Over the Horizon

WORDS AND IMAGES: DON DAY, SCUBA CONVENOR

“I think I can see the bottom from here.” – “No, you must be wrong” – “Seriously, I can see the bottom!” – “LET’S GO!!!!” This conversation wouldn’t be unusual in the Philippines, Malaysia, or in Indonesia. But this was Hong Kong.

embers of our Kellett Diving Society for the first time represented the Club in the annual AFCD reef check which is undertaken in conjunction with major universities in Hong Kong. Our assigned dive site was way up in Double Haven, on the north side of Crooked Island. We thus teamed up with another group to share logistics.

A small group of KDS, together with our assigned superstar Marine Scientist, went and participated in a test run in September to help out the other group. Afterwards we had a great beach BBQ and camped on an amazing beach, falling asleep under the stars and to the sounds of the waves. The next day we went to dive site Breaker Reef and that’s where above dialogue took place between our Marine Scientist who had jumped in first, and literally everyone still on the boat. We had 25+m visibility and could have been anywhere in South-East Asia. The water was a mesmerizing blue, the topography of the dive site very diverse, and marine life amazing. Simply stunning, and the best visibility I have had in 13 years diving and teaching in Hong Kong.

Our “real” reef check took place a few weeks later, when eight5 KDS members ventured back to Crooked Island. Our Marine Scientist conducted a very thorough dive briefing, explaining to look out for fish, invertebrates, and coral, and how to account for them. no less interesting, dive, gliding very slowly along a 100m line, recording the marine life we encountered.

We did fun dive on the same day, and then went back to Wong Shek Pier by pre-arranged speedboat. We have submitted our data to the AFCD, who have been very grateful, and confirmed that we will be able to again take part next year.

This was a very different and very interesting dive. We learned “citizen science” scientific methods of underwater research, got to know more about the marine life in Hong Kong and how it changes, and contributed to the AFCD’s tracking of the health of Hong Kong’s marine life. Definitely a very satisfying, well-spent day!

We also encountered a ghost net, but at that point could not remove it. But ghost net is the right keyword – stay tuned as we will be organizing events around ghost nets.

Additionally, now that travel restrictions have largely been removed, we will definitely start planning trips – both short and longer ones. Please get in touch! And if you want to brush up your skills, or maybe learn new ones like how to go deeper, or stay longer using Nitrox, please get in touch.