News of a very cool art installation that doubles as an artificial reef off Cancun, Mexico, in what looks like delightfully warm water! Jason de Caires Taylor is an artist who specialises in underwater art. The 400 life size sculptures of people are constructed from a cement mix that encourages coral growth.
As a child I was delighted by sea anemones, and no doubt caused absolute havoc among the rock pools, sticking my chubby fingers into every hapless anemone who happened to cross my path. As a grown-up scuba diver, I am still delighted by them, and have realised that they look much prettier – and are much happier – without the interference of my digits.
Blue sea anemone at Long Beach
As a novice underwater photographer, sea anemones are the ideal photographic subject. They are stationary, usually located on the sand so that I can lie right down next to them and get some solid purchase, come in a variety of pretty colours, and when there’s surge they offer just enough movement of tentacles to provide a little but not insurmountable challenge.
Anemone in a concrete block on the pipeline at Long BeachFalse plum anemone at Fisherman's Beach
While they are rarely spotted on the move, they do have some element of mobility. While I was doing my volunteer training at the Two Oceans Aquarium, we were told of a specimen living in the tanks located in the classrooms upstairs who mounted a daring escape attempt and in the process completely blocked the filtering system for his tank. During the rescue/unblocking process he had to be cut in half (horizontally), and both halves survived for about two weeks before slipping this life’s mortal coil.
Beautiful anemone on shells at Long BeachSea anemone at Long Beach with mouth visible
During our training we learned that anemones have a hydrostatic skeleton – they draw water into their bodies, and contract their muscles against the water in order to hold their shape. This is why it’s not kind or nice to touch an anemone in the centre, or to stick your finger into its mouth (the central opening). The pressure you exert can force the water out of his body, and while it is possible to recover from this, it takes a while. At the touch pool at the aquarium we encourage the kids to touch the anemones on the side, below the tentacles, and very gently.
Blue anemone at Long BeachLong Beach sea anemone
Anemones are radially symmetric (i.e. their body structure radiates from a central point) and use their stinging tentacles to capture small shrimps, plankton and other unsuspecting prey in the water. The prey is paralysed by the stinging cells, and then the anemone draws it inwards towards its mouth.
False plum anemone at Fisherman's Beach
A lot of the time they seem to get sand over their mouths – I always worry that it feels uncomfortable, and I wonder how they get rid of it to eat… But I guess they are accustomed to it, living where they do! I have tried purging my octo gently over one of them to blow away the sand, but it didn’t work.
Anemone at Long BeachPink anemone at Long Beach, mouth covered with sand
There is a gorgeous star blaasop living in the Lagoon tank at uShaka Marine World where Tony and I dived last month. We saw him a year ago when we visited, and he’s grown a lot since then. Same as last year, we found him hanging out at the window looking into the Open Ocean tank – perhaps dreaming of growing up to be a shark one day.
The blaasop makes his appearance
He’s very friendly, and swam with me for quite a distance, occasionally making alarming forays towards my camera (which made for some great photo opportunities). I love his compact little body and the way his fins move back and forth at his sides – they seem far too small to propel his girth anywhere significant!
The blaasop emerges from the gloomPassing byComing in for a closer lookOops! Too close!
Here’s a short clip Tony took of the blaasop. Initially he was hiding in a packing pallette – during this part of the clip there’s an oil spot on the camera lens. Subsequently you see him investigating me. My hand is in a fist because I’d already been nibbled on by our cheeklined wrasse friend – looks like I am winding up for a punch but it was just a precautionary measure to protect my fingers.
We had a beautiful dive in the Lagoon Tank at uShaka Marine World earlier this month on our way home from Sodwana. The longfin batfish are some of Tony’s favourite fish (he’s also very fond of Moorish idols). They are robust, and these particular specimens (most of them) are in such good shape that they look as though they are made of plastic. When Tony used to teach confined water skills in the Lagoon, the batfish would occasionally take umbrage at his mask strap or a piece of his gear, and come and bite him on the head.
Longfin batfish
They swim by in a school, very leisurely, but are capable of extraordinary bursts of speed – they seem to know when you’re trying to take a photograph.
Injured batfish
One of the batfish has a wound on his head at the moment – perhaps from a snorkeler’s fin, or a stray weight dropped carelessly into the tank. Or, a gunfight. One never knows. Whatever the cause, he didn’t seem sluggish or to be struggling to keep up with the rest of the school.
This morning Tony had students at Long Beach and I tagged along. We swam out for depth, and in about 7.5 metres of water – brittlestar country – we found this absolute beauty resting on the sand. Can you see what it is?
Giant short tailed sting ray
Tony and Kate have seen two rays so far this week – one in the wreckage on the Clan Stuart, and another near the yellow buoy at Long Beach. This one was further north, in fairly deep water. It let me film it for a while, and then got annoyed at my heavy (somewhat excited) breathing and left.
Too big to get all in one picture!
We generally see the rays starting in late October to early November – basking in the sand at Long Beach, and even hanging about in the shallow water near the slipway at Miller’s Point. It’s a fantastic experience to spot one.
