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Archive for March, 2010
This is not a Great White, but he plays one on TV...
Another day, another shark feed. In scuba diving circles, the Bahamas are pretty well known for their sharks. Divers commonly see black tips, white tips, grey reef, and nurse sharks on dives. The only way to pack more of them into a dive is to feed them, which is what several companies have started offering in the Bahamas. While no shark feed is 100% safe, I chose one with an environmentally conscious reputation and an impeccable safety record. Better to stack the deck in my favor from the start.
When the dive boat tied up to the mooring ball I was surprised to see how close we were to shore. Specifically, how close we were to several large hotels. If the guests only knew what lay in the nearby waves, they would spend their time in the pool.
The shark feeder (we will call him Sir Fish Head in deference to the chain mail he wore) entered the water and plummeted to the bottom from the weight of his suit. He walked along the sea floor towards us in slow motion, like a knight in shining armor walking on the moon. I expected him to stop about thirty feet away from us, but he kept approaching us, closer and closer. He finally stopped six feet from our diver line.
Sir Fish Head pulled the first piece of fish out of the thermos and five sharks swooped in to grab it. They swam so fast I did not see them approach. They just appeared, grabbed the food, and disappeared, like aquatic magic. The fish feeder continued to pull bits of fish out, sometimes dangling it on the end of his lance to feed the sharks, sometimes handing larger pieces directly to their waiting jaws. The sharks began circling closer to us, their shyness replaced by their growing excitement over the fishy snack.
The sharks were so numerous and so close that I would have come into contact with one had I shifted any body part too much. The closeness of the sharks unnerved me, but also enthralled. I could see the detail of their black marble eyes and the electrical sensors on their snouts that looked like enlarged pores. One shark had a large hook in the side of its mouth, the result of a fisherman’s bait theft gone badly. Their faces grinned with rows of large teeth, exuding menace even when the sharks’ mouths were closed.
When the food disappeared from the water the sharks disappeared from sight. The divemaster ushered us back to the boat. Sir Fish Head stayed behind to distract any remaining sharks in the area, keeping them away from us as we ascended. I took many photos of the event with my underwater camera, though I had not paid too much attention to the viewfinder in favor of focusing on the real thing in front of me. When I developed the pictures they were all of parts of sharks: a tail, a head, some fins. The sharks had been so close that the lens had not captured a single one in its entirety.
There comes a time in every diver’s life when your usual dive buddy (wife, husband, partner in crime, lifelong friend, annoying neighbor, twin, etc.) is not able to make the trip, but you are determined to dive anyway. Not to be deterred from the lure of the sea, you boldly climb on the dive boat and start scrutinizing the other divers to see who is going to be your assigned buddy for the day. Sometimes it works out, and a new dive buddy/lifelong friend is made. But, more often then not, you get saddled with The Worst Dive Buddy, the butt of jokes and the basis of buddy comparison for all dives in the future. A few of the unfortunate buddy options:
ADOS Buddy – Attention Deficit…Ooooh Shiny. ADOS Buddy can’t seem to focus on anything for more than a second, making task completion and stimulating conversation impossible. You are the last pair to descend because he forgot his weight belt and has to climb back on the boat to get it. Underwater, curious things continuously pull his attention and his body in the polar opposite direction from you and the rest of the dive group. Before the boat pulls back to the dock he will ask you at least four times “What was the name of that reef that we just visited?” It is okay if you lose your temper with him – he won’t remember you tomorrow.
Scuba Steve Buddy – Scuba Steve knows it all (just look at the endless list of ScubaSteve Twitter sites). What starts out as some interesting ocean factoids on your ride to the reef quickly turns into an overwhelming dissertation about the mating habits of the humuhumunukunukuapuaa fish. He corrects the divemaster during the dive briefing, and wants to point out to you every bit of obscure fish sh*t he encounters during the dive. Note: you can usually tell Scuba Steve Buddy before he even opens his mouth: he’s the one with the enormous trapper-keeper dive log and seven sharpened pencils for recording the details.
I Love Scuba Buddy – This man is moved by the scuba spirit. You can appreciate his enthusiasm, but your hand starts to sting from all the high-5’s he keeps giving you. He claps at the end of the dive briefing. Fascinating underwater finds like seaweed and sand cause him to grab your arm and gesticulate excitedly. Warning: this man will whoop with joy and celebration the moment he breaks the surface at the end of the dive. Do not be alarmed – this is normal behavior for I Love Scuba Buddy, and not nitrogen narcosis.
