To Dive with a Dive Knife... or Not?

There’s been quite a bit of discussion recently on whether it is necessary to dive with a dive knife. Personal experience shows that taking a dive knife with you on every dive is not such a bad thing after all…

In Cape Town waters, we often dive on reefs where there is fishing activity. Hooks get caught on rocks, breaking the fishermen’s lines and leaving the lines strung from rock… to rock… to kelp … and across the path of the unassuming diver.

Fortunately, some of these lines – usually the thicker or luminous green ones - are reasonably easy to spot and avoid, but it does sometimes happen that a diver can become unexpectedly entangled. This is where you and your buddy will find your dive knives pretty useful!

Whilst checking out a dive site a few years ago, we noticed there were a number of people fishing from the rocks close to where we were going to be diving, so we knew we had to be on the look-out for fishing lines. As luck would have it one of our divers Graham, happened to swim across the path of a just-cast hook and sinker without noticing. We watched in disbelief as the float bobbed above his head and the hook lodged itself in the rubber mouthpiece of his regulator. Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I grabbed Graham’s arm and told him to stop and Deon, having anticipated what would happen next whipped out his dive knife, grabbed the line and cut it before Graham’s regulator could be yanked out of his mouth. At one point, the line was being pulled quite tight, so the poor fisherman must have thought he had the catch of his life at the end of his line!

We were just thankful that the hook found Graham’s regulator and had not landed in flesh! Ouch!! From that day forward, Graham has been known as “Graham Galjoen” (Galjoen being a type of fish!).

About 9 years ago, whilst kitting up for our first boat dive in Mozambique, we strapped our dive knives onto our calves as we always do. Once on board, there was much sniggering and the words “Rambo” floated down the boat towards us. Our fellow divers were nudging each other and everyone was looking pointedly at our knives and I soon realised that nobody else was wearing a dive knife. I wasn’t sure whether to feel embarrassed or surprised.

This was a double-tank dive so during our surface interval, I chatted to the DM about this and he said that nobody needed to dive with knives in Mozambique. We kept ours on for fear of losing them on the boat and were glad we did when, during the safety stop on the second dive, we had to free the DM’s cylinder net from a rather large hook and line - belonging to the boat’s skipper who had been catching fish whilst we were diving!

So, regardless of where we are diving, I always take a dive knife with me. To avoid the sarcastic “Rambo” comments in Mozambique however, I prefer to use a small dive knife attached to my BC… just in case! You never know when your knife will come in handy!

Our oceans are in trouble!

I came across this video on YouTube and just wanted to share it with you.

This video was made for WPCA by world renowned cinematographer Bob Talbot. It reminds us that we only have one ocean and that it is in trouble. Although 90% of the worlds biggest fish are gone, we need to try to do what ever we can to save what we still have left. What we do today will determine the state of the ocean our children and their children will inherit.

Warning - some visuals are quite disturbing.

Chicken Vests are Not for Chickens!

I can’t believe how many scuba divers living in and around Cape Town do not dive in the waters of the Cape!


Hello! Do you know what you are missing?!


“It’s too cold!” is the most frequent excuse I’m given. “I only dive in the Red Sea / Mozambique / Mauritius…” And I use the word “excuse” because that’s all it is!

“It’s just too cold” doesn’t hang it with me. Sure, you can’t dive comfortably here in a shorty or a 3 mm wetsuit - and you’d probably feel a lot more comfortable wearing gloves and booties but c’mon guys (and girls!) - there are 7mm wetsuits, with 7mm jackets you can wear over them (that’s a total of 14mm!).

And if you get really cold, you can pop on a chicken vest (no, not something with feathers you borrow from the fancy dress hire place…. you know…. one of those thinner neoprene vests that comes with or without a hood). And for those who want to, there are semi-dries and dry suits…

Once you’re snugly inside your 7mm (with or without jacket), you pop on your booties (also great for climbing over rocks – which I wouldn’t recommend doing without booties anyhow!) and tootle over to the entry point. Here you put on your gloves and pull up your hood. On with your mask (and don’t forget Sasha, that stuff you’re supposed to put inside your mask to stop it from fogging up is called spit!) and your fins; inflate your BC, put your DV in your mouth and jump in when the swell surges up and gently washes you away from your starting point. Voilá! You’re in and about to experience something really quite special – diving in the Cape.

I am sure a lot of it is “all in the mind” too… if you expect to be cold, you probably will be. If you know you’re not diving in 28˚ water, and are prepared for that initial rush when your face hits the water and goes from air temperature of 30˚ to sea temperature of 14˚C or 18˚C, it really is not a big deal at all! It’s only momentary!

As soon as you descend and start finning, you are entranced and surrounded by a surreal world filled with colourful marine life. The thought of getting cold just does not enter your mind as you glide between the kelp fronds watching the life underwater pass you by, cosy in your neoprene! There is so much to see that getting cold doesn’t come into the equation.

