Man-Made – Page 42 – Learn to Dive Today Blog

Zero to… HERO!

Congratulations to Kate, who arrived in Cape Town on 8 October 2010 having never dived before, and is leaving on 10 December qualified as a Divemaster, with more than 60 dives and over 45 hours underwater under her belt!

Kate demonstrates incorrect snorkel technique (in the car, on the wrong side)

While she was here we dived almost every day, in all sorts of conditions. She dived in visibility ranging from pea soup (with croutons) to over 10 metres, water temperatures from 11 degrees up to 18 degrees, and experienced a wide range of what Cape Town diving has to offer. She even did a dive in just a shorty wetsuit – the water LOOKED warm but wasn’t – and I am pretty sure she’s the first diver EVER to do something like that in this city!

She experienced everything from orally inflating another diver’s BCD at 15 metres, to securing Clare’s cylinder when it came loose (oops!), tying knots underwater, a meeting with a very frisky sevengill cowshark on her first ever dive with sharks at Shark Alley, and using a lift bag to ferry our artificial reef out to the correct depth.

Kate transporting part of the artificial reef

She spent a lot of time towing the buoy line, inflated SMBs and balloons underwater (the latter was highly amusing to watch), mapped wrecks and the pipeline at Long Beach, exchanged information on the layout of the SAS Pietermaritzburg with wikivoyage guru Peter Southwood, enjoyed high-speed boat rides to various local dive sites, filled cylinders at a local dive centre, and navigated at night in order to find the yellow buoy at Long Beach. She’s breathed from a hang tank at a safety stop after a deep dive, and from another diver’s octo while swimming to shore. She’s a pro with a compass. She’s also done some underwater photography – thanks to her, the gobies at Long Beach have a serious complex about the paparazzi!

Kate and Clare getting their bearings on the beach. To infinity and beyond!

Kate dived with and without a computer, in various types of gear and several different wetsuits. She knows the difference between an A-clamp and a DIN fitting. She removes and replaces inserts on cylinders with her eyes closed, changes O-rings, and puts on her own kit. She has filled over twenty cylinders as part of her compressor operator course.

Kate was also a fantastic ambassador for diving for the various students of mine that she interacted with. As part of her Divemaster training, she led dives, demonstrated skills, helped students with their kit, and took on various tasks in order to prepare her for the responsibilities that go with this qualification. She did all of this with good humour, good sense and great precision.

During her stay, Kate buddied with all kinds of divers. She met Russians, Swedes, Canadians, French and fellow British divers, and some regte egte South Africans. She assisted foreign-language students with understanding the questions on the quizzes and exams when their English wasn’t up to the task. She got on famously with everyone she encountered, and was never grumpy or a prima donna.

In the ocean she encountered seals (she’s not a fan), giant short-tailed sting rays, hundreds of octopus, sevengill cowsharks, and her favourite friends – barehead gobies! They’re going to miss you, Kate… And especially your underwater singing!

Barehead goby — Look at that sad little goby face!

The courses Kate completed during her stay in Cape Town are:

Open Water: 21 October 2010
Advanced: 27 October 2010
Emergency First Responder (EFR): 3 November 2010
Nitrox/Enriched Air Specialty: 8 November 2010
Rescue Diver: 17 November 2010
CMAS Compressor Operator: 24 November 2010
Wreck Specialty: 7 December 2010
Night Specialty: 7 December 2010
Divemaster: 8 December 2010

I am confident that she is a safe, capable diver with excellent experience under her belt so far, and I look forward to hearing about her future exploits in the underwater world.

Wreck specialty course… Part 2

Tami, Kate and I are busy with the PADI Wreck Specialty course, and did our third of four dives on Sunday 21 November. It was miserable weather, pouring with rain, but Kate demonstrated the virtues of organising a rental car with ample boot space.

Dive 3: SAS Good Hope

The SAS Good Hope is one of the five ships scuttled in Smitswinkel Bay. This was the second dive I’ve done on it. (The first one involved an unfortunate case of nitrogen narcosis – I had to briefly stop my descent because I felt it again this time, but nowhere near as badly.)

Strawberry sea anemones on the SAS Good Hope

The water was a chilly 13 degrees at the bottom, and while the visibility was excellent – perhaps 10 metres – it was very dark. The wreck is spectacular, of massive dimensions (94 metres long) and with large sections caved in. There are numerous bits of metal to swim under (we did try one or two under Tony’s instruction) and overall it is incredibly dramatic. The darkness, however, meant that even though my eyes could see the entire structure in front of me, my camera couldn’t see more than a foot or two. So the only pictures that came out were of a macro nature.

