africandiver issue 10

African DiverApril|MayIssue 10

Pelagic Magicby Jean Tresfon

Moving Sushi in Vietnamby Mike Markovina

Sardine Seafari in Algoa Bayby Cormac McCreesh

Sizing up Sharks in Mozambiqueby Clare Keating

EditorialWhat drives the beast in us that

propels us towards our doom as we plunder what nature gives us in abundance? What distracts us from our fate as we ignore and shut our eyes to the abuse we impose on our seas? And what arrogance sits within us that lead us to believe that what’s there is ours to be taken, not harvested?

All divers, whether sport, commercial, free divers or spearo’s, have felt the peaceful embrace of the sea at some time or another. We have all marvelled at the creatures we see, at some time or another. And we have all told tales of the emotional experiences of meeting up with the big sea creatures on our dives.

Lurking deep in our memory banks lie the sensations of womb-like nurture that we all lived in before our birth. Swaddled in amniotic fluid we lived in tune with our mother’s heartbeat. And rudely we were forced into life at our birth, leaving the comfort of mother’s womb behind.

To slip into the sea and dive is to return to a time before we were born - to move freely in

three-dimensional space with ease and grace. We feel the heartbeat of nature’s rhythm. Alone underwater, regardless of dive-buddies, we experience water fully and universally. The water strokes and caresses us and reduces us to the tactile beings we really are. Our senses heighten and our time becomes our own – our experiences become fully ours.

All too soon though, we surface and leave the sea behind. Returning to our lives we forget what we learnt and experienced and we lose our water-borne soul. Life does that to us. The busy-ness of living takes its toll.

But if you take the time to pause, and close your eyes and breathe slowly, you can find that place underwater. You can return in your mind and re-live those dives. Somewhere out there is a dive waiting to be dived with creatures to be seen and experiences to be had. It is your time to have … time to plan your next dive.

We welcome Rowan Toselli to our team. Rowan is our designer who has lifted the standard of the magazine to new heights. He has great plans for future editions and we hope you like what he has done. Welcome on board Rowan.

May your bubbles always be free.Cormac

ContentsPage 3

News

Page 7

Seychelles Diving - Two Worlds in one! by Clive Ferreira

Page 18

Moving Sushi in Vietnam by Mike Markovina

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Sardine Seafari in Algoa Bay by Cormac McCreesh

Page 28

Sizing up Sharks in Mozambique by Clare Keating

Page 33

Pelagic Magic by Jean Tresfon

Page 38

The Carnivorous Forests of Flase Bay by Georgine Jones

Page 43

Something Extraordinary Can Happen - Meaghen McCord

Page 49

Featured Photographer - Jean Tresfon

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NewsEMBARGO IN FORCE TILL 16:00, THURSDAY 25 MARCH, 2010

MEDIA RELEASE25 March 2010RESEARCH FACILITY PUTS SOUTH AFRICA ON GLOBAL MAP

Port Elizabeth - Marine research in Africa has taken a quantum leap with the launch of South Africa’s first in-shore research vessel at the Algoa Bay Yacht Club in Port Elizabeth today (Thursday March 25).

The unveiling of the technologically advanced “uKwabelana” and its Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) is being hailed “as one of the most significant events in the history of marine research in Africa”.

According to African Coalacanth Ecosytem Programme Manager Dr Angus Patterson, the uKwabelana, and submersible (ROV) “have the potential to place the Department of Science and Technology, National Research Foundation and research partners at the forefront of marine physical and biodiversity

sciences regionally and globally.”

He said the new 13m ski-boat and technology, funded by the Department of

Science and Technology, provided an ideal research platform and “a window to areas of the South African and African coast that have never been explored.”

Whereas SA marine scientists could previously only gather information up to a depth of 30m by scuba diving, now research observation can be taken remotely to depths of up to 300m.

The Department of Science and Technology funded vessel is therefore expected to make a significant contribution to national and international marine research.

“By generating new, cutting-edge knowledge of the largely unexplored and unknown offshore marine environment, South African marine science will be on a par with the rest of the world,’’ Patterson said.

The vessel will be fully equipped for overnight passages and is licensed as a Category A vessel that allows it to venture more than 40 nautical miles offshore. This will allow marine scientists to sample the entire ecosystem (physical oceanography,

marine geology, phytoplankton, zooplankton, infauna, fish, marine mammals and birds) from nearshore to past the continental shelf.

Built in Port Alfred, the vessel will be based in Port Elizabeth and run under the research programmes of the South African institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, the former JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology.

The uKwabelana, which means ‘to share’ in isiXhosa will be managed by SAIAB’s flagship research initiative the African Coelacanth Ecosystem Programme and as a National Facility of the National Research Foundation (NRF), the boat and its equipment will be available to all researchers around the coast of South Africa. The ROV will also be made available to the rest of the South Western Indian Ocean region through ACEP’s partnership with the Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystems Project (ASCLME).

“One of the most exciting opportunities of the platform is that its research has great relevance and application to our daily lives – it brings science to life,” Patterson said.

“The South African coastal and marine environment is one of the country’s most important assets as it plays the major role in regulating our climate, has tremendous natural biodiversity and supports

numerous communities through fisheries, tourism and mining.

“South Africa has more territory under water than on dry land yet an indication of just how little we know about the marine environment and the stresses we place on it, is the fact that it was only 10 years ago that we found a population of coelacanths living in the deepwater off Sodwana in Kwazulu-Natal, one of our most frequented coastal areas in the country.”

After the launch the ROV will form part of SAIAB’s International Year of Biodiversity 2010 display at Scifest Africa in the Thomas Pringle Hall at the Monument in Grahamstown from 26-31 March.

Issued by Deon Engelke – Inkanyezi (082 692 4382)

On Behalf of ACEP.Contact: Dr Angus

Patterson – 083 275 4407ACEP Manager

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BACKGROUND :The Depar tment of Sc ience

and Technolog y ( DST ) made fund ing ava i l ab le to ACEP through SAIAB to acqu ire a Remote ly Operated Veh ic le ( ROV ) and a coas t a l research p lat form ( large sk i -boat) to operate the ROV from.

The research p lat form wi l l be k i t ted out w i th the fo l lowing sc ient i f i c ins t rument s :

1. Acoust ic Doppler Cur rent Prof i le r (ADCP) to measure ocean cur rent s .

2 . Integrated GPS Echo-sounder to map the seaf loor

3. Dav i t and winch sys tem to launch and ret r ieve sc ient i f i c ins t rument s , e .g.

a . 80 micron mesh phy top lank ton r ing net s

b. 90 micron mesh modi f ied WP2 zooplank ton net

c . 1 0 0 and 20 0 micron mesh Bongo net to co l lec t zooplank ton and ichthyoplank ton

d. 60 micron mesh P lank ton Pump

e. V an Veen gr ab to co l lec t sed iment samples f rom the seaf loor

4. Remote ly Operated Veh ic le ( ROV ) and f l i ght

pane l in the cab in . The ROV wi l l be equ ipped wi th :

a . Cameras (2 h igh reso lut ion co lour v ideo cameras and one low l ight b lack and whi te camera)

b. Sonarc . U l t r a Shor t Base l ine

( USBL) nav igat ion sys temd. 5 - func t ion man ipu lator

arm to co l lec t samples f rom the seaf loor

5. Compressor to f i l l SCUBA cy l inder s .

SA Marine Science can do now what it could not before.

SA’s research f leet cons is t s l arge ly of l arge research sh ips that cost s tens of thousands of r ands per day to operate . Funds to do near -shore research are never su f f ic ient to a f ford more than a s ing le day on these large research sh ips , so coast a l and in -shore sc ient i s t s need vesse l s that are b ig enough to do most of the work the b ig vesse l s can do, s t ay out overn ight , but that are not proh ib i t i ve ly expens ive . An operat iona l p lat form i s requ ired to launch and ret r ieve the ROV dur ing operat ions . The ver sat i l i t y and

l i ght we ight of the Fa lcon ROV makes i t poss ib le to launch f rom smal ler p lat forms than large and expens ive research vesse l s . A su i t ab ly sa fe and s t ab le operat iona l p lat form i s a l arge 13 m sk i -boat . The advantages of a sma l ler l aunch ing p lat form are :

cheaper operat ing cost s (there fore more sus t a inab le in the long term) ;

more ver sat i le ( increased ava i lab i l i t y, sha l lower min imum work ing depth , increased maneuverab i l i t y and access ib i l i t y) ;

I t i s a va luab le a sset not on ly to ACEP but a l so to ASCLME and other nat iona l and internat iona l research programmes. Tra in ing sc ient i s t s f rom the reg ion on large modern research sh ips prov ides wonder fu l oppor tun i t ies for the ind iv idua l s but they a l so need to t r a in on a vesse l that can be a f forded by the ir government s and research ins t i tut ions . uKwabe lana w i l l prov ide an access ib le and ver y va luab le t r a in ing p lat form for the reg ion.

