June 2, 2007
Sometimes When You Sweat The Small Stuff The Big Stuff Swims Right Up To You
by Jonathan Lavan
I have been diving and exploring the undersea realm for more then twenty years. I thought I had just about seen it all. About five years ago I starting diving with the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF). This non-profit organization dives the world counting fish and doing other research to aid like-minded scientific and environmental organizations to assess the current health of different reefs and regions.
The Small Stuff:
Papillose Blenny; 1.5 in.
A group of us were diving off Key Biscayne National Park just north of Key Largo, Florida. Nearly thirty years ago, in 1979, a researcher named Jim Tilmant dived several of the surrounding reefs and presented his findings to the National Park Service. Fast forward to 2007: The National Park Service, with help from The National Marine Fisheries Service (out of their Miami office), decides to replicate his studies to see what changes have occurred. The NPS hired REEF to do a companion study at sites deeper and shallower (east and west) of the original Tilmant sites. Our job at each site was to do a general fish count according to our established criteria as well as measure the length of all groupers and snappers seen. Believe me, it's not easy to get them to hold the ruler. I was the photographer on staff so I spent most of my time on each dive in a ten foot square area finding tiny little blennies and gobies (see picture above) and, over all, let the fish come to me.
By the third day of four we were getting a bit frustrated as the weather has been less then cooperative. The forty-five minute to one hour boat ride to each site got rougher as the days passed. Between the tanks and the boat rides our lower backs were taking a pounding. We finally had to scrub day four altogether because it was simply too rough. That meant we would have to dip into day five, our weather day, and hope for the best.
The Big Stuff:
Whale Shark; 35ft.
The weather on our final day, Friday, March 23rd, held together well. We had a good first dive and we were happy in the fact that we would be able to complete our assignment. The boat was sitting in the shelter of a dive site called Long Reef. We were doing our surface interval and enjoying our lunch when the captain noticed a very large caudal fin sticking out of the water about 30 yards off the bow. Whale sharks are very rare in the Florida Keys so we were all highly skeptical, but what else could it be? The captain eased the boat over to the animal. Fortunately I only had my wetsuit half off and my camera is always at the ready. I eased over the side and managed to get some shots before the monster fish made a few small twitches of that mammoth tail and was gone. I judged it to be about thirty-five feet long, as the cobia (Rachycentron canadum) swimming about it were each about three feet long. I spent a week in Honduras looking for whale sharks during their breeding season and saw nary a one. This was, for me, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I think from now on when I'm diving I'll pull my head out of the cracks and crevices now and again and look up and around. You never know what gentle giants might be swimming by.
If you are interested in seeing more of my photos please see my dive blog: Underpressure World
If you are interested in finding out more about the Reef Environmental Education Foundation please go to their website.
Thanks Jonathan- also jlavan @ mbayaq.org
Posted by Dida at June 2, 2007 11:24 PM
