Sam Snaaps

Why do I like diving? The feeling of weightlessness is a close as the average person can come to being in space. The ability to expose your senses to stimulation irreplicable anywhere else on Earth. The knowledge that the marine world is one of the few parts of Earth where there are new discoveries waiting to be uncovered is as close to my childhood dream of being an explore as I may ever come.

I could write a list as long as the ocean is deep of reasons why I love diving so I am going to stop myself here as to keep this blog a palatable length. Oh go on then ill treat you to one more… I am OBSESSED with the creatures that we go searching for. Seeing a shark still ignites my soul with elation as much as it did the first time that a white-tip reef shark glided over the edge of a reef wall like an Olympic figure skater positioning themselves before a grand trick. Every octopus I see is able to hold my attention for as long as my air supply will last, while it oozes its jellified body though tunnels and cracks, taking on the same pattern and colour of whatever it happens to traverse.

There is one peculiar group of marine animals that captivates me just like the aforementioned sharks and octopuses, which many people are unaware of until they start diving.

Pokémo-llusc

Nudibranch, a name formed of two Latin parts; nudi meaning naked, and branch meaning gill. This group of molluscs are loved by some, yet completely disregarded by others. For me, finding a new nudibranch can turn an otherwise ordinary dive into a terrific memory. There are thousands of different shapes and sizes, and a unique colour combination to suit each one. They are like real life Pokémon’s, and the quest to find them all takes me back to my fond childhood memories of the popular card game and animated TV show.

Zephyr hypselodoris. This species feeds on sponges and other porifera.

Nudibranchs get their name because of their unique gill system, as you can see above. The orange ‘bulb’ in the centre of its body is the totally exposed (hence naked) gill system. It is thought that they expose their gills to increase their surface area relative to body size, increasing the availability of oxygen in the water to them.

Lumpy chromodoris.

These extra-terrestrial-looking marine invertebrates have some wonderful abilities. Like corals, it is common for nudibranchs to form a symbiotic relationship with algae which provide the mollusc with additional energy. They are tiny yet voracious predators, feeding on organisms that typically defend themselves with stinging cells that even humans will be left uncomfortable by such as anemones and hydroids. The nudis even weaponise the stinging cells of their prey into a toxic mucus for their own protection!

Black-margined glossodoris.

Why do we care? Because they are so intricately beautiful, and the sense of accomplishment from finding them is utterly unique! On a more ecological note, they are shown to be important bioindicators. As they perceive their whole world not through vision, but by chemical receptors called rhinophores, they are among the first to react to changing water chemistry. When expensive water analysing equipment is unavailable, nudibranchs have been shown to indicate early signs of water acidification, rising temperatures, and higher carbon dioxide levels – all of which are linked.

Netted cheratosoma feeding on sponges.

them one of the 4700 species of nudibranch that perhaps they have never seen before.

Some more strong winds in Savusavu, courtesy of a cyclone in the west have confined us to diving out of town once again, and whilst it is sometimes tiring to dive there on many a repeated occasion, my colourful little gastropods always keep me excited about making a new discovery.

Rain.

On the theme of bright colours, we have finally had heavy rain, and my pineapples are golden again! Prior to this week, heat you would expect in the Sahara that makes drying your laundry the worlds easiest task had captured every last drop of moisture from the jungle. And as quickly as you can complain about having to clean the dust off of your car (again!!), the whole climate has well and truly flipped.

The ambiance of Savusavu has become somber as the impenetrable concrete-grey clouds swallow the sunlight. You cannot separate dawn from midday as the opaque veil in the sky rations sunlight sparingly. The previously bone-dry wind now soaks everything in its path, and to my relief, my fruit farm is drinking it all up.

In just 5 days of rain, I have just picked my 4th pineapple! The garden is exploding with life again which is beautiful to watch during the brief pauses in rain. The nights bring out masses of frogs, some the size of an enclosed fist, and a local favourite food, the land crabs are emerging in their thousands. Driving at night has turned into a crab slalom as the roads become a no-mans land of crabs confused at why the jungle has stopped so abruptly.