Funnily enough, the coldest I have ever been was in Tofo (Mozambique) in January this year when the water was an extraordinary 18˚C (instead of its usual 26˚ - 28˚) and all I’d packed was a 5mm shorty….

As long as y
ou are prepared and have the right equipment, diving in the Cape is one of the most exciting, awesome and beautiful experiences.

PS - and when someone your size offers to lend you their chicken vest, don’t expect to be handed a bunch of feathers – accept it gracefully, it’ll keep you even warmer!

Shark Cage Diving & Stunning Dives in Rooi Els

We’ve just had an awesome weekend of diving.


Wit
h two absolutely amazing dives at Coral Gardens in Rooi Els and some shark cage diving on Saturday – what could be better?

On Friday and Sunday, we had some early morning dives at Coral Gardens in Rooi Els. On both days, the sea was calm and visibility ranged between 8 and 10 metres. Water temperature was a warm 15˚C. We enjoyed the beautiful underwater scenery at a relaxed pace and managed to take some really great photos.

On our way back to Gordon’s Bay on Friday morning, we watched a Southern Right Whale supporting its newly-born calf on the surface just metres from the shore. A rare and truly beautiful sight.

Coral Gardens involves a bit of clambering over a few tricky and sometimes slippery rocks. The entry and exit sites need to be chosen carefully too. We’ve been diving here for the past 10 years - if you’re keen to experience the very best of Coral Gardens for yourself, give us a call and we’ll take you there!

On Saturday, we drove through to Kleinbaai to do some great white shark cage diving.

Kleinbaai is our preferred place to view great whites as sightings are really frequent. We were fortunate enough to be joined by white shark legend Andre Hartmann, who shared quite a bit of background on the sharks in the area. The operator we use is the pioneer of shark cage diving in Kleinbaai and they run an extremely professional, eco-friendly business.

After arriving at 08h00, we met for breakfast, followed by a professional and in-depth briefing of what to expect and how things worked on the boat. After being split into three groups of four, we climbed up the steps onto the boat and launched down the slipway.

It took a quick 15 minutes to reach the site which, in the summer months is Shark Bay. During the winter, shark viewing is carried out at Dyer Island.
It is believed that sharks visit the shallows and shoreline of Shark Bay during the summer months to socialise, breed, and give birth. Consequently, most sharks in this area are either juveniles of 1.5 metres or female sharks of an average length of 3.5 metres.

As soon as we were anchored, the staff dropped the cage and started chumming the water. No meat or big bits of fish was used to attract the sharks. A bucket is filled wit
h sea water and minced tuna, sardines, fish blood and fish oil is poured onto the water.

This forms a slick on the surface of the sea which is then blown along by the
wind, to attract the sharks. A couple of tuna heads were also tied to a buoy on the end of a rope and thrown into the water about 10 metres to the left of the cage. The fish heads are used as a visual point of reference for the sharks (and not to “catch” the sharks – this is not (!) fishing). The sharks are first attracted to the boat by the smell of the chum, they then see the fish heads and swim towards them to investigate.

The fish heads are pulled towards the boat and out of the water as the shark approaches. Being inquisitive, the shark then follows the fish heads, bringing it closer to the cage for a better view. The aim is not to allow the shark to bite the heads, although t
his can happen when the visibility is bad and the shark moves quickly upwards from the depths.

A cut-out shape in the form
of a seal is made from foam and wood is also tied to a rope and floats to the right of the cage. This too is pulled towards the boat to attract inquisitive sharks.

After just over an hour of patient waiting and “shark talk”, a fin was spotted about 50 metres away from the boat and within 3 minutes, the first shark arrived.

For the next 3 hours, our groups took it in turns to drop into the cage, hold onto special handles and breathe through our snorkels, viewing the sharks through the narrow “window” between the bars in the sturdy cage. Whilst not in the water, watching the sharks swim towards the boat and sometimes spy-hopping (popping their heads out of the water to have a better look at us all) in such close proximity was also an amazing experience.

All too soon, it was time to return to shore for lunch. On the way back, we spotted a number of Southern Right Whales (named this as they used to be the “right” whales to catch…), including an albino calf with its mother.

This is an amazing experienc
e, not to be missed – and you don’t have to be a scuba diver or have used a snorkel before to view the sharks. In fact, even if you aren’t tempted to go into the shark cage, viewing the sharks from the deck is absolutely fantastic.

To observe these sharks in their natural habitat enables us to appreciate their power and beauty and to realise that they are inquisitive, intelligent creatures and not the man-hunters that many believe them to be. This is something you really have to experience for yourself. Contact us today and we’ll make it happen!


Don't miss our Opening Special!


Our new scuba diving centre has just opened in Gordon’s Bay (Cape Town, South Africa).

Ok, so we haven’t had the “Grand Opening” yet, if you’re wondering why you haven’t received your invitation (check your mail box soon!).


To mark this momentous occasion, we are having an opening special… The first 20 customers to sign up and complete their Scuba Diver course with us before 30th November 2009 will pay a special price of R1 500 for the course (please note that an additional R200 will be charged for your NAUI registration fee).

Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to learn to scuba dive in a relaxed, friendly and safe environment. If you’re already a qualified diver, encourage your partner, your family, your friends and colleagues to contact us and within two weeks they could be joining you on all your dives and sharing your excitement. Far better than having to listen jealously about the amazing dives you’ve just had...

Scuba diving is a way of life and there is nothing better than sharing it with those you love (just ask us – we know!).

If you hadn’t already noticed, we are passionate about scuba diving. At Indigo Scuba, we want you to enjoy the entire diving experience - from the moment you first put on your mask, to when you dive some (or all!) of the most beautiful and exciting dive sites around the world. At Indigo Scuba, we make sure that happens.

Give Deon a call today (phone 083 268 1851 or email info@indigoscuba.com) - we look forward to having you on board!


First of this season's summer dives - Coral Gardens at Rooi Els!


With the South Easter having blown strongly this past week, we decided to dive Rooi Els this morning. The South Easterly wind blows during summer in the Cape, bringing clear water and great dives to the Eastern side of False Bay.

One of our favourite shore entry dives here is Coral Gardens. The entry is in a narrow channel which can sometimes cause a bit of a swell, so getting in and out of the water needs to be timed quite well.

After a short climb over the rocks, made easier by a special clip (new to our dive shop!) that enables you to attach your fins, mask and gloves to a D-ring on your BC (freeing up your hands to steady yourself on the rocks), we kitted up and entered the water.

We had a fantastic dive, exploring gullies and cracks in the reef running close to shore. Visibility was about 8 metres and water temperature was 15˚C.

This is the first time we’ve dived Rooi Els this season and it was great to see new corals and sea fans taking root on the sides of the gullies and many varied eggs waiting to hatch. There was so much to see – forests of feather stars with their waving arms adorning entire walls, pale orange lacy false corals delicately covering huge boulders; overhanging walls covered in sinuous and flagellate sea fans and stubby pink and purple noble corals growing in sheltered parts of the reef.

We were followed on our dive by smaller hottentot and, for quite a while, we were accompanied by a small shoal of yellow strepies. We came across a “baby’s toes” snail which is rarely seen, and spotted numerous orange and blue gas flame nudibranchs. There were also many crabs and crayfish of different sizes hiding in holes amongst the rocks. The marine and plant life here is colourful, diverse and prolific with colours ranging from bright blue, bright pink, purple, orange and red.

Hopefully this is the start of summer diving and many more visits to this top dive site!

PS - Don’t forget to subscribe to our mailing list so that you can be kept up to date with our forthcoming dives!



Indigo Scuba does some hoovering!

This weekend was spent vacuuming a swimming pool.


We’d heard that a newly-built municipal swimming pool was unable to open to the public due to a large amount of sand and fine building rubble lying on the bottom that could not be picked up by the filtration system.

This was one of those typical situations where the local municipalities spend millions of Rand building facilities for the public, only to refuse additional funding for the cleaning and upkeep of these facilities once completed…

So, we pitched in, donned our diving gear and spent Saturday hoovering the bottom of the pool.

Hoovering was not an easy task as the make-shift “hoover” we’d been given to use comprised on big, heavy pipe with a life of its own…

Kate spent most of her time swimming on the bottom, picking up bits of gravel and stirring up the sediment in the hope that the lighter particles would be sucked up by the filters. The others "manned the pipe”.

This was slow and arduous work, but we were cheered on in the knowledge that soon, the locals would be able to use the 25m long pool for much-needed swimming lessons, swimming galas and family outings.

Who knows, perhaps one day the pool will be used for teaching confined water classes to scuba diving students!

Another great dive at Castle Rock!

Yesterday morning we met with some of our recently qualified Advanced Divers at Long Beach in Simon’s Town, and drove through to Castle Rock, where we had decided to dive.

As it was still early in the morning (8 a.m.), there were very few scuba divers out and about. After kitting up alongside the road, we took a gentle stroll down the cliff path to the beach. It was low tide and there was much hilarity in getting into the water, but eventually we were all ready for the short surface swim before descending.

Our divers had just returned from a diving holiday in Madagascar where Ella (real name withheld!) had gotten so used to diving without a hoodie, that she totally forgot to pull hers up until just before we descended, when we reminded her that the water temperature was 14 and not 26 ˚C!!

When we reached the bottom, there was a bit of surge, and we spent the dive being gently washed to and fro on our swim around the main rocks. Water temperature stayed at a warm 14˚C (yes, there is such a thing!) and visibility ranged between 5m and 8m.

We finned past Red Roman and were followed by a few of the more inquisitive ones; came across beautiful orange noble coral on the rock walls, huge orange wall sponges, brown and yellow elegant feather stars, beds of dark, banded brittle stars, purple, green and red Cape sea urchins, thousands of small red-chested sea cucumbers with their bright green feeding tentacles extended and beautiful salmon gas flame and chocolate-chip nudibranchs. We discovered a huge octopus hiding under one of the overhangs and found a very large evil eye blassop resting on a rock.

