CREATURES, CRITTERS AND THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT
There are so many reasons to go scuba diving, that I could write a whole book on that alone. My clients seem to find me in a variety of ways, but by far the most traditional is personal referral from my most excited and enthusiastic, active divers, students and friends. Advertising dollars spent on clever marketing promotions, do not seem to be able to convey the sense of fun, wonder, and accomplishment the way that one happy, certified diver or veteran dive traveler can. People seem to be drawn to diving to fulfill a variety of personal needs. Almost everyone that finally shows up on the pool deck tells me that “I have ALWAYS wanted to do this”! It is adventurous, challenging, gratifying, and sometimes even a tad bit rebellious. Now that technology has progressed so far, diving equipment has become fine tuned and sophisticated enough to allow all sorts of people to safely and easily participate. This is now a recreation for the entire family, from kids to grandparents! For me, diving is all about the creatures. The sensory overload of floating weightless and relaxed as you feel, see, and hear all that an underwater environment can provide, cannot be explained or compared to any part of our every day life. The astounding perfection of the underwater world will make even the most cynical person stop and take note. Some of the most spiritual and joyful moments I have experienced have been during my deepwater sojourns. During a one-week trip off of the Kona Coast in Hawaii, I had some magical moments with BIG animals. One afternoon right after lunch when most of our traveling companions were napping, I jumped in with two of my favorite dive buddies for a simple, low profile, reef dive. As we were swimming along, I noticed that it started to get dark and just figured that the clouds had floated in front of the sun. That is, until I looked at the faces of my companions. Talk about wide-eyed wonder/terror. I followed their gazes up and saw the largest animal in my life. As it swam over my head, I could recognize the fins that let me identify the shark family, before I could see the spots and wide mouth that let me know it was a whale shark. Whale sharks are incredible animals that filter feed and certainly pose no harm to swimmers or divers, BUT it was at least 40 feet long and that is enough size and bulk to make even the most seasoned diver take a deep breath. Our friends who were lounging on the deck of the boat noticed the animal and were the ones to judge the size as they measured it against the length of the boat. As they were marveling at the extreme size and majesty of the animal, they saw it swim right over where our telltale exhaust bubbles marked our position and stood by in excited anticipation to see our faces as we surfaced from the dive. The next day same dive buddies, different reef, we were treated to quite a show as three bottle nose male dolphins swam and cavorted about us as we were finishing our dive with a safety stop at 15 feet at the mooring line. The two larger males were teasing and chasing the smaller male, and looked not unlike big brothers, taking the little one out to play. If is very unusual for dolphins to swim close to divers and their noisy bubbles, which is what made this so note worthy and special. The evening dives were just as spectacular. One night while we were anchored in a nice protected bay, we were treated to the mating calls of two whales that were competing for a lone female’s attention. Talk about a hullabaloo of a racket! The noise was fascinating above water, but literally vibrated the bones in our chest as we went underwater. We never saw the animals, but to be honest – FEELING them was more than enough to get our adrenaline going. The next night we were anchored off of a very popular hotel area and placed a bright high-powered swimming pool light below our hull. The bright light attracted plankton, which in turn attracted the giant, silent Manta Rays. They swam for hours scooping up the plankton and were totally unconcerned with our presence as we snorkeled and played in the water around them. It was fascinating to look into their wide mouths and seemingly hollow bellies as these graceful giants did their dinner dance. It is important to point out that our up close experiences were a result of calm, relaxed, quiet, respectful divers being in a position to closely observe natural phenomena on the reef. If you would like to enjoy the animals as you watch them act naturally in their own environment, there are several things you can do.
As you begin to change your behavior to invite marine life interactions, you will find that there is a lot of fun to be had with the small creatures as well as the large ones! Invest in a good fish and reef creature ID book, enroll in an Underwater Naturalist class, and you will find that every dive can be special and exciting! Although I love the once in a lifetime sighting of the big animals mentioned earlier, it is the thrill of searching for the macro, camouflaged, occasional and rare, small stuff that can make even an ordinary dive seem extraordinary. The small, wildly decorated nudibranchs and sea slugs, the reclusive blennies with their long, curly eyelashes, the well hidden stone and scorpion fish, the shy golden spotted morays and the upside down swimming fairy bass-lets can always grab my attention. I find that the quieter you can become, and the more slowly you move and observe underwater, that the more incredible your fish and creature finding experiences will be. Think training, practice, perseverance and patience and you will be on your way to enriching every underwater experience you have. Hope to see you underwater, so I can share this kind of magic with you!
|