Spiny tail
According to Georgina’s book, these rays give birth to live young, about 40 centimetres across, and grow to about 2 metres across. The specimen we saw was at least 1.5 metres across. The young are born folded up like crepes, and unfold their wings as they enter the water. Short tail sting rays are thought to feed on sand-dwelling invertebrates, grinding up shells to get at the creatures inside. It must take a LOT of eating to keep a body that size going!
Raymond the ray
When our ray left, he stirred up a huge cloud of sand and then swam so low over Kate’s head that she had to lift her hand up to fend him off. I guess we can add rays to the list of creatures who don’t give way to divers!
The Two Oceans Aquarium housed a gorgeous giant short tailed sting ray called Olive, who passed away recently. She was magnificent, and loved to swim up the glass in the I&J Predator Exhibit where she was housed.
The Biter was a cheeklined wrasse whom we encountered while diving in the Lagoon Tank at uShaka Marine World in Durban earlier in October. He caused great amusement to both me and Tony because of his persistent camera-hogging activities, suspicious-looking face, and willingness to nibble on exposed body parts.
The Biter makes an appearance
He actually reminded me very much of the Number Two Cat (so-called for her place in the hierarchy of Tony’s neighbour’s 17 cats), who likes to stick her nose in your face at every opportunity to make sure that she’s still centre of attention.
Hello Number Two Cat!
But the Biter is a fish…
Being checked out by his red eyeMaking preliminary investigationsComing closer...Open wide!
Here’s a rough edit of some of the clips Tony took of him. Notice how he tries to bite my finger (at this point Tony laughs through his regulator), and how he picks up a rock the size of a cherry from the tank floor, and appears to swallow it (I didnt see it come out, and I was watching). During parts of the clip he was so close to the lens that the camera couldn’t focus! The other sounds you can hear on the clip are bubbles, and the autofocus of Tony’s camera.
One's first view of the inside of the Lagoon tank at uShaka Marine World
On the first of our two days in Durban after the Sodwana trip, Tony and I did one of our most favourite things: we went for a dive in the aquarium at uShaka Marine World. Tony used to work at Calypso Dive and Adventure Centre, based at uShaka, and it is in this idyllic location – known as the Avis Snorkel Lagoon – that all the confined water skills were taught. How awesome is that?
Longfin batfish in the foreground, hound shark in the background
Tony and I wanted to go somewhere calm and pretty where we could lie on the bottom and play with different camera settings, and a sunny, shallow dive (3 metres maximum) in limitless visibility surrounded by 1,500 tropical fish and hound sharks (only five of those, fortunately) was just the ticket.
Hound shark passing in front of the aquarium windowResting hound shark
It is a magnificent dive. Not challenging by any stretch of the imagination, but that is one of its charms. It’s an open air tank accessed by walking into Marine World with a Calypso Divemaster (you can’t do the dive without someone from Calypso accompanying you, even if you’re qualified). There’s an area to kit up, and then you stroll (or waddle, or slide) down some gently sloping rubber mats in shallow water to the drop-off into the tank proper.
Tony filming fish
The tank has windows looking onto the aquarium (or, the aquarium has windows looking onto it, if you prefer), and a large window looking into the Open Ocean tank, which contains sharks and rays. Most of the tank, however, is your own private paradise, as the windows only cover a fraction of the one side. On the day we went, there were no snorkelers in the water (it gets really busy on weekends and holidays – last time we dived there it was hilarious and somewhat unnerving to look up and see countless pairs of legs in board shorts hanging above us).
Tony in the undercover portion of the Lagoon tank
There is a section of the tank that’s covered over (including the window onto the shark tank), and in this area is a submerged jeep (with licence plates still attached) and some other bits of atmospheric debris such as ropes, crates and wooden packing pallets. It’s a bit dark in there, and I prefer the sunny bits, but it’s really lovely to lie in front of the window to the shark tank (where it IS sunny) and watch the big predators on the other side of the glass. Some of the fish seem to like it, too.
A clown triggerfish emerging from the covered portion of the tank
There are half hour time slots that can be booked with Calypso – either as a Discover Scuba Diving experience if you haven’t dived before (and I think this will spoil you for diving anywhere else!) or for an accompanied dive if you’re qualified. We took the one at 1.45pm and the half hour immediately following it, so we had a blissful hour in the 24 degree water.
Tony and some fish playing with his camera
I took hundreds of photos, and Tony took some fantastic video footage (for another post). The thing that delighted me the most was that many of the fish interact with you – the old woman angelfish and the boxfish in particular are totally unafraid.
An old woman angelfish comes to visit me
There was also a toothy fish who alternated between harrassing me and Tony, and appears in nearly every frame of Tony’s video as he kept passing by the camera to remind us of his toothy presence. This fish and several of the others deserve their own posts, since they were such large personalities!
Boxy comes to investigate
Many of the fish were fascinated by the video camera lens – perhaps they could see a reflection or movement in the glass – and came really close to inspect and even head butt it. You can get really close to them either by lying or kneeling on the floor of the tank and waiting for curious visitors, or by sneaking up very slowly and quietly while they’re eating.
