Cephalopods – Page 9 – Learn to Dive Today Blog

Dive sites: SS Maori

I have done one prior dive on the SS Maori, about a year ago. It was one of the most unpleasant experiences of my life, one I am not keen to repeat. The boat ride was harrowing – we took the narrow channel between Duiker Island and the mainland, and I had my eyes closed for most of it. I am not a good sailor, but Tony is, and even he was seeing his life flash before his eyes. Huge waves were coming from all directions and we later learned that the skipper had been so terrified negotiating the channel that he’d called the owner of the dive shop as soon as he’d dropped the divers into the water, and practically sobbed.

We were actually intending to visit the BOS 400, but when we got there the surge through the wreck was incredibly strong and the entire superstructure was creaking ominously. A call was made to go to the SS Maori instead – it’s a couple of hundred metres from the crane and the wreck is scattered on the seabed rather than being still mostly intact. The dive itself was extremely stressful – maybe 3 metres visibility, temperatures so cold that I sucked my tank dry in about 20 minutes (ended up on Tony’s octo), strong surge on the bottom that made it impossible to control where one was going, and I honestly didn’t see anything that I could describe as a wreck.

The experience we had diving the Maori on Reconcilation Day could not have been more different. Tami and I were finishing our Wreck Specialty course, Cecil was finishing his Open Water course, and Tony had a group of casual divers with him. The boat ride was a pleasure, apart from the smell (or rather, taste!) of the seals on Duiker Island as we sped past. The water was so blue that Grant could see the wreck below us while he dropped the shot line.

The SS Maori ran aground in Maori Bay (named after it) in 1909 in thick fog. The ship lies perpendicular to the mainland, depth ranging from about 6 metres down to about 22 metres towards the centre of the bay. The ship was carrying a cargo of railway lines, cast iron pipes (visible in great stacks that are very tempting to try and swim through – common sense won out), explosives, and crockery. A fair amount of beautiful porcelain is still visible on the site, but apparently it’s been well worked and looted over the years.

The visiblity on this dive was sufficient (20 metres or so) for us to be able to see far down the ship as we explored. Parts of the wreckage are very broken up, but there are large parts of the wreck that are relatively intact. We descended on the engine block, at the shallow end of the wreck, and into beautiful kelp forests that glistened green in the clear water. It was cold, very cold, but having something amazing to look at tends to distract one from the inconvenience of chilly fingers.

As far as sea life goes, there’s a fair amount of kelp and other sea plants. Oscar found me a huge cuttlefish to photograph, just posing nicely on a rock, and there were some molluscs, the odd nudibranch, lots and lots of rock lobsters and crabs. We also saw a nice school of hottentot. Like the BOS 400, though, you visit this site first to look at the wreckage. Anything else you see is a bonus.

I can see why the Maori is such a popular dive site – we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and Tami and I were heartbroken when we had to ascend, as our air reached 70 bar. It’s a very large site and several dives are required to appreciate its full scope. I plan to do those several dives, and then some!

Dive date: 16 December 2010

Air temperature: 23 degrees

Water temperature: 4 degrees (that’s what my computer said!)

Maximum depth: 19.9 metres

Visibility: 20 metres

Dive duration: 32 minutes

Update on the artificial reef: 10 days

Kate and I visiting the reef after ten days

Ten days after installing our artificial reef at Long Beach, we paid it a visit to see how it had held up. The southeaster had been blowing very strongly since we put it in the water, so we were concerned about its effects on the reef.

There was no need to worry. Gobies, starfish, and perhaps even an octopus (check out the shells and other debris at the entrance to the white pot) have moved in.

Feather stars have started to attach themselves. Because of the reef’s triangular shape, several pieces of kelp and sea lettuce got caught inside the triangle, providing shelter to small fish.

The five sponges have lost their colour (except for the green one), and plant life and algae is already colonising the PVC pipes that make up the superstructure. The sea doesn’t waste any time!

Building a small artificial reef

I spend more time diving at Long Beach in Simon’s Town than any other dive site. Considered by many as a training site only it is seldom explored. The Wikivoyage site written by Peter Southwood lists some of the many interesting features of Long Beach.

The northern side of Long Beach is considered ”barren” as it has less to explore than the southern side, but each and every item on the sea bed has been colonised and turned into home for something.

There are several octopus holes there, some of them huge and these creatures seem keen to add odd items to the entrance of their holes. I believe it is an effort to draw other marine life to the spot whilst the octopus waits to devour any tasty bits. I have seen glass bottles, sunglasses, beer cans and golf balls lining their homes.

We decided to build something to see what would be drawn to this spot.

Transporting the components of the artificial reef

We secured three 2 metre lengths of PVC pipe, a piece of chain and a few wooden bits. Attached to this was a glass coffee jar, a plant pot and a few smaller containers.

We had attached five different coloured sponges and a coffee tin as well as some plastic bottles secured on a length of wood. We also added an ice tray to see how much silt would collect in the tray, and from which direction.

The reef, set up with a request to divers not to disturb it

Update on what we found ten days later in a future post!

