What is an UNDERWATER NATURALIST?
Neville Coleman
The Websters dictionary states that "a Naturalist is a person who studies natural history"
The study of nature is far more than just the acquisition of knowledge.
It is by far the single most important factor in determining the future of all life on our planet.
It is the process by which we can begin to understand the fundamental principles by which we as humans acquire a value on the world around us.
Unless we can understand that nature contains all the basic realities of life and that its observance and comprehension is actually an all - round insight into life itself, we shall continue on the road of delusion, believing that we are the most important species on earth.
After all, a long time before we came along, the dinosaurs were the most dominant life forms on earth and existed for hundreds of millions of years. Yet, through no fault of their own, they became extinct!
On the other hand we as humans have lots of faults, and we only been in our present destructive phase for several thousand years. Yet, we have managed in that short time to threaten the existance of all life on earth?
In every way, studying nature is the most self- perpetuating, comprehensive study in the universe, because nature study contains elements of every subject in the book of learning we know as Life.
Every single component on the planet is connected; nothing is separate, because we are all parts of the whole. The more we observe and learn about nature, the more we will see for ourselves how everything interacts as a gigantic system.
All life on our planet is inter-dependant, because that is how it evolved.
Underwater Naturalist
A mere 40 years ago, the preservation of dead specimens were necessary to enable marine life identifications to be established. At the time there were few books on marine life identification and visual images alone were not considered of use without a specimen. Most marine curators were very sceptical about the value of visual identification.
When I began my Australasian Marine Photographic Index in 1968, this is how fish were recognised. Preserved remnants of what used to be.
How could anybody be motivated to care about conserving something so removed from life?
(Photo: Neville Coleman)
An Underwater Naturalist is somebody who assumes the same principles as a terrestrial naturalist but does it underwater, in the aquatic environment. Although there are less numbers of animals and plants in the seas than have been recorded on land, by comparison, our understandings of these aquatic organisms is very limited.
Because we are normally land - orientated beings, the familiar everyday things around us are observed and recorded almost unconsciously. Land plants and animals are familiar and can be readily recognised. Those that are not familiar we can make reference to in the multitude of natural history field guides available on almost every group of terrestrial organisms, and on the world wide web.
Marine science as a whole worked very hard to bring our knowledge up to date. However, in the 1960's and early 1970's there were no photographic reference books, (only those with drawings), no training programs for volunteers, and no marine identification certification courses for divers.
I realized that somebody would need to do the work to establish a system and bridge the gap between scientific specimens and living marine life.
Underwater photography and visual identification was the only answer for the future.
(Photo: Neville Coleman)
With the sea it is different, the majority of organisms are unfamiliar to us. Their shapes, colours, patterns, behaviour and their environment are completely new to the majority of people.
Most humans have little, or no understanding at all as to the importance the oceans and their inhabitants have to the wellness of the planet.
Divers and underwater naturalists/photographers are the only major group of people in the world today with the necessary abilities to study and record the world of water and share their knowledge with the world in general.
Hopefully, this will bring about a change in attitudes and determine a greater conservation effort towards our oceans.
How a diver can become an Underwater Naturalist?
Digital Photography has changed the Name of the Game.
I pioneered the visual identification of the Marine Life of the Australian Continent (Australian Coastal Marine Expedition 1969 to 1973) with a camera that took only 12 images per roll of film, per dive.
Todays Digitals can produce over 200 images on a single dive.
(Photo: Jorina van der Westhuizen)
Of course one can become an underwater naturalist by self - education, but this can be a lengthy process. In days gone by, this was the only method available and it took me many years of theory and practical Marine Biology studies before I accumulated enough knowledge and became proficient at what I believed was, my 'Reason for Being'.
However, for the new diver, it takes a certain amount of training before they learn to exist comfortably as visitors in their new environment and begin to learn the many secrets hidden beneath the waves.
In an effort to share my knowledge and encourage a greater understanding towards the world of water and its creatures I pioneered a whole range of Underwater Wildlife Guides, Field Guides and Encyclopaedias based on the visual identification of various groups of marine life.
Project AWARE Underwater Naturalist Specialty Courses.