Clueless Buddy – Has this person ever gone diving before? Clueless Buddy has no idea how to set up their gear, how to function on a dive boat, and even looks like he put on his swimsuit backwards. His weight belt is on the bench seat, he washed his soapy mask in the camera bucket, and he is gazing off into the sunset while a whole line of divers waits behind him to giant stride off the swim platform. Underwater, his hand gestures look like Kabuki Theater and he wants to fondle every living thing in the sea. Fortunately, the fire coral teaches him a lesson before you have to.
Lounging Lionfish
Jacques Cousteau once said “The Red Sea is a corridor of marvels – the happiest hours of my diving experience have been spent there.” Even today, many divers still agree that the dark blue waters of the Red Sea produce top-notch scuba experiences.
Where is it? The Red Sea is located between Asia and Africa. At its most northerly point forms the Sinai Peninsula and stretches over 1000 miles south to join the Indian Ocean, between Ethiopia and Yemen. In the north and west are desert plains, while in the south mountains reign.
How’s the water? Water temperatures in the Red Sea remain unusually constant year round at about 72 degrees F. The open sea’s cooling effect creates an interesting temperature pattern: maximum summer temperatures are lower in the south while minimum temperatures are higher in the north with the opposite occurring during the winter. The coldest moth of the year is January and the warmest months are July and August. The Red Sea is notorious among seafarers for its high speed surface winds with aggressive irregular motions. Though it is usually calm on the inward shore, journeys to exposed sites like The Brothers islands, a remote off-shore site east of El Quseir, can be perilous.
What kind of sea life lives there? There are over 1000 species of invertebrates and around 200 recorded coral types to be found. Moreover, the Red Sea boasts over 1000 species of fish, more species than any other proportional body of water. Encounters with schools of jacks, manta rays, napolean wrasse, large groupers, tunas, oceanic whitetip sharks and a variety of reef sharks provide some world class excitement. Ever-present lionfishes, angelfishes, butterflyfishes, tangs, anemone fishes and colorful groupers along with untold numbers of invertebrates give macro photographers plenty of first class subject matter. In places, the reef stretches way out to sea, forming a elaborate system of caves, lagoons, gardens, and plateaus. Some of these coral summits plunge dramatically thousands of feet to the ocean floor.
What are the dive sites? Featuring the national park of Ras Muhammed, just south of Sharm el Sheikh and Naama Bay, most of the diving in the Sinai is enjoyed on the walls bordering the east coast of this world-famous peninsula. Many other excellent sites are accessible from land from the city of Hurghada, however, live-aboards provide the best access to more remote locations and the most thrilling dives in the Straits of Tiran and at The Brothers. The dive sites of the Red Sea are numerous, and vary greatly in terms of topography and sea life. Since a discussion of Red Sea scuba opportunities could go on forever, this article focuses on just one part of this diving haven, the Gulf of Aqaba, the finger of water that extends northeast of Sharm el Sheikh to Elat in the north. Saudi Arabia borders this gulf on the east while the Sinai Peninsula borders is on the west. This part of the Sea can be divided two parts: Dahab in the south part of the gulf and Nuweiba in the north.
Dahab
Dahab lies alongside the deepest section of the African rift, the giant crack in the earth’s crust that formed the Red Sea. The jagged mountains above continue at much the same angle underwater, forming a dramatic seascape of valleys, canyons and caves. Most of Dahab’s dive-spots are geologically unique. Dahab diving is mainly shore based with easily accessible reefs right on the shoreline amongst the maze of coral islands. Due to the slightly colder water, coral growth is quite different than in Sharm El Sheikh. The dominant species are acropora, brain, stone, leather and black corals. Only occasionally you will come across soft corals. Marine life includes reef fish, blue spotted rays, jacks, snapper, barracuda, lionfish, turtles and an occasional reef shark. There are gentle reef slopes and coral gardens for beginners and some more challenging sites such as the Blue Hole or the Canyon for the more advanced. Some sites are so remote, they can only be reached by camel, thus prompting some local dive operators to offer one- and two-day camel-dive safaris.
Blue Hole – El Bells
Situated 12 km north of Dahab, this is one of the most famous dive sites in the Red Sea. The Blue Hole has an almost circular shape 150m wide and 110m deep and connects with the sea through a tunnel 26m long at a depth of 52 meters (for technical divers only). The best way to enjoy this dive site is by doing a drift dive starting at El Bells (situated 250m north) and finishing the dive in the Blue Hole. El Bells is a half open chimney that reaches a depth of 30 meters with a fantastic underwater arch. The wall there is covered with a rich growth of black corals, elephant ear sponges and sea fans. Divers who remember to peer into the deep blue behind them can spot yellowfin tuna, orangespotted trevally, and schools of red sea fusiliers, and the resident napoleon wrasses. The saddle which allows the entrance to the inside of the Blue Hole is only 7m deep and hosts a coral garden teeming with life. The garden is a great way to end your Blue Hole dive by keeping an eye out for octopus, starfish and scorpion fish.
