Crustaceans – 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

Touch Pool ruminations

I spend one Sunday afternoon a month (the third Sunday – come and say hi – you can catch the shark feeding at 1500 while you’re there, and it might even coincide with my tea break!) at the Two Oceans Aquarium, volunteering at the Touch Pool or the microscope. It’s my job to interpret the exhibits to visitors, introducing them to the joys of marine life. My entire afternoon is documented on beenthere.tv because the camera is located just opposite the Touch Pool.

Working at the Touch Pool - sore back at the end of the day!

The Touch Pool is nothing special to look at. It’s a low concrete pool with a rim wide enough for little people to sit on. On any given day it contains icy cold water that is being constantly replaced by the aquarium’s filtration system, several sea anemones, a couple of hermit crabs, some whelks, lots of different kinds of seaweed and sea sponges, some starfish, several abalone shells, and a sea urchin or two.

As a volunteer at the Touch Pool, I explain simple facts about the sea life to visitors. I also guide them regarding how to interact with the exhibit – no squeezing or pulling, do not take the anemones, crabs, urchins and starfish out of the water, and the like. We also tell the visitors where on their bodies to touch the creatures – most importantly, not to stick their fingers into the sea anemones’ mouths!

The point of the Touch Pool is to touch. For really small children, it’s just about the different textures – toddlers love the slimy, knobbly and smooth seaweed and the rough sea sponges. Older children also love the seaweed too, but their chief interest is in the starfish and sea anemones. The experience of touching a starfish – gently, just under the surface of the water – is transformative.

The things that fascinate me about the Touch Pool are these:

Children will run towards the Touch Pool, past exhibits showing large, colourful, exotic fish, shouting “I want to touch the starfish”. This experience means more to many of them than the chance to see marine life that they’d NEVER see ordinarily, even large impressive creatures like sharks and rays.
Many adults have never interacted with marine life at all. It’s very special to help a grown up in their twenties or thirties feel the side of a sea anemone for the first time, or run their finger over the rough skin of a starfish. The adults are often more reluctant and fearful than the children.

Aquariums around the world have Touch Pool facilities. The animals are rotated in and out so that they have time to recover – it is unquestionably stressful for a starfish to be groped repeatedly by chubby little hands. But the curators have determined that the virtues of this kind of exhibit are outweighed by the risks to the animals.

As a diver, I am well aware of the debate surrounding touching of the sea creatures we encounter. I am of the view that interacting by touch with marine life is not totally taboo, and when I see the effect of giving this opportunity to small children and others – most if not all of them not scuba divers – I am convinced that there is a place for this kind of interaction in our experience of the sea.

Night dive at Long Beach (2010.11.06)

Here is some footage from Kate and Clare’s night navigation dive at Long Beach about a month ago. Look out for the beaked sandfish, the three spotted swimming crab, an enormous warty pleurobranch (very briefly), a compass sea jelly, and a puffadder shyshark who gave me the beady eye. There’s also a pipefish, and a large klipfish to be seen.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSB5_YL4Tuk&w=540]

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!

Touch or don’t touch?

This blog post recently came to my attention – it’s by Burt Jones and Maurine Shimlock, and in it they talk about why touching marine life is a bad idea. I agree that, as a rule, it is a bad idea, but I don’t think it’s always totally out of the question.

When (I think) it’s ok

Restoration

I must confess that when I see an upside down starfish, crab, or abalone, I turn them back over. Call it interfering with the natural order of things, but I can’t swim by and leave them. I know how uncomfortable I feel when I get stuck somewhere in an awkward position, and I just have to help!

Upside down abalone (I turned him over after taking his picture)

Assisting an injured or entangled animal

A creature that is entangled with fishing line, or has a fish hook in its mouth, for example, is dealing with something completely outside of what nature intended for it to experience. If the animal allows, I think it’s totally appropriate to assist. In the case of a whale, a shark, or a creature that could potentially hurt you (possibly just by virtue of its vast dimensions), this is best left to trained professionals.

