4 minute read
FAIRWINDS PROFILE - Connecting with an Undersea World
by Kait Burgan | photos by Jay Holbrook
MEL VINCENT USED TO DRIVE FROM NANAIMO TO NANOOSE BAY FOR SOME OF THE BEST, MOST ACCESSIBLE DIVING ON VANCOUVER ISLAND.
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He didn’t think that when it came time to find a new home about eight years ago, that he and his wife, Debra, would settle in Fairwinds. Nanaimo was where Mel thought they’d live. He works there, and desirable lifestyles don’t usually involve a lot of commuting.
“We came through the house, and my wife danced through the home, delightedly checking everything out,” he recalls. “I knew I didn’t have a chance at that point. We’re here, and we love it.”
It’s a lifestyle change that’s been nothing but positive. Mel uses the gym at Fairwinds Centre. They have dinner at the golf club regularly. Debra plays golf with the ladies, and Mel dives - a lot.
“I dove as recently as three days ago, and it’s just been marvellous,” he says. “The winter is actually the best visibility. In the summer, you get plankton, and with plankton, you get reduced visibility. It’s fabulous in winter.”
For some people, diving can be claustrophobic, and managing the technical elements can be stressful and even overwhelming. For Mel, after decades of scuba, the experience is comforting.
“There are no other sounds, just you in the water with your dive buddies. You’re looking around and exploring and going to areas that nobody else except other divers will see. You see creatures and wildlife and things growing that you would never see above the surface.”
Mel loves the camaraderie that comes with diving, going with groups of friends a few times a month. They’re experienced and passionate divers who thrive on exploring underwater worlds together.
“If you’re in Fairwinds, overwhelmingly the most popular beginner dive site is what we call Tyee. It’s at the new Blueback Park that they’ve finished up. There’s another one on Dolphin Creek, but probably the best one, that people come from all over the place to visit, is at Madrona Point. Madrona is the dive spot that keeps on giving.”
Nudibranchs
Juvenile Sea Lion
Other popular spots include Wall Beach and the waters around Beachcomber. Mel says there are five or six sites, some of which are advanced and some that are beginner. “The luxury is that we have quite a range.”
Mel has done several hundred dives in this area, and while he figures he’s seen almost all there is to see, he still enjoys every experience. Sea lions can be like underwater puppy dogs - playful and curious. He sees wolf eels, and while ugly and snake-like, he says they’re always a highlight - tame and inquisitive and easily lured from their dens for peaceful interaction.
As exciting as wolf eels are, the Giant Pacific Octopus usually gets the most attention. “They’re just such amazing creatures,” says Mel. “I was lucky enough a couple of weeks ago - my buddy and I. We saw an octopus on the rocks; it was kind of in the open. I had my GoPro, and I was taking video, and we were able to get very close to it. We went away, and when we came back, it was still there. So, I took another video, and when it moved out of the way, you could see that there was another octopus in behind it.”
They didn’t know it until later, but they had captured on video, octopus mating. Mel likes to joke that “if you didn’t get it on camera, it didn’t happen.”
Decorated Warbonnet
Mel searching for the octopus at Madrona
Octopus with eggs
Octopus detail
Scalyhead Sculpin
Young Wolf Eel
Giant Sculpin
The mating process for an octopus takes about three hours, and there is a very short window of time within that when the spermatophore that transfers sperm to the female, is visible. That’s what Mel had on camera, and that captured the interest of a local marine biologist who in turn, brought in authors of an octopus textbook.
“I think for most divers, that’s probably the most exciting thing, to see an octopus out so that you can engage with or at least watch it do its thing,” Mel says. “We’ve seen them from little baby ones to some that are very, very big.”
Studying the behaviour of the larger and better-known ocean creatures is not the only attraction. Mel, and many other divers, are fascinated by the smaller animals - sea slugs, nudibranchs, anemones, jellyfish and sea stars. There are thousands.
Diving is a connection to our ocean that isn’t possible from the surface. It’s a way to discover, learn, and let the magic of an underwater world renew, or reinforce an appreciation of the incredible range of life on this planet.
Mel shares his underwater encounters on Cozu Mel, his Youtube channel and on Facebook, he follows The Marine Detective and Nanoose Bay Whale Watch.
Passions is grateful to Jay Holbrook for the use of his stunning underwater images.
