News
Fish Conditioning: Do fish become conditioned by contact with divers?
In Mauritius, some of the species are completely relaxed, and others extremely nervous around divers. The most remarkable are the sharks in the shark pit in Mauritius. We have been there with a small group to find as many as 23 sharks finning around in the washing machine current. To them we do not exist. They completely ignore us.
Once they have got used to the fact that the air-breathers are harmless they go about their business happily, unafraid of the invaders.
In Mozambique the Potato Bass are happy to interact with divers, lying on the sand, eyeing them hopefully, swimming beside them and rubbing against them. The legendary Bert was among these.
The controversy over Cage Diving and chumming for sharks rages on, and although we enjoy the adrenalin rush of the Tiger Shark Dive at Aliwal Shoal, there is always a nagging doubt that we are supporting something that could lead to later danger. It is extremely rare for a diver to be attacked by a shark, unless he is in a bait ball or in the wrong place, or behaves foolishly. The Dive Operators who offer these extreme experiences have never themselves felt in any danger.
The raggies at Aliwal shoal are like bull terriers. They are completely familiar with divers, and they are unfazed by photographers. The pregnant females at Sodwana fin trance-like around groups of divers.
I watched Walter Bernardis brush a piece of sardine away from my buddy’s head just as a Black Tip was diving for it, and the Black Tip veered away from his hand. Shark diving is exhilarating, but I have never felt threatened by the animals themselves. After five years of diving with the Tigers, I have noticed that the grey reef and black tips that come to feed are no longer wary of divers. They brush you out of the way to reach the bait ball. Once they lose their fear of divers, these sharks are completely relaxed in the water.
The one animal that always seems completely aloof, has never changed, and which completely ignores diver and which typifies the apex predator is the Tiger. Nothing changes their behaviour that I have ever seen. They are always looking for something to taste. They are always alert to anything new in their world. They will always nibble on anything unfamiliar, and a nibble from a tiger can remove most of your torso.
Is it a bad thing for fishes to become conditioned to the presence of divers in their private domain? Theoretically, anything that changes the behaviour of a creature in its natural habitat is unwarrantable interference. However, the test of stress in a creature is whether it continues to live, to eat and to breed and the evidence of stress-free fish life is everywhere.
In the bad old days, Dive Masters in Mauritius used to conceal pieces of uneaten cheap Government bread in their BC pockets. Unnoticed by the early naiive Resort Course divers, the DMs crumble the bread into the water around them, and are soon mobbed by shoals of damsels, who like nothing more than a little French loaf for breakfast.
When you dived with certain Dive Operators there you had to swat away the aggressively seeking damsels. They bit your hands or the naked areas on your face. Their teeth are too small to draw blood, but the nip was painful nonetheless. Conditioned to expect something from divers? Absolutely.
At Sodwana Bay on Stringer Reef and on Quarter Mile Reef the Sergeant Majors (Abdadufduf abdadufduf ) lay their eggs in nests in the hollows of the eroded rocks and caverns. In December they can be seen hovering anxiously over their nests, but if a diver gets too close they dart away, and the wily wrasses pile in and gobble their eggs.
Incredibly, the Wrasses know they fear divers, and we have often been plagued by colourful wrasses weaving seductively in front of the camera lens, and then darting towards the Sergeant Majors’ nests hoping we will follow them. It’s almost as though they are saying, “Come on guys, come and look at these eggs, come and photograph these fish.” We have often seen pairs of mournful-looking Sergeant Majors rushing back to their eggless nests after an oblivious dive group has finned down for a closer look.
Conditioning? Looks like it.
Less obvious conditioning is on new or undiscovered reefs, where the fish are much more nervous when a group of divers arrives, and whole shoals will fin away from the intruders. I’ve seen this happen at little –known Reefs like Fusilier, or Snapper College at Sodwana.
Perhaps, just as we are learning about Reef Fish, they are learning about us – and if their behaviour is anything to go by, once they get to know us, they simply accept us.
Words Jill Holloway
Pic David Holloway
Copyright Ocean Spirit
Blogs
TRAVEL BLOG: Jeff Goodman Dives SOMABAY, Part 2
Day three of my trip to Somabay and we were spending the day on the Lady Christina and diving on the wreck of the Salem Express.