Writing, illustrating and designing 65 Marine Life Identification Guides took a great deal of time because each book was designed as a textbook by which divers could be instructed and educated towards becoming Underwater Naturalists.
With (65) Marine Life Guides completed and (8) Project AWARE UNDERWATER NATURALIST Specialty Courses programmed and designed, the provision for the education of todays Underwater Naturalists is unrivalled and most divers have the opportunity to not only learn, but to share their learning experiences.
(Photo: Jorina van der Westhuizen)
In conjunction with each major group of marine animals I also set up a series of Project AWARE Underwater Naturalist Specialty Course Programs (which have all been posted on my website for many years) so that other Dive Instructors, and Underwater Educators have a basic Course program example to work with.
Learning is the Greatest Adventure
Ninety nine percent of what divers see underwater are animals and plants. Strange bizarre beings that are in many ways so different to what we relate to on land.
For the novice diver the world of water presents a bewildering smorgasbord of visual entities all mixed up.
Some organisms are stuck to the bottom and those that swim seem to be milling around in a mayhem of colours, shapes and patterns, swirling around, all going nowhere. Not so!
There is much more to diving than just the experience of being underwater.
Yes, there are those who take up diving just for the new experience, those that take up diving to go the deepest, those that take up diving to see more than anybody else by swimming faster, and yes, drift dives can be most exhilarating, and wrecks are awesome time capsules to explore.
Coleman's Pygmy Sea Horse Hippocampus colemani is just one example of what can be found, even at well known dive sites that have been regularly dived for 30 years. Discovered in only 3 metres of water in a sea grass meadow, thousands of divers swam over its habitat and never saw it.
(Photo: Neville Coleman)
Scuba (Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) Diving is an excellent measure of ones fitness, a great challenge to our terrestrial lifestyles and an awesome experience on its own,
but it is only a beginning.
However, if you took up diving to experience the Greatest Adventure Activity on the Planet?
If you took up diving to introduce yourself to the most breathtaking scenery, with the most incredible colours and the most captivating creatures in the world?
If you took up diving to explore, discover and learn about the fascinating world of water and its inhabitants, their recognition, life styles, bizarre habits, unbelievable masquerades, interesting sex lives, bewildering behaviour and to understand how underwater nature affects and decides our every day existence?
Then do yourself a favour.
Find yourself a good Underwater Naturalist Marine Identification Specialty Course and book yourself in.
Todays Underwater Naturalists and divers are the only ones in a position to take stock ( a Photographic Inventory) of the oceans creatures ( Marine Resources) and to record and monitor the details of species and their interactive behaviour at our major Dive Sites.
Divers are the only ones that have a chance at saving our seas, because we are the only ones in the water, and we are the only ones with the opportunity, motivation and the means to do it.
Byron Bay Underwater Festival Project AWARE UNDERWATER NATURALIST Course participants.
(Photo: Jorina van der Westhuizen)
Becoming an Underwater Naturalist is not difficult.
One of the first requirements is to learn to separate and recognise the major groups ( Phyla) of marine life. (eg.)
PLANTS: Alga and Sea grass. ANIMALS: Sponges, Cnidarians, Worms, Molluscs, Crustaceans, Bryozoans, Echinoderms, Ascidians, Fish, Marine Reptiles and Marine Mammals.
Once you have a basic understanding of these groups and their associated classes and you can recognise each group and know how to find each group in a good Marine Life Identification Guide, you then have a pathway to identifying all the various species within each group.
Yes, it might first appear that there are millions of species, so many you could hardly learn them all in a lifetime? Dont underestimate yourself, each of us is capable of far more than we give ourselves credit for.
If 3 year old kids can learn the scientific names of Dinosaurs, because they are interested in Dinosaurs, imagine what big kids can do?
The unfamiliarity of scientific names have deluded thousands of intelligent divers into believing that the scientific names of marine creatures are too hard to learn because they are so unfamiliar, and difficult to pronounce?
Many divers convince themselves that these new learning experiences are too hard and shut down their minds to anything with a scientific name.
This is the same approach I took when I first aspired to become an Underwater Naturalist. I soon realized that unless I learnt the principles of scientific names I would never be able to differ between one creature and another, let alone understand their behaviour.