The Canyon
This site takes its name from a long, narrow canyon that runs north to south from the shallow reef just offshore to depths of around 50m. Access to the site is through a shallow 3m lagoon lying a few steps from the shoreline. The entrance to the canyon is marked by a large coral mound lying some 10m out from the reef face, in around 12m of water. A diver-sized opening gives onto the top chamber of the canyon, a fishbowl-like enclosure. From here the canyon drops through various twists and turns to a depth of 50m; open water is visible along most of its length through the narrow opening in the ceiling, but there is no opening large enough to exit through until 30m depth. The progression through the Canyon is easy and the light effect caused by the sun rays is surreal. Outside the canyon, the reef has good coral cover but within the canyon itself, there is little if any coral growth. Among the large range of reef fish here, some notable residents include the butterflyfish, pufferfish, cornetfish, unicorns, snapper, grouper, basslets, juvenile barracudas, lyretail cod, coral grouper and rabbitfish. Jacks can often be seen along the reef, and jewel-like schools of glassfish inhabit the canyon.
Eel Garden
Though the name lacks punch, this site is actually an exciting dive filled with excellent photography opportunities. Entry to this site is through a small lagoon which descends from the reeftop to an exit point on the reef at about 7m. Little more than 1.5m wide at some points, this entry lagoon can act as a funnel for wave surge or runout from falling tides, so a strenuous swim may be necessary. Once outside the lagoon, a wide sandy slope leads off to the north, covered with literally thousands of garden eels swaying in the gentle current. Across the sand lies a sloping reef wall with scattered coral heads on the sand at its 20m base; south of the sand, the reef continues with lots of fine coral growth but no exit point until the lighthouse. There is an excellent selection of coral growth along both reef sections, with stony and soft species including acropora, antler coral, plate, cabbage, elephant ear sponge, Dendronephthya and Xeniids. Anemones are also pretty common here. The site boasts large numbers of small grey morays, lionfish, bluespine unicorn, scorpion fish, damsels and baslets, parrots, grouper, lyretail cod, and plenty of sand gobies. The rare batfish can also be found here.
The Lighthouse
This is a fine dive, with a good range of features and depths to suit all levels of diver. Located just offshore at the lighthouse in Dehab bay, it features a sloping reef extending north around an outthrust point of land. Large pinnacles with huge cabbage coral and coral heads extend out from the point, reaching depths of more than 25m before tailing off to a series of smaller coral heads with a diverse fish life of big trumpetfish, rock cod, lionfish surgeon and unicornfishes, wrasses, triggerfishes, breams and morays. Turtles and rays are also frequently spotted here. The reef then gives way to a wide, sandy slope containing seamoths and shrimps before reaching a second sloping coral wall to the north. A shallow lagoon cuts the reeftop at this reef’s southern edge, hosting a varied fish life including cornetfish, angelfish, spanish dancer nudibranches, goatfish and schools of common bigeyes feeding in the mild current.
The Islands
The Islands is a dense concentration of coral pinnacles and patch reefs in a sheltered location along the Dahab shore – a labyrinthine range of peaks, valleys, corridors, sand patches, bowls, amphitheaters, deep wells and coral peaks. This intricate seascape is densely covered with absolutely pristine coral, offering the most diverse and well-preserved selection of coral in the Sinai area. Every conceivable hard coral is present, including porites, brain corals and acropora table corals. A diversity of soft corals exists as well. The fish life is even more amazing than the coral: huge schools of barracuda, box fish, crocodile fish, blue fin trevallies, snapper, surgeon and unicornfish vie with vibrantly-colored reef species for a diver’s attention. Sea bream, emperors, big triggerfish, rabbitfish, birdnose wrasse and many other species round out the picture, with an occasional turtle, too. One particular highlight is a large, sand-bottomed amphitheater halfway along the reef, where giant schools of juvenile barracuda congregate in whirling circles.
The Caves
This site is the last of the series of sites on the southern coast of Dahab before the Gabr El Bint National Park. It centers on two shallow and large open front caverns, deeply undercutting the reef table close to shore. They are well worth a visit: covered with soft corals, sponges and black corals and inhabited by huge pufferfish and shy peppered morays. On the south side, a very contoured shallow reef section with many inlets and surf tubes leads onto the sloping body of the main reef, while to the north, a deeply undercut extension of the cavern leads down the side of the sandhill to the northern continuation of the reef slope. The reef sections are as interesting as the caves, where a large cover of hard and soft coral and lively population of reef and schooling fishes are present.