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Editor’s noteThe Chartered Institution

of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) is an independent professional body and a registered charity, advancing the science and practice of water and environmental management for a clean, green and sustainable world.

For more information on CIWEM’s Environmental Photographer of the Year, please go to www.ciwem.org/arts/photographer

ENVIRONMENTAL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR GOES UNDERWATER

Three-quarters of the world’s surface is water and almost half of the world’s population lives on or close to a coastline, but to many the wonders of the underwater world are virtually unknown. New for 2010, the Underwater World category in CIWEM’s Environmental Photographer of the Year allows you to share the incredible secrets the oceans, lakes and even ponds hold, as well as highlight the vital role they play in our world’s survival

In its fourth year, CIWEM’s Environmental Photographer of the Year is one of the fastest growing photographic competitions in the world, with 2,500 pictures entered in 2009 from over 60 countries. It is an international showcase for the very best in environmental photography, honouring amateur and professional photographers who use their ability to raise awareness of environmental and social issues.

EPOTY is open to international photographers of any age and encourages entries that are contemporary,

creative, resonant, original and beautiful. The other categories are Mott MacDonald’s Changing Climates; The Natural World; Quality of Life; Innovation in the Environment (New for 2010); A View From the Western World (New for 2010); and CIWEM’s Young Environmental Photographer of the Year (Under 16 & Under 21).

Each year the judging panel is made up of some of the most respected environmental photographers in the industry and senior environmentalists. Individual pieces are judged on impact, creativity, composition, originality and technical abilities. Winners receive cash prizes and all winning entries are displayed in the Environmental Photographer of the Year exhibition.

The competition will run until 31st July 2010, with judging taking place throughout August.

For more information contact Emily Doyle, CIWEM Press and Marketing Officer, on 020 7831 3110 or [email protected].

News

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http://www.ciwem.org/arts/photographer

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Published by:

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Editors:

Cormac McCreesh & Paul Hunter

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Editorial enquiries:

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Cover photograph: Jean Tresfon

Published by African Diver Magazine cc, PO Box 67779 Bryanston, 2021, South Africa,

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fax 086 503 7177 email [email protected].

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Text by Clive Ferreira images by Clive & Sue Ferreira

I wake up with a jolt. The boat is moving! The subtle swaying of the boat on the ocean rocks me into reality. I have a slight headache, remnant of some extra Jack last night. Then I remember we asked Skipper Alastair to start early so that we can see the sharks of Marianne South before breakfast (and hopefully not as breakfast). We have three guests on board. Two of them are avid diving photographers, like my wife and I, and who have been on ‘seafari’ with us for the past three days in the Seychelles.

I hoist myself up to the main deck to where my good wife Sue has already made some much-appreciated coffee. After helping myself to some tasty muesli rusks my morning stomach pang has been broken. I inhale the sweet, fresh

air of the morning and find myself comforted by the collage of blue waters and sky. The weather is calm despite the slight breeze of the previous day, which caused some slight discomfort when deciding on a suitable mooring place. Rowan, our intrepid Dive Leader, is already up on the fly bridge of the 42 ft Catamaran, Suzy-Q, with Alastair. The boat is moving at about 8 knots on calm flat seas and no wind. Things are looking good.

“I hope we see some sharks today,” says Rowan. “We will try a better drop-off if the current permits.” We both silently relish the thought of some exciting animal encounters, especially for our guests. This is the second time we have tried this site, renowned for its schools of grey reef sharks. The previous time (about eight months earlier) we were restricted by bad weather.

Seychelles Diving:Two worlds in one!

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Suzy-Q is 42 ft Catamaranwith two monstrous IPS Volvo D6 engines.


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like Marianne South. It’s the kind of site that is only accessible from the sole dive operator on nearby La Dique Island or by long-range yacht.

I go down to the kit up area where our guests, Andrew and Fernanda, are already kitting up. While sipping some more of the aroma rich coffee, I am mesemerised by a flat sea in which everyone

is excited to dive. Andrew and Sue are focused on preparing their cameras. Sue does not really care about Sharks as she has her macro lens on – which has become her religion. Andrew, on the other hand, is busy fitting his new 14mm wide angle onto his new camera. As an equally avid macro man he has asked me twice what lens to use. He also plans to shoot some video, as that is what his new toy (3D Mark II) is also capable of. He shot some amazing footage yesterday at Ave Maria of the masses of sweepers and schools of patrolling golden pilot jacks (kingfish or trevallies). Sue is becoming more proficient with my 100m lens and shooting some “good ones” - this compared to her relative and astounding skill with a 60mm.

Fernanda and I finish our coffee. We had prepared our gear the previous night already, our foresight in this regard being unmatched. As it was, Andrew had kept me awake last night (or perhaps I am to blame), discussing, if not arguing, which dive site is better, and solving some of the world’s greatest problems. I am not so sure about those solutions right now as World Peace may never be practically accomplished by two good friends and a bottle of whiskey. The heavy “thinking” of last night is undoubtedly the cause of my slight headache, which fortunately subsides and makes way for the growing excitement of the morning dive. At this point I am glad Rowan did most of the kitting up.

About thirty minutes after departing Anse Petite, our wonderful anchorage off the island of La Dique, we arrive at Marianne South which is located at the southern point of the island Marianne. We are all ready and there is a shared silence of excitement. The “viz” looks good and we can see the turquoise bottom surrounded by navy blue seas. Alastair and Rowan scout the site. We want to drop off close to the southerly point. The depth gauge shows that we are now around 20 meters and decreasing. I look over to the seemingly out of

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Although we saw some white tip reef sharks (a regular occurrence when diving in the Seychelles) no Grey Reef Shark were spotted. Truth be told we didn’t have the exact drop-off point. This is the sort of knowledge you acquire by paying or bribing the select few who reside on the island. It’s the best way to find some of what I like to call, “Exciting dives of Adventure and Discovery!”… Another option is to find another dive boat on the prospective site and watch their drop-off point carefully (assuming they know what they are doing). Marking the spot on the GPS then becomes a formality (It’s how we found Johnny’s Rock). This however is a rare occurrence in the Seychelles; to find many boats on any site, especially on remote ones

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place green mounds of land that stand about 50 meters away. The land mass is dramatic with beautiful shaped granite rocks covered with lush green vegetation. For most, if not many, this is as good as it gets.

“Lets drop here” says Alastair, and so Rowan drops in first to gauge the current. He quickly gives the all-clear sign and we all drop in like excited children at a pool party. We have one non-diving guest on board who watches on with bemusement. She is a solid 80 years of age and wisdom. Although she isn’t a diver, she is probably one of the strongest swimmers on board.

We descend into the warm blue waters (temperature 28 degrees) and the photographer’s frantically get their cameras ready on the way down. The viz is really good and there is no current to speak of. Marianne South is actually very different to most other dive sites in the Seychelles as it is almost

a wall dive. The 20 plus meters of granite boulders are really awe-inspiring and it “colours” up nicely when photographed, especially with some coral on it.

We see our first white tip and everyone is now fully alert and awake as we move along “right shoulder” (In the Seychelles you only have two directions depending on current). We soon see some great schooling snappers, soldier fish and big eyes. We watch a small squadron of eagle rays glide past effortlessly and a turtle making its way up for air. Then suddenly, swimming effortlessly out of the blue abyss, he appears. A nice two-meter grey reef shark! His mere presence immediately has the attention and cautious respect of us all. Serenely it circles us a few times before moving in closer to investigate. We try our best to get a good shot of this truly magnificent creature. Suddenly it rears off, losing interest, realizing

there is no breakfast but bubbles for our fearsome friend. Unfortunately, no one grabs any great photos. Wide-angle shots require virtually kissing the animal and we were still about four meters away!

We realize we have to honour our deco times and some of us are running low on air after a dive where we touched 22metres. Slowly we ascend until we reach our safety stop. A few friendly batfish come closer and play. There are some interesting jellyfish for the macro guys in the water and a remora is seeking a host with one of us. After a fabulous 61 minutes we are back on Suzy-Q for breakfast, in time for a Spanish omelette.

The dive at Marianne is the second last dive on our three-day seafari. We breakfast on the boat as we make our way back to base camp on Eden Island which sits about 20 nautical miles away on Mahe; the largest and principal island of the

Seychelles. We reach the island in the early afternoon after a leisurely trawling speed. To everyone’s delight we manage to hook some Job and Bonito for the braai we’ll inevitably enjoy later on in the evening.

