A.W.A.R.E. Kids

We had fun this year on each of the school holidays blowing bubbles with kids from all over the country!







The PADI Bubblemaker and Discover Scuba Diving experience programs were conducted for kids ranging from 8 to 15 years of age.



It is a great reward to teach kids.

Their sheer enthusiasm, their eagerness to learn and their absolute innocent impatience to get on with the experience made for exciting sessions on their own.



The fun did not stop there!

The kids also learned about their local environment and animals they can find there, and each group of 2 kids 'adopted' an animal like dolphin, turtle, shark, stingray amongst others. Besides mastering skills underwater, they gladly remembered underwater signals for the animals and some even mimicked how the animal moved underwater!







This was a great start to having the kids continue their underwater adventures with the PADI SEAL TEAM programs, where a Critter I.D. dive is one of the AquaMissions completed as a Master Seal Team member! We look forward to the kids and parents who have signed up!



Recent groups had the opportunity to be introduced also to a new kids program from Project A.W.A.R.E. called AWARE Kids!





AWARE Kids

(for quicker processing, please sign-up at Sea Hounds or directly to Project AWARE-Asia Pacific, instead of the address indicated on the website above)



This is a fantastic program for kids to keep exploring the underwater world, yet create and take action. Having kids act is important for protecting our wild water planet and a great way for them to start caring for our blue planet!





Click on photo to view album



Parents can sign up their kids at Sea Hounds. It's FREE!

Your kids will be sent mailings to keep them involved.

To start their program, an AWARE Kids Activity Book will be given for a S$3 donation to Project A.W.A.R.E.

Proceeds will help fund worthwhile conservation projects around the region. www.projectaware.org



Don't leave the kids with a nanny, bring them along!



* Special Thanks to Michael Tan, PADI Divemaster 474011, for making the Bubblemaker sessions possible, and to Johnson Chua, PADI Rescue Diver, for arranging for his students at school to Discover Scuba Diving.



Kids & Parents, show you care by signing up for the PADI Bubblemaker program! You will automatically be involved with Dive In to Earth Day 2005! Email us for more info: scuba@seahounds.com



Beaver

PADI MI 99087

A New Breed of Dive Leaders

"Cool shades, board shorts..dangling cigarette in the mouth."

"Suave and a sweet-talker."

"Has all the right gear but no idea what he's doing..and lost us underwater."

"..no comment on my impression of a divemaster or instructor."



These are just some of the comments we've heard divers make on their general impression of dive leaders in our industry.



Public opinion rarely differs from the truth in many ways. These negative conclusions must have come from an accumulation of unpleasant experiences over time. Word gets around, good or bad, the same way Singapore Zoological Gardens earned its reputation as the Best Zoo, or a new restaurant gets stuck with a bad rep after opening night was a service disaster.



So guilty or not, it only takes a few bad eggs to spoil the basket. This is one of our greatest motivations to work even harder, and be even better.







Being a PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Center for Sea Hounds is not a fancy rating with a colourful sticker pasted outside our dive center. It is a reason and a means to facilitate proper training for dive professionals. Why bother? Because everyone deserves good dive leadership, for training or leisure.

Refraining from talking too much on the "peanuts..monkies" expression, our objective for each and every one of our professional candidates is to ensure they possess the appropriate Attitude, Skills and Knowledge to become a professional educator.

Our dive center is there to constantly provide Education, Equipment and Experiences to keep you diving and loving the sea!



We welcome onboard our instructional crew, new and recently upgraded:







Vincent Chew

PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor 481069

Emergency First Response/Care for Children Instructor







Sabine Henkel

PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor 477759

Emergency First Response Instructor

DSAT Gas Blender Instructor







Kenneth Wong

PADI Instructor Development Course Staff Instructor 472165

Emergency First Response/Care for Children Instructor



* Special Thanks to Eugene Sim, PADI Course Director 89366, for his invaluable guidance during each of the PADI Instructor courses.



** Sea Hounds Instructors are also trained Decompression/Trimix divers and we will be working hard to make available to you the DSAT TecRec courses very soon!

