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MAY DIVE REPORT

Another month has passed of mixed conditions. We've had plenty of good weather days to speak of but as I write this, we are wrapped up in a huge cold front that has sparked the start of winter. Fresh Southwesterly winds have hit us and the sea is as grumpy as can be.

May has been a very good and interesting month. From the beginning, dive conditions improved with warmer water and much improved visibility. On 3rd May, we'd no sooner launched out of Island Rock when Darryl spotted a fin on the surface. On slowing the boat down to a crawl, he noticed that it was no ordinary fin - rather that of a Tiger shark. It took no notice of the boat and it's curious humans and just carried on along the surface until it eventually descended. What a start to the day!!

4th May gave rise to excellent dive conditions. We had been warned that there was a large southwesterly wind due. The entire day proved to be a day of firsts' - the first "first" - we had 4 Dutch divers staying at the lodge for 9 days - the longest dive booking thus far - and they each did 2 dives per day. To top this, we went to Island Rock Deep Pinnacle in the morning as we could only manage 1 early dive due to the tides. As the day progressed, we worried that we would not be able to get the dives done the next day if the weather bombed out so we called the divers back after lunch and decided to launch at 15h00. This was now the 2nd "first". We then went to Solitude late afternoon for our dive - the 3rd "first" as Solitude is quite far away and it's not often that the weather allows you to travel so far without being wind-blown at this time of the day. Whilst we were down, Darryl spotted a 4m manta ray feeding on the surface which was accompanied by a shoal of Prodigal Son AKA Cobia worldwide.
Naturally by the time we surfaced it had moved off. Anyway, a good day of diving was had.
The fourth "first" was that for the entire week we launched with almost a full boat every morning. Thanks to the Dutch divers, their numbers boosted the overall figures for May. Each diver did 18 dives over the duration of their stay and thoroughly enjoyed each dive.

We then hosted Robin Duff, who is well known to some at Wilderness, and he flew from Germany to come and do his openwater dive course. Time was limited but Neptune granted us good weather and we managed to keep our tight schedule and complete everything in the time allotted. I took Robin to Pantry for his 2nd sea dive - and just as before, we had no sooner descended when the same curious potato bass appeared. I had warned Robin about him so we went down fully prepared. We've named him "Curos" and he has a serious attitude problem. As you kneel on the sand to do the necessary dive skills, he either hovers alongside or sits right behind you and just stares, those googly eyes keep going around and around until he can't contain himself any longer, curiosity gets the better of him and he comes to investigate your gear. He mouthed Robin's weight on his weight belt ever so gently and then went and took his place in the class once again. He sat so close to me that his body was touching my depth gauge. By now we were both hysterical with laughter at this bass with a screw loose in his brain. He escorted us throughout the entire dive, at times cutting across our path to let us know that he was still around.

We took the Pre-Indaba agents to Gogo's, which was at it's best. A pod of around 20 bottlenose dolphins appeared and everyone got the chance to get in and snorkel around these magnificent and intelligent animals. A big highlight for most in their lives, I can assure you.

On 13th we dived Elusive and Homer was up to his bass tricks too. He hung around Robin and myself for sometime and then moved in to Clive and eyeballed him through his mask.
After some time of no movement by either party, Clive took out his octo and held it out to Homer to breathe off - he didn't quite pass his open water course so didn't know what to do with the gear. He ignored the regulator and just stared at Clive. We then moved off and he followed. At this stage, we are all paralysed with laughter and our masks have filled with water. What a hysterical encounter.

At this stage we're still experiencing good diving conditions with good visibility.

Darryl has also been having his share of fun - good game fish sightings and the odd couta being hooked. Most of these have been donated to guests for fresh fish on the menu for dinner.

We've also encountered plenty of sightings of turtles on the surface. Some small and some incredibly large. The species sighted have been loggerhead, green & hawksbill.

For those that are interested in sea-going birds, the first week of May also saw juvenile gannets (sea birds) from the Cape. Two albatross were also sighted. One of the smallest sea birds in the world - the Wilson's Storm Petrel was also sighted. This heralds the beginning of the Antarctic bird migration to this part of the world. They spend the winter here and this arrival normally coincides with the beginning of the whale sightings. We'll keep our eyes peeled and let you know when the first of the whales arrive. Last year we documented the first ones arriving during the last week in June and regular sightings in July. Let's see if they're on time this year.

By mid May the visibility deteriorated again and only started to improve from 24th May. The water temperature dropped to a chilly 20 degrees C and this rose again after 24th to the current 23 degrees C. According to last year's weather diary, this temperature remains, give or take a degree less, for the most part of winter.
Ok, so now it's off to get that chicken vest hood out of the cupboard and it's on with the beanie in the early morning. What a sight - Michelin man with a beanie!!!!

On 27th, two guests from the U.K. arrived to complete the diving portion of their open water course. The one guest decided that diving was not for her and the husband continued. I took him to Pantry and "Curos" repeated his behaviour for arriving on time for class. We'd no sooner descended when he made a specific beeline for us and performed as I had told the student he would. This encounter is now becoming regular. Perhaps I should see if he knows what an alternate air source is used for - maybe he's brighter than Homer on Elusive!!

On 28th, we dived Gogo's and Tyson the bass did his usual tricks as well. One of the divers actually managed to stroke Tyson along his side, he seemed to enjoy this.

We've also had plenty of unusual sightings of late - hermit crabs walking around with big shells on their backs and an abundance of big and small nudibranches.

The last week in May we had a day visitor from Richards Bay dive with us. He has won two underwater photographic competitions and his latest work appears in the Divestyle magazine. He rated the dive sites and dive centre very highly and said that this is as good as it gets along the East Coast of Natal. He also commented that the coral here is in excellent condition.

So, an interesting month, the bass take the limelight once again and are becoming almost predictable. Well, let's hope this year's whale migration proves to be as good as that of 2001. We'll let you know. Until then, keep warm and enjoy winter.

ROCKTAIL BAY DIVE TEAM