We were at Christmas Island ( January 2009) on invitation of Linda Cash of Christmas Island Tourism Association to set up a series of educational courses for local and visiting divers in an effort to provide a basis for establishing a
Marine Life Inventory of local dive sites.
One of the few places in the world where divers and snorkellers can predictably swim with Whale Sharks, Christmas Island Wet n Dry Adventures customers had close encounters with Silky Sharks, schools of Giant Trevally, Spinner Dolphins, Oceanic Sea jellies, Barracouda and a zillion species reef fish and invertebrates.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
DIVE SITE: Perpendicular Wall!
Certainly the name shed little light on what one expected to see. I've dived thousands of vertical walls across the Indo Pacific and although they are all individual with their own visual perceptions, nothing I had ever experienced prepared me for this.
Virtually every dive on Christmas Island is a wall dive; a couple of hundred metres or less from shore and its over the edge and off into the blue haze of 40 metres plus, gin clear visibility, and wall to wall coral reefs with some of the most astounding coral formations still alive in the Indian Ocean today.
However, its this huge expanse of vision that is the most mesmerizing factor. When you have clear vision in every direction, the effect is overwhelming, its as if you
are diving at the edge of the world, and with the nearest land mass thousands of kilometres away, that feeling is not so fanciful.
Project AWARE UNDERWATER NATURALIST Marine Life
Identification Courses - Christmas Island - Indian Ocean
Sitting between Chrismas Island ( Residents) Course participants, Gary Mitchell, Linda Cash, Lynnie Jenyns and Pat richardson as we discuss some observations from the last dive during a surface interval on board Wet n Dry Adventures Dive boat.
Tanks are stacked at the centre of the boat, divers along the sides, and the all - important cameras stored in bins at the back of the boat. The only safe place for cameras on a " Rubber Duck" style craft, especially high speed ones.
( photo: Teruki Hamanaka( Hama)
We were at Christmas Island on invitation of Linda Cash of Christmas Island Tourism Association to set up a series of educational courses for local and visiting divers in an effort to provide a basis for establishing a marine
life inventory of local dive sites.
I have been promoting this original idea of mine to the Dive Industry for over 30 years and in recent years several successful projects along these lines have been set up by a few very keen individuals along the east coast of Australia. I must admit it has been worth all the years of waiting for technology and personal enthusiasm to arrive and to at last see the results that can be achieved.
Lin Chris Boland, Marjorie Gant, Lisa Preston and Linda Cash were so keen that they lined up for shore diving and found a wealth of different species on the reefs closer to shore.
( photo: Jorina van der Westhuizen)
However, this was a first for Project AWARE UNDERWATER NATURALIST Marine Identification - Diver Education Courses in the Indian Ocean. It was also the first time the Dive Tourism Industry has supported this Eco - Tourism Diver - Inspired idea that will become one of the driving forces at the fore - front of the Dive Tourism Industry of the Future.
Recorded from East Africa and the Seychelles, this species is very common at Christmas Island. The masked Moray Gymnothorax breedeni grows to 75 cm and inhabits caves and ledges. Can be aggressive and divers should be aware.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
Today, is yesterdays tomorrow
The future of the oceans of the world and all they support depends on the ability of humans to discover and learn the many secrets of marine life interdependence. We can only do this if we have the foresight and the ingenuity to provide those who make decisions with the information of what lives in our oceans.
This role of discovery, recording and education of our World of Water was once the
revered role of science, but science is no longer in a position to explore the World of Water because it does not have the capacity, the funding, or the personnel.
The UNDERWATER NATURALIST Marine Life Identification Course class was at the courtesy of Christmas Island Tourism Association which had all the facilities required to present the imagery, as well as air conditioning, comfortable seats and tea, coffee and cake at all the breaks.
( photo: Linda Cash)
What we once thought about the oceans diversity has multiplied a thousand times over and there are not enough trained scientists and taxonomists in the entire
world to deal with what we need to know, now! We need more marine scientists and taxonomists in order to expand our knowledge and make more people
aware of the plight the worlds oceans are in. However, we do not have the luxury of time, the work of discovery, recording and education, must be expanded.
Surely it must be realized that if Christmas Island is one of the last bastions of oceanic tropical stony coral reefs left available to divers in the Indian Ocean, the time for action to photographically record what lives on them, is well nigh.
Christmas Island Wet n Dry Adventures owner - skipper Hama showing me a strange nudibranch he has found. Hama has been diving 25 years and is a very keen underwater naturalist, skilled photographer and participant in the Marine Life Identification Course. He certainly "beat the pants" off me, finding the most nudibranchs.
( photo: Jorina van der Westhuizen)
(Both the Seychelles and the Maldives Coral Reefs were virtually wiped out in 1998 (98%) by the effects of rising sea surface temperatures).
I know this because I saw the effects at both localities and in turn wrote and produced World of Water Wildlife Guides on marine life of both countries in an effort to assist and promote their Dive Tourism Industries and diving visitors in virtue of all the marine phyla that remained.
