There are two scuba diving operations in Senegal, one of which is in La Somone. Most of the diving takes place around Isle de Gorée. Diving there from La Somone is an all-day affair due to the distance. The water is reasonably warm but green and murky. Many of the fish species are endemic to the western tip of Africa.
The most interesting site is the wreck of the Tacoma, a British World War II warship that was bombed in Dakar harbor and towed offshore to sink right on the ferry route between Dakar and Gorée, marked these days by a navigation buoy. This wreck had the largest fish population of any wreck we have photographed on anywhere in the Atlantic!
Porcupinefish, Diodon hystrix
Bluespotted cornetfish, Fistularia tabacaria
Ocellate damselfish, Stegastes imbriacatus
Blackbar hogfish, Bodianus speciosus
Mediterranean moray. Muraena helena
Atlantic lizardfish, Synodus synodus
Brown puffer, Sphoerides marmoratus
Marcella butterflyfish, Chaetodon marcellae
Cow bream, Sarpa salpa
Other dive sites are just off the seaward side of Gorée.
Brown puffer, Sphoerides marmoratus
Cow bream, Sarpa salpa
Hoefler's butterflyfish, Chaetodon hoefleri
Blackbar hogfish (female), Bodianus speciosus
African rockfish, Scorpaena laevis
African striped grunt, Parapristipoma octolineatum
Mediterranean moray, Muraena helena
Zebra bream, Diplodus cervinus
Senegal blenny, Malacoctenus africanus
Spotfin burrfish, Chilomycterus reticulatus
Undulate skate, Raja undulata
Deeper sites further south closer to La Somone featured colorful gorgoniums, no two of which were the same color.
Eastern Atlantic squirrelfish, Sargocentron hastatus
Hoefler's butterflyfish, Chaetodon hofleri
West African angelfish, Holacanthus africanus
Grouper, Epinephelus sp.
Mediterranean moray, Muraena helena
Blackear moray, Muraena melanotis
Brown damselfish, Chromis multilineata
Two-banded bream, Diplodus vulgaris
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Last modified 15 April 2017