There was so much there, that it’s hard to remember everything that we saw!

After our dive, it was a short climb back up the cliff to our cars. The sun had come out and after we’d packed away our gear, we headed for a toasted sandwich and cuppacino at Dixies where we enjoyed the springtime sun and watched a huge flock of cormorants skimming over the surface of the water. Another great experience!

Quarry, Glen Cairn

This morning, we took some students to dive Quarry in Glen Cairn. The sea was beautifully flat and perfect for this dive site which requires good entry and exit timing when there’s a bit of a swell.

After a short surface swim, we descended into the kelp forest and followed the reef out to deeper water. The rocky gullies were covered with feather stars and the sand in between was crawling with brittle stars.

Hundreds and hundreds of tiny orange sea cucumbers adorned the rocks and Puffadder shy sharks patrolled the crevices.


This is a fantastic site with loads to see. Here, you will find many fish – from tiny fry to fully grown Red Roman. At one point, we were surrounded by so many fish, it felt as if we were diving one of the fish-rich reefs of Mozambique – Doodles in Ponta do Ouro with cold water, rather than tropical fish!


After 50 minutes, we finished our dive with a gentle swim underwater back to shore. Yet another great False Bay dive!

Diving in Mozambique

We’ve been diving in Mozambique for the past 9 years and just can’t get enough of the clear warm waters, tropical fish, mantas, whale sharks, the friendly people and relaxed way of life...


We make at least one trip to Mozambique each year, usually in July - and sometimes December / January as well..... but with the opening of our new dive centre in Gordon's Bay towards the beginning of August, we've had to forgo our July trip this year.

To make up for the lack of a "Moz" visit, Kate made up a video of one of our dives to Manta Reef that was filmed on our visit there in January this year...



Over the years, we’ve dived in Ponta do Ouro, Guinjata Bay, Tofo, Morrungulo and Pomene. Every one of these dive spots is unique and has something different to offer.

Our first few years of diving in Mozambique were spent exploring the reefs around Ponta do Ouro. Many of the reefs here are reasonably shallow for Mozambique, ranging in depth from 10 - 15m to an average of about 17 - 25 metres. All reefs teem with tropical fish including Lion Fish, Parrot Fish, Trigger fish, Angel Fish, Surgeons, Potato and other types of Grouper, numerous types of Moray Eels as well as interesting critters such as leaf fish and frog fish hiding amongst the nooks and crannies.

There are also a number of exciting and exhilarating dives such as Atlantis at 42 metres with its slabs of rock, gigantic nudibranchs, green coral trees; and the renowned Pinnacles (43 metres) where one can spot Zambezis, Hammerheads, Eagle Rays whilst hanging in the blue.

After diving in Ponta for a number of years, we soon received the “call” of the “North” and explored Guinjata Bay, Pomene, Morrungulo and Tofo. The diving we did at Pomene was the best we’ve ever experienced on the African continent – it’s unspoilt and wild - the “Garden of Eden” of Mozambique!

Most of our diving over the past couple of years has been in Tofo, a small village just outside the lovely town of Inhambane, located in the province of the same name.

Tofo dives are very varied and exciting - you never know what you will encounter - from peaceful whale sharks to frog fish, white tip reef sharks, zebra sharks, manta rays - you name it, you'll see it in Tofo. There are relaxing shallower dives such as Crocodile Rock and Praia de Rocha and then exciting deeper dives, further North, where one can sometimes encounter strong currents and the pelagics that accompany them such as Amazon and Oasis.

Ultimately, our hearts belong to Tofo – in fact Kate jokes this is our second home as we have been there so many times, we’re literally locals! The way of life in Tofo is so slow, nobody walks - it's more of a "shuffle", and you soon adopt this relaxed feeling after arriving. This is a fantastic place to dive, unwind and experience the real Mozambique...

Back home in South Africa, every time we catch a whiff of the unmistakable smell of peri-peri frango (chicken) or peri-peri prawns, we get that "home sick" feeling for Mozambique! Even the smell of wood smoke makes us hanker for the donkey-boilers that so many of the lodges and camp sites use to make hot water for us at the end of a long day diving...

Why not join us on our next trip to Mozambique and see what we mean!

I'm a fish! Kate's story....

Although I am not involved in Indigo Scuba full time (it is my husband, Deon’s business), diving is a passion – a lifestyle. Corny as it may sound, I live to dive and dive to live.

When I’m diving, I’m no longer the General Manager of the Cape Winemaker’s Guild with the associated stresses of managing 36 winemakers and co-ordinating South Africa’s top wine auction (amongst a zillion other things!). When I’m under water, I’m not a mother to three teenage daughters - I am a fish … or at least I feel like one!

Diving gives me the opportunity to exist in another dimension and to explore a different world - one that is exciting, constantly changing and never the same. Diving is an adventure!

