Artsology

Diving the Black Coral Forest off northwest Provo

from the Artsology series The Arts Adventurer

Our dive today was on a charter that took us out to the northwest side of Providenciales (also known as “Provo”) in Turks and Caicos. Our guide described the area as the “Black Coral Forest,” and it was a good dive to get reacquainted with scuba diving in general, as it had been over a year and half since we had last gone diving.

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You can see my son here next to a giant barrel sponge, which is the largest species of sponge found growing on Caribbean coral reefs. I learned that a barrel sponge that size could be as much as 100 years old, as this species tends to only grow between 1 and 1 1/2 cm per year.

scuba diving next to a giant barrel sponge off northwest Provo

We didn’t see a lot of fish or other sea animals on this dive, but here’s a closer look at some of the black coral (below left) ... the color looks bluer than black, but it gives you an idea of what populates the area. Check out a short video from this dive, below right.

a view of Black Coral Forest in NW Provo in Turks and Caicos