ScotlandText and photos by Lawson Wood — Muck Diving at Home 25 X-RAY MAG : 84 : 2018 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO travel Scotland

Snake pipefish, Entelurus aequorus, Scotland (left); Pipefish, Sulawesi, Indo- nesia (below); Burrowing sea cucumber, Neopendactyla mixta, Scotland (far left); Burrowing sea cucumber, Cucumi- naria sp., Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia (lower left)

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and backscatter problems in pho- tographs; and some disorientation with with cleaning all of your equipment after depth, resulting in finding deep-water every dive. critters in much shallower water due to the cut in natural light. Diving protocol As the name implies, you are search- Consideration must also be taken with Do we really need to go under- ing in a “mucky” or “murky” environment, all of the critters that inhabit this environ- water at the other end of the moving slowly with additional lights to try ment, particularly if you are settling on and spot all of the weird and wonder- the seabed. Always make sure that the world (and its challenges)? ful creatures that we tend to miss in the area beneath you is clear and critter-less. Lawson Wood poses this ques- search for larger, weird and wonderful Always remember that your diving buddy tion while comparing the muck creatures. Do not let the term “muck div- may be following in your fin strokes, so diving found in his home country ing” fool you; it is one of the best and you may actually make the visibility worse most rewarding diving and underwater and spoil the experience for your buddy of Scotland to that found in exot- photography trips that you can do to for your own selfish gain. Also check ic locations in Asia and other obtain quite unique photographs in prob- which way the is flowing, as regions of the world, renowned ably the most unhurried style you may actually spoil your own photo- for their muck diving sites. you will ever have. This form of scuba graphs. So, try and orient yourself facing diving and into the current. encompasses all of your skills, particu- It is only in the last ten years or so that “Muck diving” is now a recognised, larly , as you will be working the term was first coined in the Lembeh broad term for (generally) close-up and close to the seabed, if not on it. By its Strait of Indonesia, and more specifically macro or micro photography, often very nature, the muck does get every- with the original staff of Kungkungan Bay in terrible visibility, resulting in low light where, and special care must be taken Resort who discovered a wealth of hith-

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Flame shell, Limaria hians, Scotland (above); Neon file clam, Lembeh cinema of dreams Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia (left) erto rarely seen or unheard-of ern Bali, Blue Heron Bridge in species in staggering numbers, Florida, Papua New Guinea, hidden in the garbage-strewn and especially Loch Fyne seabed near a major seaport in Scotland. Now, new and in northern Sulawesi, Indone- exciting areas such as Tasma- sia. Deciding to do an “eco” nia, Raja Ampat in Irian Jaya, clean-up of the seabed, the Mabul Island in Malaysia, and developers discovered that many other exotic locations the trash that they wanted to in the South China Sea have remove was already inhabited become popular. by all manner of weird and Many would argue that wonderful beasts. muck diving was actually in- However, many of us had vented in Scotland, and now, already experienced forms as we have discovered and of muck diving in places such fully appreciate, muck diving as underneath the Town Pier need not be confined to tropi- and Salt Pier in Bonaire, Fred- cal waters. I personally enjoy www.seacam.com eriksted Pier in St. Croix, Dodd exploring the muddy depths Narrows off Vancouver Island, of , Loch Fyne and Beach in north- Oban in Scotland where I

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TOP TO BOTTOM: Long- clawed squat lobster, Munida rugosa, in Scotland; Squat lobster in Bali, Indonesia; Hermit crab, Dardanus peduncu- latus, in Gangga Island, THE EXPEDITION North Sulawesi, Indonesia; Cloak anemone, Adamsia carciniopados, on hermit A COMPLETELY NEW INVENTION FOR crab in Scotland UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHERS, DIVE GUIDES, EXPEDITION LEADERS OR ANYONE WHO NEEDS BREATHABILITY, MOVABILITY, LOW AND SEVERAL OTHER FEATURES.

am able to find weird and exoti- cally coloured dragonets, gobies, shrimps, starfish, sea cucumbers, molluscs and anemones (one of which I found to be the first ever record of the beast in British inshore waters). Now, with many years of diving and underwater photography in all of the world’s oceans and over 50