Natures Unrivalled Extravagance
Above the water Perpendicular Wall was at the entrance of an undercut cave in the vertical limestone cliffs. There was a rock fall at right hand side where the
cliff had collapsed and a slight swell rolled under the dive boat and eased up the sides of the rocks as we made preparations for entry.
Only found at Cocos ( Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island, the Cocos Angelfish Centropyge joculator is a beautiful little fish which occurs around all the reef edges and down the drop offs.
( Photo: Neville Coleman)
As I forward - rolled over the side of the dive boat I caught a glimpse of the scene below, it was breathtaking and almost beyond imagination. Reaching up for my
cameras I can remember clutching at the side of the boat as if my brain did not comprehend what my eyes had envisioned and I was somehow falling into an
oblivion of blue, somewhere out in space.
Yes, it may have been a touch of vertigo, but as the bubbles cleared and I dared to look down, I was indeed, in space, Inner Space, the like of which in over 14,000 dives I had never before experienced.
Because their colouration is brighter, large juveniles of the Ornate Hawkfish Paracirrhites hemistictus are seen far more often than the drabber looking adults, with their darker body, and a single white spot on each side.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
Beyond the cave floor the terrain angled down into a valley bordered on each side by terraces of stony corals that appeared like fancy decorations on a birthday cake.
The valley floor had numerous small coral heads surrounded by hordes of reef fish of a hundred different species, swimming, being cleaned, perching, sitting,
flitting, drifting, and all appeared to be familiar with divers and easy to photograph.
Drifting down above the scene I made a mental note to check everything of interest and then at 20 metres I ran out of mental notes because I looked up and saw a
gigantic Cathedral - like Christmas tree shaped reef ridge covered in gorgonian sea fans.
Giant Sea Fans of the species Subergorgia reticulata sweep out from the drop offs disappearing into the oblivion beyond 30 metres.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
The light shimmered down through the sea fans and the entire scene was made even more ethereal for a few minutes as the rising bubbles of those below me disintegrated through the masses of sea fans and went on their expanding journey to the surface.
Perhaps the fact that I am getting on a bit and my mental discipline of 40 years is not a strict as it has always been, but right at that time I was completely
absorbed in the moment.
Goldback Basslets Pseudanthais evansi are everywhere. Huge schools of several hundred females occur on the drop offs and along the outer reefs.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
My plans to check everything new to me, take 72 images, discover at least one new
species and have it all rolled up in 50 minutes didnt even begin. I was totally blown away, wherever I looked there was stuff I had never seen before, hectares of sea
fans of at least 10 different species that just continued on into the infinite haze some 20 metres below me. I did not even get close to the wall. The visions of what
I did not know already seeping through my realms of possibilities. If there were this many species out in the open I had never seen before, what exciting new
discoveries might be awaiting on the walls and under the crevices and caves? How many new commensals might be observed on all these sea fans and black corals and soft corals?
Very shy by day, the Bluestripe Squirrelfish Sargocentron tiere hides in caves and crevises and rarely shows itself.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
Ah!..if only there were another couple of lifetimes I would find it all?
Even with 3 weeks bottom time, a good torch and several cameras at hand I could perhaps make a reasonable dent in adding to the knowledge of
this one single dive site and the Marine Flora and Fauna checklists of Christmas Island.
However, as experienced and motivated as I might be, I could never hope to discover, or measure up to the results of several enthusiastic underwater explorers with keen eyes and digital cameras.
MARINE LIFE INVENTORY of Christmas Island Dive Sites
The Earmuff Wrasse Halichoeres melasmapomus is a common inhabitant of outer reefs. It occurs from Micronesia to the Tuamotus and is generally seen as a solitary.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
With the assistance of Linda Cash of Christmas Island Tourism Association, Jorina van der Westhuizen ( JoeY) of Digital Illusions, Hama, Lyn and Lynne of Wet & Dry Adventures and eight really keen scuba divers we had just completed a very successful Project AWARE UNDERWATER NATURALIST Marine Life Identification Course for Christmas Island.
In only 2 dives the 8 course participants were able to find and recognise the majority of Marine Life Phyla as outlined in my textbook UNDERWATER NATURALIST. They were also well on the way to being able to recognise most of the images in their own World of Water Wildlife Guide to Christmas Island book that I had written and produced several years before for the exact reason of training divers to carry on the Underwater Explorer traditions of Scuba Divings
educational pioneers.
Starry Dragonet Synchiropus stellatus ( female) appears to be a new record for Christmas Island. It occurs from East Africa to the Pacific.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
Not only has Christmas Island exceeded my expectations in the diversity of its coral reefs, in the process we discovered at least 4 species of nudibranchs I had never seen before and several other undescribed
species of marine invertebrates. The skill of the on - course photographers was exceptional and I was able to identify every image, with the exception of the rolled up dead leaf.
There is no doubt in my mind that even with our modest beginning, once the MARINE LIFE INVENTORY of Christmas Island Dive Sites is established (now in the process) it will set an example for the Eco - Dive Tourism Industry across the
entire Asia/Indo Pacific region.