Bookshelf: Underwater Adventure

Underwater Adventure – Willard Price

I’m on a Willard Price binge at the moment – he’s an author of children’s fiction who wrote a series about a pair of adventurous brothers, Hal and Roger Hunt, travelling the world to capture animals for their father’s zoo. I read the series as a child and am revisiting it now.

Mr Price’s knowledge of diving improved slightly between Cannibal Adventure and this effort, but is still quite amusing.

The boys are moored in Truk lagoon, capturing (with incredible ease) creatures for aquariums around the world. They are also hunting for a shipwreck. While using an underwater sled to search for the wreck, Roger undergoes depth and pressure changes so widely varied (hundreds of feet – I kid you not) as to cause a serious case of the bends and/or nitrogen narcosis in any normal human being.

The wreck penetration episodes (yes, they find it) are curious indeed. There is no mention of a reel at any point, and the boys climb stairs, and stand in various rooms as if they’re on land. A marine archaeologist reading this would have a conniption – they loot a three hundred year old wreck with crowbars and scant regard for its value as a relic in situ. The figurehead and other carvings are prised off the superstructure of the wreck to be taken to a museum in America.

All marine creatures are the enemy, sinister and malevolent with intent to kill. A giant octopus is described as a “brute” (favourite word of Mr Price) and a “monster”, and attempts to bite Roger’s head off with its vicious beak. The sharks they encounter are without fail desperate man-eaters, determined to get a taste of flesh at any cost. (The quote on the cover of the book – “never trust sharks” – conveys the extent to which evil intent is ascribed to these creatures in the book.)

The lagoon is depicted as a hostile environment filled with hungry marine life just waiting to maim or kill the human visitors. This isn’t my experience of the ocean, and despite the damage done by Jaws and its ilk, anyone who has spent time in the sea and interacting with its creatures will agree with me.

Get the book here if you’re in South Africa, otherwise go here. It’s an entertaining read, despite my complaints! If you read it with your kids, be sure to explain how the reality is different from what Willard Price depicts.

Octopus at night

Here’s an octopus we met on a night dive at Long Beach this week – I mentioned it in the latest newsletter. Look out for the barehead goby who decides that one of his tentacles is too good to resist trying to munch on!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAL6Nld69vI&w=540]

Newsletter: Interesting diving, octopus, butterfly fish, pyjama sharks

Hi everyone

Diving has been good. We did a night dive last night and found this octopus, he was very kind and gave us a full demonstration of how to glide across the sand as well as a demonstration of how to walk. I was able to get a good video clip of it and will put it up on the blog in a day or two.

We also found these three pyjama cat sharks huddled together under the fishing boat stern. This is the second time we have found them stacked on top of one another and apparently this is how they sleep.

I found two juveniles hiding out some time ago, a jutjaw and a double sash butterfly fish. I have been watching them and have seen them both several times in the same spot over the last few weeks. On the night dive we found these two butterfly fish in a different spot, far apart so I believe there are at least three of these little beauties at Long Beach right now.

Two double sash butterfly fish under a wreck at Long Beach

On the ferro-cement wreck close to the harbour mooring buoy we found a tasseled scorpion fish, master of disguise. If it had not moved I would not have seen it.

We have also had several rays on the dives and recently saw a horse fish to the north of the barge wreck.

Artificial reef

We started a small project almost two weeks ago at Long Beach. We are building a small artificial reef to monitor how quickly the ocean adapts to new things. It is small at present but we plan to add items over time. The most interesting so far is that an octopus has moved into a clay pot we attached to a pipe frame. We did not see the the octopus but the signs of dinner – shells, crab body parts etc – are all evident. Several starfish have also moved in and there are small signs of plant growth. I will post some pictures of the project on the blog soon.

The summer season is here, diving is good and the water is warming. We have had the odd 17 -18 degrees days but last night the temperature was 16.

I have several courses running and will dive every diveable day this season. If you want to dive, give me a call as I don’t need an excuse to try a new spot, a popular spot or anything else. We are planning to dive the cowsharks, the Aster wreck, Hout Bay harbour and Kalk Bay harbour soon so if any of these interest you let me know.

I will also run a “buy one get one free” Discover Scuba Diving series of days where every second person dives for free. A good time to get your friends and family in the water.

Regards

Tony Lindeque
076 817 1099
www.learntodivetoday.co.za
www.learntodivetoday.co.za/blog
Diving is addictive!

Night dive at Long Beach (2010.06.05)

Here’s a video clip from a night dive we did in June this year at Long Beach. Look out for the box jelly with one tentacle, a klipfish, the beaked sandfish digging themselves into the sand, two warty pleurobranchs, an octopus hiding under a piece of plywood, a cuttlefish under the wreck, a two tone fingerfin, and a little jutjaw (we think).

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1oU7w_GFkk&w=540]

This is an early night effort taken on my Sea&Sea camera with torches instead of a strobe. The resulting hotspots are eliminated when using the Bonica Snapper, provided the light is positioned appropriately.