Rowan calls the last dive of the seafari at the Eden Island “house reef,” Johnny’s Rock, a most special reef. The rock is a series of submerged boulders covered with beautiful stag and plate coral as well as some interesting soft coral. The site is only about 20 minutes from Eden Island off the Mahe coastline. The highest point of the boulder lurks only 5m below water level. There is significant fish life, a lovely pair of “swim-through” caves and a number of interesting cleaning stations. There is the usual resident reef shark, a pair of huge Napoleon wrasse and buffalo parrot fish. Some of the fish are so large you actually get a fright because of their looming shadows!

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There is a resident pod of dolphins that patrols the area and we often encounter them underwater.


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There is a resident pod of dolphins that patrols the area and we often encounter them underwater. When we arrived earlier in the summer the whole reef was covered in millions of sweepers and baitfish dancing around the boulders. A huge school of golden kingfish patrolled the area in hunt of nature’s bounty. Every time I submerge myself in the mystical and enigmatic beauty of the ocean I can’t help but feel at peace. A feeling of love and appreciation washes over me as a smile stretches my lips.

We have wasted a bit of time fishing along the way and it is quite overcast when we finally fall into the water (with giant stride and all) around 4 o’clock. The viz is not as good as the previous week and it is almost eerily dark. However, arriving below, a new sight greets us. The entire reef is covered in “yellow flowers” as the turret coral have opened up mixed with red thistle coral. Added to this is the dark blue sea and silver dancing baitfish, which makes for a spectacular display.

It is quite clear that the mass of sweepers has now been seriously depleted by the marauding golden trevallies. However, there are still a few million left. The macro guys find some spectacular anemones accompanied by a porcelain crab. The resident white tip scouts around

as we approach the swim-through. An eagle ray drifts past looking for food. This reef is gorgeous and we can’t help but enjoy the spectacle below us at the safety stop before ascending after 61 minutes. Another great day, another great dive…

I visited the Seychelles for the first time in 1991. At that stage I was not yet a diver but I can remember the pleasure of snorkeling and the lingering interest in the resort course

being taught in the hotel swimming pool. However the sheer beauty of the islands’ paper white beaches, piercing blue water and rugged grey mountains coated in lush vegetation forced me to make a promise. Some how, sometime, my feet would feel the sands of the Seychelles again.

Nine years later I visited Mauritius and had to do a resort course. I had watched my wife and youngest son qualify as PADI open water divers

and oozed with some jealousy. The rest of the family and I duly did nine dives and then as they say the rest was history. The family got hooked and to this day the family dives whenever the opportunity arises.

We eventually made our way back to Seychelles in 2007 for a holiday. It was then that our love affair was renewed and we validated this affair by buying a place at Eden island and then, of course, the good ship Suzy

“Exciting dives of Adventure and Discovery!”

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Q! It is, today, the ultimate diving experience in the Seychelles… If you don’t believe me, there is nothing stopping you from trying.

Suzy-Q is 42 ft Catamaran with two monstrous IPS Volvo D6 engines. There are three cabins and everything you need to make you feel at home on the ocean. There is a TV (which we hardly ever use) and a mass of dive gear, among other

things. Suzy-Q operates from the new Eden island marina; a highly successful marina development in Seychelles that has been largely done by a South African developer.

Location of Seychelles

The Seychelles is a group of 115 islands spread over a very large mass of ocean. The islands have two prevailing wind systems. The stronger SE monsoon

blows May through September and the milder NW Monsoon prevails in November to February. In between these times it is fairly wind free and makes for the best diving. Although diving is in fact possible all year round.

Mahe is the main and biggest island with Victoria as the capital. The population of Seychelles is around 90 000 with most people living on Mahe, Praslin and La Dique but with

the majority on Mahe. The island sits 4 degrees south of the equator and so the weather is highly tropical with harsh sunshine, high ambient temperatures of around 30 degrees and a fair amount of humidity (one has to get used to this). If you are diver this is much less of a problem as we spend so much time at 28 degrees our bodies hardly know better. Rainfall annually approaches three meters and the rain showers can be torrid. Regardless of this it is always welcome as the rain cools things down quite significantly. The best time of year, without a doubt, is April-May or October/November, although you will have to trust me when I say it is still quite nice in December as well.

The Seychelles mainly consists of the inner islands situated on a large underwater granitic plateau that is no deeper than 50m. At the so-called drop-off, where the depth plunges to thousands of meters, there are the first of the outer islands that are all in fact coral atolls. These islands are all varying distances away from the capital Victoria and beg for further exploration. At the moment we have restricted ourselves to the inner islands. Apparently there are some stunning wall dives at Des Roches, Alphonse and of course Aldabra, but that surely must be the subject for later exploration.

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Diving the Seychelles is indeed quite something as the waters are bountiful. There are masses of fish and other examples of underwater life despite the significant bleaching that followed the 1998 El Nino.

The good news is that the coral is recovering nicely. The fish life is still prolific and many interesting species abound.

In my view the reefs, albeit limited at this time, are not in such bad shape and appear to have improved over the last few years although there are certainly less turtles. As it is Turtles have been a delicacy in the Seychelles for decades, although this is now officially banned.

The viz is generally good and one can dive year round in warm water (27-30 degrees). One only requires a “shorty” to enjoy the salty blue waters. There are many sites and a good variety of fish, reef and chances for macro photography. There are species that are quite numerous, more so than any other place I’ve seen. The chances of seeing various animals, for an example, are listed below.

Eagle rays; battalions; 90% Many white tip reef sharks: 70% Buffalo parrot fish: 75%Napoleons: 60%Seychelles has a whale shark

season from September through November. In fact I have seen these

creatures as late as January and this last December I am aware of at least four sightings and two in January. All the sightings occur, usually, around the main island of Mahe.

Brisaire and Dragon’s teeth

About 20 minutes outside of Victoria there are two large boulders. One is more visible than the other. The big one is called Brisaire and the other one, Dragon’s teeth. Diving below water on either one is similar and both fabulous. Many people rate them the best dives in the Seychelles. Brisaire deserves a mention in most dive books. The viz is normally quite good but the site is prone to mild currents. These sites both have excellent coral and schools of snappers, big eyes, soldiers and fusiliers. There is always much pelagic activity as well as the usual white tips (they actually have a cave here), buffalo parrots, napoleons, eagle rays and hawksbill turtles.

Shark bank

This is one of the iconic dives of the Seychelles; almost like Pinnacles at Ponta. It is the deepest popular dive at 30m. It consists of a few large boulders, but with very significant fish and pelagic life.

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There are literally banks of yellow snappers and big eyes. Unfortunately I have not seen any sharks there but, just as with Pinnacles, there is always a chance. The location is about 20 minutes by fast boat towards Silhouette. In December a whale shark patrolled the area and some fabulous video footage was captured. The shark swam elegantly with a bevy of remoras. The footage rolled out on a continuous basis from one of the local dive operations.

Trois dames

This is a submerged series of large underwater boulders covered with coral near Therese island on the west coast of Mahe. There is a wide variety of fish life around the boulders with the usual resident white tips. Again we find many cleaning stations dealing with giant starry-eyed puffer fish, angel and batfish. Schools of bat fish keep you company on your safety stop.

Grand Bazaar

This is a small but deep reef with much “action” to it. Emperor snappers, pompano, eagle rays, napoleon and buffalo parrot fish. The maximum depth is 25m and in most cases there may be some current as it is more in the open channel. It is

a reef almost like Bikini at Sodwana, small but with much to offer. Large schools of fusiliers followed by pelagic activity are always prevalent.

Mannes bank

Here we have what is probably the best dive on the East Coast. It normally has a mild current and it is relatively deep at 22m. The coral at that depth is in excellent condition. Mannes Bank is home to a large resident nurse shark, a number of white tips, flotillas of eagle rays and schools of skunk anemones and turtles. The bank rises from a depth of 25m up to 15m, which makes for a nice wall dive. Large schools of fusiliers with schools of barracuda, king fish and bonito patrol the area as well as large eagle rays. In addition to this, fairly large napoleons patrol the area. These fish, unfortunately are, not as friendly as potato bass so taking good pictures of them remains a challenge.

L’ilotte

This is the site where I last shot on macro. It is in fact a magical wide-angle site with lovely soft coral and teeming with some magical f ish life given the prevailing currents. This is where I encountered a whale shark covered with its team of remoras and pilot f ish with a 100m lens at 16m. We immediately surfaced April | May


and found seven more swimming around in January 2008, well outside the whale shark season.

L’ilotte is a must dive on the Seychelles and has some great photo opportunities. The island is small, sitting about one 100m offshore. The dive is not very deep with a maximum depth of 18m. Depending on the current one may proceed on your right or left shoulder round the island. Viz is very much dependent on conditions. At L’ilotte one normally gets large schools of big eyes, hanging in the current as well as white tips and eagle rays.