See previous post "eXpLoReRs"



Our congratulations and encouragements to all of them for taking the initiative to continue their education. They are testaments to our belief that the learning never stops. We look forward to them sharing more of their experiences with our divers!



**In addition to PADI Standards & Procedures, Sea Hounds Instructors and Divemasters also adhere to the National Operational Code of Practise, governed by the Singapore Underwater Federation, and pledge to follow practises of an eco-operator.



Refer to earlier post:

Open Water Movie



Beaver

PADI MI 99087

Dive In to Earth Day 2005

Earth Day Takes a Plunge to Rescue Threatened Marine Resources Worldwide: Dive In To Earth Day 2005 Celebrations Under Way



San Francisco, CA – How can you make a real difference in helping protect your marine environment while having fun and making new friends? Look no further! Dive In To Earth Day offers tens of thousands of water lovers the chance to celebrate Earth day with an underwater twist. Join celebrities such as Susan Sarandon, Tanya Streeter, William Shatner and Stan Waterman in this international marine conservation event!



This year marks the 6th anniversary of Dive In To Earth Day, which engages volunteers in hands on marine conservation activities during Earth Day week, April 22nd. Over 200,000 participants from 89 countries and territories around the world have taken part in 1,200 Dive In activities over the years. Activities, from beach cleanups in Florida to reef monitoring surveys in Oman and mooring buoy installations in Costa Rica, greatly benefit the health of the world’s oceans, coral reefs, lakes, rivers and other aquatic resources. To date, Dive In participants have removed 200,000 lbs of trash from coastal areas, educated and inspired children to care for water resources, supported coral reef areas and much, much more.



“We now know that the oceans are home to 80% of all living organisms on earth, and that coral reefs support a quarter of all known marine species,” comments Susan Sarandon, Hollywood actress and Dive In Host Committee member. “Still, our oceans are under serious stress from pollution and trash, destructive fishing practices and uncontrollable tourism. Dive In To Earth Day is a great and easy opportunity to take action and help raise awareness on urgent marine conservation issues. We all share this responsibility, and we have to start believing that each and every one of us can make a difference.”



Henry Arismendi from the Guacharo Scuba Club, Venezuela, recounts the incredible impact his Dive In 2004 event had: “During a beach-clean in a bay nearby a fishermen community, one little boy, son of a poor fisherman, was curious about what we we’re doing”, explains Henry. “I explained in simple words that not littering their beach was very important. He used to think that things thrown in the sea would vanish forever and not damage the fish. Several minutes later he and his friends were running along the beach cleaning and helping us because they wanted to protect THEIR beach. I hope we have planted a seed in their minds so that they will grow up as ecologically responsible citizens.”



Dive In To Earth Day was launched by The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) in 2000 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Earth Day. CORAL is a non-profit coral reef conservation organization based in San Francisco, California. CORAL coordinates the event in partnership with Project AWARE Foundation and with the support of West Marine, Earth Day Network and the International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN).



For more information about how you can participate visit: www.coral.org/divein



Sea Hounds is your regional representative for Dive In 2005.

Watch out for program/event dates during the week of April 22, 2005!



HIGHLIGHTS:

1. Fish Surveys

- Pulau Hantu (STARTS NOW!) & Pulau Tioman (Starting March 7th). Fish counts and positive identification starts every time you enter the water. Make this FUN activity a worthwhile one as well!

2. Reef Checks

3. AWARE Kids

- PADI Bubblemaker and Discover Scuba Diving incorporating information on how to protect reefs even from far away and fun games to share the message of how pollution & rubbish affects the survival of our marine life.

4. Underwater/Beach Clean-up

- Pulau Hantu (STARTS NOW) & Pulau Tioman (Starts March 7th)

Supported by:

Email us: scuba@seahounds.com to find out how you can get involved NOW!



Beaver

Sea Hounds: PADI NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Dive Center

It's finally here in Singapore and Sea Hounds is your very first PADI National Geographic Dive Center!