Diving wrecks for me is always one of mixed emotions. The excitement of diving a wreck is more than often tempered by the thought of loss of life when she sank. The Salem Express was a passenger ship and a roll-on/roll-off ferry travelling from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Safaga, Egypt. Most passengers were of poor class travelling home from their holidays while around 150 people were returning home from their pilgrimage to Mecca.
The ship struck a reef and sank within 20 minutes. Passengers were trapped below deck and the ship was filled with fear and panic.
The wreck area is strewn with personal belongings from the crew and passengers such as a transistor radio and a flat iron for clothes. A diver at sometime has put them in a prominent place to be seen.
Tragically only one life boat was launched while the others went down with the ship. More than 600 men, women and children lost their lives here.
It’s a stark reminder that the sea can be unforgiving and so when we dive on such wrecks we should do so with humble regard.
Returning to the surface, shoals of fish are gathered under our boat and seem to be welcoming us back into the light.
Back at the Breakers I sat in the dining area with a beer and a very good meal while my thoughts still remained with the day’s dive on the Salem Express.
Check in for part 3 tomorrow for Jeff’s last day of diving with Somabay on the off-shore reefs looking for turtles.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
Blogs
TRAVEL BLOG: Jeff Goodman Dives SOMABAY, Part 1
For a week at the end of February I was invited to sample the diving with Orca Dive Club based at the Breakers Diving and Surfing Lodge by courtesy of SOMABAY.
Somabay covers an entire peninsula and is home to several resorts as well as residential compounds. Somabay caters for scuba diving as well as many other sports, including windsurfing, golf, sailing, go-carting, horse riding and many other activities.
All the activities are of a world-class standard and any or all of these can be booked directly from The Breakers.
I took Easyjet from Bristol (UK) to Hurghada. Easyjet are not by any means my favourite airline but the flight was cheap and direct (except for the surprise extra £48 I was charged at the gate for my carry-on bag).
I was met at Hurghada airport by a driver and car and taken to the Breakers 28 miles (45Kilomaters) south along the coast. Once at the hotel I was too late for an evening meal and so a basic meal was delivered to my room. That and a beer from the fridge and I was fast asleep.
Early the next morning after breakfast I arrived for my rep meeting at the Orca Dive Center for 8.00am. I was immediately made to feel welcome, and after brief introductions I got some dive gear from the store, had a chat with my dive guide Mohamed and got ready to try the house reef situated at the end of a very long wooded pier where all diving gear and divers are taken out by buggies.
Once at the end of the pier, a helping hand from staff makes sure your gear is set and then it’s a short walk to the very end where you can either climb down a ladder of simply jump in the water next to the reef. The house reef extends both north and south giving a very easy and safe dive with plenty to see. At this time of the year the water temperature was a constant 22 degrees Centigrade and there was little or no current, so there were no issues in swimming back to the pier.
Quite a few divers were in dry or semi-dry suits, but being from the UK and used to the cold I found a 3mm wetsuit with a 3mm neoprene vest quite comfortable. Even after 50 years of diving I still find that first dive of a trip slightly nerving until I am actually underwater and then all becomes relaxed and I ease into auto diving mode. There was plenty to see with many of the Red Sea favourites along the way.
After the dive and a buggy ride back to the hotel for a very good buffet lunch I was back in the water, once again on the house reef for an afternoon dive.
Check in for part 2 tomorrow when Jeff gets on a day boat and dives a few of the off-shore reefs.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
-
News3 months ago
Hone your underwater photography skills with Alphamarine Photography at Red Sea Diving Safari in March
-
News2 months ago
Capturing Critters in Lembeh Underwater Photography Workshop 2024: Event Roundup
-
Marine Life & Conservation Blogs2 months ago
Creature Feature: Swell Sharks
-
Blogs1 month ago
Murex Resorts: Passport to Paradise!
-
Gear News3 months ago
Bare X-Mission Drysuit: Ideal for Both Technical and Recreational Divers
-
Blogs2 months ago
Diver Discovering Whale Skeletons Beneath Ice Judged World’s Best Underwater Photograph
-
Gear Reviews2 months ago
Gear Review: Oceanic+ Dive Housing for iPhone
-
Marine Life & Conservation2 months ago
Save the Manatee Club launches brand new webcams at Silver Springs State Park, Florida