L’ilotte is therefore one of my all time favourites. It is also the only place where I have seen a large school of buffalo or hump-head parrotfish. These fish cast a large shadow and you always know when they are around. Although shy, their curiosity compels them to approach you. To see a large school of them is simply awe-inspiring.

Some more reefs

Harrisons, Isle Seche, Turtle rock, Lost City, Aquarium, Booby, White bank, Light House, Conception, Matoupa, Chuckles, The Ennerdale wreck, twin barges, Marmelle and many more.

Diving is done mainly on the West

Coast of Mahe from four different dive centres. There is one dive centre on the East Coast, three more on Praslin and one on La Dique. The Seychelles also has some very up-market island resorts which run their own dive operations at Silhouette, Denis island, Frigate, Des Roches and North Island. Currently Suzy Q is the only specialized dive charter although a number of other boats also offer diving.

Diving is currently restricted to the inner islands. On our to-do list, however, we look forward to exploring the Amirantes, Alphonse and, above all, magical Aldabra.

Other things to do in the Seychelles

You may visit one of the many fabulous beaches of powder white sand and light blue, and at times turquoise waters. All this can be found on Mahe or one of the other islands. Most of the beaches are fairly quiet and can be enjoyed on your own or with very few fellow tourists. The Seychelles has some of the best beaches in the world. Top of these are Anse Lazio (voted no 1 in the world.) Other good ones are Beau Vallon, Grand Anse on la Dique and Anse Soleil. La Dique is well worth a visit. Time has chosen to stand still on most parts of the

Island. There are also giant tortoises a-plenty on nearby Moyenne. It should also be said that The Seychelles has two World Heritage sites: the Vallee de Mai, with the famous black parrot, and coco de mere on Praslin and Aldabara. Obviously, visiting the botanical gardens and the local market can be quite a treat. In Victoria, Little Big Ben, is a must-see and of course, if it’s not too much of a bother, you can always just go diving!

Website

www.suzyqcharters.comFor more information about packages and what we have to offer please contact us!

SeychellesRowan MarounMahe, SeychellesPhone +248 792 719Email [email protected]

South AfricaRonelle van SchalkwykJohannesburg, South AfricaPhone +27826889Email: [email protected]

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http://www.suzyqcharters.com

mailto:info%40mysuzy-q.com?subject=Enquiry

mailto:ronelle%40dw11-13.co.za?subject=Enquires

Text and images by Mike Markovina

Tired, with swollen eyes and needing serious relaxation time from our frantic pace in moving between China, Hong Kong and Singapore, Moving Sushi, the Marine Resource Expedition arrived in Vietnam, our goal; to find inspiring people committed to making a positive contribution towards marine resource management. Organizing our itinerary in Vietnam was not without complications, the most frustrating of which was our inability to bring our professional video camera into the country. After organizing a safe refuge for the camera in Singapore, Linda and I touched down in the Socialist

Republic of Vietnam armed with small high definition handy cameras, as our vehicle that drove us to Japan from South Africa traveled the Indian Ocean on its way to Dubai.

Before trying to understand the effectiveness and implications of positive marine resource initiatives, one must first gain an understanding to the social structure, economic fluxes, biological integrity and cultural value of the marine realm to the people of Vietnam.

Current data suggests that Vietnam has a population of approximately 84 million. The Capital Hanoi is situated in the north of the country, whilst the

Moving sushiin vietnam

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largest and most populated city, the former Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City is in the south; in close proximity to the Mekong Delta. There are approximately 54 minority ethnic groups, however 85% of the population is “Viet” or “Kinh,” purveyors of the dominant culture. The country has a coastline of 330.000 km2, and an Economic Exclusive Zone of approximately 1 million km2. According to an FAO report, Vietnam has over 2000 species of fish, of which 130

are of commercial value, amongst a plethora of crustacean, shellfish and algal species. Marine catches are highest in central and southeast Vietnam in close proximity to the Mekong Delta, according to the locals “the vein of life” for Southeast Asia. Vietnam has a long tradition in harvesting marine species from the inshore environment, particularly along beaches, estuaries, lagoons and river deltas utilizing an array of advanced fishing gear such as monofilament nets and beach

seine nets. Traditional and mystical beliefs are common, like those we observed in Benin, where voodoo principals are adopted towards fisheries management. Various communities in Vietnam, in particular the fishers from Moine, believe in power and importance of the spirituality of cetaceans, with “whale shrines” dotted along the coast. A fishermen will abandon his fishing practices and drag a dead whale or dolphin back to the village, where it will undergo a ceremonial burial attended by the entire community. The bones will be later placed in a shrine, ensuring good luck and safe sea faring to the village fishers. It is important to take cognizance of these mysticisms and beliefs, as they may be the very foundation required for effective community participation in fisheries management.

Approximately 75% of the household income in poor fishing communities is derived from fish sales, highlighting the importance of

fish socially, but also as a vital protein source. The interdependence between communities and fish is under threat from the increase in the number of vessels fishing in recent years (the inshore fishery in 2005 was estimated to have 68 000 active fishing vessels). The ease with which licenses can be acquired to fish, and the lack of compliance or effective fisheries management (as boats do not offload their catches at port, instead they are able to land their harvest on any part of the coastline) has culminated in overcapitalization within the fishery sector, and subsequent overexploitation of its resources. According to the Vietnamese authorities, IUU fishing is common, with between 300 to 500 reports of illegal foreign national vessels actively fishing in Vietnamese waters each year; a conservative estimate. With a severely exploited marine fishery, it is reported by the FAO that the marine capture fisheries in Vietnam has a motorized

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fleet of over 81 000 vessels, a staggering amount of unmanaged fishing effort. Standing on the shore looking at the vast fishing fleets anchored in the bay, watching children sweep up the almost endless mass of drying shrimps, seeing the kilograms of juvenile fish captured in the beach seines, one has to question, what is Vietnam doing right, and who is inspiring change?

Linda and I scoured though reports trying to discover positive marine initiatives and people driving successes. Only two projects came to light, the MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) certified community clam fishery in Ben Tre, and WAR (Wildlife at Risk), a local NGO inspired to create change towards a better utilized marine environment based on their passion towards nature and their incredible achievements regarding terrestrial conservation.

MSC is considered a way of ensuring a customer buys marine harvested resources responsibly, by offering fisheries around the world a way to be recognized and rewarded for good management. By creating a market of sustainably caught fish, MSC hopes to create an incentive for other fisheries to change their practices. According to news reports the Vietnam Ben

Tre clam fishery was awarded its MSC certification after a 5-year investigation into the sustainability of the fishery. This represented the first ever certification of a community-based fishery in Asia, and allows the product to be marketed and distributed through European markets, potentially bringing in foreign currency to the fishing cooperative. This was the example of positive marine conservation at work in Asia we were looking for.

The bumpy road that took us to Ben Tre was packed with motorbikes screaming this way and that, the heat was unbearable, and the local taxies were driving like possessed demons, but we eventually arrived in good time before our meeting with the government representatives of the Ben Tre clam fishery. We planned to meet the president of the fishing cooperative and local fishers to understand what the MSC certification meant to them. On our arrival, after the meetings were agreed upon, we were met with closed doors. We were not allowed to discuss the fishery with the local government representative and were instantly subjected to a volume of impractical and impossible paperwork for the required permission to visit the harvesting site. Barred from any form of

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understanding the MSC certification or seeing the fishers, we scoured the markets to find the clams, of which there were thousands for sale. Interestingly though, when I managed to speak to a local researcher who worked on the initial reports for the certification process, he stated that the fishery was most likely not sustainable, and subject to massive illegal harvests. Unfortunately this was not the last we heard of these reports, including two other investigators who left Vietnam suggesting the fishery was not sustainable just a few months prior to the awarding of the certification. It became clear that the MSC certified Ben Tre clam fishery was shrouded in more controversy than positivity, which concerned us. Due to the lack of transparency surrounding this issue, we still do not know whether the MSC certification of the Ben Tre clam fishery is authentic.