Although I had grown up at the beach, snorkelling since the age of 9 and surfing since the age of 12, my first scuba diving class was a total disaster.

I was terrified, but determined to do it – I wanted to explore for myself what I was seeing on the television and what my friends were raving about. Fortunately I had an extremely patient instructor. I was doing the course on my own so I didn’t have anyone to compare notes with. Being a perfectionist and because I was nervous and had trouble mask-clearing, I thought I was a disaster and that I would never get it right.

I was even too scared to swim up and down the pool on my own under water and insisted on holding my instructor’s hand the whole way. Feeling like a total failure, I went home and practiced mask clearing in the swimming pool all night. Eventually I got it right…

Before my second pool session, my instructor gave a potential customer a “try dive”. It was obvious she did not really want to learn to dive and was under pressure from her boyfriend to give it a go. She was too scared to put on a wetsuit and didn’t even want to put her head in the water! I sat at the bottom of the pool next to her, staring at her shivering, goose-bumped legs, singing “I will survive” by Gloria Gaynor to myself. Just then, I realised that I wasn’t doing to badly after all! I could breathe underwater and I suddenly wasn’t scared any more.

Things improved in leaps and bounds from there on… In fact, I enjoyed my first sea dive so much that I lead my dive instructor around instead. I can clearly remember thinking how beautiful everything looked – just like an underwater garden – with kelp swaying in the water and tracing beautiful patterns in the sand, tiny fish flitting around everywhere and sea urchins and anemones resembling brightly-coloured flowers. I didn’t even panic when the old and decrepit BC that I had been borrowing from a friend kept inflating of its own accord. I just disconnected it and inflated it orally when I needed some buoyancy. Simple as that.

People often ask me “isn’t diving dangerous?” Sure it is – if you’re not properly trained, if you’re over-confident, if you take stupid risks, push everything to the limit and especially if you panic. I’ve dropped my weight belt at 30 metres, burst an ear drum at 12 metres, experienced the ear-ringing effects of nitrogen narcosis at 42 metres and been fortunate to see a great white without a cage. I’m still here to tell the tale (and more!). With good training, careful diving, knowing what to do should things go wrong and learning to breathe calmly and not to panic, one can overcome those curve-balls that diving might throw at you occasionally.

I have never regretted taking that initial decision to learn to scuba dive - diving has taken me to exotic places both locally and across the globe. I’ve scuba dived with dolphins at Sha’ab Ali and explored the Thistlegorm in the Red Sea, dived with hammerhead sharks and Zambezis at Pinnacles in Ponta do’Ouro, with Ragged-tooth sharks in Umkomaas and Whale sharks and manta rays in Tofo, Mozambique.

Throughout the world of diving, I’ve made the most amazing, interesting and entertaining friends. No matter where I have travelled, I’ve always been welcomed with open arms, enthusiastic advice and some really good diving tales…

There’s a whole world out there to be discovered and all that you need to do is learn to dive!

What are you waiting for?

Kate Jonker

Castle Rock, Simon's Town

Yesterday we dived at one of our favourite dive sites on the Western side of False Bay – Castle Rock just outside Simon’s Town.

This dive site is situated in a marine reserve and the plant and fish life here is flourishing - everywhere you look, there is so much to see.

In fact, so much to see that you don’t know where to look first! My favourite fish are the Red Roman with their bright colours and inquisitive nature. There were so many of these as well as Hottentot and Zebra that followed us on our dive – all of varying sizes from small juveniles to larger adults – proof that these fish are able to grow, mature and breed in this protected area.

The huge underwater boulders are absolutely covered with pale orange sinuous sea fans, orange, red and pink encrusting sponges, huge orange wall sponges, feather stars, orange and purple soft corals, cauliflower soft corals, false plum, knobbly and striped anemones, red bait… the list goes on and on and on.

We swam around the boulders, through a beautiful swim through whose walls and roof were overgrown with marine life, amongst the kelp forests (see our first ever underwater video, which is a bit of trial and error!) and relaxed, just watching the fish and puffadder shy sharks swim by.



All too soon, the dive came to an end - this is one of those dives that is always too short! Visibility was a good 8 to 10 metres and water was a warm 14˚C.

After the dive it was a short climb back to the car where we un-kitted (exactly WHAT is the opposite of kitting up?!), got dressed, followed by a much-needed lunch (and drink) whilst we swapped notes on what we had seen and marvelled at the fantastic dive we’d just had!

You must come and join us next time!

Jacques-Yves Cousteau (11.6.1910 - 25.6.1997)

Were he alive today, Jacques-Yves Cousteau would have celebrated his 99th birthday this past week. Born in France on 11 June 1910, this explorer, ecologist, filmmaker, innovator, author and researcher co-developed and perfected the aqua-lung with French engineer Emil Gagnan, making it possible for us to experience the wonders of the underwater world as we do today.