Nuweiba
The diving from Nuweiba runs from Devils Head and in the north to Abu Gallum in the south and is mainly accessed from the shore by jeep or even camel due to the lack of jetty facilities or safe anchorages for boats. Conditions are ideal and there is plenty to see: gardens of hard and soft coral and interesting fish species like razor fish, shrimpfish, stonefish and pegasus fish. Those with a keen eye for detail can spot the elusive frogfish, the delicate seahorse and the multihued nudibranch. There are house reefs and coral gardens to explore, as well as two marine parks: Ras Mumlach, with a 70m wall covered in hard and soft corals, and Ras Abu Galum, with a drop off to over 90m. Some of the more interesting dive sites in this area include:
Abou Lou Lou House Reef
The house reef lies just to the left of the jetty, off the hotel’s private beach. The main reef lies between 5 and 20m of depth. It is an ideal spot for both for beginners and experienced divers because of the concentration and diversity of the fish life there. Puffers, morays, groupers, surgeonfish, shrimps and crabs are just a few of the highlights. Lionfish practically overrun the reef here, with 20 or more commonly seen on any dive. This site is great for night dives as well, when the ocean’s evening entertainment comes out to play in droves.
M.F.O.
M.F.O. is an abbreviation for Multi-National Force and Observers. This site contains two desalination pipes that were put there by the Israeli Army in the late seventies. Both pipes start at 5m and stretch out horizontally, sloping gradually down to 12m and 20m respectively. The pipes are around 5m apart and over the years have become overgrown with soft corals and small table corals. This has attracted an abundance of fish to shelter around the pipes. A short swim north from the pipes produces a reef at a depth between 14 and 20m with a collection of small pinnacles, coral heads and masses of soft corals blanketing the bottom. The fish life is abundant with jackfish, grouper, parrotfish and sometimes leopard rays making an appearance.
Ras El Shetan – Devils Head
About 30 minutes drive north of Nuweiba lies a Bedouin Camp, a perfect base from which to dive Ras El Shetan. The southern side of the reef starts at 12m, and is covered by an incredible variety of hard corals before dropping down sharply to a depth of 40m to a canyon full of octopus, puffer fish and moon groupers. The northern side of the reef offers a completely different experience, providing a bed of sea grass and a healthy coral garden that includes impressive table corals ranging in size from an inch to 3m in diameter. Along with various other hard and soft corals, this part of the site is home to many small, tropical fish including the brightly colored lemon goby and the blue green puller.
Ras Mamlach
Situated in the Abu Galum National Park, this site is spectacular. The reef starts at 12m, with a beautiful coral garden, then gives way to a steep wall that bottoms out at 70m. Brightly colored fan and table corals as well as soft corals sit against the backdrop of the intensive blue of the Gulf of Aqaba, where schools of barracuda, jacks and groupers play.
Jell-O at Jellyfish Lake
In the 1960’s Jacques Yves Cousteau claimed Palau’s underwater walls, reefs and drop offs as the world’s best. Forty+ years later, divers still agree with this assessment. Palau, formally known as the Republic of Palau, or Belau to native Palauans, is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean about 2000 miles south of Tokyo, but with less baseball. The Spanish, Germans, Japanese, and finally the Americans have all played Gilligan’s Island in Palau, leaving a pinch of customs, language, and technology here and there. Palau was a part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, which the U.S. headed at the end of World War II. In 1994 the Republic of Palau moved out of their parent’s basement and became independent.
This island nation has cultivated their underwater tourism by encouraging hotel development around the capital city, Koror, and by establishing numerous dive operators. But the true fuel of the dive trade in Palau isn’t manmade: the nation boasts 100+ pristine dive sites and healthy, diverse, and prolific sea life. Palau has over 1500 types of fish and 700 coral and anemone species. Most of the dive sites are sure to produce sightings of the 6 different kinds of sharks and 5 different kinds of turtles found there. While there are too many fantastic dives to name, below are a few of my favorites.
Read moreBlue Corner – Listing this site is not surprising, as it is the most famous one in Palau and is lauded in dive magazines and books alike. But, it is hands-down my favorite dive in the whole world, so it gets the top spot on the list. Here a finger of land extends out into deep water off the southwestern area of the Ngemelis Islands, creating a unique outcropping of rock and coral. Sand gullies cut through the reef, which drops down to a large ledge in about 50ft, before disappearing into the endless blue. A wicked current usually whips around this point bringing tasty nutrients and hungry fish. Local dive guides invented the “reef hook”, a lanyard that attaches to your BC and hooks into dead piece of coral. By slightly inflating the scuba vest and facing the open ocean beyond the edge of the wall, divers can watch the activity unfold without getting tired and using up all of their air. Visibility is good, ranging from 60’ to 90’.If conditions are at their best then expect to see swirling schools of barracuda and jacks, snapper and bass, huge Maori wrasse and dozens of whitetip and grey reef sharks. On several dives there, the most curious of the sharks would swim right towards us, veering off at the last moment before we soiled our wetsuits. I imagined them picking each of us off one by one, in Goldilocks and the Three Bears style: that diver is too thin, that one’s got too much gear, that one’s just right. Other sea life highlights at this site include: pink and violet coral, pyramid butterflyfish, spotted eagle rays, square anthias, yellowtail fusiliers, sargent majors, moorish idols, emperor angelfish, midnight parrotfish and stingrays.
Jellyfish Lake – Jellyfish Lake is on one of the rock islands, Mecherchar. The lake is completely isolated, although the limestone allows for an exchange of salinity with the ocean. The lake is filled with mastigias and moon jellyfish. Because of their isolation from predators these jellies have lost their ability to sting, so they have adapted to feeding on symbiotic algae instead. It is an excellent study in evolution, an example of function driving form that Darwin would have loved. Of course no adventure in Palau is an easy one, but if you can get over the difficulties of accessing the site, it is completely worth it. In order to get to the lake one has to hike 20 minutes up and over the lip of the island. In some places the trail is good and even has a rope to steady the climber. In others, it is just a mud slide. Along the route there are several instances of an indigenous tree that leaks poisonous sap. And, of course, every once in awhile there is the tour bus of saltwater crocodiles that seem to appear at all the good Palauan activities. Scuba is not allowed in the lake because of a toxic layer of hydrogen sulfide found at 50 feet, so technically this is a snorkel, not a dive. But, inconveniences aside, swimming through the water with the jellies is like pushing handfuls of Jell-O. It is an experience like no other in the world.
Wreck of the Iro – This wreck, the most famous in Palau, is located at Urukthapel Bay. It is 470ft long and weighed 14,050 tons. The Iro was one of a fleet of 10 Shiretoko class freighters. She sank on 31 March 1944 and rests upright on a silt and sand bottom 130ft below the surface. When you descend, you’ll come across a large gun mounted on the bow. The deck is still relatively intact as is the starboard anchor. The bridge has easy access, but the crews’ quarters underneath require you to penetrate the hull. There is a gun that is still fixed to the stern. Divers can peer into the engine room because its ceiling had been demolished. The masts and kingpost have attracted a wide variety of invertebrate life; from sponges, to staghorn coral, sea whips, black coral, giant clams and oysters. Batfish, large pufferfish, 8-banded butterflyfish, orangebanded butterflyfish, and small big-eye trevally are commonly found along the ship.
The Blue Holes- This site consists of four uniquely formed blue holes in the reef that drop into a large cavern which then opens out on the reef wall into the surrounding ocean. In the inside of the cavern, visibility ranges from 45 to 120’. On sunny days great shafts of light beam down through the upper openings, lighting up interior all the way to the bottom at 110ft, like a large cathedral. In inner walls are covered with a variety of cup & stylaster corals and huge whip corals sprout from the cavern roof. Look for fish swimming upside down on the ceiling of the cavern. But, this geological anomaly delivers not only a cavern dive, but also a drift and wall dive once divers exit through one of two openings on the reef face. Grouper, napoleon wrasse, triggerfish, moorish idols, butterflyfish, anemones and turtles are all found here.
German Channel – Located with Ngemelis Island on the left and Ngedebus Island on the right, German Channel was built in the 1900’s, when the German administration blasted through the reef to complete the natural channel and allow ships to pass from the southern islands of Peleliu and Angaur to Koror. Today it is used as passage through the south-western barrier reef to many of the outer dive sites. It is not actually in German Channel that people dive, but at the entrance to the channel at an area usually known as German Channel Wall or Drop-Off. Here, some 200 yards from the entrance to the channel itself, the seafloor, at a depth of 50-60ft consists of a sandy substrate interspersed with large individual coral formations. This dive is popular for its manta cleaning station, where the manta and the occasional reef shark come to be cleaned by cleaner wrasse. You can also see other kinds of rays including sting rays, spotted eagle rays, and ornate eagle rays.