WAR, is a locally initiated NGO, that is dedicated to protecting the biodiversity of Vietnam by combating illegal wildlife trade, raising environmental awareness and promoting the conservation of endangered species and their habitats. WAR has had their plates full ever since the legalization of bear bile farms, but despite political

and financial challenges they have successfully built rescue centers that cater for abused and neglected wildlife of all forms. While we were visiting one of the sanctuaries, WAR was negotiating a plan to recover 19 bears from a bile farm to place them into the well catered for sanctuaries alongside already rescued leopards, pangolins, otters, birds etc. WAR has challenged marine conservation initiatives, but has struggled to obtain the required expertise and funding. Today if one had to go to Vietnam to visit a marine conservation initiative of any form, you would not find one active project; a chilling thought. Despite this, WAR is developing an idea to produce 4 or 5 small documentaries, the first entitled, “The Man of the island” a short film aimed at capturing the interest of local fishers and community members alike as to the importance of responsible fisheries. The film also highlights the use of sailing as an alternative income to fishers. Fishermen have insight into sea conditions and have been “sailors” their entire life, by bringing in small sailing dinghies and letting the locals instruct lessons for tourists, foreign money can infiltrate the community instead of money from the “race to catch all that swims” mentality. Images according to WAR can be vital in

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bridging cultural differences and showing the plight of people as a reality, a matter of concern and importance. Furthermore alternate views to management, i.e. through locals initiating sailing academies are important and promoted by the government. The government is pushing to get a Vietnamese represented sailing team prepared for the Olympics in the near future. A sailing team comprised of fishermen may be just the catalyst required for more inventive and positive marine resource management initiatives something that Vietnam needs desperately.

Vietnam has potential, but the current scale of fishing is frightening. WAR is working against time in trying to initiate marine conservation initiatives, but regardless of the complexities, the passion is there. Talking with the CEO of WAR, it was clear that the organization, stemmed from a personal passion towards the environment, it is this that drives the multitude of projects WAR is undertaking. Diving in Phu Quoc island, I was dismayed at the poor condition of the corals, although structurally damage was limited, on the more secluded reefs of course, sedimentation was obvious, driven by the mass development of holiday resorts along the “once was” pristine coastline. Also of noticeable concern was the lack of all fish greater than 500 grams. Remnants of nets line the coral heads and rather scared juvenile fish hide amongst the coral bommies, the scars of fishing destructive gears like dynamite and chemicals (cyanide) ever present. However WAR has invested in the acquisition of a patch of coastal water where trials for coral restoration and transplantation will occur. It goes to show, that all these initiatives are of one man’s passion, imagine what can be done if we all get involved. Change is possible, and our marine environment deserves it.

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Text by Cormac McCreesh

Saturday 6 March 2010Saturday dawned misty, overcast and

glum. Disappointed after the clear skies of the day before, I reluctantly packed my camera bag and layered on clothing in preparation of a wet, gray and miserable day at sea.

Despite the heavy slate gray of the day, the air was warm and humid. I felt myself begin to sweat underneath the layers but I knew, once out at sea, I would be grateful of the thermal protection so I grinned and bore it stoically.

My host, Rainer Schimpf, brought me a welcome cup of filtered coffee, which I gratefully sipped on while puffing on a cough-inducing morning cigarette. I sipped the coffee slowly, hoping the mist and low-cloud would lift quickly to unveil a crisp clear blue sky. But to no avail, the sky remained gray and closed-in. I would happily have gone back to bed but

Sardine Seafari in Algoa Bay

“If it’s not happening here it’s happening somewhere else”


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Rainer’s enthusiasm was not to be discouraged and I knew that it was only a matter of time before I’d be forced to abandon my empty coffee cup and embrace his planned seafari.

I’d met Rainer in December 2009, in Mozambique, while taking photographs at Ponta Mamoli. Rainer and his family were touring Mozambique then and their easy-going friendly manner soon had me befriended. We dived together, chatted and shared diving stories. On one of these dive-sharing story occasions, Rainer asked me if I’d ever been to Port Elizabeth to dive. Well of course I hadn’t – why would I? The viz is awful, the water’s cold and there are no reefs worth talking about.

Of course this was just an anathema to Rainer and I became his personal challenge. All day and every day thereafter, he droned on an on about how interesting PE diving can be and how diverse the bio-mass is and how I really should make a plan to visit PE and learn about the diving scene there. I nodded sagely with each prodding and muttered something about how it sounded like a good idea and that I really should do something about it.

But my ears pricked up and I started to pay attention when Rainer started talking about the sardine run. He told me stories of sardine bait balls and pods of common dolphin and Brydes whales and wheeling diving flocks of gannets – an everyday occurrence in Algoa Bay. He assured me that I didn’t

have to wait for the sardine run to head up the eastern coast of South Africa and that I could find sardine action at any time – if only I’d come down to Port Elizabeth.

And so I found myself sitting on Rainer’s well appointed RIB, hemmed in by mist, and wondering why I’d let myself be talked into looking for sardines in Algoa Bay.

We launched from Noodehoek to a flat and lazy sea. Several boats launched with us – fishermen participating in a fishing competition. The low-lying cloud hung lazily over us and as far as the eye could see. I had a feeling that it was going to be a long day.

Ever enthusiastic, Rainer assured me that the mist would clear and we would find sardines – all we had to do was look for dolphin pods and follow them. Good strategy, if only the mist would lift and we could actually see to look for dolphin.

The early morning passed uneventfully. We followed the GPS to marks of previous bait balls, stopping to chat to the competition fishermen as we came across them. Secretly I was pleased that they were finding little or no fish to catch, but it did mean that we would not be finding any sardines either.

The mist lifted a little and our ability to see further than the nose of the RIB improved. Now we could see flocks of gannets returning northwards to St Croix or Bird Island. This prompted us to head slowly southwards down the coast.


We came across a juvenile gannet floundering in the water; it’s left wing obviously broken.


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With Rainer’s mantra of “it’s not happening here because it’s happening elsewhere and all we have to do is find it” ringing in my ears I scanned the sea for any form of activity.

We came across a juvenile gannet floundering in the water; it’s left wing obviously broken. It tried desperately to get away from our boat but we managed to bring it on board and secure it comfortably in a plastic box for transfer to SAMREC later on.

Bird safely secured we continued our journey southwards, following the returning gannets. Some 15 kilometres south of Noordehoek, we noticed gannet activity on the horizon. Excited, Rainer gunned the RIB and we headed towards them.

And there, where the cold and warm waters meet and at a depth of 90 metres gannets were plundering a bait ball of sardines. Birds hit the water with astonishing speed and swam like fish underwater. When they surfaced, they popped clean out of the water, such was the speed of their activity. A Brydes whale kept bursting out of the water driving the sardines to the surface and filling its mouth with hundreds of the little fish. A large doe-eyed seal lazily flicked it’s flippers and slipped into the bait ball to feed. And underneath the boat I saw two sharks crashing into the seething mass of protein.

Expecting the action to be over quickly I was pleasantly surprised to follow the activity for well over an hour. The Brydes whale kept driving up bait balls of sardines from

the depths and the birds, seal and sharks took advantage of the resulting chaos.

Sadly neither Rainer nor I had brought diving equipment and underwater camera gear with us and we had to be content with watching the activity from the surface. But what a privilege it was to be part of it all.

I’ve done the sardine run twice and been disappointed on both occasions – weather, and a lack of sardines contributing both times to my disappointment. This was different – Rainer had guaranteed me sardines and he delivered. Better still, he promised that he could do it every time. And why not, the gannets and other birds live here because the food source is here. It all made sense. Add to this, the trawlers docking at Port Elizabeth harbour to unload tons of sardines and there’s more than enough evidence to prove that sardine fever is there for everyone to be enjoyed all year round.

Will I be going back – you bet! I’m already planning my next trip to Rainer’s sardine coast, but this time with wetsuit and underwater camera gear. It’s all happening there because it’s not happening here.

Images by Cormac McCreesh, Paul Hunter & Rainer Schimpf. All images are copyright to the photographer.

My hosts in Port Elizabeth were Rainer and Petra Schimpf. Together they run Expert-Tours and Ocean Messengers. Ocean Messengers

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is an NGO specifically focussed on ocean conservation in the Port Elizabeth area.

For further information: Expert-Tours:http://www.expert-tours.com/?lang=enOcean Messengers: http://www.ocean-messengers.com/Or contact Rainer directly on: [email protected]

http://www.ocean-messengers.com/

http://www.ocean-messengers.com/

mailto:info%40expert-tours.de?subject=

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Wahoo come in to check out d ivers at the sa fety s top.

Text and images by Clare Keating

The plight of the world’s sharks is a familiar topic for people in the

world of marine conservation. As a large consequence of the consumptive demand for shark fins, over 100 million sharks are killed annually. Accurate knowledge of the intricate details of shark life histories is vital for adequate protection of the world’s sharks. Traditionally, data collection of marine species has relied on catching the animal through fishing, netting or other such methods. Today, researchers have access to less invasive methods of gathering information. For example, instead of taking the fish out of water, the researcher often leaves terra firma and enters the blue planet. Researchers in Mozambique are using some of the latest techniques in non-invasive data collection to research Bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas).