PADI National Geographic Dive Centers are PADI's elite dive centers with highest customer standards and product offerings. PADI Instructors who wish to conduct the program and participants alike must use a local PADI National Geographic Dive Center to participate in the exclusive National Geographic Diver program.



The program is availale as an entry-level (Open Water Diver) course, as well as open to certified divers.



As a National Geographic Diver, you join an elite group of explorers, adventurers and conservationists. The insight and training you gain during this program will broaden your awareness and take your diving skills to a new level. You'll learn to observe and explore like an underwater scientist.







Most PADI Divers are fascinated with the aquatic world, which inspires them to learn more. Because you have already learned the theory and skills of diving, the National Geographic Portal gives you the opportunity to build on your dive experience to learn about new adventures, exploration and conservation opportunities.



Our facility will be set up within the next 2 weeks, and our instructional crew will undergo training as well as planning to provide you a fun and exciting program to look forward to! As most of you know our local islands house reefs and animals only a true explorer can discover so it's a perfect place to start during these months! Watch out for it!



To find out more, go to www.padi.com/ng



Beaver

PADI MI 99087

Deeper, Longer, Safer...

As a kid, I used to love watching movies like 'Tora Tora Tora" and "Battle of Midway". I spent hours reading up on the naval battles of Leyte Gulf and Guadalcanal. My pocket money was spent buying Air-fix models of battleships and aircraft carriers.



I was ecstatic when I learnt that there were the Advance Nitrox and Decompression Procedure courses being held, with an expedition to the HMS Repulse planned in mid October. I was on my way to the realisation of a long time dream to dive some sunken World War II wreck!







The tech courses turned out to be one of the most physically and mentally challenging courses I have ever taken. Wearing twin tanks together with stage bottles for the first time, I felt so clumsy in the water. In the pool sessions, we were taught drills to familiarise us with our new equipment, whilst emphasizing on maintaining your bouyancy and knowing what to do under extreme scenarios (like out-of-air and blackout). During the two open water trips, we had to be constantly alert, running through all the possible scenarios and the course of action to keep us 'alive' (the instructor would declare you 'dead' if you could not react safely to the scenarios). Added to this was the feeling of narcosis for those of us who have never dived so deep before. All in all, although the learning curve was steep, it was a really rewarding course because of the sense of achievement you get from completing it.







My diver friends have asked me: 'Why did you do it? Are you crazy? The tanks are so heavy!'. Ok, looking at wrecks may be my thing but it doesn't really do it for everyone. It is a common misconception that tech diving is just for people who want to dive wrecks and caves. This is not true. Just imagine how much more you could see with a bottom time of 40min at your fouvourite 30m dive site? Or safely descending to 50m and staying for 20min on the drop-off to wait for the whalesharks and catch those mantas resting on the ledges. Instead of blind luck and hoping you have enough air to last you until your Mosquito will let you ascend, isn't it much better to plan and know for certain? It need not mean having to carry twin-tanks every time - sometimes just a deco bottle is enough.



In the just-concluded Olympics, athletes sought to go 'Higher, Faster, Stronger'. I guess for the group of us, we are constantly seeking to push our own diving limits, safely. So, if you too share our passion of 'Deeper, Longer, Safer', why not consider joining us in the next tech course?





chewbacca

PADI Divemaster #481069

eXpLoReRs

In our quest to grow gills, our interim solution is scuba..ok beaver quit the bullshit!



A new group of Seahounds have progressed to donning more tanks to admire historical wrecks, stay with their favourite animal longer and to visit sites deeper than the recreational limit!



Whatever the reason may be, they are ALL well trained in decompression procedures.







They spent the last 3 weeks conditioning themselves to their new configuration of twin tanks on their backs and stage bottles by their sides, training in emergency and contingency procedures and drills and most importantly getting back to BASIC scuba skills!



It was a good reminder of how vital mastering basic skills are to progress to any level.

The team never thought they would be finning in so many directions for so long, clearing their masks so often and removing and replacing their regulators so much!!



