peleliu, occupation 600

looking into the 1000 man caves

tight quarters

We all sat around and had some appetizers, (calamari, fish fingers, onion rings) and some beer. Everyone decided to order some dinner but i wasn't hungry so just snacked on some calamari, i am not used to eating this much every day! Finally decided it was a good time to head back to the hotel and get a good nights sleep, this time sleeping in an extra hour. Good night!