One of the highlights of diving Christmas Island is the presense of the world famous Flashing File Shell Ctenoides ales which lives in crevises inside tunnels and caves.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
The MARINE LIFE INVENTORY of Christmas Island Dive Sites would be set
up by Neville Colemans World of Water and managed and maintained by the
Christmas Island Tourism Association in conjunction with the Christmas Island
Divers Association.
The support basis could be from a volunteer group of businesses and individual divers and underwater photographers who have come together as an organization dedicated to recording and establishing a visual photographic index
containing each species of the marine life existing at each major dive site and
advancing the base line knowledge of Christmas Islands unique coral reef system.
Infinite Possibilities
I would like to thank Linda Cash of Christmas Island Tourism Association for
having the foresight and understanding of the infinite possibilities that eco tour
Marine Identification Courses will have on the future of the Dive Tourism Industry as a whole. Christmas Island Tourism has already been running successful land orientated projects (such as BIRD WEEK) for many years, so they are well aware of just how important eco tourism and its related natural assets can be.
Nocturnal of habit, the Twinspot Lionfish Dendrochirus biocellatus lives beneath caves and ledges in darker places. It generally orientates to the ceiling and mostly appears upside down.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
By providing the opportunity for local and visiting divers to participate in extending their knowledge of the Marine Life of Christmas Island and in turn setting
up the Marine Life Inventory of Christmas Island Dive Sites it gives every diver the chance of being part of a real serious semi - scientific project. This information and imagery of species will eventually assist the mainstay of knowledge of Christmas Islands Marine Life, in a similar way that the information and imagery of National Parks North, the Western Australian Museum and the Christmas Island Natural History Society have done on land and in the sea over the years.
With a pattern reminisant of the sea fans it lives on, the Longnose Hawkfish Oxycirrhites typus is fairly common along the deeper walls of Christmas Island.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
In effect, every diver taking part becomes a real underwater explorer and by contributing to the Inventory they play a very real role in advancing knowledge
and taking their participation in the greatest adventure activity on the planet,
to another level.
Acknowledgements:
JoeY and I would like to thank all the Christmas Island course participants and
congratulate everybody on a job well done and I must say that I enjoyed every
minute and the fact that everybody was so enthusiastic and stuck together during
the dives, assisted each other through the more tricky questions of the course and
did so well with their practical and theory assessments. Together we found samples of every major marine phyla except Braciopods (I am not sure they are even at Christmas Island)
To Hama, Lin and Lynnie of Christmas Island Wet n Dry Adventures many thanks for your untiring efforts at providing the extra opportunities for the local divers on the course to visit out of the way dive sites and generally looking after everybody on the course in your usual professional manner.
Christmas Island Wet n Dry Adventures crew, Lin, Hama and Lynnie, at your service. With the boat actually patrolling between entry point and the direction of the dive along the reef, pickups are wirthin 1 minute of surfacing, and no more than 2 minutes on a drift dive. Right up my Alley!
( photo: Neville Coleman)
Jorina van der Westhuizen (JoeY) did an excellent job of setting up the power
point UNDERWATER NATURALIST Marine Life program and I am indebted to Phil Cash for getting my obstinate camera to work underwater. To Christmas Island Tourism Association, Anjela Jones ( whose VQ3 Lodge is the closest accommodation to both the dive shops) Kiat Tan of Kiats Car Rental whose cute little RAV4 was JoeYs delight driving us all around the island to
get footage for my Footsteps in the Sea auto biography video. It never missed a
wheel spin even up the highest rubble gradients.
School of Goldstripe Goatfish Mulloidichthys vanicolensis lining up in their usual daytime aggregations. This behaviour is generally connected to a daytime cleaner station in close vicinity. At night they break up and feed amongst the sand as individuals.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
Hama and Lin of Wet n Dry Adventures who supplied our personalized diving service for the course and ensured every means of support.
During the dives, Hamas eagle eyes were the stars of the course, finding two
nudibranchs I did not recognise. Nick Duff of Christmas Island Divers
supplied diving and dive guide Simon Prince and boat skipper Daryl took us out
during the first week of our stay and we enjoyed some great diving. Simon also
found an unknown (as yet) species of nudibranch.
Of course, nothing gets off the ground, or goes around without sponsors. I would
like to thank Christmas Island Tourism Association who sponsored our entire 3 weeks and it was certainly (once again) a pleasure to assist local businesses in
advancing the dive eco tour possibilities of Christmas Island. Our appreciation to
everybody, and many thanks to all concerned.
As yet unidentified, this very interesting Christmas Island Sea Star Neoferdina sp. was located on the wall of a cave in only 12 metres of water.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
Congratulations to all the participants
UNDERWATER NATURALIST MARINE LIFE IDENTIFICATION COURSE; I think everybody did very well and that we have built a solid foundation for the future in regard to continuing the recording of the Christmas Island Marine Life Inventory of Dive Sites.
After two weeks diving and filming adventures around Christmas Island and completing a very successful Project AWARE UNDERWATER NATURALIST Marine Life Identification Course we had a couple of days videoing the extraordinary Christmas Island crabs down at the Dales and then it was time for JoeY to leave to go visit her family in South Africa.