Then it was out to Open Water where the team visited their favourite sites only this time below 50m! Chronicles of their Narcossis will follow this post...i think.



Animal action on the trip:

At the depths we were at, we were able to observe a myriad of heart urchins(lovenia elongata) moving quickly around the sand as other urchins would move under the cover of night. Urchins(echinoidea) are one of 5 classes of phylum echinodermata (meaning spiny skinned)including holothurians(sea cucumbers), crinoids, sea stars, and brittle stars. Other observations included peacock flounders and flatheads.

On the surface, we had the priviledge of watching a 2.5m black marlin tail-walking just off the salang jetty, right before our morning dive on Sunday!







Expanding their diving knowledge is something the whole tec team has taken away from both the Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures courses. We trust the theory sessions on technical diving have provided new perspectives on recreational diving.



Welcome S e a H o u n d s T e c T e a m :

Team 1: Ken Wong, Vincent Chew, Glenn Wong, Jacki Ng (Gill Divers)

Team 2: Sabine Henkel, Christina Goh, Jonathan Lam, Michelle Tan

Trainers: Eugene Sim (Dive Atlantis), Stephen Beng



Ken and Glenn are also trained Semi-closed Rebreather divers and are able to silently get closer to the animals...woohoo!!







will now wait silently for the team members personal accounts. . . .



Beaver

Open Water Movie

The movie Open Water hits the cinemas today and many divers have already caught the previews over the last week. A select group of dive operators who are corporate members of the Singapore Underwater Federation (S.U.F.) were also exclusively invited to a preview last month by the Shaw Organization.



It has been a hot point of discussion between dive industry professionals concerning the movie prior to its launch to ensure that the public is aware of the risks involved with diving and how to avoid them.



scuba-doc



All divers are encouraged to view the movie and let it serve as a reminder of the importance of thorough dive training for both the recreational diver and more importantly the dive professional. Every entry level course, be it Open Water Diver for the recreational diver or Divemaster for the dive pro, is vital to ensure basic skills are mastered because only then can continuing education make sense.



Both the recreational diver and the dive pro have responsibilites.

The diver must be responsible for and confident enough to consider his/her own safety, and responsible for selecting a dive operator wisely and not just based on price.

The dive pro must follow through every area of responsibility required of a dive professional (these roles and responsibilities are set in black and white in the professional manuals), follow internal standard operating procedures, as well as adhere to local practises.



It's best for the divemaster or instructor to watch the movie and relate to the very real situation depicted in the movie instead of mocking what was done wrong. Learning from every case only makes our risk management better.



The group of dive operators, currently totalling 16, who are corporate members of the S.U.F. have also signed a pledge to adhere to a National Operational Code of Practise(NOCOP). The Code ensures standard operating procedures amongst the participating operators amongst other practices, checks and balances. It is exciting times for us with improvements finally taking shape. There will be many changes for the better, for example, operators will be required to submit and be checked on their standard operating procedures.







With these changes ahead of us, there are obvious costs involved and we sincerely hope the dive community will support the operators who are trying very hard to step up the standard of dive operations in Singapore. These operators will be listed on screen before the movie or you can check them out on the link below.



Singapore Underwater Federation



Beaver

PADI Master Instructor 99087

Status of the Coral Reefs Report 2002

While most of us surface from a dive excitedly discussing the fish that we have seen , how many of us actually come up and discuss the corals that we saw (apart from cursing getting grazed by a staghorn)? Are we really taking notice of the coral life, and celebrating its diversity? Recently, I joined Debby on one of her increasingly popular Hantu Bloggers Dives. Viz averaged about 1m, and while this does not afford you much opportunity for spotting fish, it really allows you to change your focus to the coral, and take the opportunity to learn and understand more about coral life. Thanks to Debby for putting a lot of effort into sharing her knowledge about coral life, and making these Hantu Blogger dives fun, educational and memorable for all the divers. Since then, I have become increasingly interested in learning more about the coral reef itself, and this has enriched my dive experiences, making them far more interesting and fulfilling....Good or bad viz, with this added knowledge and interest, there will always be something of interest on the dive, and to celebrate upon surfacing.