Tony assisted with a moray eel that was tangled in fishing line on a dive on the Coopers Light wreck in Durban – he was the only diver in the party who had a knife, and while two others held the eel steady, he was able to cut it free so that it could swim away. When he speaks about this experience, it’s clear that it was pretty life changing for him. And for the eel.

When the animal initiates it

I’ve experienced this a few times, and every time it has ranked among the most incredible diving experiences I’ve had. I’ve had a klipfish swim right up to my face and bump my mask, and then make his way down my arm and glove – rubbing it the way I’ve seen them rub their bodies on the sand, at Long Beach. I’ve been nibbled more than once by fish in the aquariums in Durban and Cape Town. I’ve watched a ray swim so close over fellow divers’ heads that they had to lift up their hands to fend it off. My view is that if the animal wants contact, and if the contact won’t harm me or the animal, it’s fine.

To discourage certain behaviour

I never thought this would really be an issue when diving, but last weekend we had a bit of a scary experience (well, I was scared – not sure about Tony!) with the sevengill cowsharks at Shark Alley. Tony and Tami both had to strike a very persistent shark to persuade it to stop gnawing on my first stage – more than once. This kind of situation is very unusual.

Obviously defending yourself is all right. If you deliberately expose yourself to danger, however, I’m inclined to think you must deal with the consequences!

When (I think) it’s not ok

Because it looks fun

I’d include poking jellyfish in this one! Though it may not seem that way, many sea creatures are more fragile than you’d think. They’re not toys, and interactions whose human to human equivalents would involve nose-pulling and cheek-pinching are not cool. They’re purely an opportunity for you to indulge a desire to break or annoy something. Go annoy your little brother instead!

When it could hurt you

Don’t be like the tourists who get mauled by lions in game parks because they get out of their cars to take photographs, or who stick their hands into animal enclosures because the tiger looks so fluffy, or whatever. Sharks are dangerous, whales are very large and probably not even aware of your presence, and many other marine creatures have stings, spines and poisonous body parts that could harm you. Don’t be silly.

When it could hurt the animal

This isn’t always obvious. Touching coral reefs, for example, is not a good idea. For one thing, coral structures may be very fragile, and your touch could break them. The effect of touch on the live organisms inside the hard framework is not well understood – it seems that light touches do not cause damage (after all, a multitude of creatures swim over and brush against the coral every day) but more aggressive contact can be harmful. The rule is, don’t touch at all, and control your fins and buoyancy!

Fish have a protective mucous layer on their skin. If you touch them with dry hands, you can damage the mucous layer – this leaves the fish vulnerable to parasites and infections. This isn’t likely to happen unless you’re a sport fisherman (ugh!) and you’ve caught the poor fellow in preparation for throwing him back so that he can go through it all again next weekend. Touching fish with a wet hand can also be harmful if you are wearing creams or other chemical products.

Many fish tank owners pet their fish – a friend had a big, aggressive fish (I can’t remember the type) who loved having his tummy scratched. As long as Duncan’s hands were clean, there was no risk posed by him putting a hand into the tank so that Oscar could get his weekly tickle.

When it will change the animal’s behaviour

Touching wild animals may alter their behaviour towards humans. It may make them more skittish and afraid, or it may do the reverse, and persuade them that people are not harmful. That’s a dangerous illusion to have. There’s no question in my mind that some of the marine life we encounter at Long Beach is so habituated to divers (on a busy weekend there can be more than 20 divers in the water at once) that one can get really close, and even make contact with the creatures. I’m not sure what the right thing to do here is – the damage (if you want to call it that) has been done already.

Final thoughts

There’s no question that as humans we have a powerful urge to interact with nature, and touch is one of those ways in which we can experience transcendence in the natural environment. We have to put aside ego, however, and think first of the wellbeing of the creature, and then of ourselves.

I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority.

The Points of My Compass: Letters from the East, the West, the North, the South, E. B. White (1899 – 1985)