With the sun just peeking out from behind a bank of clouds on the eastern horizon, we drive the boat and trailer on the beach and are ready to launch. The dive kit is secured at the bow of the boat; other kit is securely fastened for the ride and toward the stern, tied to the deck in front of the motors, is the filming equipment of Laura Fullwood. This equipment comprises two underwater video cameras, mounted to a sturdy base bar and a long white pole sticking out the front. It looks like something straight out of Star Wars.

Fullwood, 23, is in her honors year, studying marine science at the University of Western Australia (UWA). As a small part of her thesis work, she is participating in an internship program through Oceans Research, a South African research institute. She is assisting Ryan Daly and Justin Blake, scientists supported by Oceans Research, with their Bull shark research in Southern Mozambique. The researchers are conducting a three-year project during which they will gain knowledge on the population status, distribution and behavior of the bull sharks that frequent local reefs to further an understanding of population dynamics and food web interactions of the sharks.

Back home, Fullwood’s work with the UWA focuses on underwater techniques developed to collect data on biomass of the region’s fish and sharks. Understanding the biomass of a population can tell of the fishing intensity, rates of recovery from fishing and an idea of adult recruitment, or the increase in the

natural population, of the species. The lab she works for uses remotely operated video measurement systems at survey sites along the coast of Western Australia. The camera systems, which are specifically calibrated under controlled geometric conditions, are dropped in at the sites and left to record two overlapping images of the same scene continuously for an hour. Then in the lab, Fullwood and other honors students watch and analyze the frames taking notes of each fish seen. The footage is then imported into a software program that takes measurements based on perspective changes when fish are viewed from different distances. Through these calculations, the scientists are able to measure each fish they see and thus get a general idea of

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biomass in different regions. This sort of information is crucial for adequate fisheries and natural resource management.

But Laura’s internship with Oceans Research provided the opportunity for her to go a little more hands-on than watching fish on a screen. Daly and Blake use photo identification to identify individual sharks as well as to collect size estimates of the sharks by using a parallel laser system. As the name implies, two lasers are mounted parallel to one another adjacent to the underwater housing of a camera. The lasers are calibrated to be an exact distance apart. By projecting the points onto a shark and taking a photo, the points are used as scale references to determine the size of the shark. Fullwood’s objective is to undertake a direct comparison of the parallel laser and video measurement methods for the benefit of the project as well as for her own research.

The equipment Fullwood is using is nearly the same as what she uses in Australia; two Sony HD RCX 12 video cameras mounted in waterproofed PVC pipe housings, but the set up is slightly smaller to allow for a diver to maneuver it. Two large stainless steel handle bars are welded between the cameras and on a long pole, an LED light is mounted above a calibration plate to synchronize the left and right images. It looks like it belongs at NASA, not on a dive boat.

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An example of Pro ject Bu l l Shark para l le l lase r system


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“There’s nothing like the smell of two stroke and a bit of seasickness to wake you up in the morning,” Fullwood jokes as she readies the equipment for the dive. We’re on Pinnacles, a popular deep reef about 4km off the coast of Southern Mozambique where the bull sharks are known to frequent. When everything is set up and all checks completed we backwards roll off the boat and the skipper lowers the bulky equipment to Fullwood. Hopeful, we descend into the blue.

This dive isn’t Laura and the research team’s attempt to capture the same shark with the parallel laser and DOV systems. Already they’ve encountered a number of problems such as finding out that the laser doesn’t have as far a range as the video cameras, or that the video cameras sometimes fog mid dive, or that the laser batteries weren’t actually charged because of a power outage the night before. As most researchers and divers know, even if all the equipment works, conditions don’t always cooperate. On one dive, the visibility is top to bottom, easily 35 meters, two days later the water is 28ºC but visibility is two meters until 30 meters at which point it is 30 meters horizontal but 19ºC. Although both the still camera team and Fullwood have caught images of the sharks that can be used for size estimates, they’ve been unsuccessful at capturing the same shark.

Even with technical and environmental issues, being in the water with the sharks is

infinitely more exciting that sitting in a lab looking for them on video screens – not that Fullwood hasn’t seen some unusual sightings. While watching footage from a survey of Barrow Island located 50km off the northwest coast of Australia, Fullwood spotted an albino leopard shark (Stegostoma fasciatum). The following year, in the same location, another albino was caught on tape. By taking measurements of the sharks and looking at growth curves the scientists determined it wasn’t the same shark – it couldn’t have grown so fast in so little time.

Indeed, all of us prefer to be in the water and happily, that’s where we are today. As we dive deeper, remoras (Echeneis naucrates) give away the hint of Bull sharks before our eyes can pull them out of the blue. Slender Sawtooth barracuda (Sphyraena putnamiae) shimmer past and nervous baitfish dash away from unseen predators, letting fear ripple through the school. Fullwood weightlessly steers her video system with arms stretched out ahead of her. A school of usually shy scalloped hammerheads (Sphyrna lewini) come in for a closer look, but the bull sharks don’t come up. At this depth, time seems to go by faster and before any of us are ready, it’s time to begin our ascent. While hovering at 5 meters, two large wahoo (Acanthocybium solandri) materialize in the shallower waters above us, oblivious to the numerous boats searching for them above. We finish the safety stop, look around one more time, shrug our shoulders and ascend

back into the atmosphere. Foiled again. Conducting fieldwork in such a short

time period has its limitations, as Fullwood has learned. Nonetheless, she intends to continue her studies with a stronger focus on sharks, which she hopes will lend further opportunities to conduct research in the field. More shark researchers in the world can only be a good thing for shark conservation.

With the intensifying demand for shark fin by Asian markets, there is a call for reliable and extensive knowledge on sharks so to allow for informed management decisions. Low impact technologies such as the DOV used by Fullwood and the parallel laser system used by the researchers in Mozambique provide details to Bull shark population status and biomass without harming the sharks. And while equipment fails and sea conditions are rarely perfect, the will and the way to gather information crucial to shark conservation is out there.

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Pelagic MagicPelagic Magic


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By Jean Tresfon

Diving with the denizens of the deepDivers in Cape Town are truly

blessed. Not only do we have the luxury of having two coastlines to choose from (ensuring almost year round dive-able conditions) but we also have the option of venturing offshore for a mind-blowing blue water experience. This is an almost unknown part of the Cape Town dive experience, probably more due to the option not being well known, than anything else.

Unlike the frigid waters of the Atlantic, or even the temperate waters of False Bay, the pelagic waters offshore of Cape Point are usually warm and clean. And for the Cape Town locals I don’t mean 14ºC and 5m visibility! We’re talking about 22ºC plus and 30m visibility. Most of the diving is done in the area known as the canyon (named after the sea floor geological structure) which is approximately 22 nautical miles south west of Cape Point and lies smack in the heart of the tuna fishing grounds. The sea floor here lies at 600m deep so bottom times are fairly limited! Most diving is done on snorkel, and in certain instances tanks can be used but all of the diving is done in no more than the top 10m of water. The trip out takes about 2 to 3 hours depending on the weather and the departure site. It is possible to leave from Simonstown, Miller’s

Point or Hout Bay. The sea can get fairly rough out there so it’s best to make sure that motion sickness tablets are taken prior to departure.

Target species are mainly the blue sharks and the mako sharks, but yellowfin tuna and longfin tuna sightings are fairly common and we’ve even seen sperm whales and killer whales out there! The blue sharks are the most widely distributed animal in the world and are found in deep waters from the surface to 350m down. They grow to a maximum length of just under 4m and a maximum weight of about 200kg, but most of the local sightings are of much smaller individuals. The mako sharks are obviously also found in deep waters from the surface down to 150m. They grow to a maximum length of 3.5m and 450kg, but once again most local sightings are of smaller individuals. The mako is one of the fastest fish in the sea and has been known to leap clear of the water. Both of these shark species are stunningly beautiful when seen in their natural environment.

Diving with these animals is completely safe as long as certain protocols are followed and common sense prevails. Gloves are definitely recommended as bare hands closely resemble prey items. All shiny objects attract a nibble from the sharks and should be kept to a minimum. Gaps between wet suit pants and booties should be avoided or covered

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and flailing of arms and hands is definitely a no no. Hands should stay on the camera or arms should be folded if not taking pictures. Photographers should be aware that the sharks find the strobes very interesting, especially when the capacitor is recharging after a shot has been taken. It is a good idea to always keep an eye on what is happening around you. Photographers in particular should not keep their eyes glued to the viewfinder; rather they should take frequent looks behind, below and above. The sharks are masters at sneaking up unseen from behind and seem to always know which way you are looking. Divers should be cognisant of the fact that these are wild animals and you are a long way offshore and far from any medical facilities. The point is to have a fun and safe interaction. If at any stage you feel uncomfortable then by far the

best idea is to leave the water, rather than allowing the situation to escalate. People viewing the photos often comment on how brave or crazy we are to swim with sharks. The reality is that if done properly there is very little danger. The animals are beautiful and it is a privilege to be able to share their space.