I have attached a link to the Status of Coral Reef 2002 report, published by the Australian Institute of Marine Science, with support, in part, by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) . The chapter I have attached is with reference to SE Asia. This report warns that our reefs are under threat primarily from the activities of humans on and around the reefs, but provides some hope by highlighting isolated successes of reef rejuvenation through effective efforts in reef monitoring and management.



http://www.aims.gov.au/pages/research/coral-bleaching/scr2002/pdf/scr2002-07.pdf



Do take time out to read this report, and learn more about the state of the reefs in our region and elsewhere. I promise that next time you descend, you will see so much more, and your experience will be enriched by a better appreciation for the diversity and fragility of our seas.



Cheers!

Johari

Patience

6 days of diving off the walls of Manado last week served a pleasant reminder of why we are in the business of sharing the sea with everyone! Being over Singapore's National Day weekend, many other patriotic Singaporean groups were out there as well. They came over to chat with us and left us comments that they didn't see much....(was followed by blank looks from all of us)



Owning one of the widest spectrums of marine biodiversity in the world, it's hard to believe that one does not see much on any one dive there. It is also one of the best places to observe animals in their natural environment. Divers should value the opportunity to observe the behaviour of even 1 animal on a dive for as long as it allows us to.



These are the animals which accompanied us during our dives there..

view Photo Album

Pelagics off and around the walls of Montehage, Manado Tua and Bunaken: Eagle Rays, Black tips, Dogtooth Tunas, Spanish Mackerels, Schools of HorseEye & Giant Trevallies, Chevron and Great Barracudas, and a Dugong swimming up the wall at 14m....oh and did we mention DUGONG!! Apparently they have taken to diving deeper there as well, and for a chubby animal it can sure haul some major a**! If you want a second-hand example, we have a couple of divemasters who do good impressions.

On the surface, Common and Bottlenose Dolphins, Black Marlins.

Critter encounters include Yellow Rhinopias, Robust Ghostpipefish, Pygmy Seahorses, Jawfish, Kuda Hippocampus, Leafy Scorpiofish, Cockatoo Waspfish, Flying Gurnards, Demon Stingers, Squatlobsters...hey we could go on and on but best if you experience it for yourself!

Some of our mistakes(even though we tried not to commit them) you can learn from:



1. Be Patient. Good things come to good people so dont keep swimming aimlessly if you dont see anything. Remember most animals move as well! It would be like a carousel, everything moving around in circles but never meeting. Once you do meet an animal, like..did we mention Dugong..don't freak out, don't aim your camera too quickly and don't blow big bubbles (guilty on all 3 counts)



2. Be Mindful. Dolphins, like women,are one of the most misunderstood mammals.(we're kidding..not really). Always looking friendly may not always mean that they want to play! Always keep a safe distance from a pod of dolphins, observe if there are young in the pod as adults may then be defensive, keep the noise level of the boat engine constant, if you enter the water(don't), do it quietly without splashing and keep the boat close to you!! Lastly, smile when they eyeball you!



3. Be Safe. It's easy when we are overwhelmed with nature to forget that we have limits underwater. Never let it leave your mind to check your dive computer or depth/time devices to stay within recreational diving limits. Negligence is a common reason for accidents. And btw, don't even get used to overstaying your limits and simply following deco time your computer gives you..remember it is an Emergency Decompression not a planned one if it does happen and it is best to stay off diving for 24hrs after. Using air on continuous repetitive dives leaves you loaded with nitrogen in no time so really, do what you learnt during your Open Water Diver course..drink lots of water, limit your alcohol and tobacco intake and stay out of the sun!



* Be a passive observer, remember we are all visitors under the sea. You wouldn't like it if someone came into your home lifted you off the sofa, chased you round the living room, jiggled you around then dropped you off at your neighbours house, either.



Every dive site or location should be selected objectively to enjoy the experience fully and expectations must be managed.