Our skills on this dive involved use of a reel and line. We tied off the reel on the wreck, and then swam into the current, keeping it tight as if we were going to using it in penetration. We turned two corners and tied it off each time. I really do not like the way I feel at depth – I feel noticeably stupid – but I was quite proud of our performance.

We did a good safety stop in very green murk, and deployed an SMB from seven metres or so. There was a fairly large swell so surface conditions were not ideal, but I managed to keep my breakfast down which pleased me no end.

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!

Directions to Hout Bay harbour launch site

Boat dives in Cape Town are either done from Miller’s Point, Hout Bay, or (less frequently) Oceana Power Boat Club near the Waterfront. Tony is often asked for directions to the slipway in Hout Bay harbour, and I am the one who has to write them (being the native Capetonian!). Here they are for future reference:

Coming from Central Cape Town:

Get onto Kloof Nek drive and follow it over the mountain until you can see Camps Bay below you.Turn left at Houghton Rd (500 metres).
Slight left at Victoria Rd/M6, and carry on past the Twelve Apostles Hotel at Oudekraal, and Llandudno (9.4 km).
Descend into Hout Bay and bear slight right to stay on Victoria Rd/M6
Continue to follow Victoria Rd (1.8 km).
At the roundabout, take the 2nd exit onto Harbour Road
Continue down Hout Bay Harbour Rd.
Turn left into the harbour entrance below the stone cliffs.
Turn right at the booms and follow the road for no more than 200 metres until you see the slipway on your left, next to the NSRI building.

Coming from the Southern Suburbs (Rondebosch, Claremont, Newlands, etc):

Get onto Constantia Nek, and at the top take the Hout Bay turnoff.
At the first roundabout you get to in Hout Bay, take the 1st exit onto Main Rd/M6 (1.4 km)
Drive past the mud soccer fields on your right, Kitima Restaurant and a petrol station on your left.
At the next roundabout, take the 2nd exit onto Princess Street
Directions as from Item 6 above.

Coming from the South Peninsula (Glencairn, Fish Hoek, Simon’s Town, etc):

Follow Chapman’s Peak drive to its end in Hout Bay. The toll is about R40 unless your car is a bus.
At the roundabout, take the 1st exit onto Princess Street.
Directions as from Item 6 above.

Here’s an aerial view of the relevant parts of Hout Bay Harbour. The entrance road is right at the top of the map, in the middle. The slipway is more or less in the middle of the map, to the right of the dusty parking area. You’ll park your car in the parking area just at the top of the slipway, or in the dustbowl if the paved area is too full.

[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=hout+bay+harbour&sll=-34.049944,18.345087&sspn=0.002227,0.003605&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Hout+Bay+Harbour,+Hout+Bay,+Cape+Town,+Western+Cape,+South+Africa&t=h&ll=-34.050019,18.34587&spn=0.003111,0.00456&z=17&output=embed&w=425&h=350]

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.

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)

Directions to Miller’s Point launch site

Boat dives in Cape Town are either done from Miller’s Point, Hout Bay, or (less frequently) Oceana Power Boat Club near the Waterfront. Tony is often asked for directions to Miller’s Point, and I am the one who has to write them (being the native Capetonian!). Here they are for future reference: (Launch fee is currently R80.00. June 2013)

Coming along the Main Road:

This is easy. Keep on the Main Road through all the coastal suburbs – Muizenberg, St James, Kalk Bay, Fish Hoek.
At the circle at the top of Fish Hoek Main Road, keep left and stay next to the sea. You are basically following the railway line along the coast.
Carry on through Glencairn, and into Simon’s Town.
Drive through Simon’s Town, past the golf course on your left, and the turnoff to Boulder’s Beach.
Continue for several kilometres until you see a sign for the Black Marlin seafood restaurant and Miller’s Point caravan park on your left (in the middle of nowhere – no houses or anything).
Now keep your eyes open – the Miller’s Point turnoff is the next one on your left, around a courner and over a small hill. Drive in and into the lower parking area (not the one immediately on your right as you enter, but in front of you to the right). The boats park in the upper parking area so don’t go in there.

Coming on the M3 highway:

When you get to the end of the M3, turn right at the traffic light and contine through one more set of lights (Virgin Active on your right).
Just before the next set of lights take the slipway to the left, up onto Ou Kaapse Weg. This turnoff is not well signposted!
Now you basically stay on the same road until it ends abruptly in the ocean. Go over Ou Kaapse Weg into Sun Valley.
Continue straight through two sets of traffic lights (stopping if they’re red), onto the Glencairn Expressway (Blackhill Road). This takes you over a small mountain into Glencairn.
When you get to the sea, with a Spar on your left and a wetland on your right, turn right. Now you are on the Main Road.
Directions continue as from Item 3 in the Main Road section above!