Ulong Channel – This drift dive site is situated on the west coast of Palau, close to Siaes Tunnel. The entrance is covered with coral gardens and the channel itself stretches some 500m – at an average width of 33m – to the lagoon. There is a sandy bottom at the entrance where shark gather together to feed on the fish that are swept inside. The bottom varies in depth from between 10-15m and is clear of coral, but the sides are decorated with soft coral and sea fans. Diving Ulong can only be done on an incoming tide; fresh, clean water is pushed into the channel and you essentially hitch a ride and go with the flow. If the current is really ripping then you have almost no chance of back tracking if you see something of interest. About half way the channel splits into two – the left hand route is the best, as a huge stand of green lettuce coral grows along the flank of this section; amongst the corals large anemones are home to clownfish and shrimps. The right hand route also has some good fan corals, but is not as good. After 20 minutes drifting down the channel it breaks out into the lagoon. Divers will be able to see tons of plate coral that houses squirrelfish, glasseyes and soldier fish. If the current is strong there will be as many or more sharks concentrated at the mouth of the channel as at Blue Corner on a good day.
Saies Tunnel – This site is an enormous underwater cavern with three openings into the chamber from the side of the reef wall. The entrance to the cavern starts at approximately 100 feet and the bottom is over 140 feet. The sheer wall that starts at the surface drops down to 200 feet and beyond to the open ocean. Often, sleeping whitetips and stingrays can be seen relaxing at the back of the cavern. The roof and walls of the cavern are covered in a variety of cup corals, black coral, stylasters and hydroids. The bottom slopes up toward two large sea fan-covered windows that allow light to penetrate the cavern and provide exit points to the reef wall. The bottom of Saies Tunnel is deep – about 130ft – so time spent in the interior is short, but upon exiting there are rewarding opportunities along the reef itself – wonderful hard corals, sea fans and tropical fish, including pyramid butterfly fish and brightly colored anthias. A great dive, but not for novices.
Peleliu Cut – Peleliu Cut is part of a vertical wall, which runs along the western side of Peleliu Island, turns and extends to Peleliu Corner at the most southerly point within the main island group of Palau. This section of the reef, which includes Peleliu Wall, is the deepest reef structure in Palau. The top of the reef is a plateau that gradually drops from 30 feet in front of the WWII monument to 90 feet where Peleliu Expressway and Peleliu Cut merge to create Peleliu Corner. The top of the plateau hosts large numbers of tropical fish including pyramid butterflyfish, square anthias, moorish idols, sergeant majors, yellowtail fusiliers, palette surgeonfish, bumphead parrotfish and purple anthias. It is also common to see large congregations of jacks, batfish, and snapper. Dense concentrations of bright yellow soft corals, long strands of cable corals, big bushes of black corals and sea fans decorate the sheer reef wall. An insane amount of pelagic fish have been seen at the Cut and the Corner, including sperm whales, whale sharks, tiger sharks, bull sharks, orcas, sailfish, and blue marlin. The swift, unpredictable currents here make this an advanced dive not appropriate for the faint of heart!
We made it to the dive site and geared up. My mask, fins, tank, scuba vest, and various other tubes, valves and bits were all in place, giving the overall impression of a medical supply warehouse, rather than a diver. Now came the most awkward part of any diving experience on a large boat: the Scuba Shuffle to the back.
The Scuba Shuffle is an aquatic conga of sorts, but without the maracas. The divers, who had plenty of time to suit up, all stood up at once due to some lemming-like intuition that drives divers’ behavior. Invariably the wind picked up at that moment and the boat began to sway. Queue the tin-pan music and the bongos. While invaluable underwater, fins are the least graceful piece of sports equipment one can possess on land. A diver can’t simply walk to the back of the boat and jump off, he or she must do a duck-like shuffle and flap, complete with the corresponding shrrrr-whup shurrr-whup sound. Like me, the others in the conga line were leaning forward to avoid falling backwards from the gear weight, but appearing as if we all found something fascinating on the rear of the person in front of us. Shuffle flap, shrrr-whup.
The boat continued to roll in the waves, picking up momentum as I shuffled past the more challenging boat features like the swinging wetsuit locker and the oblivious snorkelers with arms shooting in all directions at once. Snorkelers are generally not welcome on dive boats because they always seem to be in the right place to create the maximum hindrance to divers transporting and preparing gear. Much to our dismay, almost half of the tourists on the boat were snorkelers. We would consider using a different company the rest of trip.
Rather than jumping in, a logjam of divers formed at the back of the boat due to various forgotten pieces of equipment and irrational fish phobias. Like salmon in a swift current, the divers creating the jam could not get back upstream until the rest of the conga line passed. Shuffle flap, shrrr-whup. Finally, it was my turn at the back of the boat. I put my air regulator in my mouth, held my mask, and took a giant stride into the sapphire blue ocean. Unfortunately, my over-excitement caused an extra spring in my big step, thus loosening my right fin, which went swirling into the depths unattended. I can only imagine the fish thoughts below as they watched it sink to the bottom: “Oh look! Decorations for the calypso party!” One of the staff on the boat handed me down an extra fin and off I went into the blue.