Once a suitable area has been found, normal procedure is for the operator to lay a chum line of chopped sardines in the water. The sharks work their way up the line towards the source of the scent trail. It is not uncommon to have five or more blue sharks in the water at one time along with a mako or two. Opportunities abound for great interactions and this type of diving is a photographers dream. The sharks are fairly bold and swim right up to the divers allowing for stunning image making. Obviously there are no guarantees in nature and it is also possible

to spend a whole day out with no sharks.My first trip out to the deep was with

veteran operator Chris Fallows of Apex Shark Expeditions. Chris has been doing this for a long time and really knows his stuff. With many divers on board he prefers to use a cage, less for protection from shark bite and more for keeping the divers close to the boat in the current and being able to put the sharks right in front of the divers. On this occasion the tuna and sharks were plentiful and we all had about half an hour each in the cage. Although this is without a doubt the safest way to conduct these dives I found the cage to be quite limiting from a photographic perspective. You cannot move around to change the angle of the sun and arrange all elements of the composition to your satisfaction. I did however get some good results, and Chris and his assistant Poena have

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an incredible knowledge of their subject.My second trip out to the tuna grounds was

with Steve Benjamin of Animal Ocean. Steve is a qualified ichthyologist, and probably the most enthusiastic guy you will ever meet. This was not my best ever trip, through no fault of Steve’s. I did not take any motion sickness tablets and the sea was particularly rough on the day. I spent several hours lying in the bottom of the boat wishing that I could just die quickly. Steve just never gives up, and ordered me into the water with all my excuses falling on deaf ears. There were five blue sharks and two makos under the boat and he would not let me go home without a photograph. Steve does not use a cage but always has a safety diver (usually himself) in the water to watch his clients’ backs and to get them out of the water if the sharks behaviour changes. Steve is a really experienced guide having worked the sardine run with Mark Addison of Blue Wilderness for many years, and it really shows.

My latest pelagic trip was on the inaugural charter to the deep run by Grant Whitford of Blueflash Charters. This was probably also my best trip in terms of shark interactions, but it is possible to have too much of a good thing and some valuable lessons were learnt that day. We ended up with just two divers in the water with seven blue sharks and a mako, and took some stunning shots. Both the mako and two of the blues seen on this trip had fish hooks stuck in the corner of their mouths

and were trailing strands of fishing line. Just another stark reminder of the over-fishing of our oceans, were another reminder needed.

For those wanting some tips from a photographic perspective:

1. Use a high shutter speed to freeze movement.

2. Use a wide angle lens and get close.3. If possible use a strobe(s) to light

up the sharks from below.4. Try using a motor drive and take bursts

of several shots as the animals approach.5. Use other divers to lend

scale to the photos.One thing is for certain… you will come back

with a changed perspective on what the media continually labels as mindless man-eaters.36

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The carnivorous forests

of False

Bay

Text by Georgina Jones and images by Andrew Taylor


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Swaying in the deeper waters of False Bay, or in crevices sheltered from wave action, are the orange or red branches of numerous tall sea fans. They grow singly or together in submarine forests, and are usually dotted with various predators hunting from their heights.

On land and in tropical waters, forests are based on photosynthesis. Leaves use sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to produce and support trees. The hard coral gorgonians of the tropics have co-opted photosynthetic algae to produce their food for them. Sea fans in temperate waters, however, must collect their own food. The abundant seas around the Cape Peninsula provide local sea fans

with a floating feast of zooplankton. Though temperate forests do not rival the photosynthetic splendours of tropical reefs, the undersea banquet of Cape waters allows local sea fans to flourish in size and number.

Though they are slow-growing, palmate sea fans can reach up to 2m, while whip fans can have fronds of over 1.5m long. Their abundance has not escaped the notice of many reef creatures. Some of them are specialist predators on sea fans. Whip fans are preyed upon by a nudibranch known, unsurprisingly, as the whip fan nudibranch. This animal has evolved to look almost identical to a feeding sea fan so that while it preys on the sea fan, it itself is in little danger of being preyed upon in its turn. It also lays its zigzag ribbons on the whip fan, presumably so that its larval offspring are conveniently close to a food source.

Topshell snails are less concerned with camouflage and more concerned with food. They are often seen slowly grazing the feeding polyps from sea fans, safe in their stone cottages.

“Cape waters allows local sea fans to

flourish in size and number.”

Fernlike fractal arms of a feeding basket star

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“Topshell snails are less concerned with camouflage and more concerned with food.”

Blue-striped hermit crabs are common denizens of the sea fan forests at Klipvis

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Sea fans are members of the phylum Cnidaria, the stinging celled animals, which includes anemones and jellyfish. Unlike most anemones and jellyfish though, sea fans are colonial creatures. They have a firm skeletal support made of a protein called gorgonin, which may take various shapes depending on the species of fan. Growing from this support are the colonies of individual feeding polyps. They extend their tiny eight-tentacled stinging arms into the surrounding water and trap even tinier passing animals.

Apart from their few specialist predators, gorgonians are useful to many other reef animals because of their height. They give smaller animals a chance to hunt or hide in a less populated section of the reef. In the Cape this means long legged spider crabs, like so many hastily assembled bunches of twigs, making their angular way along the fans, while bluespotted klipfish nestle fetchingly among the sunset-coloured branches. Vivid hotlips spider crabs perch, disguising themselves with hydroids, sponges and sea weeds, but if threatened, wave their white-tipped pincers menacingly in the direction of the threat. Hermit crabs peer out from their protective adopted homes or snap their shells down onto the

fan when alarmed. Sponge crabs do their best to seem absolutely immobile and sponge-like, betrayed only by their protruding nippers.

Photographers become spellbound at the combination of a basket star on a fan’s arms. The elegant black and white of the basket star with the vivid red sea fan in the background make an arresting visual combination, which normally results in photographers becoming frozen in place, trying to get the perfect shot of the fern-like arms of the basket star against the casual brilliance of the sea fan.

Sea fans also act as nurseries. Cuttlefish lay their black and white pea-shaped eggs on them. Shysharks and catsharks twine their egg cases around them, probably in an effort to keep the developing embryos away from the many hungry mouths on the reefs below.

The carnivorous forests of False Bay are home to a host of interesting creatures.

A bluespotted klipfish in characteristic pose

A Cape triplefin peers bug-eyed from a fan at Hermit crab

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By Meaghen McCord

Sometimes it’s funny how scientif ic discoveries are made. When you least expect it, something extraordinary can happen. And this was exactly the case back in August 2007...

A small group of researchers and friends headed to the Breede River from Hermanus in search of the legendary bloodworms (Arenicola loveni) that call this estuary home. Thinking of bloodworms as anything other than ugly or strange may seem odd

to you, but they are legendary in this area due to their size which is bigger than they come in many other places throughout their South African distribution. Used primarily by recreational anglers as bait, the lead researcher on this trip was searching out the Breede River bloodworm for a different purpose – a purpose outside the scope of this article.It was during this f ield trip – my first to the Breede - that I took a good look at the river and thought how ideal it seemed as shark habitat. The Breede River is a large river draining into

St. Sebastian Bay between the coastal communities of Witsand and Infanta. The river has an average depth of four metres and low visibility conditions are common. Classif ied as a warm-temperate estuary, the average annual water temperature is approximately 14 degrees Centigrade. More than 100 fish species have been found in the system, ranging from the Moorish Idol (Zanclus cornutus), more commonly found on tropical and subtropical reefs, to the spotted grunter (Pomadasys commersonii) and kabeljou (Argyrosomus spp) – species more commonly associated with warm-temperate systems. The abundance of f ish life, turbidity and average temperature seemed the perfect combination of variables to encourage the presence of sharks.

As we came off the river with our fresh supply of bloodworm we were stopped by conservation authorities from the Lower Breede River Conservancy (LBRC), who asked to see our research permit for the extraction of the worms. Satisf ied that our permit met the necessary conditions, we chatted with the local conservation off icers about the presence of sharks in the Breede. They acknowledged that sharks had been sighted in the river, although the species had not yet been confirmed.

something extraordinary can happen

Pumping for bloodworm on the Breede River in 2007 (photo courtesy South African Shark Conservancy).

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Running through the list of sharks which frequent estuary mouths and the lower reaches of river systems (where salinity levels are still high enough for most species), I came up with several possibilities – were they raggedtooth sharks, smoothhound sharks, perhaps a small great white? In the back of my mind, however, I was convinced the sharks seen in the river were none other than the elusive Zambezi (bull) shark, Carcharhinus leucas – one of the only shark species that inhabits rivers and freshwater systems.