THE EX2 BACKGROUND STORY “I developed this suit for myself. It is a completely new kind of suit, designed with only one purpose in mind - to make me perform at my best as an underwater photographer. Its books published on the topic, it is the marvellous outstanding movability, breathability and flexibility creates a feeling of not wearing a dive suit at all. In fact, I put the suit on in the morning and take it off in the evening and the whole day I am very apparent that there are mas- spread of ma- ready to jump into the water to take the picture of my life. All the details on this suit derive from specific needs. Pockets for all my photo gadgets, a radio and microphone holder to keep in sive similarities in marine species in rine life from the contact with wildlife spotters or guides and a pee zipper for speedy relief. The low weight and all of our seas. So much so, in fact, ancient Gond- compact packing volume makes it easy to carry anywhere at any time” that the parallels in critters being wanaland millions of years ago, to Undoubtedly, the area of this - Göran Ehlmé Underwater photographer and head of Waterproof R&D found at almost opposite ends of the land masses and far-reaching original golden triangle is the www.waterproof.eu the globe give us an insight into oceans that we have now. centre of Indonesia—now referred

28 X-RAY MAG : 84 : 2018 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO Sea spider at St. Abbs in Scotland (left); Sea spider in the Red Sea (bottom left); Queen scallop, Aequipecten opercularis, in Scotland travel (lower right); Rock scallop at in Malaysia (bottom right)

Scottish challenges I, and many others, know that RECYCLED there are weird and colourful crit- ters in colder waters, but the find- FROM THE SEA ing and photographing of these creatures is also one of the main problems with which we have to fourthelement.com deal. The Scottish sea lochs in the OceanPositive winter and spring have a lot of by freshwater runoff, which lies as a thick layer of dark-stained, peaty water, cutting out virtually all avail- have plenty of time to explore able light into the depths, similar and photograph amazing critters to the fjords in southern New Zea- to your heart’s content. land or southwestern Tasmania. Every dive can be a night dive, Oban. Down the small slipway op- and additional lights are always posite Puffin Dive Centre in Oban necessary to make life a bit easier. is another great mucky, rummage Unlike the oftentimes poor visibility dive, usually dived by newbie in tropical waters muck diving, trainee divers. Spider crabs, vari- the Scottish sea lochs in winter ous snails, small queen scallops, are usually crystal clear once you camouflaged spider crabs, bur- get below the rowing anemones and sea cu- peat-stained, cumbers—which are very similar, freshwater in fact, to an almost identical . species found in Indonesia or the Caribbean. to as Wallacea, after Alfred Wal- Loch Long. lace, the Scotsman whose work The Scottish Isle of Skye. Farther north, into the on natural selection was used by sea lochs are sea lochs around the Isle of Skye, Darwin for his now world-famous known for their treatise. Wallace discovered that steeply sloping for squat lobsters, conger eels there was a massive divide in dis- muddy inclines, and small blennies. The uniform tribution between the species of which drop muddy slope has sea cucumbers, the Indian Ocean and Australasia, well below the scallops, various species of crab, even when the waters were only safe scuba squat lobsters, dragonets and bur- a short distance apart. Yet, many diving limit. The rowing anemones. of the species were actually dis- eastern shore tributed in most of the rest of the of Loch Long is Loch Fyne. The next sea loch over world’s tropical waters. Since the fairly feature- to the west is Loch Fyne, which opening of both the Suez Canal less, except for has very similar topography. It also and the Panama Canal, foster- a couple of has Inverary Pier, where a night ing the transmigration of species places where dive amidst the old harbour trash in the holds and on the hulls of the bare rock is essential. Pipefish, nudibranchs, the world’s supertankers, this big, strata juts into brilliant anemones, octopuses, wide world seems so much smaller the loch, creat- starfish and various shrimps are all nowadays. ing small caves evident. As the dive depth is only and crevices around 7m (23ft) at high , you

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life, but new ones are equally as exciting, as the seabed under them is always strewn with rubbish and builders’ trash, which make perfect homes for little critters and fish. I once found a beautiful, little sea spider on a piece of old shopping basket under the new pier at the port on Cayman Brac in the Caribbean, virtually similar to that found off St. Abb’s Head in Scotland and Shag Rock in the Red Sea. there are huge fireworks anemo- On these type of dives, what nes, langoustine (scampi prawns), you are doing is a slowed-down three different species of sea pen, version of macro photography, individual polyps, small sea fans, fire clams and colonial zoan- thids, and amazingly—huge fields of an incredible, hard, calcare- ous algae called maerl (Phyma- phers following you. Backscatter is the tolithon calcareum) or “Scottish major problem we all face in low visibil- coral,” which creates a unique ity conditions. We either try to avoid it habitat for dozens of other marine by getting in ultra-close, with skillful po- species. This is absolutely unique sitioning of flash and extended arms, or in British waters, yet very similar do as I do—I like to use it as part of the to species and habitats found in photograph, and accept backscatter tropical seas; most obvious are as a necessary element in the compo- the true coral reefs. sition. In fact, in many instances, the addition of backscatter can enhance Backscatter the composition. Muck diving can, as the name suggests, be rather mucky and, Where to muck dive as mentioned earlier, backscatter You can really go muck diving any- can be a problem, both in your where. One of the best locations is LEFT TO RIGHT: Marine life is found living in the trash at own efforts as well as stirring up under piers, new or old. Old ones are Oban in Scotland and living in the trash at Lembeh Straits trouble for any other photogra- always well encrusted with marine in Indonesia; Common sea squirt, in Scotland; Tunicates at Lembeh Strait in North Sulawesi, Indonesia