It may be a challenge to begin with, but it becomes a whole lot of fun, once you get to know and practice, the principles.
The Name Game
In order to be able to relate to anything, we need a name.
In the Animal and Plant Kingdoms it is very necessary to have a name so that one organism can be differentiated from another.
Although in all my publications I have given Common Names as well as known Scientific Names to each creature, some scientific taxonomists do not recognise Common Names.
However, Common names help when there are still so many critters not officially described (all of which science refers to by the using the Genus followed by sp.)Common Names avoid confusion and each species can be referenced until a scientific name is published.
The father of modern taxonomic nomenclature, or naming, was a great scholar by the name of Linnaeus who in the eighteenth century devised a system by which all living creatures were given two - part names in the universal language of Latin.
Although the system of two - part names was published in 1758, it was not till 1901 that it became International law.
In the two - part name system, the first name is called the Genus and the second part of the name is referred to as the species.
For example: The Red Ear Shell is in the Genus Haliotis. Its species name is ruber, which is Latin for Red.
Consequently, the Red Ear Shell is known as Haliotis ruber.
In this system it does not matter which language the description of an animal or plant is published in, the Latin name can be understood by all, regardless of how many Common Names it may have had in various countries.
If the taxonomist who describes a new species decides to name it after a male person (for example, Mr. Smith) the species name has an i at the end. ( eg.) smithi. If it is named after a female person (for example, Mrs. Smith) the species names has an ae at the end. (eg.) smithae.
Once a few principles and understandings about Scientific Names become clear, it is amazing just how easy and familiar they become. Just like the 3 year olds and their learning the Scientific Names of Dinosaurs, all it takes is being interested enough!
For any diver interested to begin learning, I have written a special book called UNDERWATER NATURALIST - Sorting out the Stuff!
This book was written and designed especially for Project AWARE UNDERWATER NATURALIST Marine Life Identification Specialty Courses.
A Future for Underwater Naturalists
There is no ending to this principle of learning, scuba divers, snorkelers, reef walkers and beachcombers can all apply it to their various activities and become an Underwater Naturalist, or a Marine Naturalist.
The opportunities for a lifetime of learning become more apparent on every dive. The World of Water becomes the Biggest University on the Planet and we are all privileged to be part of it.
Participants of the Project AWARE UNDERWATER NATURALIST Marine Life Identification Course held recently at the Byron Underwater Festival and shootout at Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia, produced some stunning images from the Julian Rocks dive site. Many species photographed were new records for the area.
(Photo: Jorina van der Westhuizen)
The excitement of discovering new records and new species, exploring new areas, of being able to recognise various species and observe and relate to their life styles and behaviour is very rewarding.
The fun of finding, photographing and sharing your discoveries with others can go so far towards determining the future and wellbeing of our oceans.
One on - going project is for divers, photographers and Underwater Naturalists to keep records of their findings on their dives, like an extended log book, with information transferred to each image, or sketch, so that easy reference can be made.
Then, each dive and each image becomes a record that can be referred to. Each dive site has hundreds and even thousands of creatures we know nothing about. Divers are the only ones who can accumulate this knowledge and each Underwater Naturalist can become an expert on the various forms of marine life at their dive site.
There are now at least 8000 or more species of marine life (Redbar Basslet Pseudanthais rubrizonatus (male) that can be visually identified without having to kill one creature.
Conservation by Camera, has finally arrived!
(Photo: Neville Coleman)
Yes, it is a little more work than just having an image number and some vague idea of what it might be and an even more vague idea of where and when it was taken.
Every serious Underwater Naturalist has the opportunity to become an important part in the recording and conservation of the marine life at each dive site they visit.
Recording when a species arrives, when it leaves, or just disappears? Is it a year round resident, or is it a visitor that only appears during winter, or summer?
There are a hundred questions just begging to be answered for every species.
However, like most things in life, nothing of importance is ever accomplished without enthusiasm. I believe that we as divers have a greater role to play as guardians of our seas. With enough enthusiasm and more Underwater Naturalists, anything is possible!
As a group, we as divers have the potential to set an example and provide a platform by which our environmental commitments could influence the world.