Upon our return to Hermanus, I began contacting colleagues around the world to discuss the likelihood of Zambezi sharks occurring in the Breede River. All thought the system was too far outside their known distribution in South Africa, and the

surrounding coastal waters would be too cold for this species – a species thought to prefer tropical and subtropical waters. All the facts did not deter me, however, and in January 2008 the South African Shark Conservancy (SASC) launched an exploratory expedition to the Breede to determine if Zambezi sharks occur in this river. Our team spent up to 14 hours per day f ishing, trying everything we knew to catch a shark, but after three days the expedition ended without success and we returned to our respective lives.

The following months were spent rethinking our sampling strategy and discussing whether another expedition would be prudent. Given the limited financial resources available to SASC – a non-profit organisation – we decided we could not afford to revisit the

Breede in search of sharks. Our money-saving plans came crashing to a halt in early January 2009 when the LBRC contacted us to say an angler had captured and landed a big shark in the lower reaches of the river. The photos provided to us proved inconclusive for species identification purposes, but our interest in the system was rekindled and, once again, we headed back to the Breede to try our fishing luck.

This time around, we solicited the assistance of Hennie Papenfuss – a professional angler from Big Fish Safari. Hennie has years of recreational angling experience and has successfully captured Zambezi’s in other areas along the South African coastline.

Debriefing on fishing and sampling protocol during the 2008 expedition (photo courtesy South African Shark Conservancy).

The scientific proof! Landing a Zambezi shark captured by Hennie Papenfuss (photo courtesy Alison Towner/Marine Dynamics).

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Nicknamed Nyami Nyami after the Zambezi river god, this female shark measured 4 metres in length, shattering previous world records (photo courtesy Alison Towner/Marine Dynamics).

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Hennie agreed to help us out and five days into our expedition we were rewarded when he not only caught and landed a shark, but proved without a doubt that the big sharks in the Breede River are actually Zambezi’s!

SASCs 2009 expedition proved to be an unparalleled success. Not only did we prove Zambezi sharks inhabit the Breede River system, but the shark landed by Hennie shattered world records when the large female measured an incredible four

metres in length. This was a full half a metre longer than the previous recorded global maximum size for this species! Also, until now, Zambezi sharks had only been known to occur to Cape St. Francis in the Eastern Cape. This represented a 366km range extension for the species in South Africa.

The capture of the female Zambezi shark, who was nicknamed Nyami Nyami, in 2009 marked the beginnings of SASCs dedicated research programme on Zambezi sharks in

the Breede River and Southwest Cape region.

The female shark was tagged with two acoustic tags, enabling us to track her movement in the river. Following her release we subsequently tracked her for 312 hours, during which time she exited the river only once for a 2-hour period. Her movement was tidally driven, meaning she moved upriver on the incoming tide and downriver on the outgoing tide. She spent much of

A SASC intern tracks a tagged Zambezi shark (photo courtesy South African Shark Conservancy).

Meaghen McCord (SASC) and Alison Kock (Save Our Seas Shark Centre) programme the PAT tag (photo courtesy Alison Towner/Marine Dynamics).

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her time moving between fishing boats, hunting prey caught on the lines of anglers - a behaviour thought to minimize energy expenditure while maximizing food intake.

In the initial phase of this study a question that became very important to us was to determine if this species is a year-round resident in the Breede River, or if they undertake migrations to warmer waters as winter approaches. In an attempt to answer this question, we tried to recapture Nyami Nyami in April 2009 and deploy a pop-up archival tag (PAT tag) to track her movements over a longer-term period.

PAT tags are a type of satellite tag programmed to release (“pop up”) from a tagged animal after a predetermined number of days. After release, the tag floats to the surface of the water and transmits data to a satellite which is then downloaded to a computer. The position recorded after pop-up indicates the distance travelled by, and position of, the animal of concern. Unfortunately, we were unable to recapture Nyami Nyami and deploy the PAT tag last year. Following our April ’09 expedition, funds once again became a limiting factor and we were unable to return to the river to carry on with the study.

Early 2010 saw increased interest in this project, however, and we were thrilled when an overseas production team agreed to

fund additional research for an international natural history series. In January this year we returned to the river with renewed hope – crossing our f ingers that we could catch and tag three additional sharks.

Catching these sharks is not an easy task, however, and involves the arduous process of working slowly up the food chain. First the tide must be low enough in the river to pump prawns on the mud flats. These prawns are then used to catch a Zambi’s favoured food item – grunter or kobeljou. The Breede River Zambezi’s appear to have a taste for live bait and refuse food typically

used to catch other shark species, such as tuna heads or sardine. The live bait is then, ever so carefully, hooked and floated out, at which point the waiting begins. Sometimes we wait days, sometimes only hours – it all depends on whether the shark is hungry.

Only one day into our f irst 2010 expedition we were thrilled when, after only a few hours spent waiting, “Jeremy” – a 3m male – was caught and tagged. Two days later another 3m male shark, nicknamed “Pumpkin”, was landed and tagged. Poor weather conditions prevented us from capturing a third shark, although we intend to try again

SASC interns pump prawns to catch live bait for Zambezi sharks (photo courtesy South African Shark Conservancy).

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in the coming months. This time around we will continue to track Jeremy and Pumpkin to learn more about their movement and whether it differs from Nyami Nyami.

Initial observations indicate the males utilise the river in a completely different manner to the big female. Before winter sets in we also hope to deploy the PAT tag and determine where these sharks go in winter months.

The discovery of three large Zambezi sharks in the Breede River has provided us with a platform to gain a better understanding of these much-maligned animals. Considered one of the most dangerous shark species, primarily due to their occurrence in areas heavily utilised by people, the Breede Zambi’s have proven we still have so much to learn. Since the capture of Nyami Nyami in 2009, historical photos have come to light illustrating catches of this species in the river date back to at least the 1960s. The incredible thing is, in all this time, there has never been an attack on a human.

Also, these three sharks are quite large

compared to Zambezi’s found in most other places along our coastline. In all their years collecting data, for instance, the Natal Sharks Board has yet to capture a 3-metre Zambezi shark. But why is this and where do these sharks come from? Do these large animals represent a subpopulation of the South African Zambezi shark population? Is it the health of the Breede River – considered amongst South Africa’s healthiest estuarine systems – that makes it possible for these sharks to grow so large? Does prey availability, recreational f ishing effort and a learned behaviour (hunting f ish already caught on a line) that minimizes energy expenditure result in their large sizes?

Provided we can secure the necessary funding, we will continue to unravel the mysteries surrounding these animals in the Breede River system over the course of the next few years. We will examine how these sharks interact with the surrounding coastal marine protected areas (MPAs), studying how protected areas benefit marine predators, and how human behaviour in the

river affects their movement and distribution. We will attempt to answer many other questions – the number of which increases every day we spend on the water with these magnif icent animals – and ultimately assist in the development of a species-specif ic management strategy for these sharks in SA.

If you are interested in supporting SASC and our Breede River Zambezi Shark Project, contact [email protected]. Updates on our research can be read on our blog.

SASC is incredibly grateful to the following organisations for supporting our research over the past two years: the Save Our Seas Foundation, Marine and Coastal Management, the Lower Breede River Conservancy, Dyer Island Conservation Trust and White Shark Projects.

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Sunrise at the mouth of the Breede River (photo: South African Shark Conservancy).

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http://www.sascblog.blogspot.com/


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Jean TresfonFeatured Photographer

Jean Tresfon

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Text and images by Jean Tresfon

Jean Tresfon is an underwater photographer by inclination, if not by profession. Born and bred in Cape Town, he started diving in 1990, completing a 1-star certif ication through SAUU. Diving quickly became an all consuming passion and in 1995 he became a PADI certif ied instructor and ran a dive charter boat for a number of years. In 1998 he gave up the charter business and joined the world of commerce, but continued to spend every spare moment underwater. For the next f ive years he concentrated his efforts on the shipwrecks of the West Coast area, researching and diving on as many wrecks as possible. Then in 2002 he bought his f irst digital camera in a waterproof housing and was completely hooked.

Jean has travelled extensively, having dived in the Caribbean, the Canary Islands, Gibraltar, the Isle of Man, Kenya, Zanzibar, Pemba, Mauritius, the Maldives, the Red Sea, Indonesia and West Papua, as well as the Philippines and Micronesia to name but a few. However, he still prefers the cold waters of the Cape to any other dive destination and believes it to be one of the world’s f inest venues for underwater photography, with a truly astounding variety of subjects.


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africandiver issue 10

Documents

big sea creatures

jean tresfonpage

algoa bay yacht club

research facility

free divers

welcome rowan toselli

board rowan

mothers heartbeat