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but with the option for seeing and photographing larger critters, should they come along. A friend of mine, Max Hillier, always used to say to stu- dents: “Stop and smell the roses.” Well, 17/18 MARCH 2018 we are doing the equivalent under-

PHOTOCOMPETITION DIVE CENTERS DIVING HISTORY diving with you may as much—if not more—from the trip also have spent a fair than anyone else. These same rules FÖRELÄSNINGAR amount of money and apply even if the dive site is just a short time to reach their de- drive away from your home. DEMO sired destination, and many can be quite ag- 1. Do not monopolise a subject. The BIG POOL gressively eager to get subject may be light sensitive and other divers may well be waiting in the CHILDRENS CORNER sidelines to photograph the same sub- ject, particularly if a guide has discov- FACE PAINTING water: Stop, slow down, and examine ered this critter in the first place. every single tiny little bit of sea floor, as TECH DIVING something may well be hiding under it; eating something on top of it; hop- TRAVELS ping, crawling or walking over it; or swimming by, just minding their own EDUCATION business! Muck diving, by far, is one of the most rewarding styles of diving and opportunities for underwater photog- raphy. The potential for discovering DIVERS PUB ON SATURDAY NIGHT weird and wonderful critters is cer- tainly higher than average. By slowing OPENING TIMES down, you will get so much more out of the dive experience. Thankfully, Saturday 10:00am - 7:00pm you do not need to travel to the other Sunday 10:00am - 4:00pm ends of the earth to experience all of these wonders. But should you do so, then the same rules apply in the search for those weird and wonderful critters, which are almost identical, no matter where you travel. Sea pen in Bali, Indonesia (above); THE LARGEST DIVE SHOW IN SCANDINAVIA Sea pens in Scotland (right); Brown Muck diving etiquette swimming crab in Scotland (top Remember that other photographers right); and at Gangga Island, North NackaStrandsMässan Stockholm Sulawesi, Indonesia (upper left) www.dykmassan.se

31 X-RAY MAG : 84 : 2018 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO Lesser octopus hiding in a shell in Scotland (left); Common octopus, Octopus cyanea, hid- ing in a bottle at Lembeh Strait in Scotland travel North Sulawesi, Indonesia (below); Common cuttlefish in Scotland (right); Cuttlefish at Lembeh Strait in North Sulawesi, Indonesia (bottom right)

many have fine sand, or mud, which acts like waterborne tal- cum powder and gets absolutely everywhere. Treat your exit from a photo opportunity the same way you enter the scene—with great care, awareness and empathy of the critter and your fellow photog- raphers.

4. Do not feed or handle critters. Many favourite locations for muck diving are also keen conservation areas and have strict rules of con- duct, particularly about feeding or handling subjects. Unsurprising- ly, you may find that some guides may be less than scrupulously sub- tle about inducing behavioural re- sponses from subjects in the quest for greater kudos and gratuities. Please do not encourage this behaviour, as it totally makes a mockery of any conservation log- ic in place and should leave a rather sour taste when viewing your so-called hard- won photographs.

5. Never “over-shoot” the subject. Many spe- cies found in low-light zones are particularly sensitive to strong light. 2. Do not intrude. If you find an- rather than just copying Flash photography, by other photographer in the midst someone else’s shot. its very nature, is very of a “shoot”, do not intrude on the intrusive and often scene. This is not only extremely 3. Be careful of your alarming for these bad manners, you may also spook buoyancy at all times. subjects, which may the subject, and therefore, really Kicked-up particulates be forced to leave should be enough, as opposed to Lawson Wood is a widely pub- annoy the other photographer. may drift away from you their safe habitat and dozens where quantity will just nev- lished underwater photographer So, stay well away, have pa- and can spoil some- increase the threat of er outshine quality. Every subject and author of many dive guides tience, and wait your turn—better one else’s shot. Some being eaten. Perhaps is special and sacred, and should and books. For more information, still, find another subject nearby to areas have heavy sand three or four photo- never be stressed by a photogra- visit: lawsonwood.com. be more individually productive or rocky substrates, but graphs of any subject pher’s zeal. 

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