Our next Manado adventure will be in October 2004 and we hope to plan for 1-2 days out at sea to find the larger mammals and a dawn dive for the Great Hammerheads. Email us scuba@seahounds.com if you want to share the experience.



Beaver

PADI 99087

New Lair

The Sea Hounds are currently moving its dive center from #02-335 to #02-331 The Plaza on Beach Road. The move will be completed by 20th August 2004. The new Dive and Instructor Development Center is focussed on Care for Nature and Interaction with Animals through Learning.



We will have a reference corner for everyone to share observations from their dives and excursions and also have id books and internet for checks. It will need everyone's contribution to keep it dynamic so dont keep it to yourself cos sharing is caring 'init'?



On a lighter note, we may require plastic bags to be hung around those of you who enjoy snacking in the dive center. Though we love our animals, the kinds attracted to the stuff you leave behind are best observed outside the shop!



We look forward to sharing the sea with you from our new base!

Thanks to the demolition crew, Jeff, Edd, Rick and Vincent (specialist in aluminium can recycling)





SEA HOUNDS SCUBA

(ROC.52918661J)



PADI National Geographic Dive Center

PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Center

(S-6255)



7500A Beach Road,

#02-331 The Plaza,

Singapore 199591



Tel: 65-6299 1147

Fax: 65-6299 1744

email: scuba@seahounds.com

web: www.seahounds.com



The Eco-Adventure Division of

VALUE TRAVEL PTE LTD

(TA.01369)

Better Briefings

One of the first things I was told when I took up the

Divemaster course was that the learning will just be

beginning once I obtain my certification. This past

weekend, I realised how true this statement is. So,

because I learned something this weekend, it is only

right that I share what I learned here.



As a new PADI Divemaster, I suppose it is only natural that

there is a tendency, during the dive briefings, to

over emphasise the practical aspects and safety / hazard

considerations of the planned dive, and give less

emphasis to the more enjoyable aspects of the dive.

What I realized was that when it came to the

briefings, I allowed the responsibility of my role in ensuring

diver safety and comfort to consume me, but forgot

that my other major role was to show these divers a good

time and share with them the wonders that each of

these sites holds. I did exactly what my PADI Divemaster manual

told me not to do..."avoid overstressing hazards". I

also realised that although I had dived all the sites

a number of times before, I still posessed limited

knowledge about what really makes each of these sites

unique and special, and what sort of sealife I could

almost be sure to see at each one. Even if I did have

this knowledge, because of my limited experience, I

don't think I allowed it to get across to the divers.

In the end, I think I probably came across as sounding

like a stern, over-protective father, and may have

caused, at best, the divers to become bored, and at

the worst, stressed them out.



So here is the learning points:



1. Don't be the "bad guy", who overemphasises hazards.

You may bore your divers or stress them out. While

there is a practical purpose to including safety /

hazard considerations in your briefing, make it brief.

If there is a need to re-emphasise some of these

considerations for some otherwise "errant" divers,

then take them aside to discuss with them separately,

rather than deal with it generally for all during the

briefing.



2. Get to know your sites and know them well. This

will only serve to enhance your briefings with interesting

bits of information about the site, and help you

identify the unique features and creatures of the

site.



3. Have fun! That's what we are there for, right??!!

Show your enthusiasm, even if you secretly find the

site boring.



...the learning continues.



Cheers.

Johari

PADI DM 479744

Continuing Education

What really keeps a dive center and its instructional crew going is the fact that our divers keep on learning with us! We welcome Liisa, Ann, Sarah, Anne Malepart, Frank, Christine, Leon, Caspar, Johnson, David and Rick who understood the importance of continuing their diver education immediately after entry level to the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course! They now stand out not only as Advanced divers but with a genuine care for the environment and appreciation of marine life.







We look forward to sharing more knowledge and skills with them in the PADI Rescue Diver course which Vincent, Christina, and Edward have just completed. Remember the more we learn the closer we get to nature!