Newsletter: Belated diving update

Hi everyone

Apologies for the absence of newsletters for the last two weeks – life has been a bit hectic. My cellphone was stolen last weekend, so if you haven’t already sent me your contact details please hit reply and let me have your phone number!

Clare and I are getting married this coming Saturday, so I will be taking a few days off from diving starting on on the 27th November. I’ll be back in the water on Wednesday 1 December and everything will continue as normal from there.

Kate, my UK Zero to Hero candidate, is well into her Divemaster course, and I have several Open Water courses on the go as well as one or two starting in the near future. We are also close to completing the Wreck Specialty course, which has involved some very enjoyable boat dives in False Bay.

Kate transporting part of the artificial reef

The weather has been super for diving the last few weeks, with water temperatures varying from a fresh 13 degrees at Long Beach (with fantastic 8 metre visibility!) to a much more acceptable 18 degrees. We have been exploring the northern part of Long Beach, and finding all sorts of little creatures on the sand.

Clare's finger next to a tiny cuttlefish — Clare’s finger next to a tiny cuttlefish

We have started a small research project in the form of an artificial reef on the sand at Long Beach, and will be tracking its progress – and which creatures move into the neighbourhood – with interest over the next while. Watch the blog for details. Here’s a picture of us swimming the raw materials out using a lift bag:

Tony swimming part of the artificial reef out with a lift bag — Swimming part of the artificial reef out with a lift bag

This weekend we did two boat dives in False Bay. The first was to the SAS Good Hope, where we had excellent visibility despite rather dark and cold conditions. Kate, Clare and Tami completed some of their Wreck Specialty skills. The second dive was to Photographers Reef, a beautiful location that is very appropriately named! Despite the rainy weather, the conditions underwater were fantastic.

See you in the water soon!

regards

Tony Lindeque
076 817 1099
www.learntodivetoday.co.za
www.learntodivetoday.co.za/blog
Diving is addictive!

PS Remember that a voucher for a DSD is a great Christmas present for non-diving friends and family. Contact me for more information.

PPS Please remember your diving permits from the Post Office (costs about R95 for a year). Season is in full swing and random checks from the authorities are likely. If you’re caught diving without a permit, your kit may be confiscated… An expensive day at the beach!

Dive at Long Beach (2010.09.12)

Here’s a rough edit of a lovely dive we did at Long Beach last year (Clare twisted my arm to put this up – I’m not happy with the state of polish of the final version), in 14 degree water with 7 metre visibility. The surface conditions were choppy, as you can see at the end of the video, but under the surface it was lovely.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1jjITWidvg&w=540]

There’s lots to see. Early on, look out for the common sandprawn (the large, white shrimpy thing). We see lots of their discarded carapaces at Long Beach but this is the only one we’ve seen with a sandprawn inside to date.

There’s also a huge cloud of fry – not sure which fish species, but clearly the imminent onset of spring was encouraging breeding! There’s a very brief shot of a chubby clingfish – the small orange chap clinging onto some sea lettuce, of which there is plenty. Watch out for the Cape topshell on the kelp, and a nudibranch egg ribbon on some green seaweed.

There’s an octopus, a super klipfish, a surprisingly tame puffadder shyshark and his relative the dark shyshark, and a fat longsnout pipefish. We saw a box sea jelly and a night light sea jelly, a peacock fanworm, and my favourite warty pleurobranch. And, of course, there are barehead gobies…

The video concludes with a shot of the inside of the barge wreck at Long Beach.

Sea life: Octopus

Octopus are among my favourite creatures. I love the way they move, their colour changes, and how smart they are. We find lots of them at Long Beach – many of them live in holes on the pipeline, and others we can spot by the shells surrounding their burrows in the sand. Some of these structures are quite elaborate, with the walls of the hole lined with clam and mussel shells.

Octopus at Long Beach — Octopus in his hole at Long Beach. The reddish brown is an angry colour.

We usually see the eyes of the octopus first, watching us as we approach his lair. If they feel threatened, they extrude little spiny protrusions on their heads, and can change colour rapidly.

Octopus on the pipeline — Tony took this picture of an octopus on the pipeline

This past week Tony and Kate met one at Long Beach who was all tangled up in kelp, and clearly thought he was sufficiently well camouflaged that even when the ball of kelp was resting on Tony’s glove, his disguise was safe.

Octopus hiding in the pipeline at Long Beach

We don’t often spot them in the open water, but on one dive at A Frame (no cameras handy unfortunately) we saw a huge octopus spread out like a dinner plate on a rock. His tentacles were arranged curling around his head. Probably eating something! He was totally unfazed by us – we touched the edge of his suckers, which were holding on tight, and he even let me stroke his skin, which felt much softer than I expected.

Octopus are ridiculously intelligent and can fit through the smallest spaces. I never get tired of them, and when we are lucky enough to see one swimming around, I am always amazed by their graceful way of moving. In Sodwana, Tami spotted a large blue one “walking” along the reef – so they’re not just limited to swimming!