Cousteau is well known for bringing the world of whales, dolphins, sharks and sunken treasure into the homes of the public through his pioneering Television series The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. He was also extremely active in drawing attention to the irreversible effects of environmental destruction and co-founded the Cousteau Society for the Protection of Ocean Life in 1973, which today boasts over 300 000 members.

In order to continue his explorations and to further public awareness of environmental issues, Cousteau bought the ship Calypso in 1948. This was financed through the production of numerous films such as his renowned “The Silent World” (1956) and World Without Sun (1966). He also wrote many books and in his first book “The Silent World” published in 1953, he correctly predicted that porpoises used echo-location for navigation after watching how a group of porpoises navigated their way through the Straits of Gibraltar.

Cousteau died on June 25, 1997 at the age of 87. Although his scientific credentials have been challenged by some, Cousteau never claimed expert status in any discipline, referring to himself as “an oceanographic technician”.

And as Jacques-Yves Cousteau so rightly said, “The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever”.

55 Pilot Whales beached at Kommetjie, South Africa

We were sickened by the sight of over 55 Pilot Whales that lay stranded and dying on Kommetjie beach in the Cape Peninsula this weekend. Nothing could be done to save the majority of these whales and it was extremely distressing to see them flailing their tails helplessly on the Beach.

According to news reports, the Pilot Whales started beaching themselves early on Saturday morning. Despite rough seas, freezing weather and strong currents, members of the local community teamed together with volunteers from four NSRI stations to try to return the whales back to the sea.

Six front-end loaders were also brought in to help return the whales to the ocean but many of those that were successfully returned either came straight back to shore or were washed onto beaches further up the coast.

The rescue efforts were thought to be prolonging the agony of the whales and Marine and Coastal Management scientist Mike Meyer decided to remove the helpless whales from the sea and halt the rescue attempts.

According to Craig Lambinon of the NSRI, about five had died from natural causes. It was eventually decided to euthenise those that could not be returned to the sea. In the end 34 of the whales were put out of their agony with a pistol shot to the head.


Nobody is quite sure what caused the whales to beach themselves and although sonar is often thought to be the reason, a spokesman for the South African Navy reported that this type of technology is not used in South Africa. Nan Rice, head of the Dolphin Action and Protection group said that the whales could have become stranded due to a navigational error.


Above photo: Nic Bothma / EPA

Link to photo slide show (Guardian, UK)

Rare albino whale shark spotted off the Galapagos Islands

Divers were stunned by a sighting of a huge albino whale shark as it glided through the waters off the coast of Darwin, an island in the Galapagos group.

The female whale shark, believed to be the only one of its kind, was first spotted by diver and naturalist Antonio Moreano in the Galapagos islands when he took a group of tourists on a nature cruise.

Antonio knew he had to get up close and personal with the placid creatu
re and see the whale shark in its own domain. "It was 4:30pm and I and six guests were at Darwin’s Island, set to make the fourth dive of the day." said Mr Moreano.

"As we were on the boat checking our equipment I saw a big white thing at the surface of the water. At the beginning I could not tell what it was - I had never seen anything like it before - so I decided to put my mask on and put my face over into the water".

"Right after this I explained to my guests that it looked like a white whale shark and we were going to all jump in the water and try to follow it. I told everyone to keep a distance and not disturb it so we all jumped in the water and followed it for five minutes. I kept up swimming with it and I got very close - even the eye was white".

Mr Moreano dived to around 50 feet as he attempted to catch up with the whale shark. "I free dove 50ft down and is when I finally managed to get some pictures of it" he explained. "It was difficult because I did not want to frighten it away so I stayed a few metres away".


The whole experience lasted around 30 minutes.
From the size and shape of its fins, Mr Moreano identified the albino animal as a female.

"All whale sharks found in Darwin’s Arch are big fat females, we have never seen a male - or at least I haven’t" he said.

"There is a big mystery about our whale sharks: they all show up at Darwin and Wolf from June until November and they all go in circles around the arch dive sites."


"Unfortunately no-one has seen this albino whale shark since."


www.dailymail.co.uk

From a report by Richard Shears

Pyramid Rock & Spotted Sevengill Cow Sharks

Early Saturday morning greeted us warm but slightly overcast as we set out for Simons Town and Pyramid Rock.

We kitted up alongside the road and entered the water to the left of Castle Rock. We had a bit of a surface swim, but took it easy. Fortunately the water was flat with no surge and before long; we reached the “pyramid” and descended.

The visibility was absolutely amazing – 15 metres plus and the water temperature was a warm 14 degrees C. This is a great kelp forest dive, with the sea bed strewn with boulders covered with life - teat sponges, brain sponges, violet-spotted anemones, strawberry anemones and colourful sea urchins. Large Red Roman and Hottentot swam with us amongst the kelp.

After a while, we sat down in a clearing and waited. It wasn’t long before we spied a seven gill cow shark swimming lazily towards us. It swam through the group, turned around and swam through us again. Soon it was joined by another – and another – and at one stage we counted seven of these prehistoric-like sharks swimming in our clearing.