Here’s an aerial view of the launch site. The slipway is at the end of the T-shaped piece of road towards the top of the promontory.

[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=miller’s+point,+south+africa&sll=-34.230672,18.474433&sspn=0.004444,0.00721&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Millers+Point+Rd,+Murdock+Valley,+Cape+Town,+Western+Cape+7975,+South+Africa&t=h&ll=-34.231709,18.474498&spn=0.006209,0.00912&z=16&iwloc=A&output=embed&w=425&h=350]

You can zoom out on this map to see where Miller’s Point launch site sits relative to everything else. If you continue along the M4 (Main Road) past Miller’s Point, you will eventually get to Cape Point.

Things to be aware of

Miller’s Point is part of the stamping ground of a large troupe of baboons. They are hilarious to watch, but (especially if you’re a woman) the large males can be a bit intimidating. Keep your car locked, windows closed and sunroof securely shut in order to prevent them from raiding the vehicle for food – they know how to open almost anything, and will get into the car with you if they see the opportunity. DO NOT feed them.
Sometimes there’s a guard at the boom who wants an entry fee (I think it goes to the government). It’s less than R10 but make sure you have some small change on you.
There are no ATMs, shops or any other signs of civilisation at Miller’s Point. There are public toilets near the slipway, but their condition is wildly variable and you should take it as a given that there are no seats or loo paper.
Lately some of the boat skippers have been launching from the slipway at Cape Boat and Ski Boat Club, which is on the right hand side as you enter Miller’s Point. Be sure to check which slipway you’re launching from, as it’ll affect which parking area you’ll be meeting the dive boat in.

Sea life: Molluscs

Helmet shell on the move at night at Long Beach

I know octopus are molluscs, but by the title of this post I mean things with external shells – abalone, limpets, whelks, mussels and chitons. Couldn’t find a word that covers all of them!

When I was a child, apart from interfering with innocent sea anemones, I enjoyed everything else that the rocky shore had to offer. I collected shells, tried to pull limpets off the rocks, and admired the tracks left in the sand by plough shells on Fish Hoek Beach. As a scuba divers, the temptation is to dismiss all these creatures as not being that interesting – after all, we dive in order to see BIG things, like rays, sharks, fancy fish, and octopus.

The truth is, however, that during my dives I’ve seen a lot of the shells I used to pick up as a child. With a couple of notable differences. One is that these shells are generally inhabited – and their inhabitants are far more brightly coloured and interesting than I ever imagined they would be. The other difference is that, in general, the specimens I see strolling around on the sea bed are bigger than the empty shells I found in rockpools and on the beach. Much bigger (and it’s not just the magnifying effect of the water).

Ribbed turrid on the move at Long Beach - look at that gorgeous foot!

Take abalone (perlemoen) for example. Prized by sexually insecure foreigners, these gastropods are poached almost into oblivion all along the South African coastline. Most of my diving is done in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) for which I pay for a permit, but this doesn’t make them immune to poaching. It takes years – up to 30 years – for an abalone to grow to its maximum size of about 18 centimetres in diameter. These are incredibly slow-growing creatures. So when I see a massive specimen clinging to a rock at Fisherman’s Beach, or strolling across the sand with the edges of its mantle waving festively at Long Beach, I feel hugely privileged. He’s almost as old as I am!

A week ago I found an abalone at Long Beach that had gotten flipped over, and his (very beautiful) foot was in the air. I took a picture, righted him, and took another picture. Even though he was not very big (about 13 centimetres) his shell was so encrusted that he was clearly quite old.

We also see many whelks of various kinds. These are voracious predators – they will drill holes in other shells using acid, and then inject digestive juices in order to digest their prey while they are still inside their shell. If you find shells with small holes drilled in them, it’s probably one that met an unlucky end at the hands (foot?) of a whelk.

Deadly (or passionate?) embrace at Long Beach

Chitons are protected by a row of eight overlapping plates – if you find a piece of shell that looks like a little boomerang, that’s a piece of chiton. They come in various sizes from the very small (1 centimetre) to the rather impressive. They can’t see a thing – their heads are completely hidden under their plates. They have a very sharp tongue called a radula that they use to scrape algae and other tasty goods off the rocks for food.

