Winter2016AlertDiver

When the divemaster announced we would start the day with a dawn dive at

Mellow Yellow

I was thrilled. Recollections of dive sites tend to blend together over the years, but this one

remains clearly defined by a previous dive in which we found a huge yellow frogfish nestled

amid squat yellow sponges, surrounded by a field of saffron soft corals. I recall thinking at the

time that they certainly nailed the name of the site. From my 2004 trip log:

Mellow Yellow

we were briefed on the possibility that we might find a

large yellow frogfish, and sure enough it was right where we were told it would

be. Larger and more vibrant than most of its Caribbean cousins, this frogfish

was nicely situated amid some red and yellow encrusting sponges. However,

as satisfying as this encounter was, the marquee attraction of this dive is the

yellow soft corals that adorn the main pinnacle and the saddle that adjoins

it to a smaller, deeper pinnacle nearby. This is the dive for which Velvia slide

film was made: gold anthias, yellow soft corals, crimson sea fans and turquoise

water. I was blown away on this dive — not literally, which is possible in the

heavy current sometimes present here, but figuratively, in astonishment. We

dived Mellow Yellow again later in the week at a time when the currents were

not as propitious. There was no flow whatsoever, and the dive was therefore

totally different — good, of course, but the right amount of current transforms

the merely good into amazing in these waters.

Now, more than a decade later, I wondered if this site would still deliver. After all, it is a

pinnacle, and some of the pinnacles I’m seeing in other parts of the world are showing signs of

wear. This degradation isn’t necessarily from divers touching the coral, but as dozens of divers

circumnavigate popular pinnacles every day, their exhaust bubbles percolate upward and scrub

the soft corals above. We may aspire to take only pictures and leave only bubbles, but on sites

with vertical walls, overhangs or pinnacles, the bubbles may cause damage.

With that in mind I expected to find this site diminished from my previous perceptions.

Yet 11 years later, in a mild current (enough to supersize the soft corals but not so much as to

make it difficult to stay in place to frame a photo) this remains a world-class dive.

A LIVEABOARD TREK THROUGH THE BLIGH WATER

T E X T A N D P H O T O S B Y S T E P H E N F R I N K

Fiji is paradise for Indo-Pacific fishwatchers.

Above, from left:

Regal angelfish, painted frogfish, Diana’s hogfish

Opposite:

Emperor angelfish