Spotted Sevengill Cow Sharks are also known as Broadnose Sevengill Sharks and Cow Sharks. They can grow up to about 3.5 metres; have one small dorsal fin three quarters the way down their backs and a long tail, similar to that of a thresher shark. They are grey in colour with black spots and have seven pairs of gill slits (hence the name!) Sevengill Cowsharks feed on rays and smaller sharks, fish, crustaceans and marine animals. These sharks have been known to hunt on seals in mid water. As they are inquisitive animals, they could be potentially dangerous but so far there have been no reports on humans.

Photo of shark: Zsilavecz, Guido
www.fishbase.org

Why did the seal try to cross the road?

Was it because he wanted to get to the other side?

Nope, this is not a joke. We've been reading more and more about seals leaving the sea and wandering our local streets. So much so that one of Strand's dive centres has set up a call centre should locals discover seals in their backstreets (or gardens... or shopping malls!).

This weekend, the first of our winter storms hit the Cape and boy, did it arrive with a vengeance! On Saturday morning, we took a drive to check out the waves. On our travels, we passed a police car pulled up on the pavement and, being the nosey people we are, slowed down to check out what was happening. And there, about to cross the road at the pedestrian crossing was a baby Cape Fur Seal. We jumped out to see if we could do anything to help.

The policeman was on the phone to the NSRI, asking them to come and put the seal back in the water (poor thing - I wouldn't want to be in that washing machine either).

Two passers-by, however, decided to do their good deed for the day. One donned thick rubber gloves that he'd grabbed from his car (he was a plumber) and the other held a hessian bag, ready to put the seal inside if necessary (very gallant).

Rubber Gloves picked up the seal as if it were a kitten and walked down the path to the beach. After about 100m of behaving itself, the seal suddenly lashed out at Rubber Gloves's face. He promptly put the seal down on the grass. Seal then decided to go for Rubber Gloves' leg and had a tug of war with his jeans. Quite funny really, despite the torrents of rain that were now falling...

After a while, seal was again picked up, run down the path by Rubber Gloves and plonked unceremoniously on the beach, where he hopped down to the water and swam out to sea.

This was the smallest seal I have ever seen and can just say that thank goodness it hadn't been a bigger one! We might have needed the NSRI after all!

But where had he been going?

Second species of Manta Ray discovered

Andrea Marshall, who has been conducting Manta Ray Research in Tofo for the past five years talks to SaveOurSeas about discovering a second species of giant manta ray.

On our last two visits to Tofo (January 2009 and July 2008), we had some amazing sightings of these graceful creatures.



The catching of Mantas by local fishermen is still legal and Andrea and the diving community of Tofo are educating the locals as to the importance of Manta Rays to the tourism industry. Many tourists travel to Tofo to view its famous Mantas and Whale sharks and should the number of Mantas decline, so too will the number of tourists and ultimately the revenue brought into the area.

Killer Whales spotted in False Bay


We had Killer Whales (Orcas) in False Bay last week! They were hunting a huge pod of dolphins (which, on its own was an amazing site).

The front page of "The Argus", our local Cape Town newspaper featured an amazing photo of a Killer Whale with a huge dolphin in its mouth. According to reports, Killer Whales do come into False Bay on occasion, but this was one of the few visits we've witnessed.

We also saw Killer Whales in Tofo (Mozambique) on our trip there last July. It was fascinating to watch them hunting. In this case, they were hunting a mother humpback whale and her calf and the chase went on for hours.

About Killer Whales:

There are 3 distinct species of these warm blooded, air breathing mammals: Resident Killer Whales, Transient Killer whales, and Off-shore Killer Whales. The main factors which set each species apart are social behavior, physical appearance, preferred food, and vocal dialects. At this stage, there is little known of the Off-Shore species of Killer Whales as they are seldom seen in protected coastal waters. Although the travelling ranges of Residents Killer Whales, Transients Killer Whales, and Off-shores Killer Whales overlap, they have never been seen to mix.

Resident Killer Whales eat predominantly fish and although they are often seen in the vicinity of other marine mammals they usually ignore them. Transients Killer Whales, in contrast to Residents, feed almost exclusively on marine mammals or seabirds. The favoured prey of transients is harbour seals, sea lions, and porpoises. Very little is known about the diet of the Off Shore species, but it is believed that they prey on fish for at least part of the year, however preying on Marine Mammals is also possible.

Killer whales often hunt cooperatively in pods for food. They work together to encircle and herd prey into a small area before attacking. When hunting a large whale, a pod of killer whales may attack from several angles (generally transients).

The conical and interlocking teeth of killer whales are well suited for a wide variety of prey, from small schooling fish to large whales. The number of teeth varies among individuals - but there are usually 10 to 14 teeth on each side of the jaw, a total of 40 to 56 teeth. Each tooth is about 7.6 cm (3 in.) long and approximately 2.5 cm (1 in.) in diameter.

