Diving has been very good lately. When we go outside the bay, we almost always see whales, and hear their song from the moment our ears are underwater and we've calmed enough to actually listen.
I don't know if there are more species, but I have positively identified Southern Right and Humpback whales last week, and quite a few are accompanied by calves.
For divers that have not been in the water for a long while and need to get back underwater gradually, and for divers that are enthusiastic about our artificial reef program, we organize lagoon dives.
I really like lagoon dives. First of all, there is the feeling of "being home". You might live in a nice area, be able to hike in a beautiful forest, but taking a short walk in your backyard does not take away from that beauty. Simply, what's in your backyard is different, and intimately known to you. You probably planted what's there to begin with, and looking at the birds visiting your bird-feeder from the comfort of your armchair is a different activity than going for a hike in the forest.
There are three spots in the lagoon where we go regularly, Legoland, The Graveyard and the Mouth.
We mostly go to the last one, the Mouth, for snorkeling sessions.
On the way, we often spot a flock of Flamingos.
The area covers the base of the rocky cliff, actually not "real" rocks, but ancient coral deposits, a length of about hundred by twenty meters, with barely more than three meters depth.
As you can see, it's well within the reach of beginner snorkelers.
The area is teeming with life. I have spotted Lion Fishes as small as a centimeter in length, among more mature ones of close to twenty centimeters.
There are also numerous eels, juvenile and mature.
Of course, it's not all about fish, there are also many crustaceans (Cleaner Shrimps, Hermit crabs), gastropods (Cowrie Shells, Nudibranch, Sea-Cucumber, Shaggy Sea-Hare) and of course all the flora.
A short distance away, we can observe Sea-horses,
Pipefish and Razor Fish
Closer to the Water Sport Center, we have Legoland. So called because it consists of elements built with concrete blocs, used like one would use Lego blocks to build a playground.
The lagoon bottom is mostly flat sand, so any asperity will offer a refuge to fish and other creature from the fishermen, whose nets don't discriminate between edible and non-edible species, small or big individuals.
In my mind, the presence of so much fish life in the immediate proximity shows the artificial reef is beneficial to the fish population.
It's not uncommon to have a school of Kingfish circle around us on the way down.
At the bottom, we see quite a few resident Orangespotted Rockcod
Butterflyfish, Snappers, Parrotfish and many others I still haven't been able to identify.
The Graveyard is a different experience. Although the initial motivation in the construction of the reef was to provide a solid surface to which sea creatures would attach, the opportunity for having fun was too strong to resist. The shape of the concrete slabs evolved to resemble tombstones, and that's how the name of the reef was found. For a modest fee (about R100), you can inscribe your own tombstone (mother-in-law's names are popular, and so are the names of competing companies) and sink it yourself.
The rockcods like to hang at the foot of the tombstone.
The reef currently covers an area of over forty meters diameter, with dozens and dozens of tombstones. We also added a few "fish-houses" built with concrete blocks of the same model as Legoland. I have observed clouds of larvae in these fish-houses develop to juvenile fish.
This reef is a favorite destination for night dives, adding to the spookiness of the experience...
So when the tide table doesn't allow us to go out of the mouth, diving inside the lagoon can be an enriching experience.
Stay tuned for more diving news, don't hold your breath,
Daniel ;-)
