Tag Archive
Great Expectations
The reason I am writing this is that, right now – November 2012 – I am sitting on a great dive boat – MV Golden Dawn – after diving some of the World’s Best Dive Sites – eg. Carl’s Ultimate and Newton’s Bommie, at Eastern Fields, and I am disappointed. This is because the visibility sucks. I’ve dived here several times before and each time the visibility has been what you expect in the off-shore Coral Sea – almost unlimited. But this time it is really bad. Near the surface visibility is down to only 5 metres, deeper a little better. Early in the cruise we were able to dive to 25 m and get below the murk but now the visibility is still only 15 - 20 m down deep. The murk is not plankton or spawn, it is slimy run-off glop. I am disappointed for myself because I love to dive these usually super-clear environments that abound with marine life, but I am more disappointed for the guests aboard who came here expecting clear water. Their Great Expectations have been shattered. Having said that, these experienced divers are laughing at their misfortune, not crying over it. That is because they know that, hey! It’s Nature, Stuff Happens! So I have been hearing stories of other trips they have made that did not quite work out the way they expected. Stories where it rained every day, where the winds blew so strongly the destination had to be changed to one more sheltered (and less brilliant). Even trips where they caught a cold on the way out and were unable to dive when everything else was perfect. Tell me about it! Nature can wield a cruel cudgel but my fellow divers also told tales of trips where boats broke... More »
Amazing
We all have anecdotes to tell of things that happened during dive trips. The aft deck of dive boats ring loud with divers competing to outdo each other with unusual experiences retold. Approached by a publisher to write a scuba diving edition of their Amazing Stories series, I was vain enough to think I was the man for the job. After a meeting with the book editor of Wiley Nautical, the reality dawned on me. They wanted sixty to seventy stories and I had a deadline of only six months. A moment of failure in my own self-belief ensued. Could I do it? I got the deadline extended to nine months, sat down at my computer and steamed into the job. One month later, it was more or less done. It seems that twenty years traveling and diving full-time had furnished me with enough tales and all I had to do was to send copies of the stories as remembered by me to the actual combatants, for them to check the details and correct any misunderstandings or memory failures I might have had. I am pleased to say that with all but a couple of exceptions every person involved was more than helpful and I am indebted to a lot of people, all featured whether by name or anonymously in the book. Those that were less helpful wanted to claim ownership of the particular event concerned, which of course is not possible. Even those that preferred to remain anonymous, for reasons that become apparent when their stories are told, proved very co-operative. I am commercially minded. I knew that nobody would want to read the autobiography of a nobody so I wrote the stories in third-person and although I was present, witnessed or was actually involved in most of them, I am not... More »
When You Least Expect It
When I look back over my 42 year diving career and more than 10,000 dives, I realise how few dive-related injuries I have sustained. A few infections from coral scratches, a nasty sting from a bunch of Corallimorpharians, nothing really and a little care has cured me from repeating these injuries. I have had a few aches, pulled muscles and minor pain but I always say "a little pain won't hurt you", and these niggles rapidly disappear. Perhaps I have some deterioration in my hearing - but that is a function of old age, as is "selective" hearing where we males recognise words such as "sex" and "dinner" but not "garbage" or "washing up". Certainly minor compared to injuries inflicted on my friends, particularly those who partake in the supposedly healthy life-style choice of bicycling. They always crash and end up in hospital with broken bones, missing teeth and skin-free areas of flesh leaving life-long scars. [caption id="attachment_1229" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Titan Triggerfish -- Beware"][/caption] So it was a bit of a shock when, out of the blue as it were, a fish bit me and I started bleeding. Strangely, exactly the same thing had happened to my dive mate Rodney Pearce when we were diving a Zero wreck in Rabaul Harbour just a month previously. Was this a coincidence? Or was it Divine Intervention or, as the Gullible Greenies would inevitably claim, another manifestation of Climate Change? Fortunately I am rational, and well versed in science, Occam's Razor and cause and effect, and I can tell you that Rodney's bite was the result of a Coral Cod mistaking his fingers for food in the billowing silt stirred up investigating Japanese markings on the aircraft, and mine the noble efforts of a large Titan triggerfish protecting freshly deposited eggs in its nearby nest. [caption id="attachment_1227" align="alignright" width="400" caption="Kirtley... More »
No Contest
We have taken a long break from blogging because we're putting together an updated version of the Raja Ampat dive guide we produced for Conservation International. The new book will encompass all the of the Bird's Head Seascape, so it's larger and more time consuming to write and illustrate. But we were interested to read the lead article in the latest Undercurrent, the one about Raja Ampat, which must have provoked lots of discussion about the best place to dive. The article and Dave Eagleray's comments certainly provoked some discussion around our house, so we decided to comment. This blog is not about defending Raja Ampat or even where our favorite place to dive might be. This is about the fact that wherever you like to dive is the best place. Our best friend Vickie (she introduced me and Burt so we have a very long term friendship) has been diving about as long as we have. Whenever she takes time away from her busy career, she goes diving. She has the means to travel wherever she wants, and she has known us for over 30 years so she has heard about most of the world's best dive spots. She could have dived with us in Sipadan, Komodo, the Solomons, wherever, but Vickie always goes to the same place: Cozumel. Why? Because she likes it! To her Cozumel is relaxing, easy to get to, and offers plenty of diving, but not enough to get in the way of spending a few evenings partying in town. We don't argue with her about her choice of destination, and we've stopped trying to get her to join us in some faraway, exotic place. We're just happy she's diving and loving it. Another good friend recently gave up diving. He also has the means to travel... More »
The Pleasure is All Ours: Thoughts on Touching Wild Animals
We experienced a very interesting incident a few weeks back during our survey of Cenderawasih National Park. We were there to explore sites for a new dive guide to the Bird's Head Seascape, which will include Cenderawasih, Raja Ampat and Triton Bay. Fifteen thousand-square kilometer Cenderawasih is Indonesia's largest marine park and, for the moment, the biggest attraction is its resident whale shark population. Yes, resident. According to fishermen in Kwatisore, a smaller bay within Cenderawasih, the whale sharks are there all year long. It seems that the fishermen believe whale sharks bring good luck, so they feed them small, anchovy-like fish called ikan puri. The sharks show up just before dawn, circling their boats for hours, almost like pets waiting for a handout. But the largest fish in the ocean is not a pet. In fact, whale sharks are endangered and have been on the CITES Appendix II list for nearly a decade. I was quickly reminded of this when a crew member grabbed one of the Cenderawasih shark's dorsal fin and began stroking it while the shark slurped the fish being tossed overboard. Titus, the park ranger traveling with us, went ballistic. I didn't catch all of the conversation (my Bahasa Indonesia is still limited), but the gist of it was, "Are you crazy? You aren't supposed to touch the wildlife!" Who knew that a desire to feed and touch wildlife transcended cultural boundaries? I thought it was only something that privileged, bored westerners wanted to do. Apparently not, but I still do not understand what is it about getting close to a wild, albeit gentle, animal that makes humans from all walks of life try to physically interact with it. What ever happened to gazing in distant wonderment? I realize that for decades this discussion has taken up many... More »
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