Neoprene is not the most forgiving of fabrics...
Frequently after I end a great dive I wonder why more people don’t take up the sport of scuba. Sure, there are your usual shark, drowning and wetsuit phobias, and not everyone lives near water worth diving into, but still – what excuse does the rest of the world have? It’s not that I want to fill dive boats up to capacity world-wide (although that would be a nice boost to the scuba economy), but I really think people are missing out, especially when it comes to exploring the substance that covers 2/3rds of the world’s surface. Therefore, I propose these 5 Good Reasons to go diving:
- You don’t need to provide your credit score to get a scuba tank – It’s not the cheapest hobby ever, but there are a lot more expensive ways to spend your time. I think some people assume that a diver has to fork over a ton of bucks, especially in light of all of the gear needed, but it’s just not true. And, many dive shops offer discounts if you book with them for more than one day. It seems everyone is holding their hands out waiting to grab some of your hard-earned cash; make sure you are getting something life-changing in return!
- Voices don’t travel well underwater, so it’s easier than ever to tune them out – Pick your own brand of annoyances: politicians, fanatics, your in-laws, maybe even that nosy neighbor with the eternally barking dog. Though topside you can’t escape them, underwater they are blessedly silent. There is something incredibly zen-like about the lack of everyday sounds underwater, replaced by the more tranquil sounds of sea life, water and an occasional boat overhead.
- A little bit of exercise that feels good might be nice – Some dives I have done, like a nice drift dive over Palancar Reef in Cozumel, are so mellow that I bet I burnt more calories sleeping. Others, like those involving a roaring current or acrobatic acts to climb through wrecks, will leave you almost breathless and completely exhausted by the time the boat returns to the dock. Scuba can be a great way to get some exercise. Best of all, there is so much for your mind to absorb underwater that you won’t even notice you are doing something good for your body.
- “Hey, there’s fish in there!” – Fish, inherently, live underwater. Ship wrecks are, by definition, wet. There are some incredibly interesting things to see in the ocean, but only if you take the time to go under the waves. Squinting at an aquarium in your dry clothes just isn’t the same.
Keep your New Year’s resolution – Go ahead, look at Twitter or Facebook notations on New Year’s resolutions. By far the most common stated intentions for 2010 are scuba diving, sky diving and losing 10 pounds. I can’t help you with the sky diving thing nor the weightloss, but I can say that learning to scuba dive is a great goal for the year, one that you’ll appreciate not just now, but in the future years to come as well.
Sexy Cephalopod
Few creatures are as exciting to spot underwater as an octopus. They are smart and good at camouflage, so finding one is always a treat. Plus, they are just beautiful animals to see, with lots of color, shape and size variations. These creatures come in a wide range of options, some as little as an inch, some as large as 16 feet across. The octopus inhabits many diverse regions of the oceans around the world, especially coral reefs, and can exist in water depths from tidal pools all the way down to over 200 feet. For defense against predators, they hide, flee quickly, expel ink, or use color-changing camouflage. Scientists say that most of an octopus’ behavior is learned, not innate, a minor miracle since their lifespan is so darn short (5 years at the absolute most!)
There are about 300 recognized octopus species in the world, too many to cover in depth. But, some are amazing, even by octopus standards, and are worth a mention:
Mimic Octopus – This octopus only lives for 9 months, but boy it accomplishes a lot during that time. This crazy cephalopod takes on the appearance of other species to scare off predators and find food. Imagine a creature burying all but its eyes and two arms below the sand, leaving in view a long thin object with white and black bands running across the elongated body that looks just like the local sea snake. Now you’ve got the mental picture of why the Mimic Octopus is so unique. It usually imitates venomous species, like a lionfish, sea snake, or a poisonous flatfish, though people have also described it looking like a stingray, a crab, and other types of less lethal sea life. Divers can find this octopus off the Indo- Malay archipelago, especially around Sulawesi. Don’t worry though, it isn’t poisonous to humans.
Caribbean Reef Octopus – The Caribbean Reef Octopus isn’t the best looking octopus out there, but if you have been scuba diving in the Caribbean and seen an octopus, chances are this is the most likely suspect. It is common throughout the Western Atlantic, Bahamas, Caribbean and the coasts of northern South America. It is often found at night feeding on reefs and sea grass beds. They have a distinctive blue-green color with occasional mottled-brown markings. Because their blue-green skin is so reflective, they are easy to spot at night with dive lights. Like other octopus species, the Caribbean reef octopus is solitary animal and able to quickly change color using specialized cells in their skin known as chromatophores. They can weigh up to 1.5 kg, but have been known to wedge themselves into miniscule reef crevices and wreck holes.
