Various Marine Life on the Corsair Wreck- located in Hawaii- Sharks, rays and puffer fish Corsair diving location Oahu. Hawaii scuba diving plane wreck in Oahu.
Diving the Corsair wreck of Hawaii is an adventure of a lifetime. With anything that has been laying on the bottom of the sea for some time, try over 50 years, marine life will ultimately take it over. The location of the Corsair is on a large sandy bottom roughly 105 feet deep with no rocks or coral heads around the plane. However the Corsair plane wreck seems to be an oasis that is teeming with life. Maybe large fish like the hammerheads or the silver jacks use this oasis as a cleaning station- sort of like pit stop or convenient store along a highway in their journeys across the ocean. We may never know, only good luck with produce adequate proof that this is true. The Corsair plane wreck is a busy little dive location in Oahu, usually only in the mornings. However one fact is true- interesting marine life gravitates towards this location, including the humpback whales on occasion. Listed below are the common marine life you may encounter while scuba diving the Corsair plane wreck. If you have any pictures that think may highlight the Corsair plane wreck please feel free to let us know, we will be happy to credit you and provide links to your website.
Eagle rays are among the scuba diver in Hawaii's favorite fish.
Gliding so effortless through the warm blue waters of Hawaii divers
on the Corsair wreck sometimes get the privilege to see these rays
cruising around the perimeter of the plane wreck. Sometimes you may
see one while other days we have seen 3 or more cruising in
formation round and round the Corsair wreck.
The
Hawaiian stingray is by far one of the best encounters to have on
the Corsair wreck. Getting a good up-and-personal introduction is
not a rare phenomenon here. We have actually seen the stingrays at
night which was even better. Foraging for sea urchins that burrow
themselves in the sand the Hawaiian stingray sifts through patiently
searching for their next meal. We all know stingrays posses an
excellent defense at the base of their tails- my suggestion do not
try to test him. If you notice you can get very close to some
stingrays is the possibility that the stingray has a bad, or damaged
eye. This will allow for great close up pictures, again be careful
not to startle the animal.
Various type of puffer fish can be spotted near the Corsair plane wreck. It seems to me that most do not stay right up close to the plane in fact the puffer fishes tend to stay at around 70-90ft. just hovering in mid water. If you are luck you can chase a puffer towards the Corsair fuselage to get an interesting photo. Most of the puffer fish you will encounter are the porcupine puffer fish with pointed spines that protrude when caught. The combination of the ability to inflate and have needle sharp spines is perhaps one of Nature's most unique defensive system that works flawlessly
The
dreaded eels, the yellow margin moray eel considered Oahu's most
aggressive eel species makes they home on the Corsair wreck and
literally lives in the cockpit and wing area. Rarely will you see
these eels free swimming on the sandy bottom- most likely to avoid
predators such as sharks and other large fish such as jacks. Care
must be taken when diving the Corsair to not disturb the eels or
harass them in any way. Yellow margin moray eels in particular are
very aggressive and just feeding fish or playing with an octopus is
enough to get these eels excited. Eye sight is not the moray eels
best asset therefore mistaken bites at the Corsair have happened
before. Before taken any pictures of the yellow margin moray it is
best to approach the eels slowly and watch them for a minute to
better judge the mood they are in. (At night these eels do move
around, their time to hunt keep a look out for them when exploring
the plane wreck)
Squirrel fish or big eyed squirrel fish are very
common on the
Corsair. These fish tend to stay inside the aft or rear fuselage
area of the Corsair. Surprisingly there are many of these fish
inside. I presume these fish a re a favorite delicacy for the yellow
margin eels. Again be careful while taking photos of these fish
cause the eels like to go where the squirrel fish are located.
There
are different types of sharks that frequent Oahu's waters. Diving on
the Corsair is not known to have sharks but this is not to say that
sharks are not found around the Corsair. Most of the sharks you
will see will be Galapagos sharks, hammerhead, whitetip reef shark
and a passing tiger shark. Again, I am sure there has been other
sharks that passed by this area such as a whales shark however I do
not know of anyone that has seen this before. The picture on the
left is a very rare picture to say the last. The shark laying on the
bottom not more than 50 feet from the Corsair's port wing is a
sandbar shark. Sandbar sharks are not usually seen in this area and
are most commonly found in Oahu's deeper parts such as 300 feet or
so. The sandbar sharks will frequent the surface when food is around
however this sandbar looked as though old age got to him. Taking
advantage of the situation a tiger shark was soon on the scene. Due
to our bottom time we were not privy to see what may or may not
happened afterward we made our ascent.
Despite
the Corsair being run by eels Octopus have found a unique niche in
this small minute ecological wonder. Remarkably the octopus digs
small holes in the sand underneath the starboard wing fairly close
to the eels that live there. For this fact molesting the octopus to
catch and play with is highly discouraged due to the
unpredictability behavior of the eels. Occasionally you can see the
octopus moving around the Corsair wreck in search of crabs and a
better location. The octopus is very intelligent as you might have
guest, in a blink of an eye they can blend right in without you even
picking up on this. A sharp eye is needed, if a rock changes color
or moves it may be an octopus. You can't be possibly narked a this
depth.
About
3 or 4 file fish make their home on the Corsair. If there is a Star
Wars inspired fish this would be the one. Very strange indeed
looking fish yet incredibly interesting to watch. File fishes are
occasionally easy to approach for a good picture. Other times it
seems like you have to chase them around to even get a picture.
Their color is beautiful, body is gray with bright blue street-like
patterns and poke-a-dots. Their colors can change to a lighter or
darker shade possibly indicating a mood change.
Garden
eels are very interesting. The fact that most people who dive the
Corsair wreck don't even realize that there are thousands of these
eels surrounding them and watching them at all times. So where are
they ? The garden eels are roughly 25 feet away off the Corsair's
port ( left) and directly off of where the propeller is located. The
only way you will be able to actually get a close-up and half way
decent picture is to pay on the bottom, breath slowly and gently
crawl up to the location. The garden eels spend their whole life
burrowed in the sand, only coming out to eat. The garden eels thrive
in areas where currents are fairly consistent which the Corsair
wreck does have. This is how the garden eels receive their food
which is primarily plankton.
Leaf
scorpion fish are very cool. They come in various different colors
from black to even pink. These fish do not grow big in size only
getting about 4 inches long and and maybe 2 inches high. The leaf
scorpion fish sways back and forth in the currents and water
movements mimicking a leaf- which they do flawlessly. You need to look closely
to find the leaf scorpion fish due to their incredible way to blend into the
surrounding area. These fish are not dangerous to handle. It makes you
wonder how nature produced this very interesting fish. Getting a picture
of the leaf scorpion fish is very easy, use the flash and the macro setting
for the best results.