Scotland

Wolf

Wolf fish are one of the mostdistinctive denizens of the deep, and underwater photographer Mike Clark has been leading ‘wolf fish workshops’ to get the best out any photo opportunities

Photographs by Mike Clark

In all the time I have observed wolf fish, I have never encountered aggressive behaviour from one, even though they sport massive dentistry. Wolf fish breathe by actively forcing water in through their mouths and over their gills. This gives great views of the teeth and jaws, but is in no way aggressive

Wolf fish can be amenable subjects

Like me, but 30 years on, I still hear a lot of disappointed divers failing to find wolfies. I still take great delight in finding wolf fish and so I have quietly been showing divers how to find them

Ihad my first wolf fish encounter over 30 years ago. I

had dived the known wolf fish site numerous times, but failed to find George (friendly wolf fish tend to get a name), the resident wolf fish. When my encounter occurred, I did not find George - he found me. I don’t mind admitting he scared the living daylights out of me when he approached me from his hidey hole in the wall.

George had a head the size of a football, with jaws full of crushing teeth, and I misunderstood George’s inquisitive behaviour. George had a relationship with divers and would often come out to say ‘hello’, in the hope of scoring a free lunch. If rumours are to be believed, George was captured by an angler shortly after my encounter with him and I never saw him again. What George did instil in me was a love of wolf fish that persists to this day.

Wolf fish statistics

In all the time I have observed wolf fish, I have never encountered aggressive behaviour from one, even though they sport massive dentistry. Wolf fish breathe by actively forcing water in through their mouths and over their gills. This gives great views of the teeth and jaws, but is in no way aggressive. That said, I do keep my fingers well away from those teeth though! I find wolf fish to be inquisitive and they certainly do have different personalities. Wolf fish are gregarious fish and I think they like company. When you find one, it’s highly likely that others will be checking you out from just along the reef. Look around and it’s likely that little blue/grey heads will start to appear from holes as more timid wolfies get brave. Wolf fish will generally be found hiding as individuals, apart from in the mating season in autumn, when you will see pairs in the den.

Closing in for a wolfie photo

Where there’s a wolf, there’s a way

Like me, but 30 years on, I still hear a lot of disappointed divers failing to find wolfies. I still take great delight in finding wolf fish and so I have quietly been showing divers how to find them. Recently I decided to up the ante and run official ‘Wolf Fish Workshops’ to advise divers and underwater

Wolfies are normally seen in their homes

Back from a successful ‘hunt’

Boat charters/accommodation

For the 2021 season I was out with Derek Anderson Aquamarine Charters www.aquamarine-charters.co.uk Other good charters and accommodation in Eyemouth: Jim and Iain Easingwood of Marinequest www.marinequest.co.uk Gary Steenvoorden of DiveStay www.divestay.co.uk photographers on how to find ‘wolfies’. To date, I have a 100 percent record. Chartering a boat out of Eyemouth, we dive in the Berwickshire Marine Reserve and concentrate on dive sites around St Abbs Head in southeast Scotland.

Immediately before I ran the first workshop, I completed a few exploratory dives to see if I could find some good locations for wolfies. It was hard going and there were not many about, but that is what the challenge is all about.

Wolfie Zone

First off, you need to be in the ‘Wolf fish Zone’. Back in the day, skipper Peter Gibson told me ‘18m and be there’ and this is still a good starting point, although in recent years I have been finding wolfies slightly shallower at around 15m. Is this due to climate change and warming waters? I don’t know, but what I have observed is these fish are all getting a lot smaller. There are no wolfies in the reserve who sport the proportions of George. I put this down to commercial fishing. As the stocks of traditional, popular fish like cod and haddock diminish, you will now see tiny wolf fish and anglerfish (monkfish) on your fishmonger’s slab. That always makes me sad. So when diving, don’t go looking for a head

The first workshop of 2021 took place at the end of July.

This was mainly due to me running guillemot workshops earlier in the year

That distinctive wolf fish face Wolf fish close-up

Wolfie in a crevice

the size of a football any more. You are now looking for grapefruit at best and a body length of just over one metre. About 15-25m deep is the optimal wolf fish zone and you will need to be comfortable diving down to 25m to have the best chance of a spectacular encounter on a ‘Wolf Fish Workshop.