Another regular sighting is the allegedly tasty alikreukel – the biggest snail you’ll ever see. As a child I would pick up the little trapdoors they use to seal their shells – one side is usually gorgeous mother of pearl, and the other has little knobbles. These snails are quite active and we often see them moving about.

There’s a lot to see if you slow down and take your time over small areas of the sand, rocks or reef. You’ll often find a handsome mollusc hiding in amongst the seaweed, or making his way across a sandy patch. They’re little miracles in and of themselves – take a look!

Sea life: Urchins

I used to love collecting sea urchin shells as a child – we’d go on holiday to Betty’s Bay, and I would collect handfuls of shells from tiny to huge. When we went home, I’d make strings of shells, arranged in size from largest to smallest.

Sea urchins and brittlestar at Fisherman's Beach

The bare, empty shells look green, but at the aquarium we have looked at them under the microscope and they are actually far more detailed than just plain old army green. The live urchin has spines, tube feet, and little pincers, all of which protrude from different holes in its shell. The outer surface of the shell is ribbed, with lots of lumps and bumps and gradations of colour all the way from green to purple. And looking at a live urchin under a microscope is amazing indeed.

Sea urchins tend to like to live on rocks – we don’t see many of them at Long Beach (possibly also because they’ve been eaten by the rock lobsters) but they’re prolific at Fisherman’s Beach, Shark Alley and Sunny Cove. They can be found clustered on the rocky reefs, many of them with a piece of seaweed as a hat.

Juvenile abalone shelter among sea urchins, and disturbing the balance of the sea urchin population can have devastating consequences for abalone. One of the primary predators of sea urchins is the West Coast rock lobster (commonly, and incorrectly, referred to as crayfish). When the population of rock lobster gets out of control, they eat too many urchins, and the juvenile abalone have nowhere to hide. The abalone population can consequently collapse. This has been documented and studied at several sites in the Western Cape. This has implications for fisheries management.

Sea urchin and cushion star at Fisherman's Beach

Sea urchin spines are a pain (literally) if you get them in your foot or other body part. For this reason your buoyancy needs to be good if you plan to swim over urchin country. There are several kinds of urchin found in the Cape, but I’ve only seen the one depicted in these photos so far. Urchin beds are more active than they seem at first glance, and worth a look when you’re diving in a rocky area.

Sea life: Nudibranchs

Gas Flame nudibranch on the SAS Pietermaritzburg

Nudibranchs are wildly colourful invertebrates that look like psychedelic underwater slugs. There are countless varieties but it takes a practiced eye to spot them. My excitement when I do find one is totally out of proportion, but I do love these little critters!

Nudibranch means “exposed (nudi) gills (branch)”, and on almost all varieties you can see little protrusions that are those very gills – looking like fronds. The visual extravagance of these creatures cannot be over-stressed… Their beauty is totally unncessary, and all the more delightful for that.

Their bright colours tend to warn predators that they aren’t tasty, and nudibranchs have some very ingenious defence mechanisms (thanks to the Two Oceans Aquarium for teaching me this!). They eat things that are unpalatable or indigestible to most other sea creatures, including sponges and hydroids with stinging cells. Some nudibranch species then retain the stinging cells in their bodies, piggybacking off their lunchtime snack’s defence tactics.

Crowned nudibranch on the wreck near the yellow buoy at Long Beach

We do see nudibranchs at Long Beach – I’ve seen three or four species there, most often the orange-clubbed nudibranch. These tend to be spotted feeding on kelp fronds. Other species can be seen on the rocky reef to the right of the pipeline, and in lesser-dived areas such as the wreck near the yellow buoy. A Frame is another good spot for finding them, particularly in the swim-through. Careful inspection will be rewarded. There are also several varieties unique to the Smitswinkel Bay wrecks – the mechanism of this differentiation astounds and fascinates me – but I haven’t as yet managed to spot any except for a gas flame nudibranch this past weekend on the MV Rockeater.

Another frequent sighting at Long Beach is the warty pleurobranch, a devastatingly cute and cuddly little slug. They seem to have such personality, with their little eye stalks and bulldozer front ends. They’re not colourful, but lots of fun to watch. We often swim over them in the beds of sea grass, and sometimes on the sand.

As a reference for identification you can go to Dennis King’s book – focused on the east and south coasts of Southern Africa, Georgina Jones’s book, or – the mother lode – Guido Zsilavecz’s book. Both of the latter two are concerned with the Cape Peninsula and False Bay. If you’re serious about these gorgeous creatures, I’d go for Guido’s book: Nudibranchs of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay.