Diving Into Blue

The Splendid Toadfish is elusive. For as many times as we’ve been to Cozumel and the number of times we’ve dove, it’s been hard to find this toadfish and even harder to capture it in a picture.

And as a slap in the face, our Reef Fish Identification book indicates that the Splendid Toadfish is “common in Cozumel. Apparently endemic, not reported elsewhere.” It’s found in dark recesses and often peers out from its hiding place.

How could such a common fish be so hard to find, so hard to photograph?

On the 3:30 p.m. dive, our favorite Divemaster, Pingo, elected to take us to a wonderful spot! We started our dive at the end of La Francesca reef and ended it just past the beginning of the Dalila reef. Pingo’s a great Divemaster because he enjoys finding what the divers want to see. And he’s good—real good—at finding these things.

Pingo choose this site because he knew where to find the elusive Splendid Toadfish. And there it was! Trying to hide from us under the ledge of a reef! Greg captured the true spirit of the Splendid Toadfish in a far better picture than the one in the Reef Fish Identification book.