Diving at Rose

My first day of diving at Rose Atoll and I was not disappointed.  On my first dive, the Oceanography team we replaced a wave and tide recorder on the north side of the Atoll.  After finishing the replacement we dropped down thewall and continued around the reef finding a nice school of Heller's Barracuda.  A little later in the day we replaced several bottom temperature recorders and spent the next hours or so working our way down the reef at about 20 feet and it was like diving in an aquarium.  Clouds of fish and water so clear you could almost imagine it was air.  Near the surface, the reef on this side of the atoll has many fingers separated by narrow canyons and crevices perfect for exploring.

During our dives, several other members of the expedition went onshore at Rose island to repair a monument placed there by the first governor of Samoa almost 80 years ago.  In the intervening years the monument had fallen into disrepair but was successfully repaired by our team.