Busy skies.

I have noticed that with the change in weather, the bird life has changed. Specifically, sightings of large soaring birds have become far more frequent! I was taking a small walk around my neighbourhood, searching for hidden paths up the mountains in the hope that I can discover a new insect, or a colourful bird, or maybe even a wonderful ocean view, when 2 birds of prey flew with such grace and agility right over my head. They were vastly different in size but flew in almost an identical pattern, with large wings fixed in their outstretched position, and allowing their fanned tail feathers to sail them through the light wind.

As quickly as I reached for my camera, they had found a pocket of hot air and rose to incredible altitude, making it more difficult for me to capture with my camera. The smaller was a Fiji goshawk, and I believe the larger one to be a swamp harrier, although I was unable to take a clear photo as it disappeared into the clouds far too soon.

I have also noticed the frigate birds coming onto land. Usually they have been out at sea, almost certainly in the search for food so I seldom saw them from my house, but this week I have seen groups of up to 3 individuals circling each others forked tails and long slender wings. They dwarf any other birds here and are magnificent to watch, whether from the ocean or from my breakfast table.

Diwali.

The rain was a hinderance for some Diwali celebrations this monday, but fortunately many people still had dry fireworks to put some brief flashes of colour back into the sky. I was very excited to celebrate Diwali with some locals, and experience the food, the traditions, and become closer with the community.

Diwali itself was on Monday, and I had been invited to join the festival in town at a restaurant. I couldn’t wait to take some nice pictures of the dresses people were wearing, the food they had made, and try to capture the essence of the festival of light! I made my excitement quite clear to people attending the same event, as it was my first chance to attend a proper Fijian Diwali, and hopefully make some new friends.

Anyway after work on Monday afternoon, I asked around for more details about the plan for the evening. Where to be, when to be there, and how to dress. However after waiting for a couple of hours for a response, I was told that the party I though I was included in had happened the day before, Sunday. By this time it was too late to join anyone else and I was left at home to watch the fireworks on Monday from afar. I was really gutted, and felt so left out, as nobody had though to ask why I was missing from the meal on Sunday which I had shown so much excitement for. I felt alone, and really upset to not be included.

Following the event, I have been kindly given some Diwali sweets by my neighbour. They are a delicious clue to what the rest of the food must’ve tasted like. They are a sugary mix of ginger and coconut flavour. Some soft and some crispy. My favorite one is the red ball of grated coconut which was crispy and slightly bitter on the outside, but inside was a sweet and creamy coconut filling.

The bats are back!

I doing a bit of work at home as the sun was making its farewell for the day, and over the phone, I was summoned into work in an emergency. One of the boats had somehow escaped and was about to crash onto a reef! To be honest when I arrived, slipped on a wetsuit and single handedly pulled the boat back over the reef and away from the shallow rocks, I felt a bit like superman.

In an unlikely scene for some dusk sky-watching, I had grabbed a loose rope on the escaped boat and was being towed back to land and took the time to look into the sky. Finally I was noticing fruit bats gliding around from palm tree to palm tree, weighing down the palm leaves as they hung. There weren’t many, certainly not the numbers i remember from years ago, but an improvement on the absence that I have noticed so far! Perhaps they are beginning to return with the changing weather? Or perhaps their populations are more localised than before, and I am not living in a bat hotspot anymore? I will keep following their progress.

Roll on summer.

As the seasons change, and Fijian winter finally draws to a close, my first week of the new season has been promising, and reflective of the changes in the wildlife that I am beginning to observe. On dry (but also mostly wet) land the birds and insects are showing wonderful signs of abundance, but I haven’t noticed any changes to the marine life just yet. That is not necessarily a bad thing as I am still in awe of the health of the reefs, but perhaps it is too soon to show signs of seasonal change, as the marine environment tends to be less reactive and more stable than on terra-firma. If anything notable changes, I will almost certainly write about it, but until then, I will enjoy spending my time hanging out with the sharks.