Adult killer whales eat approximately 3% to 4% of their body weight in food per day, fully weaned calves can eat up to approximately 10% of their body weight during growth periods.

Male killer whales, or bulls, begin maturing at 12 to 14 years of age and attain physical maturity at about 20 years. Most males probably reach a length of 8 to 9 metres. Females, or cows, average about 7 metres in length and reach reproductive maturity at about 14 to 15 years.

Source: Whale Images.com

SAS Transvaal Wreck, Smitswinkel Bay, Simon's Town

A bit late in writing this post I'm afraid. It's been really hectic at Indigo Scuba this week. But sorry, that's no excuse...

Last weekend we had a great dive on the SAS Transvaal. Sean and Jenny joined us from Gauteng and this was their first Cape dive. They'd just come back from diving the Red Sea, so from one wreck (Thistlegorm) to another...

OK, so SAS Transvaal doesn't have the motorbikes and trucks, wellington boots and old tyres. She does, however, have some great marine life and we spotted a number of pyjama sharks, orange gas flame nudibranchs, hottentot and many different sea fans, soft corals and sponges.

Lying at 36 metres on the sand and with her deck at 24m, we had a 30 minute dive, followed by an entertaining saftey stop as we were joined by a Cape fur seal who kept us amused with its antics.

The SAS Transvaal was built in Glasgow, Scotland in 1944 for the Royal Navy and was originally named HMS Loch Aird. She was later bought by the South African navy, renamed HMSAS Transvaal and later SAS Transvaal. She was scuttled by the South African Navy in Smitswinkel Bay in the early 1970s to form an artificial reef.

Crosses, Rooi Els


Today we had the sea to ourselves! Not sure where the other divers were, but they certainly missed out. We had a fantastic dive at Crosses – the sea was flat with a slight swell and visibility was approximately 8 metres.

After kitting up in the car park at the top of the cliff, we took a gentle stroll through beautiful scenery down a path to the rocks. The dive site starts in a gully where an easy but well-timed entry is required. We were followed on our dive by two very inquisitive Cape Fur Seals, one of which took a liking to Kate’s yellow fins!

There were loads of puff adder shy sharks patrolling the crevices between the rocks and in many places the walls were covered with redbait. We also discovered a Hotlips Spider Crab, extremely well camouflaged against a wall of kelp, soft corals and elegant feather stars. This was an exciting find as they are very well camouflaged and often overlooked. Unfortunately, our dive time was finally up and we had to say “goodbye” to our seal companions. This was probably our last “Eastern Side” dive until next Summer!

Outer Castle, Simon's Town

As the wind had dropped on Thursday and turned to a light North Westerly, a group of us drove across to the Western side of False Bay to dive Outer Castle in Simon's Town.


The Viz was good at 15 metres and the sea was like a mirror. Launching from Miller's Point, we reached the dive site within 5 minutes.

After a q
uick and relaxed kit up, we rolled back into the water and descended to the beautiful boulders covered with purple and green sea urchins, millions of small orange sea cucumbers, striped and plum anemones, feather stars and fragile-looking strawberry anemones.

Sinuous sea fans played host to sponge crabs and false lacy coral; Jaco spotted a pale pipe fish lying motionless in the sand (thanks for sharing that one with us Jaco!), we spotted a pyjama shark and huge Red Romans and Janbruins skulked inside the larger swim throughs. We were approached by a very shy gully shark that quickly turned tail when it saw Deon. Not surprising, really!

There was so much to see, I could go on forever. Why don't you come along next time to experience it for yourself?


Coral Gardens, Rooi Els

We've really had some great dives over the past few days.

On Friday we took Jan, from Germany, for his first ever South African dive. As the wind had been blowing South Easterly all week, we took him to our favourite dive sites in Rooi Els - Coral Gardens and Balcony.

Jan, who has dived all around the world, told us that these were some of the most interesting and enjoyable dives he has ever done. He particularly enjoyed photographing the orange and blue gas flame nudibranchs (see right), various sea fans, pink and orange noble corals, the myriad of beautiful soft corals - and was fascinated by the hoardes of crayfish hiding under the ledges in the deeper sections of these beautiful reefs.

It was great to be able to show a newcomer to South African diving the spectacular and diverse marine life we have in South Africa. We look forward to sharing this with many more of you soon!

Winter diving will soon be here!

Unfortunately the wind has been swinging around so much during the past week, we were unable to do any dives in Rooi Els this weekend.

This weekend was spent spring cleaning, sorting out and servicing kit - important things that need to be done in the world of scuba diving...

It will soon be winter, which means clear water diving on the Western side of False Bay. We're really looking forward to diving Castle Rock, A-Frame, Quarry, Outer Castle, Partridge Point and Whittle Rock (just some of our favourite dive sites) in the not too distant future.

 
Indigo Scuba News - Wordpress Themes is proudly powered by WordPress and themed by Mukkamu Templates Novo Blogger