Wolf Fish Workshops

The first workshop of 2021 took place at the end of July. This was mainly due to me running guillemot workshops earlier in the year. Wolf fish can be found right through the diving season, so it was great to search for them in the summer, whereas guillemots have a set season when they visit early in the year.

Setting expectations

I give a thorough briefing before we reach the dive site. Participants learn what to look for, and types of locations to look at and generally ask any questions. A lot of underwater photographers are comfortable diving solo, but buddy pairs were set up at this stage in case of separation. Everybody is champing at the bit to get in the water, but by sharing this information up front, it means that there are multiple sets of eyes searching for the signs of wolf fish and chances of successfully finding them increase. Once your head disappears underwater, there is no verbal communication and you are limited to hand signals and the limitations of vis. Thankfully, this season the vis in the reserve has been superb averaging around ten to 15 metres. This helped enormously when I had between six and 11 divers to manage.

The challenge

Keeping a group of underwater photographers together underwater is a challenge. I lead the dive and my objective was to locate wolf fish. I noted the torch beams of the dive group fall back behind me, to the limits of the vis, before

I found the first wolfie. Unbeknown to me at the time, two anglerfish had been found by the group already. I rounded up the divers and took them to introduce them to their first wolf fish experience. This resulted in whoops and underwater smiles and, for me, that’s what it is all about. As well as looking for wolf fish, one lady diver had requested I find an octopus for her, no pressure… This I failed to do but another eagle-eyed photographer on the trip had spotted one and pointed it out to me. Even though it was sitting on a rock directly in front of me, it was mimicking dead man’s fingers and it took me an age to see it. The octopus was soon shared with the lady who wished to see one and there were more excited big eyes and underwater whooping - what a positive underwater buzz. Perhaps it was relief, but I really got enjoyment by sharing these encounters too. I went on to find five other wolf fish on the dive and this enabled the underwater photographers to spread out and capture their shots, some enjoying seeing their first ever wolf fish.

The first dive could not have gone better. The reserve was looking spectacular, the vis was excellent and some divers on the trip had already ticked off the three mustsee species from the reserve - anglerfish, octopus and, of course, wolf fish. So, for me, it was objectives smashed. You can never rest on your laurels though, as nothing in wolf fish spotting is guaranteed. Wolf fish tend to like a bit of depth, as previously mentioned, and they are generally found in higher energy sites within the reserve. That’s why I aim to provide workshops in optimum tides to enable access and maximise time at the right sites. Get it wrong and the tide is just too strong to get to some of these locations.

The business end of a wolfie

This is a great experience and gives a great view of the whole fish and how the body tapers away from head to tail

Check out those teeth!

Anglerfish put in an appearance

The Stig

The second dive of the day was at a site where a dive buddy of mine had introduced me to ‘The Stig’. The Stig is another friendly wolf fish who will, when in the mood, interact with divers. While nowhere near the dimensions of our historical wolfie George, the Stig does show some similar traits. Most wolf fish will retreat away from lights and if you are photographing wolf fish, you need to be careful with your focus lights. Shine light on a wolfie and its likely to retreat right back into its den. I knew this tip 30 years ago and when George made his bold approach to me, I deployed my torch expecting to halt his approach, but it had the opposite effect and just made him come closer. While the Stig may not be so bold, it certainly does not shy away from lights as much as regular wolfies do. One of the photographers on my workshop stated that the Stig was attracted to her silvercoloured focus light on her camera.

The site where the Stig lives has been christened Wolfie Rock and up to seven wolf fish have been identified on a single dive here as well as octopus and anglerfish. If the Stig is in the mood, he may come out of his den and swim around you. This is a great experience and gives a great view of the whole fish and how the body tapers away from head to tail. You can also see the markings and colouration along the flanks of the fish. I’m hoping the Stig will be around for years to come and that it will be able to reach the dimensions of George. He has returned to the same area for three years now, so there is a good chance of keeping an eye on his progress. I aim to run more workshops in 2022 and hope to see you there! n