The Advanced Divers each adopted a pet animal on their trip: Shark, Ray, Turtle, Moray Eel, Lionfish, Barracuda, and Cuttlefish. We managed to observe behaviours of a spotted catshark on the night dive, fantail bluespotted rays and lionfish on the deep dive, hawksbill turtle feeding on anemone on the fish id adventure dive, white-eyed morays on the wreck dive, and 3 species of barracuda throughout the trip; great barracudas and schooling pickhandle and arrowhead barracudas.







More on PADI Continuing Education

Perhentian Dive Log Entry

Just back from a week on the Perhentian Islands. Had a great time with friends from Canada, and while none of them are divers, I treated myself to a few great dives while there. Did a superb dawn dive, and thought I would share an entry from my dive log:

_____________________________________________________



Dive #: 143

Location: Tokong Laut (Temple of the Sea), Perhentian Islands, Malaysia

Max Depth: 22.5m

Avg Depth: 13.7m

Bottom Time: 70 minutes

Water Temp: 28 degrees Celsius

Visibility: up to 20 metres

Divemaster: Yoe



I had been bugging Chris from Spice Divers on Perhentian Kecil all week about going on a night dive. On the afternoon of the scheduled night dive,he greeted me on the beach, and I knew the dive was off.



"jeff, i got a cracker of a dive scheduled for you tomorrow!"



With subtle disappointment in my voice, I replied, "i take it this is in lieu of the night dive?"



"Ya mate!", says Chris, a Malay, but with a thick australian accent

he aquired growing up around Darwin,"tomorrow you are going on a sunrise dive!"



I swear my excitement levitated me off the sand! This guy sure knows how to convey "bad" news! Woo Hoo! Having survived a "scuba boot camp" dawn dive aboard MV Grace earlier last year amid murky waters and strong currents, I couldn't wait to turn my perception of dawn dives around. Diving at dawn is said to be the best time to see the "buzz" of life on the reef. I set my alarm, but my excitement kept me awake most of the night.



5:30am the next morning, the guys at Spice Divers were amazingly chipper, and greeted 11 blurry eyed divers with toast, jam and hot coffee and tea.



Dive briefing at 5:45am; on the boat by 6am.



We arrived at the site 20mins later, and after gearing up, backrolled off the boat into the calm, but pitch black sea at 6:30am. The narrow strands of light from our torchlights guided us as we made our descent in the dark, warm waters. We descended to 22m to discover that the many shy-by-day bamboo sharks were lively and swimming about in search of their early morning meal. A few brave moray eels (normally tucked into crevices during the day) were also out and about, winding their way through the black coral

and gorgonian sea fans. As I scanned the sandy bottom with my torchlight, its light revealed a few small flathead crocodile fish hiding under a thin layer of sand. Large pairs of star puffer fish and porcupine fish were also drifting by across the field of view in front of my torchlight.



After 20min, we started slowly ascending up the pinnacle, with the reef silouetted in the pre-dawn light. At about 13m, the shapes and colours of the reef became more apparent, and I suddenly became aware of millions of fish swarming around me...schools of fusilliers, damselfish, glassfish, batfish,all out for their morning exercise, or perhaps trying to evade the lone great barracuda that was hunting just above me. Together with the other 3 divers I was with, and with the sun breaching the horizon of the world

above the surface, we halted all movement at that point, and remained

motionlesss, hovering weightlessly amongst the buzz of the early morning reef traffic. I wanted this moment to last forever. Even when the Divemaster signalled that a sometimes agressive triggerfish was roaming the area, I refused to let its presence disrupt my morning reef meditation.



Some minutes later, I snapped out of my trance to share my excitment with my buddies, and wrote in large emphatic letters on my underwater slate, "SO MANY FISH!!"



After 70 magical minutes, I broke the surface, my face

drenched in the rays of the low lying early morning sun, and said to

myself, "this is a great day!"



Jeff

aka Johari

DM #479744

Playing Catch up

Sharing the sea is one of the most fulfilling things any diver can do, and we figure if we're only sharing it with the divers who dive with us then it's not really enough is it??

These are the dive blogs of the Seahounds, hoping we can understand and learn more about the world we live in!