Wonderpus Octopus – The Wonderpus Octopus has got to be the sexiest cephalopod out there, with a striking color pattern of white bars and spots over a brown-red background. It’s characterized by a small mantle (the part of the body that contains the mouth and vital organs), which is about an inch to an inch-and-a-half long, and long arms that measure about five to seven times the length of the mantle. Its patterns of spots (on the body) and stripes (on the arms) are unique to each individual adult wonderpus, making identification of a specific creature possible. Divers can find the wonderpus in shallow waters from Bali and Sulawesi north to the Philippines and east to Vanuatu, and will fare best looking for the creature when it is most active in the twilight hours of dusk and dawn. This creature is a relative newcomer to the fish identification guides, with the first identification happening only in 1980. Go ahead, say it: won-der-pus. Even its name is sexy.
Blue Ringed Octopus
Greater Blue-ringed Octopus
– No discussion about octopi could be complete without mentioning the little one we love to hate, the Blue-ringed Octopus. Unlike its southern brethren, the Blue-lined and Southern Blue-ringed octopuses that are found only in Australian waters, the range of the Greater Blue-ringed Octopus spans the tropical western Pacific Ocean. Greater Blue-ringed Octopuses can weigh between 10 and 100 grams, though the average is 55 grams. The blue-ringed octopus is the size of a golf ball, but its venom is powerful enough to kill humans, and no known antidote exists. Remember the James Bond movie Octopussy? Yes, it’s that one.
White-spotted Octopus – Humans have been watching the white-spotted octopus since 1826 when it was first spotted off the coast of Nice in the Mediterranean Sea. It spends its adult life on the ocean bottom, and although divers usually see this octopus hanging out near-shore it sometimes it can be found much deeper. This octopus has long arms, with the first arm pair being the longest and stoutest, and has shallow webbing among the arms. It also has a higher sucker count than most octopuses. This is a nocturnal creature, waiting until night to find its favorite snacks of clams and crabs. The white-spotted octopus only lives for 1-2 years after which it goes out with a “bang” (literally) after a single breeding season.
Giant Pacific Octopus – This is the big daddy of all octopi, the Giant Pacific Octopus. As the name would suggest, it is the largest species of octopus in the oceans, averaging 16 feet across and weighing an average of 120 lbs. It is also the longest lived, at 4-5 years. Divers can spot this behemoth from southern California, northward along the coast of North America, across the Aleutian Islands, and southward to Japan, though they usually hang out quite deep, typically at around 215 ft. But just because they are big doesn’t mean they are beautiful: Giant Pacific octopuses have huge, bulbous heads and are generally reddish-brown in color. Like the other members of the octopus family, though, they use special pigment cells in their skin to change colors and textures, and can blend in with even the most intricately patterned corals, plants, and rocks.
Sometimes when I am surfing the net looking for blog post ideas, I really struggle to find unique, humorous topics to discuss. This is not one of those days. Thank you, National Geographic, for making my job so easy.
The NG Channel has an interesting series on the science behind wild animals and natural phenomenon. Last night they ran a fabulous episode, but don’t worry, they are re-running it several times.
“In January 2004, a dead sperm whale weighing over 50 tons washed up on the coast of Tainan, Taipei. On the way to Tainan University for research, the whale exploded due to volatile gas build up in its abdomen.”
So this already deceased whale washes up on shore (if they had killed it I would not run this story), and someone comes up with the brilliant idea to strap it to a flat bed truck and drive it over to the research lab at the University to determine the cause of death and study the species. Oh yes, there are pictures of it riding the flat bed. Apparently there are no back roads in Taipei, so they have to take it straight through town. Oh yes, there are pictures of it cruising the town. At about the same time the whale is touring the sites, a very unlucky man parks his car in front of the local supermarket and runs in for just a few items. Oh yes, there are pictures of the formerly white car. Oh no, I don’t mean the dead whale leaked a bit on the way there. It actually exploded forcibly, spewing its unfortunate contents all over the street, sidewalk, passersby, cars, etc.
There are other fascinating photos on the NG website, such as a worker hosing whale entrails off the street (really now, what else could they do?) I also like the quote in the story that “Local residents were overwhelmed by the stench from the whale.” Strangely absent, however, was any quote establishing that “Local residents were surprised by the appearance of the whale outside their apartment windows” in the first place.