Emperor angelfish feedingTerracotta vases and fish in the lagoon tank
If you’re visiting Durban, this is a wonderful way to pass a couple of hours. If you don’t dive, it’s the most perfect setting in which to try it, and if you do – don’t scoff at how shallow it is and that it’s confined – just go and relax, marvel and enjoy the spectacle. It’s incredibly reasonably priced and afterwards you can do some water rides, chill out on the beach, enjoy an ice cream, or stroll around the retail space at uShaka.
The World Is Blue: How Our Fate and the Ocean’s Are One – Sylvia Earle
The World is Blue - Sylvia Earle
Sylvia Earle is a legend (I’ve said so before), and this is a book that flowed out of a TEDtalk she gave about the need to take urgent action on ocean conservation. I gained a huge amount of understanding about why indiscriminate fishing is a problem for ecosystems (she compares it to removing bits from a computer that look useless, and then expecting it to work afterwards). She also explains the extent of our dependency on the ocean – for example, one kind of plankton provides about 20% of the oxygen we breathe, with other kinds making up a further 50%.
Earle has a long history of ocean exploration, and has been scuba diving and driving submersibles since the 1950s. Her anecdotes about things she has seen and people she has spoken to are fascinating. She was part of the very early days of ocean exploration and recreational scuba diving, and has spent thousands of hours underwater (for comparison, I think I’ve spent only 40 hours breathing compressed air!).
Earle is a strong advocate for Marine Protected Areas – proper ones, that don’t allow fishing. She likens a MPA that allows fishing to a game park – say Kruger – that allows hunting! She also supports the initiatives such as SASSI that classify fish species according to the sustainability of the catch process and their level of endangerment. (If you don’t have a SASSI card, you need to get one before your next seafood dinner!)
I was particularly struck by Earle’s account of her response to a question asked of her in the 1990s by the head of the Japanese delegation at the International Whaling Commission: “… What’s the difference between eating a steak from a cow and eating whale meat?”
I tried to respond seriously: Cows are herbivores and go to market in a year or two, have been cultivated by people for food for ages, and require care and an investment of some sort by farmers; while whales are free, wild beings that belong to no one, are typically taken after they have lived for decades, and are relatively few in numbers (or are not “restocked” like cows), leaving an irreversible tear in the ocean’s fabric of life when removed. There are billions of cows, but all whale species are greatly reduced in number, some bordering on extinction owing to whaling. Taking even a few increases the risk of depletion owing to other pressures – storms, disesase, pollution, and fluctuating food sources. The whales of today have ancestral roots 65 million years deep, and nothing in their survival strategies factored in the impact of humans as predators. What might we learn from them as living creatures, able to communicate with sound over long distances, develop close-knit societies, navigate over thousands of miles with no maps, and perform daily deep-diving feats that defy the capacity of even the most athletic humans? If only considering whales as a priceless source of knowledge, we discover that their value alive far exceeds their worth as pounds of meat. In narrowly-defined economic terms, the growing business of whale-watching is lucrative and demonstrably sustainable, while commercial whaling is subsidised, with a consistent record of “management” failure.
The World is Blue, Sylvia A. Earle, National Geographic Press 2009, pp 38-39.
Buy the book here if you’re in South Africa, otherwise click here. If you want to read it on your Kindle, go here. I highly recommend it.
So I am sick in bed today while Tony enjoys the sea and southeaster with students. In the absence of my diving fix, I have to rely on the Internet to feed my currently short attention span. Enter Twitter.
To me, Twitter incorporates my favourite feature of Facebook – constant stream of bite-sized news and views – and leaves out all the other guff (Farmville, Zombie Vampire Slayers, Are You Feeling Hot Today?).
It’s not all about socialising and keeping up with your online friends… It’s also useful for news, activism, and informative updates from individuals and organisations whose work interests you. If you want to beef up the list of users you’re following, check out our “followees”!
I just went to the post office to renew my permit to scuba dive in Marine Protected Areas. Last year this time I paid R79.00 for a permit. Today I paid R85.00, and the lady at the counter said “you’re lucky, babes, because from 1 October 2010 the permit will cost R94.00.”
Fee increases are apparently promulgated via the Government Gazette but even with my advanced Googling skills I can’t find any evidence of it.
Even though the increase only amounts to R9.00 – enough to buy a Steri Stumpie with a bit of change – this is quite a hefty 10.6% percentage increase. Apparently Marine and Coastal Management intend to increase the permit prices dramatically over the next few years.
Underwater Africa’s website has a bit of information on their stance on MPAs, with particular reference to what we should expect from proper Marine Protected Areas: no fishing, no pumping of effluent, no poaching. Has anyone been on a boat launching from Miller’s Point lately, and had to fight their way through snoek fishermen? Hmm?
For those not in the know, you need a permit to dive almost everywhere in South Africa. Consequences for not having one can be severe: if you are requested to produce your ID and permit at a dive site and are unable to do so, your gear can be confiscated, which is an expensive event. We’ve seen the officials checking permits periodically all along the False Bay coast.
You can get these permits at any post office branch. Just walk up to the counter and say you want a “scuba diving permit”. It’s the same form that you fill in to get an angling or crayfishing permit.
