3 March 2021
www.thevillagenews.co.za
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Snorkelling in Walker Bay The next dive brought with it an encounter that was long awaited, but one that I was certainly not prepared for. I’ve spent the last few months trying to snorkel almost every day in the same forest, which allows you to become familiar with the different areas and animals one might encounter. The Clingfish seem to hang out in vaguely similar areas, shy sharks lay their eggs mostly around the same stretch of seaweed and as one sees these things every day, you become accustomed and comfortable.
By Jax Bath
T
his past week has brought with it some perfect underwater conditions which made for some incredible snorkelling! There has also been an abundance of dolphin activity in the bay, with both Bottlenose and Common Dolphins being spotted from our shores. As Autumn draws near sardines begin to move east and with them, large aggregations of dolphins and other predators. If you happen to find yourself walking along the cliff paths this week, be sure to keep your eyes out for disturbances in the water, most noticeably, a lot of white water. The white water is caused by rapid movements made by these social marine mammals as they feed, travel and interact with one another at the surface. The dolphins are a side note I thought would be worth mentioning as we are so lucky to be able to watch them from ashore, but this week’s ocean story once again takes place below the surface, where predators and prey play cat and mouse in the kelp forests.
This past week we had remarkably calm waters which meant we had fantastic visibility underwater. In Walker Bay, visibility is often super poor so when it cleans up a bit, it’s worth jumping in as often as possible (in this case, three times!) to explore our rugged coastline and the marine life. After arriving home from the concrete jungle of Johannesburg on Wednesday, I jumped into my favourite local kelp collection to see how my forest friends were getting along. One of the most exciting elements of the week’s dives was finding the den of a particularly large octopus. As with any cryptic creature, often the easiest way to locate them is to find where they take their rest.
During the second dive of the week, I opted to go without a wetsuit which had a surprising psychological side effect. Although the water was lovely and warm, there is a feeling of vulnerability that comes when one plunges beneath the surface without their neoprene. It’s incredible how much confidence 5mm worth of fabric can instil – 5mm which was very much appreciated later in the week as the wind and upwelling made for colder water and an unexpected predator made its way into the Drip Kelders.
As the water got colder, a friend and I decided to explore a hidden pool in search of some brightly coloured sea slugs. Nudibranchs are small sea slugs which come in an awe-inspiring diversity of shapes and colours. These creatures are typically no more than a few millimetres in size and yet, are every avid diver’s dream find. In temperate waters where many would claim that colour is absent, nudibranchs are iridescent and delicate. We were very lucky to find two species, one yet to be identified and the second, the Cape Silvertip Nudibranch. We found a colony of these charismatic slugs on a boulder perched in the middle of a gully. There are over 2 000 species of Nudibranch in the world with an astonishing number found along the South African coastline.
In all the years I’ve lived here, I’d heard of the Gully Sharks in the area, but had never encountered one until last Saturday where a fairly large member of this species came out of nowhere in somewhat of a rush. I had been looking for my octopus friend in his home and given the way Mr Shark was moving, he seemed to be doing the same. In all my dives, I’d never really seen a shark on the hunt and it was quite a sight to behold. Despite knowing how harmless this species is, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy at it’s arrival. I put it down to primal instinct, as humans are after all only visitors in this oceanic environment. My tensions eased up a bit upon being able to properly identify the species and watching as the shark moved with grace through the bottom of the gully, clearly in search of a lunch time snack.
Other highlights from this past week’s snorkel include two sightings of Puffadder Shy Sharks in the Drip Kelders, where many a mermaid purse can be found tightly wound around the seaweeds in the middle of the cove. The presence of Stephenson’s Sea Cucumber lined across the sandy crevices of Stanfords Cove was also a super interesting find. Hopefully this week brings with it some more interesting sights to share in my next ocean story.
A large Klipvis gave this cephalopod away as it crept into a hollow at the bottom of a crevice festively decorated with urchins. I’ve since paid the eight-legged creature a few more visits and although he/she seems a bit shy from the offset, I’m hoping they’ll soon discover that this snorkeler means no harm.
Until next week!
